Finally Moving On

Finally getting out of the city tomorrow, and I am definitely ready. Dublin is a fine city with a lot of character and history...but it's too big for me. I'm just not a city guy, as most of you know. I feel as if I have not used the last two days very well...and I really haven't done much with them except relax (good to do also). But at this point I want to begin to see what Ireland is really about, including it's castles, landscape, countryside, and rural communities.

I am not going to miss this hostel...although it is pretty nice, just ready to get out. Very busy this weekend with people coming for a couple days...mostly French people. The next city I'm heading to is Kilkenny, a two hour train ride south from Dublin. I'll be staying in a small hostel there for three days, which will be ample time to explore anything that needs exploring. From there, I have loose plans to head to Cork for two days and then on to Killarney, the place of my O'Donoghue ancestors. Great Great Great Grandpa Michael O'Donoghue had roughly 476 acres there with his son and grandson. Pretty interesting.

We also had our first snowfall in Dublin last night and today's conditions were pretty nasty; about 30 degrees with icy roads and slushy sidewalks. Reminded me of good 'ol Wisconsin.

Also today there was a huge rally to protest the austerity measures that the Irish government is trying to pass, which involves massive cuts in just about everything. It started as a march through the city and ended up in the city centre...about three blocks from my hostel, where an estimated 100,000 (city officials say more like 50,000) people gathered peacefully to listen to speakers. I watched from a distance...and it seemed to be a very quiet gathering. But it is clear that many Irish are against austerity measures...although those measures may be necessary. On the plus side...the value of the Euro is going down by the day, which means I can stretch my money a little bit further.

Looking forward to this next week...seems like I've been away from home (Wisconsin) for two years and it hasn't even been two weeks; I never realized how strange it would feel being in a place where I don't know anyone in 3,500 miles.

Hopefully cool pictures to come soon!