It's a Small World

Wednesday 4 July, Dublin

After a surprisingly healthy (though still yummy) breakfast from a paper bag downstairs, we spent most of the day trying to get our clothes washed and dried at the laundromat across the road, and trying to get in contact with Sophie, a friend of mine from Adelaide who was living in Dublin at the time. We found all kinds of food shops, clothes shops, bondage supplies shops, and (eventually) the music shop where Sophie works.

After making plans with Sophie for the evening, we wandered back to Dublin Castle, which was a little different to the 12th and 14th century castles we'd been seeing. There had been one - we saw one of the remaining bits in a basement - but it had burned down in the 1800s, and had been replaced by the current Castle - which was more of a palace, really. We did a tour with Eve the guide (whose accent was possibly even more beautiful than our Welsh waitress) and got some nice photos and a recipe for mortar from half a millennium ago - ox blood, ox-hair, and eggshells, if memory serves. It must be good, because the wall they built with it was still standing, despite being partially underwater all that time.

By the time the tour finished it was 6pm and Sophie had finished work, so we joined her for a beer at the local pub, and on to Waga Mama for tea.

A couple of Sophie's friends from Adelaide were joining us at the restaurant, and Adelaide being Adelaide, Kate knew one of them - they'd studied together in TAFE. The noodles were good, although the singing waiter didn't sing much that night, and we then piled in to the bus where we tried to ignore the very rude and slightly suicidal bus driver all the way back to Sophie's house where Black Douglas and coke and Big Brother were enjoyed by all.