Reunited and it feels so good!

Helllloooo UK! After much back and forth as to whether or not I would be able to stay with Jackie in London, she finally told me I got the green light. When we split up in Croatia, she moved to London to stay with her friends until she can find her own place and a job. Jackie met me at the train station and it was a glorious reunion! It's so fun to have met someone while traveling, stay in touch with them and to meet back up with them. She is a friend for life for sure..awww, ok enough. I went house hunting with Jackie, and as we all know, it is a very tedious process. It took us two hours to get to one place by underground and bus. Mind you, it was evening rush hour, oops. I think she actually chose one of the places we went to, so I would like to think I helped in some way, or not, whatever! She sent her resume to a job placement agency so the agent would call her every day with updates and I would secretly hope that she wouldn't get a job until after I left. I'm evil, I know, but it's with good intentions :) One night, we met up with my friends who I met in Colombia, Hamish and Nicki, who were at a bar with live music. Calvin, who Jackie and I met in Ios (and who Jackie has hung out with a couple times already in London), also met us out. Hamish and Nicki heard about this super totally awesome new club that was opening up near Fulham so we decided to head over there, but the crowd of people out front was ridiculous. We walked over the bridge to Putney and found a place we didn't have to wait in line for. On the way, Haz and David met up with us (the other two that I met in Colombia). It was so good to see them all again! Just like meeting back up with Jackie, I think the reason it is so fun for me is because I'm STILL traveling and they aren't, ha ha ha. Noo, it's just a really neat thing. They are all working pretty hard now in banking so Hamish was out in his suit and carrying around his UBS binder, while Nicki was carrying around a bag with her change of clothes. They didn't have time to go home and change since they work so late, but they still came out to see me, how nice! The place we went was pretty cool. It was a Thai restaurant by day and bar/lounge/club by night. Jackie was pulling me on the dance floor one minute and the next she falling asleep in a chair so we got a taxi home around 2:30am. I bet you're surprised it wasn't me falling asleep, weren't you? The next day Jackie and I walked around London, attempted some shopping but failed and made a delicious fruit salad (random). So shopping in London is insane. It's not my favorite thing to begin with, but when you add piles of clothes on the floor and lines for fitting rooms, then I lose interest very quickly. Monday was my last night in London so Jackie and I went out to a nice Sushi dinner after looking at yet another place for her to live (we aren't dating, even though it might seem like it haha). Hamish texted me that he was going out to a pub near Fulham and asked if we wanted to go. Hamish and David live in Fulham as well as Jackie's friends who we were staying with. We found out that they live less than 200 meters from each other, weird! So Jackie and I met Hamish at a pub and David was supposed to meet us when he got off work (around 11:30pm!), but the pub closed before he could get there. Rough life! I went back to pack my bag because I had to get up early for my flight to Dublin. Sections of the underground have been under construction, causing a lot of delays so I was a bit worried about my journey to the airport. I left as soon as I could get myself going and of course the underground was slower than usual. I had about 15 stops total before changing to a train to Stansted Airport. Each stop turned into two stops because we were stopped at the red light mark (when there is a delay) and then again at the actual stop. The guidebook said the train ticket was 14.50 pounds and since it's a 2007 edition and a little dated, I figured it was probably 16.50 at most. I had exactly 17 pounds left to buy my train ticket and it was 17.70, ugh. So I used 16 of the pounds and paid the rest on credit card, lame. I bought the ticket at 9:54am and the next train was leaving at 9:55 or not again until 10:15, but I was already running a little behind schedule, so the guy told me to run. I just laugh when I look back at me running to the train terminal with all my bags..you can laugh at me too, it's ok. I arrived at the airport an hour before my flight, had to go to the self check in first and then wait in another line to check my bag. I flew with Ryanair so the checked bag absolutely has to be under 15kg. Mine was 11kg, phew. My flight number was 211, gate number was 42 but then changed to 44 (multiple of 11) and after I sat down on the plane (Ryanair is open seating), I looked up to see that I was (not on purpose) in row 11. If you know about my weird connection with the number 11, then that right there is a weird day. If only my departure was at 11:11, bummer. Then I start thinking that maybe too many 11's cancel each other out and this plane is on the fast track to Plummet-ville. But yeah, I love flying...

I landed safely in Dublin and was greeted with beautiful grey skies and crystal clear rain drops, gorgeous. After lucking out with 60% or more of sunshine in England, I was not prepared for the gloom of Ireland. I took the bus from the airport and I met a nice Irish girl who knew exactly where my hostel was so she told me what stop to get off at. I checked into my room, checked my email, and thought I would go back to my room for a nice nap. I feel like I haven't caught up since Greece, maybe even Spain, yikes! In my room, I met a nice Brazilian girl who was on her way out for a walk and asked if I wanted to go with her. I didn't really have a good reason not to, so I went. Turns out, it was more about running errands for her, but it was still nice to get out and see some things. She wanted to take some pictures at Trinity College (University of Dublin)and asked for my camera to take pictures of me. It was unexpected, but nice, and now I have some pictures of myself which is harder to do when I'm on my own. We went to a couple shops where she had to return some things and then dropped something off for her friend who was also Brazilian and very nice. They invited me to Pizza Hut later on haha, I said sure, but didn't end up going. Pizza Hut in Dublin? Come on.. Next stop was a department store. Priscilla (my new Brazilian friend) spent almost an hour looking at make up. I wandered off for a while and when it finally seemed like she was getting close to buying something, she couldn't decide between two colors of lip gloss. She tried one on, looked at herself glamorously in the mirror, wiped it off, tried the next one, looked, wiped, tried the first one again. OK, just pick one! An announcement over the loudspeaker said the store was closing in 10 minutes, thank god! I could have just walked back but I really didn't have anything else to do and despite her lack of English, it was nice to have company. I went to bed at 9:30 that night, ridiculous I know, but I like sleep, A LOT and I've been missing out on my required 8 hours. This morning, I debated a bus tour of Dublin, but in the end I just decided to walk the same route the bus would take. I had the map and the points of interest, so it was a self guided tour. When I got to the Guinness Brewery, I thought it would be nice to go in. I don't even like Guinness, but it seemed like the right thing to do in Dublin. It was also a self guided tour, and it was more like a museum than actually going into the brewery which I would have liked better. I met someone later that told me they don't let people in where they make the beer because Guinness is owned by Budweiser (I didn't know that, is it true?) so it would look weird to see a bunch of Bud on the production like of the famous Guinness brewery. It is 7 stories and the top is all glass with a 360 degree view of Dublin, very nice! I walked through Temple Bar which is very old buildings with cobble stone streets and apparently where the good night life is. Hopefully I will be able to experience it one night. Jackie texted me this evening and told me she is looking into meeting me in Dublin tomorrow! She said she has one more little travel bug to get out of her system before she starts work in London. I'm still waiting to hear back form her, but I would be soo happy if she came here. I booked a tour for the weekend called the Paddywagon Tour. A bus picks the group up on friday morning at 8am and the first stop is Galway. Day 2 we head south to Kilkarney and day 3 we go through Cork on our way back to Dublin. So if Jackie doesn't come, I will have plans, but if she does then she can join me.

I fly home on tuesday, less than 140 hours from now. I can't believe how fast 5 months has gone, but I also can't believe how much I've done. I will save the sappy "looking back" stuff for the last blog when I get home because my trip isn't over yet!