Ireland

Dublin was awesome!  Very touristy...got at the hostel very early in the morning and could not check in until after 2pm.  So....I went on a FREE walking tour and checked out some historical places, the city hall, Trinity College, etc.  Also, that night I ran into this awesome live wind/drums band and enjoyed some really awesome and authentic music.  Yup, I was that tourist head banging to the music in the crowd!  :)  Then I went to Belfast, searched for my hostel for almost half the day because I could not find it, finally found it, booked my ferry over to Scotland and went to dinner and that is all I had time for in Belfast, Ireland.  Belfast was definitely not my favorite, a little bit scary actually.  The hostel was even worse.  The shower did not drain and the hostel itself seemed like it was going to crumble down.  Needless to say I woke up at 430 am in order to catch a 6am taxi lol, yup it was THAT bad.  Now, I am in Scotland.  While I was on the ferry, I met a random Irish man that lived in Scotland and he showed me around the really nice hilly parts of Scotland.  So, random and although I may have been a little too trusting getting in a car with an Irish man, it saved me money and fortunately did not cost me my life and I had a fabulous time enjoying the non-touristy areas of the hills and lochs (lakes)--beautiful and breath-taking!  Here are some pictures from Ireland and some from the live band we saw.  The music was awesome.  Keep posted for some more things from Scotland.  I will be going to the castle and a place where the Queen stays while she is in Edinburgh, Scotland and then maybe a little hike in one of their parks.  This has been freakin' awesome so far.  Tried posting pictures and it is just taking WAYYY too long.  Sorry folks, maybe when I actually have some time on my hands.

thanks again all for your thoughts, prayers, and support,
Anne