The Emerald Isle.

Day 1 of the European Chronicles

My days blurred together from San Francisco, CA to Dublin, IR. It was like all those times where you wanted time to go by faster because you couldn´t wait for your birthday or Christmas. But this time it actually happened. The day lasted only 12 hours for me. I feel like May 25, 2009 was wiped away from my mental record. A stop in Philadelphi, PA. A stop in Frankfurt, Germany and I finally arrive in Dublin. Now its May 26. I hop off the bus and I find myself in the middle of Dublin´s City Centre. Thinking I don´t have that far to go, I decide to lug my 50lb bag toward my hostel. Dragging a 50lb bag over 2 miles is no easy task unless you just graduated from Navy Seal BUDS. Taking in all the hustle around me I trudge along with my green beast of a bag, and thats when the delightful Irish Rains downpoured. There´s a reason its so green here. The sun never shines, and the rain can threaten you at any time. Its extemely beautiful and green in Dublin, I just wasn´t appreciating it on my long bagwalk. A little look around the hostel, Kinlay House, a small rest from travel, and I head out and about Dublin for a little walk around. A very clean city with wonderfuly friendly people and welcoming to all internationals. The reason: its expensive as all hell. A pint of Guiness (because its almost sacriledge to order anything else) can run you 6 euro (9 bucks). And you´re not even at a football game. I tramped around the Temple Bar District which is full of the international travelers and walked around the open air markets full of fruits and vegetables, and decided to head back in. Its 11pm by this time, and the jet lag just dominated me. I crammed 2 and a half days into one and a half days, and my body knew it.

Day 2 - Part 1

A good nite´s rest in the hostel, reminded me much of my old FT days in the dorms. A quick shower, a piece of toast, and I head back toward the City Centre for some fruit at the market. 5 serving a day right? I walk back to the west side of Dublin for some awesome touristing. A mile or so from the market and I find myself at the Guiness Storehouse, where all the magical Guinessing started. I took the tour because I think Kevin would kill me if I was in Dublin and didn´t appreciate all the Guiness I could. Although the tour is a bit touristy for my liking, it was quite informative, and at the end, you get the best Guiness of your life with a 360 view of Dublin at the Gravity Bar. After my rest at the Storehouse, I trekked toward the Northern side of Dublin to Phoenix Park, the largest city park in Europe. From Golden Gate to Phoenix. The green in Phoenix Park is overwhelming. The serene sense you receive is fantasy like. A white rabbit could have hopped out at any second to lead me on an even more crazy adventure. I looped back around the city and headed back to home camp. A long nite lay ahead due to the upcoming UEFA Cup...

Part 2

A quick nap and I´m awaken by my Aussie bunkmates, just in time for the UEFA cup to start. If they didn´t come bustling in I could have slept right thru it. I tagged along with them for a quick bite at Quizno´s (I know, such authentic Irish food) and a pint, which was the cheapest in all Ireland at 2.5 euros. If it had a tv, we would have stayed there to watch the game. Instead, we found a pub and sat for a few beers to watch Barcelona dominate Manchester United. We moved on soon after to a pub which proclaimed authentic Irish music, but really just played Hendrix and Led Zeplin. That didn´t put a damper on the fun. The Aussies have one of the coolest sense of humor and are extremely playful and jolly. Imagine a laid back California vibe with a sharp sense of British Humor. I can only imagine what they thought of me as I called out every girl and asking them "What part of the States are you from?". I shooting about 25%. We had a blast at the pubs, however expensive they were and headed back to the hostel. A great nite with my new Aussie Friends, Mark, Brent, and Annette (Its official since we´re facebook friends). Pictures to come once I get a computer up and running.

Day 3

I grabbed some Breakfast with the Aussies, gathered my gear up and left to the airport, Madrid bound. Another one of those Days that flies by due to travel. Fill you in more as I start my Spanish adventures.

As always, if you´re in Spain, and would like to ride a train on the plain when it rains, just grita "Angeloco, Angeloco, donde esta"... I´ll find you...

-Angelo

"No man is rich enough to buy back his past."
-Oscar Wilde

Graduation.... And off the continent...

Week of 20-26 (Graduation Week) & Day 27

(Sorry no pics, my computer is on the blink and I need to invest in a power converter)

Graduation week went by like a blur. Justin's long awaited Master's Degree conveyed to him through rigorous reading and tortuous writings is well deserved. I realized that someone with a master's degree is definately immersed in their discipline. There is no real way to fool your committee into accidently giving you a master's. Also, if you want to go into a deep conversation surrounding the public voice found by outlying public groups and how they use that voice to impact change in the public sphere, by all means, call Justin (559)2*7-65*9. Once the degree was officially his, the party officially commenced. A week full of celebrations surrounded by family and friends, as all life milestones should be.

After continuous commencement celebrations, it was time to head out of Fresno, CA and move on to San Francisco, CA just for the night. Justin & Beth sent me off in true style. (And with one of the coolest plane pillows ever, and it totally worked, i'd be even more dead without it right now, Thanks Beth) Walking around Union Square and hitting a couple shops for that last American sentiments. We grabbed some sushi with Jacob and Christa and then it was time to savor the last of the SF nitelife. The Gold Dust drinking hole is located just across the street from Union Square and it has boot kicking ditties playing all nite long. Koji along with his crew of crazy asian compratriots joined us along with Evan and Ed. Gather more than 4 gauchos in a room and tornado sirens start going off. Jameson and Guiness were the orders of the nite due to some friendly Irish we met, coincidence. We shut down/Eiki got booted out, at around 2. A few more good byes and it was off to the airport. Jacob dropped me off approx. at 4am and off to Dublin I went.

A 4 hour layover in Frankfurt,Germany turned into a 6 hour layover due to delays, which didn't help my headache from lack of good sleep and excess of firewater. Another quick jaunt over the channel and I find myself put up in Dublin, Ireland. Which is where I am talking to you today.

Tomorrow lies Guiness factory tours and various other Emerald Isle excursions.
If your on this side of the Channel and you want to see how the Mexi-American do it in Ireland...give me a call... I'll be around...

This concludes 'The California Chronicles'.

-Angelo

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -Lao Tzu

P.S.: If you would like a cool post card, or something of that sort, email me your address and I'll see what I can do?!?! AAAustin63@gmail.com