BALLS!

Was up at a reasonable hour yesterday, about 10:30, and headed into Derry with Patsy to walk the walls. They're about 400 years old, and have been used to defend the city from invaders for centuries. We had the best of intentions to join one of the walking tours, but we arrived 10 minutes after it had started and were sort of told that we would just have to wait for the next one. Anyway, we toured ourselves around and had a grand time. We had the best of intentions (again) to go to the Bloody Sunday Center, but as we pulled up, the shutters were closing to the building. This one wasn't our fault though; the posted hours said 1-4 and we arrived at 2. So there's no knowing what was going on. Anyway, we went past the memorial and then headed back towards Strabane. Since we had extra time to kill, Patsy took me back up to the Glen (as we were leaving the day before, I thought to ask him about taking a picture of the Glenmornan sign. Of course I asked him once we were well past all signs for the Glen, so he, being the gentleman he is, took me back) to take my picture. It ended up being a brilliant plan because the sun was shining and had burned off a lot of the fogginess that had obstructed it in pictures from Friday. So we both got beautiful pictures looking down the glen, and I got my picture with the signpost. All was well with the world.

We headed back to Patsy's to rest up before getting ready for the ball! I told Patsy that I'd be ready to go before him, and was so right :) He looked quite dashing in his tuxedo, and I felt awkward wearing flats to a ball, but c'est la guerre. We went to some more cousins for drinks before the ball (Tommy and Caroline Kelly's house, and Jared and Ann Devine were there as well... don't ask me what the connection is, because we were having a hell of a time trying to sort out how EXACTLY we're all related. But we are. Related.), and then two of the Kelly kids (hah. I say kids, but they were my age. Which was strange...I was hanging out with people whose kids I rightfully could be hanging out with. Luckily I was born aged 40, so I fit right in) drove us to the hotel where the ball was being held. We had suuuch an amazing time!!!!! Caroline, Ann and I were photographed for the Chronicle (which Chronicle, I couldn't tell you. But the girls made Patsy swear up and down that he'd send the picture to Mom and Dad if it gets printed), and we had a beautiful steak and potato dinner with Baked Alaska for dessert, and then we DANCED to lots of 80s pop and ABBA in particular. Some older stuff, some more recent stuff, but mostly 80s pop. Was SO MUCH FUN. Even though I was the youngest of the group by 20 years, I was the one who kept trying to sit and take a breather, only to be dragged back to the dance floor by one of the others... I was completely out-classed in terms of my partying endurance. COMPLETELY. So maybe in 20 years I'll have reached their level of partying... but I doubt it. Left the hotel around 3:30, and went back to Tommy and Caroline's for post-ball snacks and craic. We left there around 4:45. Holy shit.

Back to Patsy's by 5, brief shower and straight into bed because I had to be up and packed and ready to go at 8:30. With 3 hours of sleep under my belt, Patsy and I headed to his parents house this morning for me to meet up with Bert, my knight in shining armor. He was driving back home to County Clare today (just outside of Limerick), so I got to travel with him rather than have to take buses to Dublin THEN Limerick, Tralee and ending in Dingle. His wife, Yvonne, made us soup and sandwiches for lunch, and we had the loveliest visit in their home. She is truly one of the sweetest women I've ever met. Having known her for less than 2 hours, she was already inviting me and up to 5 of my friends to visit her and Bert, and to stay in the area with them for a weekend. She was just a lovely lovely creature. Plus, she's 6mos pregnant, and has that blissful pregnancy beauty about her. Wonderful. So those two took me into Limerick to the bus station where I caught the Rt13 bus to Tralee at 3:30. I pretty much conked out for that ride, and we arrived at 5:25 in plenty of time for me to catch the 6pm bus to Dingle. You know, the one that runs Monday through Saturday. Oh wait, today is SUNDAY. Riiight. Meaning the last bus was at 4:15. Riiiight. Awesome; it's great that I can read.

So anyway, a kind, un-judgmental man at the bus station told me how to get to the lovely Castle Hostel just a few blocks away from the station, and here I am! Went for a pint of Smithwick's (Coach Kelly will be SO PROUD) and some soup and a sandwich for dinner, and met two Americans who had just hiked around the Dingle peninsula this past week. Took them the entire week. They were nice enough, but I'm wiped. Am back now getting ready to conk out for a few hours. Breakfast ends at 9:30, so plan is to get myself downstairs in time for that, and then bop around Tralee til the bus at 11:30 to Dingle. Probably will just vegetate in the park for a while. In all, I'm just glad to have a roof over my head and direction for tomorrow. I'll be meeting up with my friend Claire Dingle tomorrow in the town of Dingle (can you guess why she wanted to go there?). Maybe we'll swim with Fungee the dolphin :) That would be a craic. About to pass out from exhaustion, so til next time, kids...