Dublin (III)

Monday morning we decided enough was enough with the souvenirs shoved in our locker. We went to the post office, bought two boxes and brought them back to the hostel to be stuffed. I managed to pack up everything I wanted to and my box was popping at the seams. But back at the post, we taped up every edge and wrote the address three times, and wrote 'fragile' and/or 'handle with care' on every side. The damages to ship overseas? My box weighed 3.1 kg (6.8 lbs) and cost 57€ ($85). Dee's however, weighed about 8kg (17.6 lbs) and cost about two weeks worth of food at 123€ ($184). Absolutely ridiculous. And we were incredulous, then pissed. But really we had no choice because we couldn't fit any of the stuff we bought in Ireland in our bags.

Following this financial catastrophe we had a poor-man's lunch at Burger King, but it was good (note: BK no longer exists in France). Then to make ourselves feel better, we went to a semi-expensive clothes store and tried some stuff one then left without buy anything.

The first actual thing we did that day was head to the southwest of Dublin until we saw the grandiosity of St. Patrick's Cathedral. It's famous because it's the biggest one in Dublin, or Ireland? I don't remember. But Jonathon Swift was also the dean for some time, and while I don't know most of his work, I really like his essay on Irish babies and Gulliver's Travels. Of course it was pretty inside, and smelled amazing because they were burning large quantities of incense. There were also some of the oldest flags I've ever seen hanging up there. They had some stones which covered the well that St. Patrick used to baptise his converts, and Jonathon Swift's... well a place for him if not his actual remains, but I think they were under there. They had a nice little gift shop too, and we each bought ourselves a really nice copy of Gulliver’s Travels. We also found out what St. Patrick is the saint of… Ireland. Even though neither of us pray, we took a nice little repose in the chairs and admired the alter before heading off to our next stop.

Dublin Castle. We did things a little backwards and started with the gift shop. I found a shot-glass with the coat of arms for Barrett, but not Kilpatrick… oh well. We completely missed the entrance in our search, but found the gardens instead. We later found out that they were the site of the original ‘black water’, which in Gaelic is Dubh-linh… look familiar?

We did find the entrance, but not before Dee decided to be weird and take pictures of me while she was laying on the ground. One of which looks very Mary Tyler Moore-ish if you ask me. Dublin Castle was also only by guided tour, but it wasn’t that boring and we learned quite a bit… like how the English monarchy hasn’t visited Ireland since the 1800’s, and something about a sir Earl de Grey doing something there… but now he’s just famous for his tea. They also have some of the original castle from Viking times. One of the four towers still stands, but the tour guide brings you underneath one of the wings to see part of another tower and where it meets the wall that surrounded the city. I love old shit like that.

We left around 4pm, and decided to head to the hostel for some dinner. While cooking and eating we started talking to two guys, one from Texas and the other Australia. We all decided to see that night’s movie (the hostel had movie night every night at 8pm), and then we invited them to a game of Kings. For this occasion I thought we should Irish, so we bought some ginger ale and 70cl of Jameson. (Later note: it was 25.99€ in Ireland and only 17€ in France.) Dee and I finished the bottle, and I will admit what happened next is not one of my proudest moments. But after the game ended, I left to go to the bathroom…and woke up an unknown amount of time later still in the bathroom. I figured it was early in the morning and that Dee was already in bed, with our room key since I didn’t have it. So I made my way to the front desk to ask for another, which cost me 1€. But when I got in the room, Dee wasn’t there. Sometime later on in the morning she came in, but without our original room key. It seemed we were missing a few other things as well: our locker key, my glasses, and our sweatshirts. As it turns out, she never had the room key, so when I disappeared she couldn’t get in our room either. But there was an empty bed in the room that the two guys were in, so she slept there. Unfortunately when she left in the morning she didn’t take note of the room number.

For the next half and hour to 45 minutes we searched for the right room. This involved knocking on four doors, getting the key to two others, and eventually finding the right one. Our sweatshirts were there, but not the glasses or the locker key. I finally went to the front desk to admit we lost it and to inquire about my glasses. Supposedly no one had turned in either one, but the locker key they gave le was the same one I had had before. I asked three times about my glasses with no luck. After a nap and some brunch, I decided to ask again. When they said no again, I asked if they could send them to me if they were found. So I’m writing down my address, and the girl asks me to describe them… oOh! … goes in the back… “are these them?” No shit Sherlock… why didn’t you look back there any of the other times I asked? But at least I got them back.

Dublin (II)

Sunday morning w got up early (for us), had breakfast and planned our day. Then we headed out into the gray day. After a bit of a walk (but without getting lost) we arrived at our first destination: the Old Jameson Distillery. In case you're wondering, it's the original place they made Jameson whiskey, actually until somewhat recently. They take you through on a guided tour that tells all about the history and how it's made. Then at the end you get a glass of Jameson either straight or with something (I chose ginger ale = not bad). But not everyone got a glass because they chose six people to do a whiskey tasting, and Dee volunteered. So these six people sat down at a table with a placemat that had spots for six shot glasses. On the bottom three were Irish whiskeys: Paddy's, Jameson and Power's Gold. They had to try all three and then put their favorite one in the center top spot. The other two spots were for the best-selling whiskeys in the world from Scotland and the States. I don't remember the Scottish one, but can you guess the American? Jack Daniel's. Then they had to try those two and compare it with their favorite Irish one. After they chose our tour guide told us he would be right back, and he wanted all of their shots gone by the time he did. He came back with certificates for all of the tasters saying that they are official whiskey tasters, and a small glass of straight Jameson. Needless to say Dee was a little more than tipsy by the time she finished. We were going to buy some souvenir, but it was only 11h45, and you can't buy alcohol before 1230 on Sunday in Dublin. So we wasted some time and tried to sober up a little in the café.

Our next stop of the day was the Guinness Storehouse. It took forever to get there, and we ended up walking around an entire block, which we believe contains the actual factory. While going back up one street, our eyes caught a sign for the storehouse, and five more minutes of following huge signs (which should've been at the tram stop), we made it into the storehouse. It was a self-guided tour, and there were seven floors. Not that bad for a museum about beer. At one point they give you a little cup to taste it, and on the 7th floor you get a free pint. The 7th floor is the 'gravity bar'. It's just a circular room with a bar in the middle. All of the walls are windows, which means you get a 360° view of Dublin. While the city itself holds no beauty from above, it's nice to see Dublin is hugged by green hills on side. And I'll admit in the confines of this blog of a crime I committed: theft. On the bottom floor there's a big tub with barely grains, the same kind that's used to make the actual Guinness! Well, I grabbed a handful and put it in my bag... later I sent it to the states. Hopefully customs doesn't think I'm trying to grow a terrorist plant or something. (Later note: they didn't, my package made it home) Dee and I could only finish half of our pints... too much bitter frothiness for me... aside from the fact that I really don't like beer.

All that morning alcohol made us quite hungry so we walked towards the zoo and found a little place to eat. This is where we committed our second crime of the day. First there's something you all should understand: European service is not like American where the people rely on tips. All of the little things we do in restaurants to get the servers attention, or let them know you're done, don't work. At this place we tried several: staring the waitresses down, pushing our plates away from us, and then stacking them and putting them on the edge of the table... and we got no service. Dee hadn't even eaten hers because it was gross...so we decided to go back downstairs to see if we should pay there. There was no one there, so Dee walked right out and I was forced to follow. So that saved us 11€. But karma did bi us in the ass and by the time we got to the zoo (around 4pm) it was just closing. Instead of attempting to do anything else we took a double-decker bus back to the city center and made the not really short haul back to our hostel to nap.

That night we went in search of a true Irish pub experience. This of course included wandering around a lot and wondering where exactly we were and in which direction we were headed. Guess what we found... Captain America's restaurant, as well as three BK's and McD's within ten minutes of each other, and a TGI Fridays. Feels like home. After changing directions in the same square about four times we finally agreed on a street to take, just to whip out our map and admit we were tourists. After quelques minutes, someone came over to ask if we were lost. Nope, just looking for a good pub. He recommended heading over to Temple Bar, which is actually a quartier, but there is an actual bar with that name inside. To this suggestion Dee replied, ' oh no., that's where you send all the tourists.' So he told us about the bar that his brother owns, and at which there would be live music that night. Well then, off we go! But wait! On our way, (in fact about three buildings down) we had to stop, for we had come across a pub named "The Hairy Lemon". Cozy little place with some great American tunes on the radio. We only stayed for a one expensive pint of Stella before starting our search again. Amazingly we found the place without getting lost. Well, the one time we took out the map we looked across the street and there it was. There was a bouncer, so we got carded, but he was funny. After discovering our true nationality he raised his hand and said to me, 'high five!' As I went in for it he pulled his back and said, ' oh, what am I American?' Dee fell for the same thing on the way out.

Inside, the music hadn't start yet, so with a Jameson and ginger and a beer at our table, we commenced a game of connect four. But first we had to play 'rock, paper, scissors' to see who would go first. We were going for best two out of three, but the bitch of it was, we pulled the same thing five times in a row. However I kicked her ass about 3/4 of the time. We stayed for two drinks each and the first musician. As we were leaving the bouncer informed us that the next guy was really good and we should stay for at least one song. With a rum and coke to share, we listened to four or five because he was actually pretty good.

And so ends the Sabbath in Dublin.

Vacance: Third Leg: Dublin (I)

When we first got off the plane it was nice and completely cloudy, but warmer than Germany. Everything was going great, until we got off the bus and onto the actual streets of Dublin. It took us around an hour (carrying our now heavy bags full of souvenirs) to find our hostel. First stop: internet café followed by food at Madigan's (which you can find by walking about ten minutes in any direction). Since most places in Dublin close around 5pm, we decided the perfect thing to do would be to go shopping! But it was mostly for other people. After dropping some €'s at Carroll's and then bringing it all back to the hostel, we went in search of the one thing that was still open: Dracula's House/ haunted house. Just getting there was an adventure in itself. It took about 20minutes walking through drizzle to find Connelly Station. Then we got on the wrong DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit), which would be better named Sloth. Eventually we did get there though. The first part you just walk through this semi-dark hallway with a lot of info one Bram Stoker and where Dracula came from, as well as posters from a lot of the movies based on the book. Then you go into the 'haunted house' part of it, which was amusing, but not really scary.

When we came out, the guy that works there started talking to us, which was just as fun because he's a comedian. After a little while he asked us if we wanted to have some fun... Yes? He took us back into the haunted house to this little tiny room in the middle. Inside he showed us how you could scare people in four different place just from there. So we did a rehearsal then came out to await our victims. About ten minutes later two guys that worked somewhere else in the building went in for the first time. We gave them about five minutes, and then ran in to take our places. But while running down the first hallway part, Dee did a wondrous face plant. Her initial speed allowed her to slide a few feet face down, with her arms at her sides. With the sliding and the way she was flapping her arms, my mind was inspired to superimpose the image of a seal over her and I almost peed myself laughing so hard. Thankfully she wasn't actually hurt, and we did scare the crap out of those two guys. After that we were talking to the guy a little more, and he told us a few good places to go in Dublin.

While we ere waiting for the DART (we had about fifteen minutes), these two kids (I'm guessing about 12) starting hanging around the stop. About five minutes after we first saw them, we heard yelling coming from the street below and next to the platform. We ran over to the fence and saw two cops booking it. A few moments later one came running back chasing one of the kids and yelling, "You bugger! Stop! Get back here!" Then the kid starts practically bawling and blubbering, "I didn't mean to! I won't do it again! I'm sorry; I don't know why I did it! I'm sorry, please don't tell my parents!" This was after the cop had caught up to him and shook the shit out of him. A few moments after that the second cop comes back with the other kid, pushing him along while gripping the back of his shirt. We saw them with some kind of can, so we think they were graffiti-ing. The whole scene was pretty hilarious and we were happy to have the free entertainment while we waited.

Once back in the city center we realized we were hungry, so we stopped at an Indian restaurant and ate...a lot. We ate so much in fact that we ditched our plans to go to a club and just walked around for a while before heading back to the hostel. When we got up to our room the guy in the bed under mine was already there...asleep. As we were getting into bed he said to us, "You two are crazy!" Dee asked why, and he repeated, "You two are just crazy!" I motioned to Dee to ignore him because he just sleep-talking. Then, after we had laid down he said, (and not too quietly) "As it was" and we both started laughing and woke up one of his friends. Strangeness.

By the end of our first day in Dublin we were happy, and looking forward to the next day's fun activities. How Dublin deceived us...

Deutschland (II)

I’m fairly certain that I caught a German bug on Halloween because the next day I was disproportionately sick for about four drinks. Unfortunately we had a full day ahead of us. One of Dee’s aunts had planned out the entire day for us. So I dragged my half-dead self out of bed around 9 and by 10 we were at her aunt’s house waiting for everyone to assemble. Although I don’t speak German, I did understand everyone looking at le saying ‘alcohol’ and giving me the pity look. Luckily most of them were outside already when I stumbled to bathroom to empty myself out.

I’ve already mentioned that Germans are crazy drivers, and uncle Willie was no exception. We piled into their mini-van with aunt and uncle in the front, Dee and I and her cousin Dinah in the middle, and her two other cousins Celina and Kristina in the back. I felt like death the whole 45 minute drive to breakfast where I couldn’t eat anything. Another fifteen to the Rhine River, which we crossed in a ferry. Despite my wretched state I did appreciate the beauty of the place. But my wretchedness overcame me soon after we parked on the other side and Dee’s whole family got to see me puke bright green into a sewer. Then I felt like a true ass because as her aunt (who was really nice) was holding my head, her camera fell into the sewer. Luckily they were able to fish it out and clean it off so looking back it’s kind of funny.

The first part of our day we just walked through the little streets of this town. Although I looked and felt like hell, some part of me enjoyed it. Our next stop was a really big statue on the side of the mountains lining the Rhine. Really amazing views, and as I was glued to a bench Dee took some nice photos for me. And as we were leaving my body decided to empty out again. I told Dee and she yelled to her family, “Don’t look she’s gonna blow again!” Thanks Dee.

Then it was in the van to drive to some more mountains to a former monastery. We didn’t spend much time there but the grounds were really pretty. After this we drove to a little restaurant to meet up with another aunt. We just had drinks, but they wanted to bring us there because the family butcher shop supplied meat to the place. Back in the ban for ridiculous mountain driving. I think Dee and I both had the same wondrous yet scared shitless expressions on our faces the whole time. This windy road led us to ‘Buena Vista’, a Mexican restaurant. So I tried my first enchilada in a German Mexican restaurant.

Her aunt told us that we had one more stop to make; we were going to visit her grandmother. So we drive back into their small town, nothing unusual about that. We stop in a driveway and get out and go through the gate, and I notice that there are no lights on in the house… strange. Also strange is that we were going into the yard and not towards the house. And that’s about when I realized that the ‘yard’ was full of tombstones. Oh! Right. Her aunt’s grandmother would be really old if she was alive, we’re just visiting her grave. That was little unexpected. Her aunt apologized for not fore-warning us and possibly spooking us. After this little adventure we finally went home so I could sleep off whatever was wrong with me.

Le lendemain (the next day), after breakfast we went for a walk with aunt Edie through the back and farm roads of Wopenroth (their town). We walked maybe three or four km, and it was really cold, and the fog made it hard to see really far, but what we could see was really pretty. We saw lots of farmland, and got up close to some cute cows too. On the way back we passed some walnut trees and then had fresh walnuts with maple syrup when we get back. One of my new favorite snacks.

Now normally lunch time isn't exactly blog-worthy, but this one is. Her aunt had been cooking a big pot of pasta sauce since the night before. C'était énorme! Delicious tomato sauce filled with peppers, onions, garlic and olive oil. She also had salad with homemade salad dressing, also quite delicious (and that's from someone who, as a general rule, doesn't like salad dressing). I think I gained about five pounds in that one meal. And sorry people, but there's just no way to describe the incredibleness that my mouth experienced during the meal. oh and I almost forgot, there was homemade, very chunky apple sauce as well, which tasted like a really good apple pie without the crust.

After lunch, and a little time of not being able to move, we drove to yet another relative's house. We only stayed a few minutes, then piled back in the car with a cousin (3rd I think) and her mother, then we went off to the Mosel River. First we stopped in a very old town. We really only walked around and window shopped, but it was still nice. Aunt Edie bought us each a champagne filled chocolate...I'm pretty sure if you ate three or four you could catch a buzz...ridiculously strong and not that tasty (the chocolate was).

After listening to her cousin's mother tell us that every other building was really old for about four streets we went back to the car and took a long scenic drive along the Mosel River. The river cuts through some low mountains, and on almost every possible useable part of lard there were vineyards. They went up the side of the hills/mountains, even in really steep places. For the hundredth time I'm sure, my pictures give a much better description than I can.

Once we got back we stayed at Peter and Krista's house for a while (Krista and her mom were the ones that came with us). We had some wine and tea and pie (cherry was delicious). Back at aunt Edie's we watched a movie and had some dinner. Later on we got ready to go out again, and around 10h30 Dee's cousin Dinah came to pick us and Hannah up. We took another semi- long and very frightening drive through the fog to Frankfurt to a club. Then we had to wait in line for awhile. Surprisingly we got in though I was doubting we would while the bouncer was glaring us and our ISIC cards down. But we got in, and it was crazy: four bars and three dance floors in one place. Oh and lots of German that we couldn't understand. I asked for a kamikaze, and they gave me a shot with regular, lemon and lime vodka...not what I wanted... oh well.

We only got about three hours of sleep before we had to get up to get ready for the airport. Everything went fine except for one thing. For some reason the customs officers had a problem with my visa and wouldn't let me into the departure gate for a good ten minutes. I was getting pretty scared by the time they let me through. But finally, to Dublin!

Vacance: the Second Leg: Deutschland (I)

Once we stepped off the train, we were reminded of one very important fact: kein deutsch (I don’t speak German). After finding our way to the ausgang (exit) we spent about fifteen minutes looking for the right bus stop. The bus took us to Hahn Airport, and was supposed to take 1h45m, but our driver managed t in 1h15m. Oh boy. Let me tell you all, I thought I was going to have to cash in my repatriation. He was an absolutely crazy driver, and we were the only ones on the bus. Later on we found out that all Germans are fucking insane on the road. Once at Hahn we had to wait or Dee’s aunt Edie to pick us up. By the time we finally got back to her place it was about 11pm so we just got settled in and went to bed. But guess what folks, we had real beds! At home our beds are just pieces of foam, and at the hostel in Amsterdam they were closer to stone, but these… She also had nice sheets and big thick comforters; it reminded me of my gramma’s house.

Wednesday (31 octobre), well actually every day we were there, we didn’t have to worry about finding something to do. Dee’s grandmother is from Germany and a lot of her family lives in one town, and they all wanted to see her and take us places. So Wednesday after breakfast we headed off to Idar-Oberstein with her aunt Edie. For those of you who, like me, don’t know a thing about stones and jewelry, this is a small German town that is world renown for jewelry-making and dealing stones (like diamonds, lapis lazuli, etc). She took us to the gemstone museum, which I thought would be slightly boring but turned out not to be. People have made some amazing things with stone, examples of which you can find on photobucket.

After this we had lunch and walked around the town a little bit. Also in this town is a church that was built into the rock face of a mountain/hill. There are stairs to get up to it, and also the mountain is sort of tiered with lanes and houses on each one. It was a really beautiful thing to see. The drive to and from this town was also beautiful thanks to the German countryside.

A little while after we got back we took a very short drive to where more of Dee’s family lives, and we a met a bunch of them because a little cousin was having a birthday party. Now the Germans have it right in this respect. At this party, there was no pizza, no snacks, and no finger foods. There were two different things on the tables: coffee and cakes. There were three tables, and each one had two different types of cake. I had a piece of mostly chocolate marble cake with glaze, and two amazing pieces of German chocolate cake with frosting that had the consistency of a light mousse, but tasted like hot fudge and made me want to eat myself sick (but I didn’t). Eventually we escaped the cakes and made it back to aunt Edie’s. We relaxed for a while and had dinner there.

Around 10pm, Dee did my face and we joined her cousin Hannah on a trip to a nearby town. In case anyone didn’t catch the date, it was Halloween and we were going to a party. It was in an old airplane hangar, and there was a band, Paddy Goes to Holyhead (we later learned they’re quite popular). Her cousin apologized because the drinks were expensive at 2-3€, and was astounded when we told her how much we pay: 5-8€. But it was a fun time, and the band was good. We ended up buying two of their cds and got free lighters. They’re German but have Irish sounding music and Irish accents when speaking English, they also sing in English. Since neither one of use spoke German, we thought it would be fun (and it was) to say our few random phrases to people as they passed us. These phrases are: kein deutsch (no German), wilkomenn (welcome), and salzt und pfeffre bitte (salt and pepper please). We also shook the people’s hands while saying this to them. Most people just laughed and brushed it off, but one guy actually started talking to us because he knew both English and French. We ended up jigging (not a real jig though) to a couple of songs. After the band was done Dee and I took over the stage, and I even got to dance with their electric fiddle player! All in all it was a really fun night and we didn’t get to bed until 4am.

Vacance: the First Leg: Amsterdam

We arrived on time, 11h15, and I learned my first word of Néerlandais: Uitgang = sortie = exit. Yay! Canals run through the city and some buildings are right on the water, as in open a window on one side, look straight down and see canal. The whole country is actually below sea level if I remember correctly, and hence the name 'Holland' ~ 'hollow land'. It was very strange being in a place where I didn't understand any of the signs or native language. But thankfully owing to the ridiculous amounts of Anglophones that visit, almost everyone speaks English. I heard a lot of English, though sometimes it took a long time to realize that it was actually English coming from an Irishman’s mouth...so I think we might be a little screwed when we get to Ireland.

Most of the city seems really dark, I think it might be because the streets are kind of small, and the buildings are kind of high, dark-colored and right on top of each other. Although the streets were dark, the open places (French style) were pretty, and so were some of the big city buildings. Our hostel was right in the red-light district, so it was close to everything, but not on a really crazy street with the actual red lights on the buildings. We met a group of Australian students who are also studying in France, but in Lille (up north).

Our first day we just walked around a lot. I tried falafel for the first time. It wasn't bad, but I think I'm set with it for at least a month. The pigeons in Amsterdam are incredibly fat, and they reminded me of my cat Mindy with their fat, round bodies and their little heads. After walking around some more we stopped at a coffee shop and people-watched for a while. I've got to say, the people in Amsterdam are a step-down from France. They're a little better with the smell, but in the facial area... not so good. Although there are ton of tourists.

That evening we went to Madame Tussaud's wax museum. They had a live-actor section with a Pirates-like theme and Dee screamed so loud at one point. It was a lot of fun. Later that night we took a walk around the real red-light district. We walked down one street, then crossed a canal and walked back up the other side. Then we got adventurous and decided to take in a sex-show. It wasn't hard core or anything, but it was pretty hilarious, especially when the SM and the 'Caribbean dancer' woman found victims in the audience.

The next day, Sunday, we walked around some more until we decided to figure out the tram to get to some museums a little ways away. We managed to get tickets, get on the right line, and get off near our first museum... the Van Gogh Museum. It was four floors big: the bottom was an exhibit on Barcelona, the top showed mainly his influences. I took a picture of a Monet, and then two minutes later some one else got yelled at for taking a picture. So I have only one illegal photo, and it's not even a Van Gogh. Only about one and a half floors were actually Van Gogh, but it was still nice.

Our next stop of the day was the Anne Frank House. Not recommended for people with walking problems, or those who have difficulties with stairs, or vertigo. I was on the smallest and steepest stairs in my life, and there were four floors. It was really interesting though. You can go in all of the rooms, and they explain each one. They also show what it looked like when they lived there, and had artifacts and quotes and stuff like ID cards and newspapers they read. It's not as depressing as we thought it would be. They also had two videos to watch, one of Miep, and another of a woman that knew Anne both before and at the concentration camp. It was very much worth the 7,50€ ticket.

Monday Kay and her friend were supposed to arrive, so Dee and I ate breakfast and stuff and waited until they did. More walking around, resting at a coffeshop, then a pizza place (the third time at that place for Dee and I), and a bar. We also went to the Sex Museum, which was funny. By 10pm we were all back at the hotel and ready for bed.

Tuesday morning we all had to pack up and check out. We had a wonderful breakfast at this place next door. Dee has some sandwich, Kay had the best omelette I've ever tasted, and her friend had a pancake (read: crepe) with bananas and chocolate sauce. I, my friends, had the best damn breakfast: pancake (plate-sized crepe), with creamy ice cream, a big mound of slagroom (whipped cream) and chocolate sauce. Oh god I was in heaven. And on top of finishing mine, I helped Kay with hers!

We managed to find and get on our train just fine. It was four hours long, but arrived on time. Around 8h30 we arrived in Deutschland, and that's all folks.

Vacances: Pre-Trip

The next week we calmed down a bit and finalized most of the plans for our trip. Tuesday we went to a free showing of "Un Verité qui Dérange" or..."An Inconvenient Truth" in English with French subtitles. They showed it at Polytech and hey, no surprise, it started 45 minutes late. Afterwards we went with JP and Sou to our friend Gilles dorm room for fajitas. Holy hell am I glad I don't live on campus.

Going back in time to Tuesday afternoon... crazy story. I finished up at the computer lab after class, and went down to the tram stop. The next one wasn't for 12 minutes. Five minutes later Dee shows up. So we wait another seven minutes but no tram came and the wait time went up to 20 minutes. No way. We go over to the bus stop and wait at least another 10 minutes. I didn't have to actually get on, the mass of students behind me just pushed me on. It was ridiculously full. About 2/3 of the way to our stop, the bus is trying to turn into a roundabout, and this car is trying to squeeze by on the right (remember, just like in the states, buses take wide right turns), so the bus hits him and he gets super pissed even though it was his fault. Really funny. But it took us over an hour to get home.

Thursday we packed and ate a bunch of food and finished a bottle of champagne. Friday we both got up early to go to our 9am classes. After my class I had a little bit of time to go back and finish packing and cleaning up a little bit. I couldn't find the paper on which I wrote things we wanted to do and directions so I spent some time tearing up my room looking for it and ended up leaving about 15 minutes later than I meant to. I actually left at the time I told Dee I would meet her up at the centre-commercial and we didn't find each other until fifteen minutes before our train was to leave. But we got on the train with everything else and then I left my scarf on the navette (I believe). We arrived on time and made it to the Charles de Gaulle airport just fine. Then we hit a streak of bad luck and waiting in line. To make it short: we waited to see our flight on the departure board and when it didn't after about an hour we asked someone who told us we were in the wrong terminal. So, to the other end of the airport where they had even better news... our flight had been cancelled thanks to a cabin crew strike, and they didn't have any more flights to Amsterdam until the next day. The first terminal we were in had some flights, so back we went. It took about 20 minutes to get there and then to find the ticket counter. Once in line we waited over two hours to get to the counter. During this time Dee and I went insane. We had a small picnic, and sang many, many songs. All of that to find out that all the flights to Amsterdam until Sunday afternoon were either cancelled or booked. Maybe we could try a train? Fine. We found a train for the next morning at 6h55 out of a different train station. We took them for 101 euros each and went back into the city to the other train station. It was after 11pm when we got there. We had dinner and decided to try to stay up all night in either a bar or a club. This didn't quite work and after dinner and coffee we went in search of a hotel. We went to four of them before finding one with an open room and wasn't too expensive. We slept for about five hours before waking up and getting back to the train station. Our train arrived on time, we got on ok, and it left on time.
And now commences the story of our vacation.