Irish Hospitals

Ireland - not entirely sketchy... just the bits in Dublin.

We left to Ireland on Saturday afternoon and flew via Ryanair - a very good, cheap option for flying throughout Europe if you don't mind flight delays on every flight you're on. Anyhoo, since there are lots of people who want to fly cheap, the flights are almost always full. On our flight, I met two very nice English ladies, and one not so nice English lady who didn't cover her mouth when she coughed (I promise this will make sense and tie in.... but I'm kind of hopped up on cold pills...).

Anyways, when we got to Dublin, we took a taxi into town because we didn't really know where our Hostel was located. 27 Euros later we we relieved to find that our Hostel wasn't in the section of Dublin that looked like Compton - instead, we were in the section that looked like regular L.A. The hostel itself though, was very nice. Very attractive Irish blokes at the front - check. 16 bed mixed-sex room - check. Token American girls who made me embarrassed to be American - check.

We walked around the city for about an hour and quickly realized that EVERYBODY bloody smokes there. We even saw 4 12 year-olds craned over a bridge sneaking puffs from a cigarette - gross. Then we went to a traditional Irish pub and I had Shepard's Pie, which was magnificent and got hit on by 3 drunk Irishmen - so neat! Then, to top things off, I saw a crack whore in the bathroom. No. For real. There was a scantly clad woman stuffing small ziploc bags containing white pills into another ziploc bag - sketchy. Then we walked the streets of Dublin and took in the live bands, leprechauns, and more drunk Irishmen.

The next day was wonderful though - we went on a tour to Wicklow, which is in the country. Basically we saw incredible lakes, churches, cemeteries, monasteries, more lakes, and sheep, lots of sheep. While we were hiking around, I noticed a complete lack of energy on my behalf - note the story starting to tie in and the real purpose behind this post :D - and a sore throat coming on.

I am very, very susceptible to strep throat/tonsillitis, hence the woman coughing on the plane would have done well to cover her f****ng mouth. Suffice it to say that by the time we got back at midnight, I could barely speak/breathe. At about 12:30, I had a full-on asthma attack and had to be transported to a hospital in an ambulance - which took longer than a cab to get to our hostel; standardized health care - strike one.

They rushed me right in to see a nurse, but no doctor. My nurse/ the only nurse on staff for the night was a freaking bitch and told me I was having trouble breathing because I forgot my inhaler - yeah. People who forget inhalers regularly throw up when struggling to breathe. She also repeatedly told me to calm down, which I was trying to do, but you know, not breathing for almost a minute is somewhat scary... crazy, right? Anyways, after a breathing treatment, I was told to go wait to see the doctor. It took FIVE FREAKING HOURS!!! Standardized health care - strikes two and three.

When I finally saw a doctor, she basically told the nurse to be nicer to me because I was obviously in respiratory distress and also had tonsillitis. Lame. After another breathing treatment, blood tests, and chest x-rays, I was finally released at about 6:30 in the morning.

There were many more exciting details, but suffice it to say, the last third of my time spent in Ireland was not fun - at all. I've been down and out for the past few days, but am finally feeling a little better today. We're going to Stratford Upon-Avon tomorrow and I'll be seeing Avenue Q tomorrow night, but I missed Stonehenge and am super sad about having to "rest" whilst in Europe. Friday we're headed to Paris and Barcelona, so hopefully this cold won't be any more of a nuisance.

Sorry about the rant/extended blog, but I'm kind of whiny right now. Overall, Ireland = fun; Irish hospitals = shame on you.

2 Days of Update

These are the e-mails to my parents from the last few days - sorry, I'm just so flippin' worn out!

July 14 -15

Yesterday - I went on walking tour of Shakespeare's London - amazing! We took a boat ride, saw the Globe, saw the place of the original Globe and other neat theatres, learned amazing facts - about roles, box offices, and the word "addiction" - strolled about a quaint street in London, and ate at the oldest pub in London - fish and chips, woot woo! - with some ginger ale. Note: do not go into a bar in London and ask for something non-alcoholic - the people will shame you. We also ate gelatto along the river Thames. Next we toured Westminister Abbey - PHENOMINAL!!!!!!! The energy was so strong from the hundreds of years of people and events. The paintings and architecture were fabulous. I teared up a time or two. Then, we went to a swanky little place and had tea, and I tried duck rolls, yum!, and then went back to the abbey to attend an evening service. It was, again, phenominal. They read from St. James and a choir sang. They sounded like angels and their voices filled the entire abbey. It was so moving. The last bit of the day was spent at the Globe - we saw "A Mid-Summer Night's Dream." We were "groundlings" which consisted of standing and watching the play. The play was the best production of that particular play I've ever seen, hiliarious! and dirty, but I was nearly in tears by the end because my feet hurt soooooooo badly. Yesterday was a really big day.


Today, I slept in because my knee hurt so bad, but I left about noon and walked around. I went down past this church and found a neat little street. We found a market and it's so much better than Wal-Mart. The food is soooo much better here! I can't get over it. It's healthy and filling and full of life and flavors - I will miss it. Plan on getting some chocolate as a souvenir - it's also much better here. Then we went to the National Gallery. I could have spent all day there. It's a free museum and they have hundreds of paintings. Picasso, Renoir, Cezanne, Rembrant, and Da Vinci! I saw my first Da Vinci today and then stayed and just looked for 20 minutes. It was brilliant. I don't think I've ever seen something that I connected with so quickly. This evening, we had tea and treats in a quaint garden cafe before watching "Twelfth Night" in a garden theatre - also great, although I liked last night's production more.

There's so much more, but I have to be up in a few hours. Tomorrow, we're going to the Tower of London, and we're hosting a fancy tea and crumpets party in our bedroom :D

Also, good thing I saved. Everything is freaking expensive here!

July 16

Well, I'm pretty much spent today. We do at least two things everyday, but it's starting to wear on me. I love being out in the city, and I don't want to waste any minute of being here, but it's hard to go go go all the time.
Today we woke up early and went to the Tower of London. It was so neat! There are so many figures in history that have been in that place that I'm really interested in. Sir Walter Raleigh was there for 13 years - I think that may have been the cruelest punishment; the man helped establish the new world for god's sakes - "hey! let's lock him up!" RUDE/very ironic. The towers were amazing and there were so many neat artifacts - carvings on walls from prisoners, an armory, suits of armor, chapels, and one very roomy/generous medieval jock strap that I got a close up picture of :D What was really interesting were the tiny suits of armor made for children - it's sad to think a six year old would have had to don those suits for any reason at all. (Oh, I got you a spoon from the Tower mom :D and, Dad, what the crap do you want? you're a difficult person to shop for - I was thinking a stein from Dublin???)

Anyways, after that we went to another art museum called the Tate Britain. They had a lot of modern art, and it wasn't that exciting - there were a few pieces like Lady Macbeth and Flaming June that were interesting, but I was kind of pooped on art museums. Later, we ate lunch at a nice little Italian restaurant run by actual Italians - one of whom was liking the tall American with pink hair :D - we also had this amazing chocolate cake! I can't get over the food here, and somehow, I'm losing weight - woot!

The last place we went today was the Tate Modern. We weren't expecting much, but it was great. They had Picasso's from all throughout his life and lots of artists I'd never heard of before. The ones I liked the most were the Lichtenstein's and the Warhol's. They both had a very comic booky feel to them, and it's probably what I liked the most about them. What I think is so neat is that all of the art museums are free.... well, they do ask for a donation though. It's nice to be somewhere where art is so privileged that they feel everyone should have access to great works.

Every time we wander into the heart of London, I'm struck by how romantic the city is. People are very willing to show affection here, and it makes me want to have someone's hand to hold, but, c'est la vie! One day I'll come back - start planning for the honeymoon "gift" now... or should I say "donation"?....

Anyhoo, I think I'm going to go wander off to a rose garden before I head to bed! Love you both lots!

Sars

My First Consumption of Alcohol

I'm too tired to blog a new post, so this is an e-mail I sent to my parents. Don't jugde :D Oh, and I'm not coming home. I like it way too much here!

*****

Today was FANTASTIC! I slept in, went to Oxford street and bought a sweater and Italian ice cream (and I also caved and bought some Tevas because my feet are freaking killing me and we've only been here for three days - hundred dollars well spent). Then we saw the Lion King - phenomenal! I got all vaclemped during the first song - "The Circle of Life" - and the elephant was my favorite animal to appear; it took four people to operate her! After that, my friend Anne and I did a little more shopping and I got a pashmina and am very European now. We then stopped at a delightful little cafe and had dinner al fresco amongst some shubbery (very appealing ;D). Next to us in the window seat was this party of old English people. They were dressed in tweed and ate so properly. It just fit because everything here is just so darn quaint it's adorable! I tried all new things too! First, we started out with a chicken something and foie gras which was surprisingly delectable, then I had lamb! (you were right dad! awesome), and then we shared Tiramisu. Although we had told the waiter we didn't drink, he was a douche let us order the dessert. We ate about half before we realized that European Tiramisu isn't made with espresso, it's made with Mariscapone - hence, my first taste of alcohol. I did NOT like it.

I love it here. I can't believe I'm so lucky to have so much time to spend in such a wonderful city. Everywhere we go is exciting. There are so many different languages being spoken on the same block - it's a wonderful cultural experience. The city is quite clean and there's really no pollution. I love love love riding the tube. I did it all by myself last night, and felt like such a big girl, when I went to see Alan Moore - who is AMAZING! I was really afraid to meet him because he seems very intimidating and, well, crazy psycho-murderer looking, but he was really one of the most genuine and kind authors I've ever met before. Also, last night, my womanly wiles charmed two comic book geeks at the reading and they helped me find the tube (read one was trying to help the other get laid in a geeky, charming, but oh so inept way). OOOOhhh, and I lost my Oyster Card last night at the reading too. I was really upset because they are very expensive, 50 dollars for one week of riding the tube, and I thought it was forever lost after I'd only gotten 2 days use out of it. Well, I checked at the reception desk and someone had turned it in - karma was finally good to me after all the wallets I've turned in.

The people aren't as nice as I expected; everyone is kind of in a hurry and they sure don't mind pushing you out of the way to get what they want, but that doesn't matter - I love it. The city is so dynamic and there's so much history here. I'm trying to soak it all up. I think that this may be the first real thing I've ever done for just myself and I don't think I could have ever picked a better way to spend these three weeks :D Miss you guys (okay... not really) but I do love you!