Home Sweet Home

I woke up wide awake at 4 am. Figuring it was pointless to lay in bed, I got up, and checked the Dublin Airport website, a new frequent site of mine. The flight information said that flights were operating normally, so I was hopeful as I showered, and got ready. I packed up the rest of my belongings and once again threw away my towels and sheets. I checked the airport website one last time and packed up my computer.

Now for the impossible task of lugging my luggage down the 8 flights of stairs thanks to the broken elevator. Thank you drunken fools. Both of my large suitcases weighed about 50 pounds each. Plus my backpack, and my carry on which was packed full, and then a bag of garbage. Needless to say, when I finally got downstairs with all of my belongings I was breathing heavy. The sun was rising over UCD, and I made my way down the street with my belongings, thinking the gate was closed so cabs couldn't get up to Roebuck. Turns out it wasn't closed, but either way, I called a cab instead of walking the mile to the entrance with all of my stuff. The operator told me that one would be there to get me in 15 minutes so I sat on the curb and soaked up the last moments in UCD-Belfield.

When the cab driver arrived, he got all my bags into the trunk and I said goodbye to the University College of Dublin. I told the cab driver I was going home to Chicago. He was quiet for about the first 10 minutes of the ride, but in true Irish fashion, that didn't last long. Soon we were talking about my time in Ireland, what I love and hate about Chicago, about drinking ages and hangovers, and life in general. We passed all of the things I saw on my very first day in Dublin-- the doors, the pubs, the Liffey. Things that have now become common and a part of my everyday. How soon we adapt to new surroundings. Soon we were pulling into the Dublin Airport. I paid the hefty 35 euro, and got out of the cab. The driver got my luggage out and asked me if I needed a trolley. I told him I'd be fine, but he insisted he would get me a cart. Glad he did. I wheeled my luggage through the airport and found the line to check in for American Airlines. I am pretty sure the only flight that AA operates out of Dublin is the one to Chicago so there was only one desk and it wasn't open yet. I made friends with a mother & daughter from Chicago in line and that passed the time until the desk opened up. I had to go through pre-security before checking in, an added precaution since I was flying to America. Safety first.

I got to the check in desk, paid for my extra luggage (all of which was miraculously underweight), and then headed through security. Through security and on my way to find my gate 313. I located it and had plenty of time, so I went to find the tax refund place. Honestly I only had about 12 euro in tax refunds but that's like $15 American dollars, so I went through the process of submitting all my receipts. Then I wandered through duty free for a while, got a Toblerone bar, and headed to my gate. I found a place to sit and read for a while. I got up to use the bathroom before we boarded and ran into Shannon and Katie who were also on my flight (original and new). They had to fly to Chicago and then fly from Chicago to Boston...seemed a little backwards to me but whatever.

We made friends with another student whose name I don't know, another Chicago boy. We all boarded and found our seats, mine conveniently located between an asian man with a diskman and an upper middle aged business man glued to his blackberry. 8 hour flight, and I wasn't really tired, so I read, listening to music, and slept for about 3 hours thanks to my Dramamine. It was all surreal, and when the Chicago skyline came into view, Dublin became another lifetime away. It was like I never left. Touchdown, and just like that, the adventure was over, and not even any RyanAir success music to signify it. I pulled out my American cell phone and turned it on...success. Within 2 minutes, I had notified as many people as I could text that I was indeed home. Instant communication to the outside world...definitely missed that. I followed the crowd towards immigration, waited to go through passport control, had the guy welcome me home and headed to the luggage carousels to grab my suitcases.

Through customs, with all my luggage and then out to free American soil. Welcome to the United States.

Returning to Dublin

After a long night's rest and waking up thinking about cancelled flights, we got up, and set out for another day. First stop, the train station, to see if I could catch a train back to Dublin. 67.40 Euros one way, no thank you. We found breakfast at the Bagel Bar, a place we've been to before in Cork, and must have forgotten how horrible the service was. We enjoyed our breakfast, then headed to the bus station so I could catch my 12 noon bus home to Dublin. I bid farewell to Claire & Grace and a big goodbye to Laura, my favorite Australian.

Four hours on a bus is a good time to sleep and listen to music. Given I had slept like 12 hours the night before, I was not tired in the least so I had some quality "IPOD therapy" and looked out the window. The four hours went by pretty fast and soon I was back in Dublin. As soon as we pulled into the city limits, my eyes went to the sky, hoping I'd see an airplane to give me hope of getting out the next morning. I saw none. But there was hopeful news on the radio saying that they were re-opening Irish air space. A little hope. I got off the bus, and headed towards the grocery to pick up something to eat. Then to a few bookstores to find some books to read on the airplane and the unlikely (or somewhat likely) event that I would be stuck in an airport for an extended period of time. I was a little more determined this time around to get home. After loading up on books and grabbing a salad for dinner, I headed home on the number 10. One last time.

I got back to my room after noting that the elevator was completely shut down. It had been working the day before..sort of. Laura may have gotten stuck in it. But I was hoping I could've at least used it for my luggage. Negative. I went back to my room, ate my dinner, caught up on my email and checked flights. So far so good. I finished packing my things and then headed to bed. Hopeful of a morning flight back to America.

Flight Status: CANCELLED

After three and a half hours of restless sleep, I woke up Sunday morning a little exhausted. But I got in the shower and got ready to go to the airport. Just as I finished blowdrying my hair and throwing all of my sheets and towels into an empty garbage bag I got the following gchat from Stacy: Our Flight Is Cancelled. My response was a feverish "WHAT?!?" And she quickly responded, "I'm not even kidding". Stacy Curry's travel luck strikes again. That and the Iceland volcano. Mr. Coleman was right, we should respect and fear its power. Stacy told me I should call the airline... which was a push in the right direction cause at that point, I was just staring blankly at my computer screen, not really processing. Problem #1: I had no phone credit left on my Irish cell phone, which made making phone calls impossible. Problem #2: The automatic "Top Up" wouldn't work, and customer service wasn't open for another hour. Solution: Skype. Yes, I skyped American Airlines with my free call that they give you. Success. Until I had to deal with the automated system, which at 6 am on little sleep, was about the LAST thing I wanted to deal with. After about 3290 menus, I finally reached an operator. She told me that the European Airline Authority and the never ending ash cloud had cancelled our flight. She then asked me if I could see it from the ground. My response was "No, the sky is perfectly clear, I feel like this is all a load of crap but what do I know". She told me that the earliest flight she could get me on was the Dublin to Chicago flight scheduled for Tuesday morning. Given that mother nature was the cause of the cancellation, I accepted this defeat and let my family know that I wouldn't be returning until Tuesday. I went downstairs to tell Stevie what was going on, since she was neither online nor had a cell phone. She was not pleased and set out to figure out her own arrangements. Next stop, Claire & Laura's to tell them that they would not need to say goodbye. Finally, I returned to my room, exhausted and disappointed. Figuring there was not much I could do, I fell asleep on my bed.

I woke up to a gchat from Claire at 10 am, asking if I was still here. I responded, yes, where else would I be? I told her I didn't know what Stevie & Stacy were doing and she responded "They left". I was in complete shock, still half asleep, so I went upstairs and talked it over. I was alone in Dublin with Claire & Laura's plans to leave the city in 30 minutes for an adventure around Ireland. Needless to say, I was a little upset. But determined to have the best attitude possible, I decided I was not going to sit in Dublin alone for the next 48 hours and pout about my cancelled flight, so I went back to my room, grabbed a toothbrush and a backpack and headed out with them on their adventure. Figure it out as I go.

We grabbed our stuff and headed out to say goodbye to Miss Matchett. Another tearful embrace and then we were on our way to the number 10, stopping at Centra so Laura could say goodbye to her one true love. We headed into Dublin, to the Busarus and got on a bus towards Cork. Like pros. I took the window seat and put in my ipod, to find perspective and to turn my frown upside down. I was definitely bummed to be missing the people at home who would only be home for a few days, as well as my best friend's bridal shower, but there's a lot in life you can not control. Volcanic Ash just happens to be one of those things. By the time we made it to Cashel and I had called my mom at the rest stop, I had a smile on my face. The expansive Irish countryside helped. A thousand shades of green. The sound of animals baaing and mooing. The abundant Irish sunshine.

We used our heritage cards to get into the Rock of Cashel for free. We explored the castle, navigated around the German tourists, and then found a patch of grass on the outskirts of the cemetery full of celtic crosses to sit and enjoy some homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies Claire & Grace had brought. The mountains and the endless fields and stone walls and animals grazing. Pure Ireland. I think we could have probably all sat there all day and enjoyed the scenery but we headed back down the hill, found a bathroom, and towards the bus stop.

I had about 6 euro in my pocket so I went to the ATM to withdraw money off my credit card, given that my checking account was about empty. "Can not complete the transaction". I tried two different machines. Hmm... this could be interesting. I returned to the others, who had found the bus stop and were perched on the sidewalk. Determining to get to the bottom of the mysterious money shortage, I called Chase, who told me that they would unfreeze my accounts which had been frozen due to the fact that I was using my card in Ireland. (Hello, Chase, I've been using it for 4 months in Ireland). We boarded the bus and headed to Cahir to see another castle.

The castle was closed when we arrived, so we set out to find another ATM and somewhere to have dinner. Once again, denied. This was beginning to get frustrating. So once again, I called Chase, talked to this quiet talker who I couldn't hear at all, and basically just hoped he figured out what I was trying to say. He said to wait five minutes to use it again so we went and found some place to eat. Slim pickings. Not in the mood to spend too much money, we found a little cafe and ordered greasy food. Cheeseburgers, chips. Not the best cuisine I've ever had, but it was food nonetheless. We returned to the ATM where I was finally able to withdraw money, found somewhere to sit, and sat in the sun waiting for the bus to come pick us up.

We arrived in Cork and found our way towards our hostel. As we were walking, backpacks on our backs, Laura's large mountain pack on hers, we were stopped by this older Irish man asking us where we were from. Chicago, Melbourne. He greeted us happily, told us to enjoy our time in Ireland, and walked away saying God Bless Chicago, God Bless Melbourne. I love the Irish. We found our hostel no problem and were greeted happily by another lovely Irish woman. She gave us the door code, we paid our rate, and she showed us around and gave us tips about Cork. Lovely. We checked our emails and just relaxed. I made friends with some people in the living room who were watching Friends. Hometowns: Minneapolis and Ames, IA. I love the Midwest. I also checked the airport website after hearing news about flights and the radio and found that all flights out of Dublin were pretty much cancelled. Looking not so hopeful.

We tried to find some dessert but couldn't so we just went back to our room and fell asleep. It had been an infinitely long day. But when it rains, you just gotta man up, grab an umbrella, and make the best out of what you have. And for me, that was another sunny day in Ireland.

Saying Goodbye

I woke up early to seize my last full day in Dublin. I packed more of my stuff, which seemingly mutipled in the last four months. Still craving pancakes, like I had been for the last three weeks, I googled "pancakes in Dublin" and found that the Queen of Tarts had a weekend brunch. Pancakes and the Queen of Tarts were both on my hit list, so I enlisted the interest of Stacy and Grace, Claire's sister. While Claire and Stevie took their last finals, the three of us hit the city in search of pancakes. We got off the bus and took a side street, where I mistakenly took Stacy for leading the pack. It was fine, we just did a little wandering and went by a bunch of the places we had stumbled upon on our first day. Dublin full circle. We found the Queen of Tarts, and ordered our pancakes and omelets. The place was super cute, like a little bakery, and the food counter had all sorts of cupcakes, tarts, and cakes that made our mouths water. Not quite the chocolate chip pancakes I was craving (I miss the weirdest assortment of food-- pancakes, Jimmy Johns, ice). But they were really good and garnished with delish strawberries and bananas. Given that we were enjoying our last day of vacation, we ordered dessert, the Queen of Chocolate Cake to split. Pancakes, then cake, perfect.

What goes perfectly with pancakes and chocolate cake? Whiskey. We headed to the Jameson Distillery to take a tour. A tourist must do, and we were feeling like we should do all the touristy things. We got our tickets, browsed the gift shop and waited for our tour to start. The Irish love John Jameson like they love Arthur Guinness, he is a hero and an icon. His family motto (former pirate fighters) is "Without Fear" and the Irish eat that stuff up. We toured the old distillery and learned a little bit about whiskey making and distilling. And to end it all, a free whiskey cocktail. Curry took hers with Ginger Ale, appropriate, mine with cranberry juice, and Grace with Coke. We enjoyed our cocktails, and then headed back to meet with Claire & Stevie who had been jealous of our Queen of Tarts experience and had gone there for lunch.

Stacy wanted to go see Oscar Wilde in Merrion Square Park so we headed there through Temple Bar. As we were walking through the lively Temple Bar, the sounds of a guy playing Jack & Diane floated out of our new favorite place, The Auld Dubliner. We decided to go in. Why not, right. Have another whiskey & cranberry before 3 pm? Sure. When in Dublin, do as the Irish do. Unfortunately as soon as we got our drinks, the live music stopped. Fail. We considered taking them on the road, but we decided to just finish them and head on our way to see the famous Oscar Wilde statue. Stacy wasn't wearing the proper shoes to scale it, but we enjoyed the Oscar Wilde quotes.

We headed back towards St. Stephen's Green and wandered through the park. We were going to make a pit stop in the shopping mall to use the bathroom but we stopped to see some street performer's act. A Scottish man who was going to "do freaky things with his body". Somehow Stacy became a part of the show. Typical. She had to inspect the bottle that he was going to smash and then lay on. Basically she had to stand in front of the crowd and act entertained while this guy did his act. He was somewhat inappropriate in his joke making and his stunts were mildly entertaining, but the fact that Stacy had to stand up there for like 20 minutes was probably my favorite part. After the show was done and the man had convinced all the small children to beg their parents for money to tip him, we headed through St. Stephens and down Grafton Street doing a little window shopping. I am going to miss Grafton Street, the live musicians, the street performers, the flower stands.

We headed to M.J. O'Neils to secure a table for our Last Supper with the Wolfpack. We were starving so we were anxious for the others to arrive. We had an array of true Irish meals. Stew & Bulmers for me. Corned Beef. Carvery. We enjoyed our meals and cheers-ed to Dublin. I think we were all in denial that it was our last time all together. We enjoyed our meal, and decided to do dessert in typical fashion, at a different establishment. We headed towards Elephant & Castle, stopping to give our love to Molly Malone.

I loved those moments, just together wandering the streets, laughing, feeling young. The wait at Elephant & Castle was really long, and they wouldn't let us take our cheesecake to go so we gave up on that dream and headed to find some live music. Gogarty's never lets us down. As we climbed the stairs, we heard the familiar rhythm of "Galway Girl". Perfection. The band played a bunch of Irish favorites and ofcourse Johnny Cash. There was a bride and her hen party, dancing, the bride looked and was dressed like a clown. And while the music played on, I couldn't help but feel sad. I just looked around and soaked it all up. These are the moments that'll last forever. The band played 7 Drunken Nights upon Stacy's request and we all sang along. A few more reels and jigs and then Wild Rover. We sang and clapped along and then headed out.

We sat in the street, trying to figure out what to do. None of us really wanted to go home, because going home meant that we'd have to say goodbye, and I don't think any of us were ready for that. But after a few failed attempts, we gathered in the middle of the street, huddled up and said goodbye. Nothing would ever change how much these last four months had meant to us. Tears were shed, and like a change of events, tears spread from one to another, until we were all crying, except Grace, who was probably laughing at us standing in the middle of the cobblestone, as the Irish music filled the air, sobbing. Strangers had become friends, and friends had become our own little Irish family.

After the goodbyes had been said, we headed for the bus, as the Dublin rain started to fall. Like our emotions. We got on the bus and went home. We retreated to our respective apartments. Laura, Claire, Grace, and I stumbled upon the elevator which had literally been torn apart by some drunken fools. Glass everywhere, the number paneling ripped off the wall, ridiculous. Which means that I will be carrying my 4 suitcases down the 4 flights of stairs. Thank you, idiots. Just as I got into my room and took off my jacket, the fire alarm went off, and it is about the most obnoxious alarm in the world. I evacuated and found the girls outside. More antics of the drunken students celebrating their last day of exams. I had to still pack and be up in 5 hours to catch my flight. Not pleased. Finally we were able to go back in, but the alarm continued to go off. I finished packing, headed up to say goodnight to the girls, and went to bed to get my 4 hours of sleep before my expected departure of Dublin.

It's A Beautiful Day, Don't Let It Get Away

To be honest, I woke up slightly depressed. The goodbyes at the Wicked Wolf had left me a little sad and not ready to say leave. But I was determined to make the most of the day. Stacy, Laura, & Jen had finals. Stevie was studying and Claire & Grace were going on a tour. I tried to join them but the tour was full. Desperate to enjoy the countryside one last time, I decided to head back to Howth. My last time there was pure magic and I figured a day by the seashore would be a good last memory of Ireland. I headed out on the 46A to the city center, exchanged my bus refunds for 7.50 euro, bought a sandwich, rice cakes, and a candy bar from Dunnes and headed to Connolly Station to catch the DART.

I bought my tickets, found the platform and waited for about 20 minutes for it to come. I munched on rice cakes, and ended up dropping a piece, which become food for the pigeons. Who literally battled for it, up and down the tracks, it was surprisingly entertaining. The DART only took about 20 minutes, and I just listened to my IPod and stared out the window.

I arrived in Howth, and set out towards the harbor. We had heard that seals were known to frequent the harbor and last time we were in Howth, it was too cold to venture to see them. I approached the dock and found a group of people standing by the edge. I walked over and saw 4 or 5 seals just swimming around. Some kids were throwing fish in and feeding the seals and they dove and splashed for them. I felt like a little kid at the zoo and couldn't take my eyes off this old seal who just looked at me and smiled, that is if seals can smile. I could've probably sat there all day and watched them, but I decided to keep walking. I walked along the docks and then climbed down the shore. I sat for a bit and listened to the waves crashing against the rocks. I picked some seashells and headed up the hill towards the hiking trail. Everything was a greener shade of green and the yellow flowers exploded upon the mountain.

I hiked to the top of the little mound and stood and enjoyed the views of ocean all around me. It began to sprinkle, so I pulled out my umbrella. I had prepared for the elements, four months in Ireland will teach you that. I strolled around the peninsula enjoying the scenery and listening to my ipod play. The sun came back out and I hiked down to the edge of the cliff. I sat and watched the birds flying, the waves crashing, and the sun shining. I laid in the grass and looked at the sky and thought of the last four months. The rain came again, and I just put up my umbrella and let it fall down beside me. Maybe that's the metaphor that best explains the four months. You can't stop the rain, you can only man up and go outside or sit inside and hide from it. And fittingly, the songs played on my IPOD reflected the moment perfectly. I always believe in song lyrics as signs, perfectly placed to make you see something that perhaps you can't see yourself. Shattered by O.A.R. played and my whole Ireland experience came full circle. And then A Beautiful Day by U2. Irish men who know what they are talking about. I think that Ireland has made me a U2 fan.

It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away.

I kept moving, and stopped to get my sandwich out of my backpack and eat it while I walked. The rain continued to fall, then the sun came out. I came to the crossroads of the path, and decided to take the long way home. I was in no rush to leave the sea. The path that followed was one of the best hikes I've ever been on. Not a person in sight, wandering, but without getting lost. The hike was along a rock wall, that reminded me of P.S. I Love You. The sea was at my left, the countryside at my right. Then through this forest area, up and down rock steps, emerging in the sunlight.

I found another piece of grass on the edge to sit down and enjoy my dessert. The cliffs were alive with the crashing of waves, and there were a few fishing boats in the distance. The sun was warm, and it was completely silent except for the melodies of my playlist.

I found a path down the cliff to the shore, so I climbed down and found a couple and their dog playing catch. It began to pour so I took out my umbrella again and continued to explore. The rocks had this redish hue to them and I found a box that from far away looked like some kind of treasure box. For some reason, I thought of the Goonies.

The rain subsided and I hiked back up to the trail and passed some fisherman with their poles. There were little gates everywhere, and it was just picture perfect. Another rain shower. At this point, I had to pee real bad. I had to for about the previous 3 hours, and the seashore and the rain were not helping. So I found this cove and reunited with nature. I laughed at myself and the situation, and continued going.

Up and down more rock steps, and along a rock wall. Which upon closure inspection was actually thousands and thousands of seashells. The trail led me down to the beach where I dropped my backpack and umbrella and wandered, picking up rocks & blue seashells.

The sky behind me was a perfect blue and I swear I saw a heart in the clouds. I was searching for a rainbow, my favorite Irish miracle. No dice. The trail led me away from the seashore, up the hill, across and road and through the yellow flowers.

I continued walking along the marked path and found myself at the Howth County Golf Course. Signs told me I had to walk through the golf course to get to the other side. I love golf courses, it's peaceful, and this one had amazing views. I may have been so caught up in the moment, thinking of the Florida friends, that I missed the small rocks that I was supposed to follow. Needless to say, I wandered through the golf course, obviously out of place, until a nice woman with a group of gentlemen golfers, called me over and asked if I was lost. She explained that many people miss the trail, and that she'd lead me to it, so I wouldn't get clocked in the head with a golf ball. My green sweatshirt probably didn't help, since I pretty much blended in with the greens. I bid her farewell and thanked her, and continued on.

Through a forest, breeding grounds for shamrocks. Success. Picked a few, and headed on. The trail led me down through some residential areas and finally to the main street across from the DART. There was one waiting so I boarded. 6 hours of hiking and who knows how many kilometers, it had been an infinitely good day.

My good day was sidetracked by an incident on the DART that shut down the line. We were told to get off at the Howth Junction and find a Dublin Bus. I followed the crowd, waiting for a while for a bus, and made it into the city center. My 20 minute DART ride turned into a 2 hour ride into the city. I caught the 10 and headed home.

And then, like the perfect ending to a perfect day, a beautiful rainbow filled the sky and remained there until I made it home. It was so bright, and so beautiful. I know the scientific explanation, but there is just something so majestic about rainbows.

I got home and went upstairs to spend time with the girls for a while. They were all studying so I just enjoyed their company and uploaded some pictures. Then it was time to rest up for the last day in Dublin.

Sunset outside of my apartment building

The Wicked Wolfpack Sings Its Last Song

Although we've come to the end of the road, I still can't let go. It's unnatural, you belong to me, and I belong to you.

Here's the day we hoped would never come. The last Thursday night at the Wicked Wolf. Much anticipated. After a day of packing my things and organizing my life, we all got dressed up and took the newest arrival in Dublin, Claire's little sister Grace, to Blackrock for dinner before karaoke. We had never been to Blackrock in the daylight, but we found a little pub called Jack O'Rourke's and settled in for some traditional Irish food and a Caesar salad. We had some Bailey's and headed towards the Wicked Wolf. Much earlier than normal. We took a detour to take a view of the sea, and we ran into Brock along the way. We offered to help him bring in his stuff....groupies for sure.

The Wicked Wolf was full of the after work crowd. Some type of work mixer. Eugene pointed to an empty table for us. This was not the same Wicked Wolf. Light was streaming through the windows and we could see the bay. And they were playing Eminem. But like clock work, the crowd shuffled out, we took our front row seats and Brock got going. He came up to us and chatted with us and talked about our last night and told us that we looked nice.

He started the night out slow, but quickly dedicated our favorite song HUMAN to us announcing to the whole bar that it was our last night and that this one was for us, who had become regulars. We took to the dance floor, and he even changed the lyrics and made some Chicago (and Melbourne) shout outs. Perfect. Then Ring of Fire...which Laura and I decided to interpretative dance to. He then dedicated another song to us. A U2 song called "The Unforgettable Fire". He said that we had left an unforgettable fire at the Wicked Wolf. Way to make it even harder for us to leave. But before he could finish and hand the microphone off, he sang "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". Another dedication to us.

Alastair took to the stage, the X's went up, and he serenaded us, his favorite Americans with "You Raise Me Up" and "A Million Love Songs". Supposedly he is auditioning for the X Factor on Saturday at Croke Park. Let's hope he makes it, so we can watch him when we are back in America. He promised us if he made it famous, he'd buy us tickets back to Dublin.

Then we had a girl sing a very poor version of Barbie Girl. Not good. She didn't really sing, as much as just say the lyrics, off tune. Then her friend serenaded her boyfriend with Spice Girls' 2 Become 1. She was decent, but the googly eyes she was making at her boyfriend were somewhat disturbing as he mouthed the words to her. She then sang OUR song which we had literally waited all semester to sing. American Pie. And she butchered it... but we danced anyway.

Claire & Stevie took the stage to sing "What A Girl Wants". The version was a little different so they had a bit of trouble but mastered it pretty well. Then Claire & Grace sang "Don't Stop Believing". Which is just always a jam. Fist pumping, Stacy Curry jumping, Aussie rules moves. Brock called us to the stage to sing our selection of the evening. "Save Tonight". The perfect goodbye anthem. It ain't easy to say goodbye. It was so surreal, I am not sure any of us are really truly aware of the fact that we're leaving on Sunday. And never coming back. At least not to live. I think if we really knew that it was our last night, we would have cried.

It didn't seem like the usual Wolf. Maybe our expectations were too high. Maybe it was the fact that the normal barkeep was not there and we had some other random person pouring our pints. Usually Stefan knows what we want. Or the fact that raspy voiced Mark had called in sick and no one was there to sing Gangster's Paradise or Streets of Philadelphia. Or maybe we were all just more melancholy then usual. But we did all we could do, and lived like Gaga, and just danced so it would be okay.

We did have the pleasure of a "one trick pony" who was break dancing all over the dance floor. He entertained us and spun us around. His friend got up and sang Home for us. Another depressing anthem about sunny days we are lucky to know. We swayed on the dance floor, and tried to delay the misery.

Alastair got up again to sing our song for us. "You Are Not Alone", dedicated to us. Theme of the evening. We swayed along, Brock stood behind him and swayed his lighter in the air. Then the guy who sang Home and one of the "Don't Stop Me Now" ladies got up and sang "The Time of My Life", another song we considered singing. We did our best Swayze & Baby impression, jokingly dancing and pretending to run to Brock for the signature lift. We serenaded Brock and told him that "we owed it all to him". Cheesey, perhaps.

Don't Stop Me Now & Don't Stop Believing (Round 2) were next performed by the usual ladies. Laura got up and sang "Love Song" and rocked it. Solos were the theme of the night, as it was our last chance. Me and Laura were going to rap to Gangster's Paradise in traditional form, but Brock did not get to us. I am not sure it would've been the same anyway, since I don't have Mark's raspy voice.

Sam and Aoife then sang "Wonderwall", a song that will forever remind me of Claire trying to imitate an Irish brogue while in a cab and tried to sing this song.

"Home" guy took to the stage again, and sang an American classic for the American girls. "You've Lost That Loving Feeling". Which apparently I have since he serenaded me while his friend spun Stacy around the dance floor. Not quite Maverick & Goose but Stacy and I appreciate any Top Gun singalongs we can get.

We had waited all semester to sing American Pie so we weren't going to let the fact that the other woman had sang it stop us. But Brock played the Madonna version for us. Which was a little different. The stage was also rushed by our dancer friends. It wasn't quite the well executed American Anthem we were looking for....but still ridiculous as we all crammed on the stage and sang with friends (old & new) the timeless classic.

And then it came, the literal and metaphorical End of The Road. A final dedication to us. We all swayed together as Brock & Alastair sang their final rendition of the "End of the Road". And all too soon it was over. We took some photos, we did the usual impromptu singalong with Alastair. Some old guy told Stacy that Alastair may have the "X Factor" but she had the "Sexy Factor". That's usually our cue to leave. We hugged Alastair and found Brock once last time. He told us that he "doesn't like Goodbyes, so this is until next time", wished us luck, and gave us all a hug. We headed for the door and Eugene told us to "be good, and have safe travels home, and find the Wolf on Facebook". And just like that, we bid farewell to the Wicked Wolf.

Appropriately, it was raining when we emerged from the Wolf. The weather reflected our moods. We went to Supermac's, found our favorite worker, who knew our "tenders" order. We got chips & tenders, slathered them with ketchup, and enjoyed our last Supermac's Afterhours. Laura, the warrior, purchased 3 diet cokes, determined to pull an all nighter since she has a 9 am exam and needs to study, but wouldn't let that stop her from coming to our last night. I finally had the award winning tenders, which are as good as they are acclaimed to be.

We found a "maxi taxi" to fit all of us in, and headed home. The taxi driver was not too entertaining, although we had a good laughs about the asshole Irish drivers. And my alter ego, Whitney.

Said goodnight and went home, all just a little depressed. All good things must come to an end, I suppose. But the fire we left at the Wicked Wolf perhaps lies within all of us. The desire to take the stage, dance with all you've got, make friends with strangers, and find that all we need out of life is a few good songs, a few good friends, and a few good laughs.

Sing Your Heart Out.

With exams over, and Dublin calling, Stacy and I headed into the city center to do some shopping. Going home with ANY money in our bank accounts just seemed foolish. So we hit the town with a few missions in mind. Bus refunds. Carrolls. And checking out the local department stores for a new outfit. We felt like really cool tourists with our Carrolls bags. And I would like to know how many Carrolls stores are in Dublin. There's got to be at least 12.

We spent most of the day wandering through Henry Street wishing we had millions of euros. We stopped for a sugar lift at the cafe in Debeham's. Stacy got cappuccino and luxurious chocolate cake and I got a chocolate muffin shake. It was good but not as good as Portillo's Chocolate Cake Shakes. After a few hours of shopping, Stacy headed back home and I finished up looking for things. I headed home a bit exhausted, so I decided to take a little nap before our plans to head out on the town.

Stacy and I went over to Megan's at about 10 to hang out before going downtown. We listened to some 90s music in one minute segments, while we talked about all our summer plans. Mariel & Allie joined us and we waited for Megan's friend James to arrive from London. He is a journalist in London, covering mostly music, and had a sweet accent so he was definitely a treat. He showed up, well dressed, and insuring us that he was not gay even if he called the lead singer of Kings of Leon good looking. We headed out about midnight, caught a maxi taxi and headed to Harcourt Street.

We tried to go to D2, but it was closed, so we headed to CooperFace Jack's. The clubs here are just like in the row of townhouses. This place was pretty cool and the music selection was awesome. They played all of our favorites, Total Eclipse of the Heart, Don't Stop Believing, Don't Stop Me Now, Galway Girl. And ofcourse there was the Westlife songs...When You're Looking Like That. Great European Popstars. We ran into Chris and his friend whose name we can't remember. They played Sex on Fire and Mr. Brightside and we were jamming out and screaming it as loud as we could. Madness. Tequila. Let go, live free, dance it out. James was playing the air guitar. The only weird thing about this place was that there were a lot of older people there. In suits. Like the businessmen's Wednesday night hang out?

We lost a few of the group, so once we finally assembled we headed out to catch a cab. We found a maxi taxi and Stacy flagged him down. His name was Alan and like us and every other cab driver in Dublin, we befriended him while we waited for Megan & James to come. They had wandered off down the street. Alan made fun of James for being British and we all jammed out to "With or Without You". Classic. I am going to miss these nights, singing loudly, U2, and the world's most friendly cab drivers. Stacy even sang "Alan's Song" for him.

Home. Bed. Chatting with Lindsay. Glee. Falling asleep at 4:30 am.