Checking in from Ireland!

Miss Ginger is having a great time in Ireland even though things have not gone totally as planned. The flight from Houston to Newark was comfortable enough, but the one from Newark to Dublin was grueling, as expected. It might not have been so bad, except, due to the weather in Newark, we sat on the ground in New Jersey for over 2 hours before we took off for our trek across the pond. So the 6 hour flight turned in to an 8 hour flight. To top that off, Miss G bought one of those obnoxious toilet seat shaped neck cushions for the trip, but when she tried to tear the tag off of it, she tore open the seam and tiny Styrofoam beads spewed everywhere. Miss G tried to shove the pillow into a plastic bag, but the more she struggled to get the thing in the bag, the more white pellets spewed forth. Of course, they all have a static charge, so there sits Miss G, acting nonchalant and looking like the abominable snowman. I think she still has Styrofoam beads in her crack 3 days later!
After the plane landed (2 hours late) she realized she had missed connecting with B&T at the airport, and would have to cab it herself. No big deal, except she, for the life of herself, could not remember the name of the hotel. And she didn’t have it written down anywhere. Her laptop wouldn’t get a signal, so she exchanged money (damn, that hurt!) and used an internet kiosk there at the airport to log onto Expedia and get her confirmation info.
Once she got to the hotel, she got settled in, grabbed a snack, took a foot tour, and then relaxed on the bed for a couple of hours. Upon arising, she hooked up with B&T and headed out to find the gayborhood. We’re in it. Real close, anyway. The only thing between us and the gayborhood is shopping. Not a bad locale at all! We had drinks at the George, dinner at SoHo, and called it an early night, and Miss G slept like a baby!
Miss Ginger has declared things here in Dublin lovely, yet somewhat “random”. The hotel, for instance. It’s been created from a series of 5 story Georgian townhomes, interconnected to become a rather large hotel. It appears to have been renovated sometime in the early 80’s, so the very old building seems more dated than modern. Miss G’s room is clearly an attic space, that while clean and spacious, is not particularly well appointed, and it has only a Velux roof window in its slanted ceiling for light and ventilation. Perfectly serviceable, yet quite random. Miss G’s room is on the 5th floor, in a building next door to, and not interconnected with, the main building. Upon entry, one takes 3 steps down to a landing, and then takes the elevator up 3 floors- as high as it goes. After that, one has to walk up 2 flights to Miss G’s room. Not bad, just random.
The day after our arrival, we took the double decker bus tour of the city. It was a nice spin around town and it gave us our bearings. After a nice lunch of Irish stew, we did a bit of shopping and headed back to the hotel to recharge. The hotel’s wireless network is blocking facebook and blogger, so I’ll keep these updates offline and feed them in as I have time!
So after the afternoon “freshen up”, we headed back out to see what we could see. We went to the old library at Trinity University to see the Book of Kells and the other illuminated manuscripts they had on display. Truly amazing that they were written and illustrated by hand, and that they have lasted so long!
After that we had drinks at the George, and a lovely 3 course dinner at a place called Leon. Then we went to the Dragon to see the “Calendar Boys” contest hosted by Veda Deville at 10pm. Well, as Miss Ginger has noted before, things are very different here in Ireland, and the bitch actually started on time. The show was pretty much over when we arrived at 10:30, and Miss Veda was just sort of DJ’ing the post show set herself along with her BFF, Peaches. Occasionally one of them would do a number. Both were lovely girls, but again, strangely enough, they don’t tip their drag queens here in Europe, so the girls were on stage largely unappreciated by the very young audience. Miss Tony decided that, since the 1 and 2 euro denominations are represented by coins rather than notes, the girls would leave the stage either clinking or bruised, neither of which would be a good situation. Miss G personally thinks the EU should print a limited number of “1 Drag Euro” notes for the exclusive use of tipping drag queens. It’s the only civilized thing to do!
Yesterday afternoon was drizzly and cool, not quite rainy. Today is gorgeous, and what this southern girl would call “chilly”. More later, including pics, but I want to get this up while I have a wifi connection!