"Irish men are either grumpy or pervy"

"Irish men are either grumpy or pervy" a young, 18 year old Irish girl told me.

For some reason, a rather foul natured Irish man decided to adopt me on the bus ride from the airport to my hostel. I asked the bus driver to let me know when we reached O'Connell Street. My new grumpy old man friend spoke up and let me know he was headed that direction. I thanked him and took my seat. After cantankerously informing me that we were at our stop, he proceeded to ask me the address of my hostel. He walked ahead and simply said "follow me". On the brisk walk he grumbled about how tourists like me were the reason that pints of Guinness were now 6 euro in the Temple Bar district. At the Millennium Spire his surliness became directed at the government for erecting an ugly poll in the middle of O'Connell Street. When I reached my street, I thanked him for the help.

"well you aren't there yet." He continued along with me going out of his way to help me find my hostel. I felt like an imposition, but maybe I had earned a soft place in his heart; he seemed a worried for my safety. "Don't go north of the spire after dark," and with that he left.

Once at the front desk, I was informed that a free walking tour of the city was about to start. The first rule of defeating jet-leg is to stay busy; so I happily joined. It was really well done and strongly centered on Irish History.

The moral of the tour seemed to be that the British Government was awful and that it kinda sucks to be Irish.

Our first stop on the tour (and by far the most interesting stop) was Dublin Castle. Dublin Castle had been the seat of British rule until 1922, when Ireland became a free state. It is on a site that was formerly a Viking settlement, which was invaded by Normans who built a castle around 1200 AD. Only one tower remains, which was used as a prison for some time.

In the 1700s the British renovated and rebuilt the castle. They included a front gate with a statue of justice, which faced into the castle courtyard. (it is on the opposite side of the photo above) According to my guide, Emer," Many call this a perfect representation of justice under British rule. The lady is not blind and she has her back to the Irish people."

We also dropped by Trinity College, Christ Church Cathedral, and wandered through Temple Bar. When I told Emer about the girl who claimed that all Irish men were grumpy or pervy, she responded that they were "actually grumpy, pervy, drunk or some combination thereof."

During the tour I became friends with a few Aussies and a guy from Chicago. We discussed our shared love of bagged wine, which the Aussies call, Goon. Turns out they have a game that involves pinning the goon to a rotary close line and spinning it. If it stops in front of you, it is required that you take a sip. They call it Goon of Fortune. Amazing.

We all went out that night along with a huge group of Spaniards. My Spanish has gotten woeful, but we had a great time. Of course, the Spaniards kept me up late dancing.

By the end of the night I had drank lots of Guinness, met some locals, and got kissed by a red-headed Irish boy in a pub. My guess is that he was some combination of grumpy, pervy, and drunk.

Yup, I did Dublin exactly right.