is it tacky..?

If I were to name this post after a U2 song? Like 'The Sweetest Thing,' ? The answer is yes. Absolutely.

U2 was (were?) great in Croke Park- the 'home base' for the Dublin-born band members, ( or at least Bono.. and really, isnt he the only one who matters? I'd say judging by his Second-incarnation-of-Jesus complex, it seems a bit of a silly question)Patrick, Louie and i enjoyed some 'semi private' seats wayyyy above the action, as our row was surprisingly empty. They played under a huge spider claw glow-in-the-dark sort of thing.. aparently the Rolling Stones stage (whatever that is..) can fit into it three times. Oh that Bono..

We also saw Westport, Galway and Lacken.. which I think I have mentioned. Still: after countless pours, local Guiness makes Guiness in Canada taste like cardboard. I hear it doesnt travel well, (you don't say..)

Following a rediculously unlucky series of events and about forty minutes of fitful sleep; we have finally arrived in Paris. Well, actually, Beauvais. Which is just as nice. We will be in Paris on Sunday, and for 3 weeks following that.

here are some pics of the concert (Croke Park holds eighty five thousand people! can you believe it?) in the four days that they were there, a quarter of all of Ireland went to see U2! No wonder Bono has a God complex..





Bono had the lights switched off.. Nice little trick, Hezeus, but we know that the 'milky way' was just 85, 000 cell phones.

Innsbruck, Salzburg, Dublin and Mayo

It appears we have been a bit lazy with the blog. But to be fair: we were camping for a while ( so no wifi,) and the camera was dead, (so no pictures.)

Since the last post, we have toured Dachau concentration camp; we have travelled to Innsbruck to camp with 3 friends from Manchester; and from then spent two nights in Salzburg. On last Monday, we flew to Ireland to meet up with Shane and Patrick.

When we arrived in Kranebitten, (near Innsbruck,) it turned out that our campground had closed; but we were rescued by an old Bavarian man in a polka-spewing gold Golf. We were sort of scared when he took off with Phil in the front seat, but eventually he brought returned to drive us and our packs to Völs- an even tinier village in the Inn Valley. We camped there, but got caught in a wild thunderstorm that didnt quit until late the next day. Of course we packed our tents up in the soaking-wet and freezing cold. Salzburg was much nicer. We were lucky to get a private room at Strawberry Hostel, which we crammed five people into for €12 each.

The flight to ireland was easy enough.. no complaints except that the Ryanair weight requirements are rediculously low, and if it werent for a girl we met named Ilo, we would have had to throw out all of louies clothes, (.. certainly not mine. hahah) She ended up with his jeans and briefs and socks (and anything else you can think of in her carry-on.)

Dublin is a great city! If it werent for the fact that there are virtually no jobs, we would move there.

Currently we are in Castle Bar (West Ireland,) and its beautiful here. Patrick was also kind enough to take us around to his cottage in Laken, near the Atlantic. It's stunning! We have also visited Westport and Galway. We also went out for a few typical evenings on the town which means that the Guiness and whiskey were flowing.

Tomorrow, we go back to Dublin to see U2 at Croke Park. Can't imagine a better thing to end our stay in Ireland with.

So thats what we have been up to.. just hanging out with friends and checking out the surroundings like a couple of locals. Our flight to Paris leaves on Thursday morning.. at half six.. in the morning. So to save a mid-dawn scramble from Jana's in Rathmines all the way to Dublin airport, we are sleeping there on Wednesday night.

here are some photos from the last couple of weeks!

Enjoy

ps.. i know alot of you were concerned about that pic on facebook- and just to let you know, louie's wonderful beard is GONE.