The (loose-ish) plan:

Thursday:

• Fly into Dublin Airport
• Pick up rental car
• Drive straightaway to Galway
• Explore Galway for the rest of the day
• Stay the night in Galway

Friday:

• Day trip to Aran Islands
• Stay the night in Galway

Saturday:

• Drive the Ring of Kerry and Ring of Skellig
• Stay the night near Skellig Island

Sunday:

• Explore Skellig Island
• Stay the night near Skellig Island

Monday:

• Drive to Cork
• Kiss the Blarney Stone
• Drive to Dublin
• Stay the night near Dublin Airport

Tuesday:

• Turn in rental car
• Fly home

I drink coffee and eat breakfast at Tim Horton’s. I eat lunch at Wendy’s. I watch Morning Glory. And then, it’s time to find the Airport Shuttle bus. I wait at the spot where I was dropped off on Saturday morning, only to find out that is only a drop-off zone. I get directions from the bus driver and from a doorman at a hotel down the street, and find the pick-up location for the bus easily.

Then it’s on the bus to the airport, through customs and immigration, through security, and then to the gate to wait for my plane. I eat an Oh! Henry bar and drink a Coke before boarding, and my family greets me upon my safe arrival home.

It was good to get away, but it’s nice to come home, too.

When she (finally) leaves the room, I get ready and head downstairs. I get a Pepsi from a vending machine; I am tired of drinking coffee and of going places. I stay in the hostel lobby to write in my journal and let the caffeine take effect.

Once the caffeine started helping, I decide to go to the theater that I went to on Saturday and watch a movie. Unfortunately, the first movie was not until 2:10 in the afternoon. It was only noon.

I go downstairs to kill some time while eating lunch, but my food is awful. It’s very crowded there as well, and I have nothing to do since I’m already caught up in my journal. I manage to stay there for an hour, and then I head outside with the intention of going back to the bookstore.

Luckily, I see a music store named HMV right next to the theater, and I spend the remaining hour there. I buy the Florence + the Machine’s “Lungs” and Tegan and Sara’s “So Jealous” CD, since they are on sale – 2 for 20.

By now, I am able to buy my movie ticket, so I head back to the movie theater to get my ticket for Hereafter.

By the time the movie is over, I am in love with it. So much so, that I don’t even want to leave the theater, but I do anyway.

I head back to the hostel for another night in the room alone, and spend the time resting and watching TV.

Rather than going back to the hostel, I drink my coffee while sitting on a bench in front of St. James Cathedral. The church is right across the street from where I am staying, and offers plenty of people watching opportunities. The streets are busy with the rush to work this Monday morning.

Once my coffee is gone, I head back to the hostel to catch up on my journal while I wait for Jeanne. We are supposed to meet at 11:00 to head off to the CN Tower together.

She doesn’t show up, so I head off to find Casa Loma instead. At least, I try to find Casa Loma. I give up on getting to Casa Loma after spending at least 30 minutes lost, even with directions from a worker at Tim Horton’s. Dejected, I head back to the subway station with the intention of going back to the hostel.

While riding the subway, I change my mind and head back to the Harbourfront with a fully charged camera battery. This was a wonderful decision, because the Harbourfront is absolutely beautiful.

I walk, sit, and take many pictures of the water during the hour or so that I stay at the Harbourfront. I run down my camera battery, but feel like I am charging myself back up again.

From the Harbourfront, I decide to head over to the CN Tower and go up to the top. A man with a French accent stops me along the way to ask me for directions to the subway station, and I am able to give him correct directions without hesitating. What a wonderful feeling to be mistaken for a local!

Once I reach the CN Tower, there is no line to go up to the top. The elevator ride does nothing for me, but standing over the glass floor makes my stomach churn. Seeing my feet over the streets and buildings is an indescribable feeling.

I buy a souvenir coffee mug before going back to the hostel. I decide against taking the subway, and walk instead.

While I was walking back to the hostel, I am stopped by another man. However, this man wants money from me. I tell him I have none, and walk much quicker than normal. I just want to get back to the room.

Once I finally make it back to the hostel, I find the elevator is broken. I now have seven floors of stairs to walk up to get to my room.

A few hours later, I am restless and hungry, so I brave the seven flights of stairs again. I buy a movie ticket for Red, and eat at a Wendy’s while I am waiting for the movie to begin.

It’s good to have food in me again, and the movie was incredible. I’m getting better at eating meals and watching movies by myself.

I see Jeanne in the lobby when I get back to the hostel, and she apologizes for missing the time earlier. I head back up the seven flights of stairs to my room again.

I head towards the subway station with coffee in hand; I am going to the Royal Ontario of Museum today. I buy my tokens from the man in a booth, since there are no machines to dispense these tokens. Once out of the subway station, I find the ROM with almost no trouble at all, and head inside to buy my CityPass.

I plan on spending the whole day in the museum. By the time I am ready to go back to the hostel, my feet are sore from visiting all five floors of the museum. My favorite exhibits are the Terracota Army Exhibit, the birds section, and the Japan sections.

After resting in the hostel for a little while, my hunger catches up with me. I head down to an Italian fast-food place down the street from the hostel, past the Starbuck’s, and get a calzone with pepperoni, bell peppers, and extra cheese in it.

I see Jeanne in the hostel lobby, and we decide to meet up in the morning to head to the CN Tower again. No one else has checked into the room, so I have it to myself for the night.

The man sitting next to me on the plane is from Toronto, and heading home. He’s nice, and tells me that I will freeze without a proper winter coat. I desperately hope he’s wrong. I must have a look of terror on my face, which he mistakes for a fear of flying. I don’t correct him.

Turbulence, fear, and snoring noises from my helpful neighbor keep me from sleep on this red-eye flight. Instead, I listen to Regina Spektor and Florence + the Machine, hoping they’ll soothe me enough to rest. They don’t.

The plane lands safely, and it’s time to go through customs and immigration. After that, a stop in the restroom before leaving the airport.

I use the restroom as a place to put on my thermals and contact lenses. A security guard comes in after a little while, and waits for my stall in the otherwise vacant restroom. I am now crossing “be a person of interest in an airport” off of my life list.

And now it’s time to go outside. I don’t freeze, as the man from the plane suggested I would, but I am glad when the Airport Express bus comes quickly.

It’s a short trip to reach the city from the airport, so I’m without a heater once again. It’s very early in the morning, and the sun hasn’t come up yet.

The city is peaceful, quiet, and I am lost. Not that it matters; I can’t check-in to the hostel until two in the afternoon. Eight hours to wander.

I stop at a Tim Horton’s to get breakfast, and pay for my hot tea and blueberry muffin with American money. They only accept MasterCard and cash; I have a Visa and 20 USD.

I finish my muffin, and take my tea with me to wander the streets some more. There’s the hostel where I will be spending the next four nights, but still must wait to check-in.

There’s a Starbuck’s at the corner, and I buy coffee. I use the change in Canadian money from Tim Horton’s to pay.

No longer lost, I leave to find the World’s Biggest Bookstore. I buy Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park and marvel at the amount of books there. I use my Visa to pay, because I haven’t had a chance to get cash. The ATM in the store lobby does not accept my card; it only accepts MasterCard.

My feet are tired, and I go across the street from the bookstore to a movie theater. I go up four floors to get to the theater where my movie is playing, Easy A. The movie is entertaining, and my feet are thankful for a rest.

When the movie is over, I go downstairs to the food court (on level three) and eat a Subway sandwich. The food helps to replenish some of my energy, and I decide to head back to the hostel to check-in.

I’m too early to get my room and bed assignment, but I’m finally able to drop-off my backpack. It feels so nice to only have my purse to carry.

On the way down from the lockers, I meet Jeanne. She is from France, and is also traveling alone. We decide to walk to the CN Tower together. The line to go up is too long, so we make a plan to come back again during the week.

From the CN Tower, we walk to the Harbourfront. It is beautiful, but my camera battery decides to die. I decide to come back another day.

We walk back to the hostel from the Harbourfront, and I’m now able to check-in. I am in the same room as Jeanne; we are both on the top bunks in the four-bed female dorm.

I try to recoup my energy, and for the next several hours I do nothing at all. But, six o’clock has me restless enough to venture out again. Jeanne and I go to a movie theater nearby the hostel to see Due Date. It’s a strange feeling to watch a Hollywood-film outside of the states.