Irish Steak and Pub Hopping

Today was great except for a minor cold I am coming down with. I don't know if it the jet lag, all the running/walking or sleeping on a four-inch mattress, but my body is trying to wear me down. So what I'd do? Take a three-hour nap. It was glorious.

I woke up feeling a little bit better, but hungry. Eight of us ended up going to downtown Limerick for dinner and a night on the town. We ended up at Locke's Restaurant and Bar. (This led to a Lost moment. Sorry, Charlie, no one else was there to soak it in.) After failing to eat lunch I was famished and wanted something Irish to eat. The choices were either sausage, Irish Bacon or Irish sirloin steak. Naturally, I opted for the steak. (I'd post a picture of it here, but the camera battery is dead and My UK adapter won't let me charge it. I hope this problem will be remedied before the Dublin trip this weekend) It was great. The best part was it was actually a good portion of food. They had a gravy-like sauce to dip it in. Quite good. The downside was it cost 24 Euro, which is $36. But screw it, that was my big meal of the week. Tomorrow, it's frozen pizza from the grocery store.

Afterward, two of the girls peeled off and went back home and the rest of us hit up a couple pubs. (Luckily one was next to a pharmacy. Hello, Sudafed.) We hung out at Gate's Pub and Club Mojo and conversed. Gate's was quite the rough crowd as it was filled with five or six old guys and then us. Mojo was more youthful, but still pretty slim pickings on a Tuesday night. I guess not everyone is in summer school.

Random thoughts from the first couple of days:
— One of the things I'm worried about is which side of the sidewalk to walk on. Since they drive on the left side here, do they walk on that side too? I've encountered several natives and try to read them, but usually just walk on whatever side they aren't favoring, which varies. I just hope they don't walk by me on the right side and curse those bloody Americans.

— Daylight lasts a long time here. I didn't realize how far north Ireland is, but it stays light until well past 10 p.m. and my room is quite bright at 4 a.m. This might be the cause of the weird sleep patterns. Why would I go to bed at 10 p.m. when it is still light out? That's just crazy. According to this website, it is only dark in July for seven hours a day.

— Roundabouts are way fun. In fact, they are so fun that I sing a song every time I walk by/through/on one. You can too, just sing this little diddy to the tune of "Lollipop," "Roundabout, roundabout, round round roundabout, Roundabout." I am the envy of all my friends.

Cheers,

LJLA