Baile Atha Claith - Dublin and friends

In our ever conscious quest to save a Euro, we decided to travel to Dublin via train and ferry. For only $45.00, the Rail and Sail special routed us on two trains from London to Holy Head, then onto Dublin by sea. What should have taken about 7 hours, getting us into Dublin in time to meet my best friend Tara (of Nebraska) for dinner, took 26 hours. Due to a British bank holiday, the train schedule was slightly off, so we took three trains to get to Holy Head. The third train arrived fifteen minutes after our ferry left, and the following two ferrys were cancelled due to a storm in between the islands. We had about 14 hours to spend in chilly, rainy Holy Head. Luckily, the ferry line stored our baggage and we were able to go see a movie and have some dinner in town. We slept on the ferry, which departed at 2:00am. Weary and bleary eyed, we were received with a warm welcome by Tara and Ciaran around 8:00am.

We had long anticipated this leg of the journey because it was the only point where we would be staying with old friends. The Irish leg marked the halfway point in our trip, and we were excited to take stock of where we'd been and where we were going. Ciaran and Tara's apartment was a perfect place to do this. Not only did we have our own room with a real bed (a far cry from 34 consecutive nights of tent camping), we had our own bathroom with a bathtub. Rediscovering hot baths was just one delight in a sea of comfort and good times we had with Tara and Ciaran during our three week stay.
Greystones is in County Wicklow (nicknamed the garden of Ireland) and about an hour south of Dublin. Home to a quaint and relatively hip down town strip lining the sea front, the town lacks the suburban feel typically felt an hour outside of a major city. We especially enjoyed visiting the Happy Pear to eat lunch and to buy organic kale, something we hadn't eaten since our trip began. Another store sold tempeh, so we were able to make our favourite dinner to share. We also consumed a few Guinness for good measure, and learned how to make traditional Irish soda brown bread. From the apartment roof, we practised yoga each day and stared at the mesmerizing Irish sea.

Tara and Ciaran are in the music business, and we quickly realized this equals little time to spare in a week. Between gigs, recording sessions, and rehearsals we supported our musical hosts in every way we could. We helped promote the Ishna show by passing out flyers on Grafton Street in down town Dublin. Ishna, Tara and Ciaran's new band, is quickly becoming a Celtic rock sensation. People can find them on www.myspace.com/ishnamusic . Tara's electric fiddle and Ciaran's smooth tenor voice pair up to make a great sound. The audience loved the show, and we delighted in seeing the duo perform original work and arrangements on stage together.

On a rare day off, the four of us visited Glendalouch, an ancient monastic site. We enjoyed frolicking and joking together in the sunlight, and stopped for cake on our way home in pre-30th birthday celebrations for Tara. Ireland has the greenest hills we've ever seen, and during our stay we only saw rain three times. We really lucked out!

Tara had a big solo gig on her 30th birthday, Josh and I dressed in all black and pretended to be part of her technical crew so we could see her perform. She was amazing! The audience loved her, especially us! The previous night, we had a special dinner and night out on the town to celebrate her next decade. It was so much fun to go out dancing with friends, something we hadn't done in over a year. All four of us delighted in each other's company, the laughter during our stay was much needed by everyone. We can't wait to see Tara and Ciaran again! Thank you for the hospitality, great times, and letting us fill up on domestic bliss in your home! We couldn't have enjoyed Ireland more!
During our last weekend, we took an Anusara workshop at Yoga Dublin. Working with Jayendra Hanley on our alignment got us excited to move onto India. Time spent with good friends eating good food was an invaluable component in our preperations for part two of the trip. With our Indian visas in hand, we were ready to fly to Delhi. Well, almost... we had to take the Rail and Sail back to London first. Luckily, our route back went as scheduled and we got into London in time for a night with Sophie and Jane (thanks again ladies!). Onto India!