Dublin in 8 hours

After my last blog post, I wandered out of the internet cafe and met a bloke named Mike, maybe mid-40s with graying hair, who was holding a video camera on the sidewalk. He works for the BBC now in Belfast, after deciding to quit his job as an engineer and travel the world in 2003. The BBC called him.
Now he loves what he does, travels around doing video spots for BBC. Great guy, gave him my card.
10:30 Am:Saw the spire, 200 feet or something of metal that comes to a point somewhere in the clouds, *yawn*. Love Trinity college, but couldn't convince the librarian to let me in the school library for free internet. The line to the Book of Gay-lic Stuff was too long and I moved on.
11:30 am: Budget Travel tip #1: the cheap lunch. You won't save big bucks on airfare and magically have a cheap trip. If you are traveling for any extended period of time, you have to make daily savings a priority if you're going to save. Buy cheap lunches. Consider it a penance. Hummus and a baguette put me back 2.08 euro. It adds up over time.
Saw various sites including St. patricks' and Christchurch, neither was catholic and i felt cheated. Damn Anglicans!
1 pm: wander into Porterhouse Pub for a brew. Bartender Mike tells me this is a micro brew, what's Guinness?
A beer later, Mike turns out to be an American Grad student studying politics and hoping to be diplomat. Although he's not so sure about that path anymore, his thesis on terrorism as a disseminated idea and its effects in the modern world sounded fascinating. Really bright guy. From Roswell, NM, and undergrad at Albuquerqe. He spent 5 years teaching english in Japan and never looked back. I had a chuckle how quickly one can pick up an accent, I swore he was Irish when I first ordered my beer, but 10 minutes later his american accent returned.
1:30 pm: Jared pulls up a chair and we have a riveting political debate. China is not a threat to world economics. Europe can't wait for your elections. Another beer?
I catch my bus back to the airport at 2:30 and realize it's best to eat before you drink irish beer. I'm feeling good.