Day 43: Most Epic Cab Ride Ever

Tuesday - June 29, 2010:

My Tylonal PM did me right so waking up on Tuesday wasn't a challenge. Check out was strictly at 10:00, so we got up, finished packing and ate breakfast before checking out of the Equity Point hostel.

Some of the other girls we were with missed the free breakfast, so we popped on over to Starbucks to get them coffee and sit down. We made ourselves at home in the back corner of Starbucks for about an hour and a half!

While at Starbucks, Becca's friend Victor came to say goodbye to us and to pick Becca up because they were going to go to lunch. She left and Emily, Kasi and I decided to leave as well and make a final stroll around Barcelona.

By this time it is about 12:00 and Emily (who is going to Edinburg to visit a friend and has an earlier flight than us) needs to get lunch before she leaves for the airport. So we go with her to get lunch and then part ways as she goes back to the hostel to get her luggage and Kasi and I just walk around.

{Walking down by the water. I'm in love with this street lined with palm trees, leading up to the Christopher Columbus statue!}

{Mr. Lobster}

Kasi and I ended up walking down to Olympic Village and Port Vell, needing to see the water one last time. When we got down by the boats, we went in a market and bought Haribo candy and water and sat on bench in the shade. We sat there and talked for over an hour! It was just so pleasant - I didn't want to leave!

{Our view to the right}

{And our view to the left}

Time started ticking and we needed to meet back up with Katelyn and Becca so we started heading back to the hostel around 3:30. We decided to switch things up and take a different way back -- exploring Barcelona one last time!

Our flight wasn't until 9:50 p.m., but we had to catch a bus from Barcelona Station at 6:45 -- so when we got back to the hostel at 4:30, we had 2 hours to spare. I used this time wisely by making phone calls and taking advantage of their free WiFi.

When 6:30 rolled around, all 4 of us were together and ready to go. We caught a cab to the bus station and when we got to the bus station we had about 10 minutes to buy our tickets and get to the bus platform. With a lot of hurrying involved, we made it on the bus with 1 minute to spare (we took the last 4 seats).

The bus ride was incredibly hot, but I slept most of the way so that's alright. When we safely made it to Girona Airport (it's an hour outside of Barcelona... Thanks Ryan Air) it was 8:00, meaning we still had atleast an hour to spare. We spent this time weighing our bags, rearranging their belongings and writing postcards. Ryan Air finally let us check in at 9:15 (my bag passed with flying colors at 10.4 kilograms), we got our Visas checked at 9:25, made it through security by 9:45 and ran to the gates for our 9:50 closing of gates. Well, we made the mistake of thinking that Ryan Air would leave on time because when our running stopped at Gate 2, we were greeted with a line a mile long! Someone informs us that they haven't even began boarding yet, so we jump in line, sit down and wait. While waiting we make friends with this kid from DC who had been studying abroad/traveling for 6 months. When we ask why he is going to Dublin, he says that's where all of his bags are and he has to go home because he run out of money! He's been living life dollar to dollar and city to city, guess his time is finally up! But he has traveled all over Europe, so he gave us tips on Amsterdam and Dublin (they have cider!!).

In the hour that we waited (plane got delayed), I don't know if I've ever been more miserable in an airport. It was so hot in there that Kasi's chocolate melted. I was melting. We finally ended up boarding at 10:50ish.

{Look at that gorgeous sunset we saw from the Barcelona Airport!}

{Our new friend and travel advisor -- reppin' the Barcelona soccer jersey}

{The line that didn't move}

{Nunnaley, how do you feel about this delay?}

{Check out our buddy}

{Line still not moving...}

{So sad we are still here and not in Ireland...}

{Finally we see a plane! Everyone make a mad dash to get a seat!}

{My first view of Dublin!}

This might have been the scariest flight take off ever! My eyes were closed and I was holding on with my death grip. But the Ryan Air pilots did their thing and we got in the air safely and were on our way to Ireland!

We were sad to leave Barcelona! We were proud of the fact that we had a succesful stay and didn't get pickpocketed. I don't know if I've mentioned this but earlier in the summer, when we had dinner with those other backpackers, they had just come from Barcelona and they had nothing but negative things to say about it. And we also heard other people talk about how they didn't like it and how like 8 people they were with got stuff stolen... It was frightening the things they were telling us! So you can imagine how scared we were to go after hearing these things -- I actually looked into changing my flight the week before! But once I did some research on where to eat and what to see, things started looking a little better. And then once we got there and loved it, it was all good. Those negative people could not have been more wrong about Barcelona! I didn't feel unsafe anytime during my visit -- even at 5 am on the metro. And it was clean and the people were friendly... I am so glad I went and I would suggest it to anyone traveling in Europe!

Half way through the flight I look out the window and it's pure darkness except for a hint of sunlight in the distant horizon. I am sitting here and I smile as this thought over comes me, "I am so blessed." And I have every single person in my family and all of my friends and God to thank!

When we finally land it is about 12:15 Dublin time. We have to run to baggage claim and then run to Customs (where the Customs people were incredibly nice -- unusual for that job! They were just chatting away with us!) and then run to the bus station. Well we couldn't find the bus system Patti (the lady who owns the B&B we are staying at) told us to use, so we go ask Information and by the time the lady at the desks checks the bus schedule and we prove to her that there is one leaving at 12:30, it's too late and we've missed it. Incase you are wondering, Kilkenny (where the B&B is) is about 1:30 hours away from the Airport. So we call Patti (luckily she is a night owl) and she tries to tell us that the bus is waiting for us! So we run, run, run to this bus and by the time we find it, it's gone. So, again, we call Patti and she tells us to catch a cab to take us to this place in Dublin, where the bus will wait for us there. Ok, well we get in this cab with this nice man and we tell him where to take us. He asks why and when we tell him a public transpiration bus is waiting for us he says, "I haven't ever heard of that in my life. There is no way in hell he's waiting for you girls!" (say it in that Irish accent--it's hysterical)! So Patti calls us to confirm that we are out of luck with the bus... What to do? Well we could stay in a cheap hotel in Dublin, but we've already paid for a night at Pattis... So might as well take a cab. There weren't any other options! As we are pondering these options we are on the road, so our cab driver pulls over to help us decide. Irish people are so kind! So our sweet man calls Patti to see where he needs to take us because he had offered to drive us all the way out to Kilkenny and be fair on a price, so after much talking (on Patti's end), our driver has somewhat of an idea of where to take us. But I believe his direct words after he got off the phone with her were "That lady is (bleeping) mad!" We started dying out laughing because we had some inclination that Patti was a bit of a scatter brain, but our driver confirmed this. Trying to get directions from her was worse than pulling teeth. For one, she didn't have an address that the driver could plug into his GPS. And she didn't have any big landmarks to help the guy direct himself either. So somehow he got some sort of directions and we set out on the most epic cab ride I think I'll ever have.

Because our ride was going to be more than a short jaunt, we first stopped at a gas station to load up on fuel and food!

{Katelyn's fuel of choice: M&M's and Chicken}

{Curl is a wee bit scared of this situation}

{Becca's fuel of choice: Diet Coke and ham sandwich}

{The chips we're named Hunky Dorys -- you know it's going to be a good night!}

After loading up, we hit the road. Our cab driver, John, passes back an iPod and tells us we might as well make a playlist since we will be in the car for a while! He tells us it is his daughter's iPod (he has 3 daughters, which worked in our favor because we think his fatherly instincts kicked in making him want to help us) and Becca started freaking out because all of the music were like her favorite songs! Becca decided she and his daughter would be best friends -- this made John laugh!

{Becca making the best playlist to ever grace John's daughter's iPod}

So we got the music pumping and the karaoke started coming out! It was like we were riding with out best friend the way we were all breaking out in song! It was hysterical.

Halfway through the drive, which feels more like a rollarcoaster ride, we come to a screeching halt. Why? Bambi! John had to yield to a little deer leaping across the road. We felt like we were definitly headed in the right direction of the countryside with this animal road block.

Bambi passes and we continue on our journey. Now, keep in mind that it's about 2:00 a.m. so not many people on the roads. I guess John recognized this and took full advantage of having the lanes to himself because he was flying!! We were going to fast and then we'd hit a bump and I promise you we caught air! We would all put our hands in the air, just for kicks (I think it boosted John's ego).

Jams are still rolling off the iPod and John has the volume up to a decent decible. So when Kasi has the unfortunate event of needing to use the restroom, she practically has to yell at him to tell him to pull over. He immediately pulls over on the side of the road to let Kasi out.

{John trying to find somewhere close to the Cullintra House on his GPS}

{And John pulls over for Kasi!}

Off we go again, and by now it's like 2:45 and were like "where in the world are we?" Nobody knows the answer to this -- nt even John! So we get a bit closer to a familiar town Patti had told us about and we call her. She gives us more ambiguous directions and off we go! Well many dead ends, three-point-turns and curse words (from John) later, we are getting close. We are almost to where we turn off when what happens? We have another animal road block! But this time it is two horses grazing on the side of the road. Seriously?! We are all dying out laughing and really can't believe this is happening right now. They start walking and we have to follow them at like 1 MPH because if we'd passed them they may have gotten spooked and hurt the taxi. After about 10 minutes of following them, we spot the (very small) sigh pointing to Cullintra House. It tells us it is in .1 km. By some miracle we find the place and I don't think John has ever been more anxious to be paid and set free from his taxi duties than he was that night at 3:45 a.m.

{2 horses infront of us -- are you serious?!}

{Just trotting along...}

{The only picture of John I could get was this one in the rearview mirror -- I thought the last thing he wants to do is take a picture with the 5 girls who have gone in his history book as the worst cab drive experience ever}

We unload, pay him and out walks Patti (it's really Patricia). Like I said, we've only talked to her on the phone and we've imagained what this woman would be like... Nothing prepared us for that first encounter! If you need a visual, she reminds me of a mixture of Pheobe Buffay (from Friends) and Julia Childs in the Julie and Julia movie!

After she told John it was "so easy and only an hour and a half from Dublin Airport" (I thought he was going to throw the lady across the yard for telling him this after he just drove two and a half hours with practically no directions), she invited us into the house. We were all wanting to go straight to bed, but not Patti -- nope. She was ready for a tour of the house (even though it was 4 a.m., she was decked out in a long black skirt and pearls)! She showed us around inside -- it reminded me exactly of a doll house. And then outside, she had a beautiful yard with loads of flowers and trees. But the best part of the tour came when she took us into the green house. We walked in and I looked fairly normal with outdoor rocking chairs, white lights lining the ceiling and green plants all around. But then she walked towards the back and up an exposed spiral staircase... This is when she said "And this is Oswald's room." Who is Oswald, you ask? Oswald is her cat. Yes, this woman takes the term "cat lady" to a whole new level. And if you know me, I despise cats. Probably because I'm allergic, butni seriously dream of punting some cats across the yard. So knowing Patti has a whole loft in the greenhouse - complete with a bed, decorated walls and a pillow that says You Are Puurrrrrrfect - just makes me laugh at the situation. I am pretty sure the 5 of us are all biting our tounges to keep from laughing out loud!

When our tour is complete and we've picked what room were going to sleep in, Patti finally left us alone and we immediately hit the sheets for a good nights sleep!

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