I am finally posting the last episode in the Dublin saga (you're welcome Mom!).

Before I start, one quick correction: Wonder Wall is not American-they're British. Je me trompe.

Ok, here we go:
After we went to St. Audoen's, we headed back to the hostel to rest before we got dinner. We got there, are we were just trying to decide what to get to eat when a couple staying in the same hostel room walked in with 2 friends. We all said hello, and they said they were going to play a game, would we like to play? We declined the first few times, but eventually we gave in and agreed to join them. Thus we met Jonathan from Finland, Peri the Iranian from Sweden, Charles and Anna, both from Detroit. We played a really ridiculous game with animal sounds, and at the end of it, most of our new friends are well on their way to being a tad intoxicated.

Well, we then discover, as fate would have it, that Peri is into martial arts. Nick didn't really believe her, so he said "show me" (Mistake #1). Peri refused, but Nick pressed her and said "Show me." "Ok," Peri said. "Choke me." So Nick acted like he was choking her (Mistake #2). Peri told him to choke harder. Nick does it (Mistake #3), and all of a sudden, Nick's hands are twisted around at his waist. And he just looks at Peri and goes "Oouuhh..." She starts to knee him, then she twist and spins or something, and before we know it, Nick is on the ground, sliding towards the other side of the room. It was really one of the fastest and most surprising things I've ever seen. She spent the rest of the evening apologizing, and Nick spent the rest of the evening nursing his wounded pride...

So, after that little adventure, we joined them on their way to the Temple Bar district. We went to a pub, danced ridiculously, and had a great time! We agreed to go eat breakfast with them the next morning, and then we walked an hour to Kilmanhaim jail. It was extremely informative, a brief overview of recent Irish history, and intriguing. Afterwards, the three of us went back to the hostel to rest, and we planned to meet Charles at 8 for coffee. We met him at 8, and he and Nick decided they wanted tea instead. Well, in France, a cafe is always open. Not really true in Ireland. The only thing we could find that sounded at all remotely offering tea was the Thunderoad Cafe (doesn't that sound like it's going to have tea? I mean, any establishment that has "thunderoad" in the title shound definitely have tea...) Notwithstanding, we sat down in a booth next to some Dutch people. Correction: crazy Dutch men. And when I say "we " sat next to them, I mean that I was the only one actually physically next to them. By the by, after less than 5 minutes, Dutch boy A (let's call him Hans) tries to start a conversation. I was polite, but very short, but Hans just kept talking. Clearly, drunk or something else, something isn't quite right with Hans & Co. Anyway, in the course of this one sided "conversation," Hans picks up a hair off the floor and says "Is this yours?" I said no. He asked again, and I said no, I was sure that wasn't mine. Then Hans did the unthinkable. He put the hair in his mouth. I almost gagged. Our whole table just "ewwed..." but it gets better. After putting the hair from the floor in his mouth, Hans turns to me and asks
"Can I taste your hair?"
"No."
"Please?"
"Absolutely not."
"Why not?"
"Because. No, you cannot touch my hair."
Then Hans says, "watch this" and grabs Fritz and stands in the open space in front of our table. Hans stands there and Fritz does a handstand. A handstand. In the restaurant. Fritz locks his knees over Han's head and tries to crawl all the way around him. We're just staring at them, open mouthed. The bartender finally came over and asked them to stop, but by that time, Nick and Charles were both chugging scalding tea to just get us out. As we got our stuff together, Dutch man C leaned over to us and said "We're not all like this..." Like I'm taking the chance to find out!

So that pretty much concludes Ireland. We flew out the next morning to Carcassone and took a train back to Pau. It was pretty unforgettable! Yay Ireland!