Dubliners No Longer--Day 7

Day 7

We departed The Roebuck Castle Dorms at University College Dublin this morning at 10ish.  Alex was first to arrive at the Class F luxury bus.  Yeah, I said it, Class F! Emma was the 19th to arrive at the bus.  Apparently she didn't hear about our class F transportation status. Our friendly driver, Joe, who smokes Pall Mall's and wears an NYPD baseball hat, quite nimbly loaded our luggage (even Christina's) onto the bus as we wiped a tear from our collective eye and waved goodbye to Dublin.

11 minutes later, the bus was silent (Annie sleeps with her eyes open). It was a portrait of tranquility...except for the minor distraction of some Taylor Swift song leaking unpleasantly from Liv's iPod speakers. 2 hours and 27 minutes later, we arrived at our first spontaneous itinerary modification location. Yeah, I said it, spontaneous itinerary modification location.  We entered the Belfast Titanic Exhibition, which opened it's doors to the public just over a year ago. In case you didn't know, The Titanic and its sister ship, The Olympic were built entirely in the dry docks of Belfast. Over 100,000 people watched it launch for the 1st time.  One of them didn't survive.

Leonardo DiCaprio was not present, but Celine Dion did sing to us (that might have been me, but our voices are nearly indistinguishable) as Joe steered us towards Ballintoy. As I gazed out the luxury windows of our Class F bus, I found myself missing our bespectacled professors and their unbending reverence for the virtues of the Joycean tradition. Then I saw some sheep. Then the sea. Then I noticed Joe smiling in the rearview mirror, maybe at me, maybe at the countryside. I nudged the scholars sitting nearest to me, and they quickly sleeved the drool from their collective chin and saw what I saw.  Taylor Swift was no longer necessary.  Ireland sang for itself.

26 minutes later we arrived at the Sheep Island View Hostel, our final destination. Utilizing his notable dexterity, Joe unloaded the bus and we checked in to our rooms.  After a quick team meeting and some exploring (Juliette was attacked by a nettle-like bush while Elliott and Emma took the road less traveled), we headed to dinner at the Fullerton. Emily had three rib-eyes and James ate mostly with his hands.  The food was delicious.

Right now, half of the scholars are playing some card game which involves blurting out types of hats and famous tennis player's names.  The other half is conducting a photo shoot in the parking lot. Liana and Kristen are writing limericks in a distant glenn. Joe is nowhere to be found.

Looking forward to tomorrow.

Lind