MacKat in Ireland

Hyde Park was just across the street from our hostel so we walked through there Tuesday morning after a breakfast of peanut butter, jelly, frosted flakes, and whole milk.  Katherine immediately commented that it was “just like 101 Dalmations!”  There were dogs everywhere!  Some were walking, some were running, and some were getting to know other dogs.  In fact, the dogs’ owners were getting to know each other too; love was in the air…

We had planned on seeing Princess Diana’s dress collection on exhibition at Kensington Palace but it didn’t open until 10:00.  I was ok with that.  As it turned out, Katherine wasn’t keen at walking by a bunch of dresses either.  We instead headed toward the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.  There were numerous signs pointing to such a fountain, but no signs of a fountain nearby.  When we finally found it we knew why; it’s not a fountain.  It’s more of a continuously-circulating-moat-thing.  Pictures are below.

We eventually found our way out of the park and headed toward Buckingham Palace to see the big, bad Queen’s Guard change places with other members of the big, bad Queen’s Guard.

In order to get to our hostel in London we needed to

• Walk to the campus bus stop
• Take the bus to the Limerick bus station
• Take a different bus to Shannon Airport (20 miles away)
• Fly to Gatwick Airport (30 miles outside London)
• Take the Gatwick Express train to London
• Take the London Underground to another stop
• Walk to the hostel a few blocks away

Our schedule was such that Katherine needed to skip her last class Monday (missing her “How to Start a Business in Ireland” class is not a big deal) and head over to the campus bus stop where I’d be waiting with the bags. This shouldn’t have been a problem, but there is no such thing as a schedule in Ireland.

I was at the bus stop at 4:15 and I watched the 4:15 bus go by. At 4:30 two buses pulled up and both left at the same time. When Katherine arrived at 4:35 I figured we could catch the 4:45 bus. Of course not! The two buses at 4:30 meant the next one wouldn’t come until at least 5:00. By the time 5:10 rolled around I was getting a bit perturbed with all things Irish. A bus did eventually come at 5:15 but we had missed our airport bus by the time we got to Limerick station. State-run monopolies are not efficient.

We did eventually get to the airport on time, and on the plane on time, and on the Gatwick Express on time, and to the hostel before 11. Then we went to sleep and prepared for the sights on Tuesday.

Here are some pictures of Trafalgar Square because I didn’t know where else to put them.