Day 9 of 15: Technically this happened yesterday, but I strolled the streets of the Temple Bar district in Dublin and even saw The Temple Bar pictured above. Then I ate dinner at an awesome upstairs restaurant called Fallon & Byrne, where I had the hands-down best Caesar salad of my life (in case you think I'm exaggerating, you should know there was bacon in it) and was offered free tasters of wine since the server probably felt bad that I was alone.
Then I stopped by The Brazen Head, Ireland's oldest pub, and listened to music. Right after I got there, the musicians asked where everyone was from, and a few people were from the states. They asked if any of us were from California, and I was surprisingly the only one. Then they played a California-themed song, so I was glad I had made it just in time to hear it. (Below is a picture from The Brazen Head's head -- sometimes a bathroom selfie is what a solo traveler must resort to in order to document themselves on a trip. Or at least that's my excuse.)
This morning, I couldn't find the meeting spot for a bus tour to Belfast and totally missed it. Before you judge me, all they wrote on the directions was one street without a cross street and the instruction to meet at the "Old Stone Church," which is not the name of the church. Anyway, I went to the closest tourist office, and the security guard suggested I go wait a bit longer just in case the bus might even just be running late. Ten minutes later, he came looking for me to see if I'd figured it out -- I hadn't. Then he escorted me to the right office around the block to talk to the company in charge of the tour, where I was able to reschedule for tomorrow. Now I've just finished breakfast at a restaurant called Brother Hubbard with the tag line, "This is the cafe you've been looking for." It was a relief to see that after searching for it for quite a while.
