Not much of a sleep last night. The seafood repeated and the room was stifling. Whenever I opened the window I got the night noises and the narrow bed saw me close to the edge. Nevertheless I got up around nine or ten.

I wandered down to the beach. It's pretty horrendous as beaches go, composed of huge pebbles with the only sand there being on the beachball court (and I suspect that was imported). Nevertheless there is a huge hill on which an old fortified chateau once stood. From below you can see a waterfall cascading down from the top. I took the climb and worthwhile it is too. A lovely park lies on top and the views of the city are phenomenal. Naturally in the hot sun, I got a red neck, even though I tried to keep to the shade. I even braved the shine to wander around a wonderful cemetery(!). They have and had money to bury in this place. Going on, and with only a pain au chocolat in my stomach, I found a restaurant and sampled a large plate of starters (mushrooms in oil, fried peppers, battered courgette etc.) with the obligatory quarter litre of red. Good stuff. That then, Ned, was when I conversed with your good self.

Well, I complained about my room and got it swapped for one only marginally better, though I might be able to sleep in this one. Unfortunately wireless is gone, and the fridge, so unless I do sleep not much of a swap. However, I did doze earlier on which was a good sign.


Paddy's PubI went looking for an Irish bar to see if I could meet up with anyone. The first bar I came to was actually the one I was originally looking for (recommended in the Rough Guide), though I came to it by accident. As usual it was the ones that worked there that were propping up the bar. Not too keen on talking, but once most of them left and a girl from Kildare went behind the bar, I got talking with her. Studying in Trinity and heading home October 3rd though she doesn't want to (the French boyfriend, you see). She gave me a map of all the night spots in the area (exactly what I was looking for), so I headed on to Ma Nolan's. In contrast to the last one (Paddy's Pub) this place was rocking, even though the French don't drink much. Of course the first girl I managed to talk to was Polish (well, I know the language, don't I), but unfortunately she was waiting for her friend (female) to come back from the toilet before they both left. And her friend came back. She said she might be back, but that was always unlikely. Not much luck after that, but then I really wasn't on for a late one tonight. I wanted to judge the environment, see what it's like getting home and then do a proper session tomorrow.

Needless to say I got home all right, but the absence of wireless really hurts. I'd probably swap back to the grottier room given the opportunity just for that. Uh, oh, I think the French upstairs may have had a full pint; they're getting rowdy!