Day 14- I touched a mummy! (our final day in Ireland)

This day began horribly, but did get better! We woke up from our restless sleep at the awful hostel and high-tailed it out of there as quickly as possible! We found public bathrooms and paid 1 euro each to go in to brush our teeth, change, etc. That's how ridiculously disgusting the hostel bathroom was.

We dragged our suitcase to McDonald's and sat inside sipping coffee/hot cocoa and trying to figure out what to do next. It was still drizzling, we had no idea how we were going to get to Northern Ireland and then what to do once we got there since Gill and Tommy & the girls were in Scotland and would remain there until we flew home. Both Karen and I were unable to pull ourselves out of our sadness and felt pretty hopeless in our post-traumatic state. Yes, I'm being a wee bit dramatic, but in the moment we were just devastated. I may have cried into my coffee a little.

Once the information center opened, we found out about buses to Northern Ireland and renting a car from the airport in Belfast. They let us leave our luggage at the center for a small fee and we noticed that the sun was peeking out from behind the seemingly never-ending clouds. We decided to take the later bus north and to take advantage of this day to see some things we didn't get a chance to before. It's amazing how a little information can impact outlook.

Our first stop was St. Michan's Church and we both really wanted to go there to see the organ that Handel reportedly practiced The Messiah on as well as the crypts beneath the church. We spent a little time in the sanctuary admiring the details of the carvings, the stained glass windows and the artifacts. I listened to portions of The Messiah on my mp3 player and was swept away by the beauty of it in this historic place. When it was our turn to take the tour of the crypts we joined a man from Australia and headed below ground with our guide. It must be said that he really enjoyed his job. Everything he said was with a dramatic flourish and Karen & I had to keep from giggling out loud at times. There were totally naturally mummified bodies due to the exact conditions of the crypts and the limestone walls. Amazing! After telling us (in his creepy manner) about who each of the mummified bodies might have been, he moved away the gate and much to our surprise, told us that we were allowed to walk into the chamber and carefully rub the finger of the supposed crusader. Apparently it is good luck! So, I did!!! And then I wandered around the rest of the day believing that I had the bubonic plague. Hee, hee.

We spent the day seeing some of the sights we hadn't yet seen in Dublin and then caught the bus to Northern Ireland. It was an uneventful ride and once we arrived in Belfast we took another bus to the airport to see about a rental car. There were none. NONE! And it was about 7pm. Yikes! We called Gilly who called her sister-in-law to come get us and bring us to their house. Rescued! Yay! She even brought us to get groceries and showed us how to work the heat/water/etc. in the house. We promptly showered and ate and collapsed! It was good to be at Gill and Tommy's house, but sad to be there without them. We didn't really know what the next few days would hold, but finally felt safe and clean and ready to relax after the last few "adventurous" days!