IRELAND

SATURDAY 8/1: Take Day Tours Unplugged bus to the Wicklow Mountains. Hear U2 & Enya on the bus. Find out Enya lives near Bono. Her house was broken into recently, when she wasn't there luckily, so her security is doubled. Stop at Fishing Village. See lots of sheep! Pass through Roundwood, the highest village in Ireland. Much of the land looks like patchwork, like it did as I was looking out the airplane window when I first flew to Ireland in 2001. Stop at a B&B by a river with a beautiful bridge. I'm starting to see the magic I always thought Ireland would be. Arrive in Glendalough (pronounced Glendalock), which means valley of the two lakes. There are some gorgeous old castle-like buildings here. Walk around lake. Have lunch at pub, including Guinness with a new appreciation as we have found out that the color (deep red) of Guinness matches the water in the mountains. (Check out the pictures, coming soon, to see what I mean.) Hear the end of a song from U2's Rattle & Hum but I don't know which one! Also hear U2's Ground Beneath Her Feet.

One last Guinness at our hotel lounge. Then bus to Dublin Airport Hotel.

FRIDAY 7/31: Plan to take bus to Galway (the Irish version of my Scottish last name Galloway, which is actually my paternal grandmother's surname, not my father's) but go to internet cafe and find out it is 'Race Week' and all hotels are booked. Decide to stay in Dublin. Have pint and sandwich at Fitzgerald's Pub. On way to our next excursion we notice that there is an old city wall still up and we realize what Bono sings about in I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. Go on Guinness Storehouse tour during the 250th anniversary including free pint of Guinness at the Gravity Bar on top which has a 360 view. Hmm...360 view, 250 anniversary...while following U2 on their 360 Tour? Smiles. Back to internet cafe and room for quick break. Then to Mount Temple Comprehensive (high school) where U2 met and where Larry Mullen Jr (U2/drummer) posted a note on the school notice board looking to form a band. Then to Howth (like Sausalito) to see the Presbyterian Church where U2 first played on 3/20/78 as U2, having changed their name from The Hype before they played their last set for the night. Later, we found out that Bono's father's funeral was there on 8/24/01 (and I saw U2 Slane on 8/25/01). It's very drizzly and windy, which makes our visit very atmospheric, almost eerie. On the way home see up close the smokestacks of the Dublin Power Station, seen at the beginning of the Pride (In The Name Of Love) VIDEO and the movie Rattle & Hum. Take DART back, get food, and take a bath.

THURSDAY 7/30: Thankfully, we do laundry at Philip's house, which cures my smelly sweater problem! Say goodbye to Catherine and Austin. Philip drives us to town and holds our luggage in his boot (trunk). McD's for 'Mayo Chickens' and fries. Then buy tix for Open Top Hop On/Hop Off bus around Belfast. Sit on top on left in a two-seater in blazing sun. But just a few minutes later it rains so we go downstairs. Then we go right back up after it stops raining. Find out Belfast is now the no. 2 safest city in the world for tourists; Tokyo being the first. Get off at Shankill (pronounced Shank-ill) Road where several terrorist bombings occurred in pubs in the past and take pix of several memorial sites. Get back on at St. Anne's Cathedral. Get off and have pints of Guinness before meeting Philip in bus station parking lot to get luggage. Bus back to Dublin. Find room at a seemingly historical Ripley Court Hotel (A nod to Lori M's daughter, Riley, since Ripley is my nickname for her!) The hotel was almost right across from the bus station and down the street from the Bonavox Store!

WEDNESDAY 7/29: Take 2.5-hour bus ride from Dublin to Belfast (the same distance from SF to Santa Rosa). Have a pint of Belfast Ale in a private booth at the Crown Bar across the street from the bus station. Philip (who I met online several years ago via his site and he also visited me in SF) picks us up and drives us to his super cute house to meet Catherine, his spouse (they met on U2.com like the couple we met at Dub3!), and Austin, their 7-month-old son, who I adore. Out for Coronas & Mexican food which Catherine is craving, having grown up in Austin, Texas. Sleep very well in their guest room, which is like a room in a B&B.

TUESDAY 7/28: Discover my favorite black sweater is REALLY smelly (like mildew) from washing and drying it in our hotel room. Change because Nick won't sit next to me if I wear the sweater, haha. Bus to town and take Nick to Windmill Lane, where U2's first studio was. Show him wall of graffiti. Buy marker and autograph it. Meet a fan named Claudio from Spain and walk with him to Hanover Quay (pronounced key), U2's current studio, which is set to close down at some point soon. Then take Nick on train to Dalkey & Killiney, where Edge and Bono live respectively but their houses are virtually a 'stone's throw' from each other. Have trouble finding Edge's house again, but I don't think anyone's had luck with that. Then find Bono's house again. Meet two fans, one from Australia, the other from Los Angeles. Take Nick down path to beach below Bono's house. Take great pix and videos. Walk back to train station but stop at Finnegan's first, where Bono frequents, hoping to eat, but they only serve beer (so typical in Ireland!). Get on train, get Asian take-away food and walk home. A REALLY GOOD DAY.

MONDAY 7/27: Leave for Croke Park at about noon. Get lunch to go. Find out where will-call is. Nick goes to pick up our tix while I wait and eat by the Park entrance. A couple sitting there offer me a beer and we laugh at this security 'steward' who is trying to unload the Aung San Suu Kyi masks that Bono wants concertgoers to wear or hold up during Walk On. Nick comes back when I had just opened my beer, so he decides to go on in and get in line. As I'm finishing my beer, I see Jovita and we go to the entrance together. I enter and an older steward calls me 'cutie' in a great Irish accent. Jovita and Nick and I exchange money and tickets. Then Nick and I go back to the line where two guys are saving our place. We hear U2 soundcheck Drowning Man! At 4:00p as we start to go through the turnstiles to get our tickets scanned, the scanner fails! Everyone starts freaking out as some fans are let in and others are held back. We hear security on their walkie-talkies about how there might be a riot so all lines better be held up until all scanners work again. Finally the scanners work again.

U2 DUB 3
(Brono #66, Nick #37)
PHOTOS
VIDEO

We make it inside the pit on the center of the back of the rail, a place we have been curious about. Nick takes a photo (see photo link below) of a double rainbow! It ends up being our best audience experience and we see the visuals that we have missed while being on or closer to the front rail. We meet a really nice guy next to us called Mark, who says he met his spouse on U2.com! Start drinking our 'lunch' juices during With Or Without You, only to freak out when they do the 'shine like stars' coda! In Chris Starr's words, it is the "starry version." Great way for him to exit the U2 tour this summer before heading back to Ohio with our buddy Pat O'Boyle. The three of us did a trip together to see the first of two U2 concerts at Slane Castle in 2001, the day after Bono buried his father! See my blog entry where I include links to photos from that and other U2 trips.

SUNDAY 7/26: Woke up at 9:00a and began working on blog. Nick slept till 1:00p. Draw us a bath! While our legs and feet feel good after a night's sleep, they needed a hot soak. Finally get on bus to downtown. Look for will-call for Monday night's tickets but can't find it and security is no help. See fans lining up overnight already! Walk to O'Connell Street at 5:00p for some Guinness, finally--luckily it's light until like 10p in Europe! Find 2-for-1 Italian restaurant. Get draught Heinekens. Penne with cream sauce for me, spaghetti for Nick. Take Nick to Clarence Hotel, which U2 owns, and order Guinnesses at the Octagon Bar there. Run into Vik, a fan who was in front of us last night, pogo-ing and waving his arm often. Tease him about that. Meet his friends, a married couple named Heather and Nick! Heather graduated from Novato High in 88! Then see Dan and Fiona, friends of Nick from U2-Interference. Then Chris Starr strolls in, looking for me since he doesn't have a cell phone in Europe. Chris, Nick and I go to the Temple Bar and I buy three Guinness. Later I realize that they charged me $14 each!!! Took some great picks while drinking outside (it's allowed and it's so nice)! Then Nick and I walked back to our hotel, like an hour and 15 mins!

SATURDAY 7/25: Wake up to alarm at 6:15a. I think I'm sleeping for a few minutes and suddenly it's 7:30a. Leaving early fails again and we don't get to bus stop until 10:00a. We make it to the back of the second line, less than 500 fans--not bad for late in the morning. At one point I talked to my online boss, Brad Barros, on the phone. He had VIP tickets for the night (didn't end up having a pint with them as I'd hoped). Then Lana joined us in line. Okay now, for all those who give me s--- for following U2 (75 times since 1984 by the end of this October)....................we met a native Dubliner named Martin who has been following U2 since 1979 and has seen them 733 times! I told him I wanted to give him one of my "U2" business cards and he asked for FOUR and I was happy to oblige! Then we see Barbara who Nick and I both met (but he and I didn't know each other yet) on the 2005 tour. She is an anthropology professor doing a dissertation on, would you believe, the subculture of U2 General Admission lines. In trying to find out how many Irish were in the line, she inquired with the first 778 fans. Only 29 were natives in Ireland.

U2 DUB 2
(Brono #65, Nick #36)
PHOTOS
VIDEO

Lana and Nick and I end up second row between Bono and Adam in the Inner Circle. It rained a bit but a hoodie sufficed. We really liked the beginning of the show. Nick loved the version of Beautiful Day, and Mysterious Ways got me crying when Bono brought a Chilean gal with a flag on stage. She's wearing a green shamrock shirt that reads, "Lucky Me." But the rest of the setlist seemed to go downhill after Unknown Caller except Unforgettable Fire, although it was sweet to see Bono cry during Where The Streets Have No Name. I love when he cries!

We find outhouses after the show, thank goodness. We had planned to go for a pint after but we decided we needed to get the bus in case it didn't run late as our legs and feet were killing us!! When we got home we lied on my bed (we have two singles here!) cozily and finally posted some pix.

FRIDAY 7/24: Again we had planned to get up at 5:00a and be in the U2 line at 6:00a, but we decide not to because we need rest and it's raining, plus we heard a line started overnight at 8:00p which didn't happen in Amsterdam. At 3:30p we take a 10-minute bus ride to the stadium. Get food at Subway. As we're about to get in the back of the line on St. James Avenue, we see Chris Starr in the middle of the line and join him. It's Nick and Chris's first time meeting in person but they feel like they've met before since they've been friends on Facebook through me and are huge U2 fans.

U2 DUB 1
(Brono #64, Nick #35)
PHOTOS Be sure to see the first photo, by Nick, which was featured as "Photo of the Day" on Webshots.com on 9/2/09 (Chris's 40th birthday)!
VIDEO

Even that late we still end up in the Inner Circle, about 4th row Edge. It rained a bit but security wouldn't let me use my umbrella. Chris and I have a great time being together at a U2 show for the first time in four years. Nick enjoys hanging with us as the original co-pilots but now we're three musketeers. We also see Eleonora on the Adam side. After the show we buy a soda and hot dog and hamburgers and wait for the bus which doesn't seem to come. We decide to walk but then the bus flies by us while we're walking! Walk on (home). Asleep by 1:15a.

THURSDAY 7/23: Only 3.5 hours sleep. Fly to Dublin at 1:10p. Nick's first time in Ireland! See Claudia and Jovita at the airport. Jovita was kind enough to buy me a new power cord for my laptop and I reimbursed her. Check into Ardmore Hotel in Tolka Valley at 3:00p. We discover that even though I have a new power cord, now Nick's adaptor doesn't work on my computer plug! Walk 45 minutes to town. First we peek into this small computer store and ask if they have an adaptor for my laptop. The gal says we can have the one she has behind the counter for free, as someone left it! Good omen! Then we walk into several pubs only to find all old men! Finally find an empty newer looking pub/restaurant called Red Windmill. Nick likes empty restaurants. I'd rather it be a little crowded but am fine with it at this point. We order two pints of Guinness (which Nick agrees is SO much better in Ireland) and this Cajun Chicken sandwich. THE BEST SANDWICH I HAVE EVER HAD. Fresh long mini baguette, fresh chicken and tomatoes and lettuce, and the best sauce ever!!! On walk home we buy water and snacks for our room. Then a bird shat on me! I ducked and it hit me in the back of my neck including under my bun and felt like a piece of fruit when it hit!!! This is after a bird shat on me at The Fillmore (but that's common, Nick says) on 7/7 before Duran Duran. Then we do some laundry by hand in the bathroom sink and tub.