Fairytale of Dublin

So, it may not be Christmas yet...but my first time in an irish pub that wasn't on Canadian soil had three mates playing the Pogues in the Auld Dubliner. It was a warm welcome, followed by people running around Temple Bar wearing full Santa suits. Coupled with the cold weather, it's quite the impression of Ireland. I'm onto my 6th Guinness, 2 of which were complimentary of the tour just south of the river Liffey. Dublin is a beautiful city for every situation other than its cleanliness, but charm seldom comes for free I suppose. Melissa and I ventured out into the country today to see ruins of St. Kevin's Monastery and walk through the woods where he would have once sought silence. Tour busses full of people came close to the original effect I'm sure, but we walked a little further just to be certain. The nights are long and cold in Dublin, and your typical tourist seems to inhabit Temple Bar for the duration, where we've been doing more day trips. Our tour guide was wonderful though, playing us elvis, singing U2 in an elvis voice, talking about elvis...etc...I may not have learned much about Castle Gardens and sheep herds...but I now know the words to 'Heart Break Hotel' quite well. Much love and slainte, liam