My Lucky Rabbit's Foot

I made a big mistake last night....leaving my wallet in the shower. Fortunately, a German police officer from Mainz brought it to me. It scared me thinking it could fall into "dishonest" hands, so should serve me well. There is a learning curve to this traveling thing and the quicker I relearn it, the better. The police officer's name was Dirk Hassenfusse (that might not be correct, but I think it's close) and in German, that means "rabbit foot." I told him how he sure had been lucky for me!!!! Had a great visit with him and his girlfriend Angela talking about all sorts of things. There was a campfire last night out at the castle where many gathered included Jack the owner of the hostel. Later into the evening, he got to telling us how the castle we were staying at had a couple of ghosts...no visitors for me though. The next morning, Dirk and Angela gave me a lift into town which saved me about $24 in taxi fares. On the way in, I learned that Dirk was indeed very lucky. He said he always wins concert tickets when he calls into the radio, and even won a German game show called "Mr. Perfect" where 400 women viewers vote for men (maybe it's vote them out) as they do different things like dancing, answering questions, etc. Anyway, he and Angela were definitely a Godsend to me and I'll be forever thankful. I got a train back to Dublin where I'm staying at the 1st hostel I was in the first, two nights. Maria was at the desk when I walked in. I like Spanish girls...they like to flirt even with old men like me. I asked her if she'd fit in my backpack as I went back to America. I told her that she could come back to America for a little while, and then we'd visit Madrid together the following summer so I could meet my future in laws. The rest of the day, I spent visiting with my new roommates, 18-19 year olds from Spain and older gentlemen (not as old as me) from Australia, and walking around Dublin. The pedometer now reads 90,656 steps and 51.4 miles. So if that's accurate (which I'm sure it's too high), that's around 12.5 miles/day. Tomorrow will be alot less strenuous, except for the getting up. I HAVE to catch a 7:26 train that heads down to the south coast to the town of Rossalare where the ship leaves for France at 3:30 p.m. I believe. Then it's a 16-hour trip over to Cherbourg, France. France will be a different kind of challenge, mostly because of the language but if I'm successful, this will be one of the absolute highlights of the trip. Oh, the Irish people are great!!! They remind me alot of rural Nebraskans. Guess that's all. It'll be a few days now as if I get where I want to I'll be on a boat the tomorrow night and camping the next two.

God Bless,
Scott
<><