Phoenix Park, Dublin Zoo and Preparation for RyanAir

After spending so much time in cities I decided I needed some green space.

I discovered the acres and acres of Phoenix Park, which include several un-noteworthy monuments, a plethora of cyclist, runners, and a collection of very non-Irish animals (the Dublin Zoo). The Zoo is what one would expect from a zoo plenty of exotic animals, held in cages that upon further thought seem rather prison like. The zoo perhaps not as large as the National Zoo in Washington D.C. does seem to do a better job of providing natural climates.

Later that evening I cooked dinner for myself in the hostel and hung out with 2 girls from Northwestern, rather they were entertained by my luggage weight predicament. The hostel was one of the few that did not have scale and so I was left to guess at the weight of my duffel and backpack. Although, Ariel, one of the Northwestern girls, played college basketball, thus spent a good amount of time in the weight room. I used her expertise of weights to more accurately judge my luggage weight. Ryan Air is notorious for its amazingly cheep flights (my ticket was 0.49 Euros + tax) and for its ability to charge fees. My checked bag could not excede 15kg (33lbs) and carry-on 10 kg (22 lbs). The weight was not combinable and I was banking on the fact that they would not weigh my carry-on. They also have a policy of absolutely only 1 carry-on. So my purse had to fit into my backpack. Not only was my backpack stuffed with my heaviest items I took layering to a new level.
I planned to wear:

• Hiking boots
• jeans with my belt under my sweat pants
• 3 shirts
• my winter coat
• and every single pocket stuffed

As you an imagine going through the security was a comical and slow process. But all that mattered was my checked bag only weighed 13.1 kg and my backpack was not weighed. The moment I picked my checked bag up I stripped and emptied my backpack's heavy contents.

As I rode the bus into Glasgow (Scotland) I felt a great much more relaxed than I had in several days. I am not quite sure why or even why I was uptight to begin with, but the change was a relief. I think it may of had something to do with the Scottish accent, it still has me smiling.