boys, there's been a problem....

We're still in Ireland, but yesterday we took the train back to Dublin, which we'd only passed through going to Galway. It was by no means a short walk to the hostel, though we found it with none of the usual fuss. We arrived at the front door, and stood waiting for a few minutes while a couple of guys argued loudly in French... one inside the doorway, the other outside. It was clearly a heated exchange, and when we finally squeezed inside, the sound of it filled the foyer.

A familiar accent greeted us from behind the reception desk - Aussies, they're everywhere. Another Melbourne chap as well, and we're told there's a group from Tullamarine here too. With one eye on the computer and the other fixed on the doorway altercation, our countryman behind the desk looks up our booking, frowning as he does so. Is it just because of the ruckus happening in his foyer? Or is there a problem? He looks up at us and pulls out some papers, and in that wonderfully familiar accent he says "Boys, there's been a bit of a problem,your booking got stuffed up, we're overbooked..."

"So we're putting you in the private suite." Suite, indeed.

So instead of a 16 bed dorm, we have a room to ourselves, not that its overly large. But big enough for a set of bunks, a tv and cabinet, and our bags, so who's complaining? Apparently there's an Irishman here who knows we've stumbled on such fortune, and has designs on making a bargain with us for the room, though he will find that I, at least, will not be easily budged.

An argument of our own transpired later in the evening, grave in its subject matter. James made the statement that 'it rains all the time here'. I disagreed, and he supported his statement with "It's true, apparently it rains 20% of the time here." I was still not convinced that this came even close to warrant the lofty description of "All the time" when it would technically fall well short of even "Half the time". James' counterargument is that such gross exaggeration is widely accepted as reasonable, but I still felt that it didn't make it right. With neither side conceding anything, I fear that this difference of opinion could tear our fragile travelling union apart.

That said, it is raining outside. There may be a white flag waved yet.