feeling at home

Since I'm couchsurfing a bit on my trip, it's a subject that a lot of people have been interested in. People were equally as interested when I started hosting back in Australia, but I found most people were rather skeptical. Mel and Bryan and I discussed couchsurfing a lot. While I was there they received quite a few requests, unfortunately, not great requests. Some of them were people who had started a profile but not included a photo or any information about themselves, and here they were asking to stay in someone's home. As a host I really enjoyed sharing my home town with people and getting the chance to show them things they wouldn't have seen otherwise. As a surfer, it's worked the same way. I've only surfed twice but it's been a great experience both times. I think it just takes a bit of commonsense when choosing somewhere to stay. If they have negative references from past guests or, as I saw on a couple of profiles, guys saying they will expect a massage from their guest and that the sleeping space is their own bed, then just don't ask to stay there. But none of that was an issue with Mel and Bryan. In fact, Dublin would have been pretty boring without them. 

Mel and Bryan live really close to Pheonix Park, a huge space where the Dublin Zoo is located. To try to make up for all the eating and sleeping I've been doing lately, I headed out for a run. After that I decided to check out Mel and Bryan's favourite tour in Dublin. They suggested bussing from the city centre but I decided to walk there instead. I enjoyed the walk but I probably should have taken their advice as I made it just in time for the last tour. There is a museum there which I had a little bit of time in, but the only way to go inside the gaol is with a guided tour. It didn't take long to see why Mel and Bryan like the tour so much. It's really facinating. The stories of the gaol are closely linked with a lot of Ireland's and Dublin's history, so it was a pretty informative tour.

I caught the bus back to Mel and Bryan's place and we had a bit of a lazy evening...which I needed as I had an early start to catch my flight the next morning.