I saw someone get pick-pocketed!

Hey Everyone! I'm home, finally. Yay!

Here is the low down on my last few days abroad. On Saturday in Madrid, I spent some time wandering around the various plazas and then caught a late show of La Bella y la Bestia (The Beauty and the Beast) at a theater across the street from my hostel. It was pretty good, and the music was all the same mostly, except for in Spanish. It was interesting to see the way they manipulated the words to make them for to the original melody. On Sunday, I enjoyed (enjoyed isn't the right word, since it was raining and I was soaked) a morning of walking around, I happened across a big orchestra concert in front of the Royal Palace and I toured the Palace. I spent the afternoon and evening in the Prado art museum.

On Monday it was off to Dublin. I got in in the evening and was greeted with rain, rain and more rain, lucky me. I walked around by the river and the main street and just people watched for the rest of the night and then did the same most of the next morning. I headed over to the Guinness brewery and saw it, but I didn't do the tour. After that, I needed to warm up and dry off. I ducked into a corner cafe, got a cup of coffee, and took a seat at a counter that looked out onto the street. I opened my book and enjoyed my coffee and out of the corner of my eye I saw something unusual happening. I glanced up in time to see an old gentleman walking down the street followed my four young hooligans. They swiftly lifted his wallet from his back pocket and turned and walked away. I was floored. It happened too fast for me to grasp what was happening, too fast for me to pound on the window or cry out. I tried to go after the guy, to at least tell him he lost his wallet, but by the time I got outside, he was nowhere to be found. I have never seen anything like that! I felt like Oliver Twist. So after that I walked in the rain to the Irish Writer's Museum and spent the early afternoon walking around the exhibits.

I headed to Liverpool Tuesday evening. I got in, spent some time exploring the city and wandering around the docks and then called in a night. The next day I headed for the Beatles Museum and spent quite a long time. I had the intention of going to the Maritime Museum, but while I was in the Beatles one, the fire alarm went off. Me and about 30 other people were quickly ushered outside, where we stood in the rain until the fire department showed up and inspected the building so that we could return to our previous areas. That was fun. It did mean however that I didn't have time to go to the other museum before I headed back to Dublin.

That night in Dublin I did a semi historic walking tour of O'Connell street and some of the area, and then headed back to the hostel to pack up and get ready to head home.

The flights were uneventful, thankfully. There was no sudden drops or heavy turbulence, so I made it home safe and sound!