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Ross Castle
Killarney, IrelandHi everyone! Ammi and Kevin are back on the travel blog airwaves...er...internet waves...er...internet 1s and 0s, whatever you want to call it. South America has been a blast but the rest of the world was secretly calling to us. So we flew home for a few weeks before heading out to Europe on our way to the Middle East. We're glad for all the friends we got to see, and sorry for the friends we didn't. “What do you miss most of home?” Ammi asked. “Friends, family, green chile, and mountain biking.” My goal was to eat enough green chile
that it would build up in my system, creating a green chile secreting tumor that would give me doses during those long periods without, similar to a camel's hump. No tumor developed, unfortunately, and I think I only accomplished making myself more of an addict. After staying with Ammi's wonderful parents for a few weeks, we headed to the airport with tickets in hand. “Where's the cheapest place to fly into?” I asked. “How about $300 from Albuquerque to Shannon, Ireland.” Air France. Not bad. We didn't mind the fact that we had to connect in Atlanta, Philadelphia, and New
York. I hear Ryan Air is going to start flying to New York at the end of this year. Ryan Air is the low cost carrier that you sometimes see advertising fares for $0.99. Of course that doesn't include taxes, baggage fees, checking in fees, or going to the bathroom fees, but you may get return flights to Europe for under $100. I can't wait.
So, four flights and 7 time zones later we awoke in Ireland. After four years we were back in Europe, our old stomping ground. The first two things we noticed were 1) Ireland is green, but I'm sure you knew that. I'd say Ireland and Costa Rica are about the same amount of green, but Costa Rica is a darker shade. 2) Ireland is expensive! Does a two hour bus ride really need to cost 25 Euros? It took a while getting used to the fact that we were spending 2-3 times our daily budget for South America. However, I created a cost spreadsheet in Excel with allotted budgets for each country and we were under budget, slightly. Riding on the bus to Killarney I studied the landscape. Small farm houses set amidst acres
of grass with low stone walls dividing. Wild flowers abounded with the occasional farm animal. It felt very natural that the houses should be were they were, almost as if they sprang out of the earth like mushrooms after a rain. In most of the industrial world humans are looking for ways to adapt their surrounding to fit their needs, cramming things together at the expense of beauty. But here it felt that people were adapting themselves to the needs of the landscape. Just as you can't have more than a certain number of parts per million of chlorine in bottled water, maybe someone decided that there should be a maximum house to landscape ratio in order to keep Ireland's beauty alive. It definitely creates a very relaxed an peaceful feeling. We added Ireland to our 'might retire to' list.
The small town of Killarney is a bit more packed than the surrounding countryside, but not so much that you feel claustrophobic. It has about four streets with pubs on almost every corner. The first chance we got we headed to the first pub we found to try some authentic Irish stout. “You don't bring the Guinness to you,
Frisky in Albuquerque
A friend of ours gave us this shirt on the condition that we take a picture of it in every city you go to the Guinness,” as the saying goes. We ordered two Guinnesses, tapped glasses, and toasted in Gaelic “Slancha.” It wasn't bad, much smoother than at home, but not good enough to convert me to a stout drinker. I looked around and discovered only the tourists were drinking Guinness. Some were drinking Murphy's or Beamish, but the majority seemed to be drinking a lager of some type. This was not quite what I pictured of Irish pubs. A local clued me in. “Heineken with lime. This is a special Heineken brewed not in Amsterdam but in Cork for the Irish market.” I tried it, it was damn good. Much sweeter, smoother, and not skunky like Heineken back home. Even better than in Amsterdam in my opinion. The cool thing about the Irish is that they are very friendly and strike up conversations with anyone. This is what is known in Ireland as having some good Crack. We were a little confused the first time we walked past a pub that advertised “Have some good Irish Crack inside.” We heard a funny Irish joke: “A man goes into an Irish bar, orders a few stouts, and when the bartender asks
Frisky in Killarney
The shirt reads Frisky, in case you were wondering him to pay, the man replies 'I already paid.' The bartender says 'If you say you paid then I trust you.' The man walks outside and tells the first guy he sees how to get free drinks. He rushes inside, orders drinks, and when the bartender asks him to pay he says 'I already paid.' The bartender says 'If you say you paid then I trust you.' The guy goes out and tells the first guy he sees how to get free drinks. He goes inside and orders as many drinks as he can stomach. By the end he's piss drunk. The bartender comes up to him. 'You know a funny thing happened today. A couple guys came in, ordered drinks and said they paid, but they didn't. The next guy who tries that I'm gonna punch in the nose.' The man replies 'Don't bother me with your troubles. Just give me my change and I'll be on my way.'”
Ammi asked me what I wanted to do in Ireland, besides drink. “I want to walk in the out back.” She looked at me funny. “Isn't that Australia?”
“You know what I mean. Out of the town. In the
countryside, back there. Out back. Duh!” Luckily Killarney National Park was right next to the city, providing days and days of hiking, boating, exploring medieval castles, forests, and waterfalls (no leprechauns, I kept my eyes open). Another interesting thing inside the park was the Mukross Traditional farms, where families today reenact the living conditions of Irish farms back in the 30's. This means using animals and crops for food, without electricity. Surprisingly most of Ireland didn't have electricity until the 1950's. They use peet for firewood which is dried soil. A woman living there told us that because of the economic crisis people today are leaving Ireland in droves just like in the 19th century to find better jobs.
Our next stop was Cork City, and luckily we met some nice guys in our hostel that offered us a ride. I had recently discovered an interesting website, hospitalityclub.org where you can arrange to have someone in the city you're going to host you in their house or show you around town for free. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get free housing but I had been conversing with one guy and he agreed to meet for a pint and tell
us the best things to see and do in Cork. So after we checked in I decided to email him and arrange a time to meet. About five minutes later he emailed me back: “If you want to meet just come down stairs. I'm the guy working the front desk.” What are the odds? I felt incredibly stupid for not recognizing him from his picture.
Unfortunately Cork is a bigger city and doesn't have as much of an Irish feel to it, and it decided to rain all day, every day. Who would have thought it would rain in Ireland so much? There was really only one thing to do: drink and listen to Irish music. We asked locals what the best stout or whiskey was and we set up our own DIY bar hopping tours. The Ring of Kerry and Dingle Peninsula tours were too expensive and not worth seeing in the rain, we felt, so the only thing left to do was see the Blarney Stone. If you kiss the Blarney Stone it's supposed to give you the 'Gift of Gab,' which means you'll be a smooth talker. Or, you're just paying 10 Euros to make out
Irish deer?
Killarney National Park with a rock that a million people have already slobbered on. We both kissed the Blarney Stone even though it was pouring rain. I didn't feel anything magical happen. Maybe it's because I already talk so much, as everyone who knows me knows. The weird thing about kissing the stone, though, is that you have to lay on your back, reach back and grab two poles over a 40 foot drop, and kiss it upside down. A guy helps you so you don't fall (which you can't anyway since the drop is covered). An English woman who was wearing a fur coat and expensive leather boots (in the rain) screamed bloody murder as the guy tried to lower her over the edge. “YOU ALMOST DROPPED ME YOU OLD BASTARD!!” I think the English and the Irish don't get along too well.
Our time in Ireland had come to an end. Only 6 days and we wanted to see more. But we had a flight to London (for only $35!) and had to leave. Our time in London was short as well. We saw a play (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat) which was disappointing, and we saw Big
Ben which I thought was disappointingly small, but it was the one thing I didn't get to see in London the first time I went.
Next stop: Cairo
***TRAVELERS' TIPS***
- Paddy's Palace in Killarney has a buy one night get one night free policy, as long as it's not fully booked.
-The Kinlay House in Cork has free buses to the Blarney Castle.
-Try the Heinakine with lime. Trust me on this.
-Beamish is the cheapest and best stout in my opinion.
-The Kilarney Grand is a great pub, or the Forde or Charlie's in Cork.
Try the Barman's Knock: ask the bartender what his or her favorite pub in town is, go there and ask the next bartender and repeat.
-If flying into Stansted (London) book a bus on Easybus two weeks in advance to avoid high transportation costs.
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