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Published: June 21st 2009
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Green.
Then green again.
Lots of rocks.
Then another slightly different shade of green.
Everywhere.
Ireland is such a contrast in colour to Australia (and Greece, for that matter) which is bone dry and brown a the moment. If only we could share the water around somehow. I don’t think the 100ml I’d be allowed to bring home on the plane would make much difference though…
I arrived into Dublin at about 1230am, thanks to an unexplained three hour stopover delay in Budapest from Malev airlines, and had my first authentic Irish experience on the airport bus. A Swedish girl brought her map down to the driver and asked if we would be stopping somewhere near her finger. And the response was “Now why on erth would people be bringin’ me maps to read at wun tirty in th’ mornin’ when I’m half blind?” After several seconds of processing time, the girl then asked for her destination by name. “Oh to be sure!” was the response. “I’ll be sure to call ye right away when we get there!”
After a five hour sleep, I walked over to the hotel that was
the last stop on Mum & Dad’s Ireland tour, and I enjoyed breakfast with them before they headed off to Paris. It was great to catch up with them for a few hours on the other side of the planet, about as far away from Melbourne as we could have managed.
They had enjoyed a week of great weather for their tour, as had I for the last five weeks in Italy and Greece. However my introduction to Dublin involved having to wear jeans and jumpers again, and on Saturday when I met them, it was 10 degrees and bucketing down, so my rain coat was appreciated too. I spent a few more hours walking around Dublin in the rain, and then retired defeated and damp back to the hostel.
The afternoon wasn’t entirely wasted, though. I spent the time researching if I could spend more time in Europe, and less in the US. I have ended up delaying my flight into Washington DC by a week, and I’ve bought a Eurostar ticket across to Brussels. So Brussels, Bruges and Amsterdam, here I come! It means I only have a few very short days in DC
and NYC before I head to Toronto, but I think it will be worth it. I was in a plane to London looking down thinking “That’s Germany down there, and I’m not going!” So while I’m here, I thought I’d better see a bit more of Europe. Germany too? Spain? Too many places to see.
I got up early again on Sunday, and walked across to the tour company depot, and joined the four day tour of southern Ireland. If you’re thinking of doing a tour, I had fun with Paddywagon Tours. The drivers were great fun; very informative and “feckin” funny. I felt that the tour was rushed in a few places, and there were lots of times where I would have pulled over in a car and photographed for a while, but it wasn’t to be. Doing a tour was a great introduction to Ireland, and you have a slightly higher vantage point than a car, so you can see over the hedges that line many of the roads we travelled. I also met plenty of great Aussies, Canadians, a few Americans, more Aussies, Canadians, and one Romanian!
Each night of the tour, we went in
Enjoying a Car Bomb
A shot glass of Baileys and Kaluah dropped into a Guinness, then skulled before it curdles... smoooooooth!!! search of the craic*, and we weren’t disappointed.
I’ve discovered that Guinness is a great beer to have with great conversation at a pub. It really does taste different in Ireland. And it seems to stay fresh for the whole glass, rather than Aussie beers that you feel compelled to drink quickly before they go warm and flat.
We found traditional Irish music on two of the three nights, and the other night of the tour was spent in the hostel’s pub, where the karaoke was almost as much fun as keeping the well and truly tanked local boys away from the girls I was friends with. These guys looked like they’d (possibly) just changed shirts after a day in the fields somewhere, and they were out to see if they could get lucky with some foreign girls. They had no chance. Have you seen the movie Deliverance? Enough said. Cue banjo tune…
The tour took us to Galway, the Cliffs of Moher (apparently the Cliffs of Insanity in the Princess Bride), a place called Annascaul on the Dingle Peninsula, Killarney, and the Blarney castle, which was actually very beautiful.
I’ve also
discovered that Irish music is a great accompaniment to said Guinness drink. I don’t think I’d rush out and buy any CDs of the bands, but it’s great stuff to stomp your feet to. Watching the guys effortlessly, or was it passionately, playing their fiddles was great fun.
*Craic: Having a good time.
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