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Published: February 25th 2009
When I was booking my flight to Scotland, I decided that I would turn it into a very long weekend and also visit IRELAND. I did this for 2 reasons--> One: I didn't want to overstay my welcome in Glasgow...and Two: Shannon, Ireland is only a 45 minute plane ride from Scotland.
Friday, Feb. 20th After taking the train from Glasgow Central Station to the airport in Prestwick, I caught my 6:20pm flight to Shannon Airport in Ireland. On flights, I usually like to talk to the person that is sitting next to me because it always makes the flight go by faster and it is often very fun. There was a girl sitting next to me who looked to be about 25 or 26, but I did not talk to her until we landed because she was reading a book. Upon landing, I asked her if she knew where Sixmilebridge was, and she gave me a funny look and said "Yes, but why do you want to go there? It is a very tiny village." I told here that I had to go there because it's where my hostel was. I also told her that I had no idea
how to get there. I had only been talking to this girl for a total of 2 minutes and did not even know her name yet, so I was extremely surprised when she said, "Well, my mum can drive ya. We're headin' that way anyway." Of course I took her up on the offer because a cab would have cost in the ballpark of 30 euros. Her mother was very nice and her mother's boyfriend (who bared a striking resemblance to Colonel Sanders) was hilarious. After they dropped me off I checked into the hostel, put my backpack down and went to find a restaurant. After walking around for a bit, I was not all that surprised to find that the pubs outnumbered the restaurants 2 to 1. I ended up going to a pizza place and tried to decide what I should do for the rest of the night. I asked a kid working in the local grocery store what there was to do in town on a Friday night and he said I was out of luck because the only thing going on was a private party. After walking around for a bit I decided I would try
me and Kelly
This girl was crazy, but she was a lot of fun. She invited me into her cousins 21st b-day party.my luck at
The Mill Bar. I immediately second-guessed my decision after I walked in because 8 heads turned around and just stared at me. To make matters worse, my first words to the bartender were, "I just got in today. What kind of things are there to do in this town?". To which he kindly replied, "Other than drinkin', not a whole lot. So if you don't like to drink you'd better go home." I ordered a pint of Guinness and decided to grab a seat at a different part of the bar....around the corner and into another room where no people were. After sitting there for about 10 minutes, I noticed that there was a large room in back of the pub that slowly starting filling up with people. Out of nowhere, 4 girls that looked to be about my age showed up at the bar and started ordering shots. I started talking to the girl right next to me (Kelly), and decided to take a shot with all of them. Kelly took a particular liking to me when I told her I was from the States, and she then proceeded to introduce me to everyone within earshot
21st birthday party in Ireland
I started taking pictures of the cake to blend in and make people think I was Cousin Michael and that nobody had ever met me before now. as "Michael from Connecticut". By this time, the party in the back room was completely full with people and they even had a DJ in there. In an earlier blog when I said that random things seem to happen to me on a frequent basis, I was not kidding. Experiencing VERY generous Irish hospitality for the 2nd time that night....Kelly invited me into the party in the back room because it was for her cousins 21st birthday. So there I was, hanging out with a group of 4 or 5 Irish girls in a party of 60-70 people that all knew I was a stranger who was crashing the birthday party. It was a ton of fun and I ended up having 3 or 4 more pints and staying until around 2:00am. *It wasn't until 3 days later that I realized this was the 'private party' that the kid at the grocery store was telling me about.*
Saturday, Feb. 21st When I checked into my hostel the night before, I had asked the owner where he recommended I go on Saturday for a day trip. Along with a few other recommendations, he said that Adare was a very scenic
Main Street in Adare, Ireland
The restaurant I ate at, called Aunt Lena's, is the orange one on the corner. village just southwest of Limerick. After going to bed at 2:30am I had a difficult time waking up in order to catch the first bus to Limerick at 8:20am. However, I made it on time and arrived into Limerick at about 8:45. I only went to this city because there is a large bus station there that goes all over Ireland. I am glad that this was the case and I didn't have to spend the whole day there because there is nothing special about Limerick. It is dirty, crowded, and there is not much worth seeing. I went to the bus station and caught the 10:30am bus to Adare and arrived at 11am. Like Sixmilebridge, Adare is a village but it is quite a bit bigger and there is more to see and do. I had my backpack and my hiking boots with me so I grabbed a map from the local heritage center/tourist center and started walking around. I walked along the River Maigue (pronounced
mayg) for a while and saw a few of the old castles, friaries and churches that they have in town. One of my favorite parts of the town was the private Adare Manor
Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort
this is where I wish I stayed for the weekend.... Hotel and Golf Resort. I wasn't supposed to be able to enter and walk around, but I kind of snuck past the guard because I really wanted to see it. I also really enjoyed walking down main street because there were a number of small buildings that had 'thatch' roofs, which it turns out is made of reeds that are taken from beside the river. The thatch on the roof is about 1 foot thick and because the roofs are made of this natural, degradable material they need to be replaced every 4 or 5 years. I know all of this because at 2pm I stopped for lunch at a restaurant and asked an older gentleman what the significance of that kind of roof was. He informed me that they used to be extremely common in all of Ireland, but nowadays those types of roofs are not very common. After my lunch of Irish Stew and a pint of Guinness, I decided to walk around town a bit more and then caught the bus back to Limerick at 4:15pm and then caught the last bus back to Sixmilebridge at 5:20pm.
It was a great day filled with lots of walking
around and picture-taking, and when I got back to the hostel I passed out for about 2 hours. Nighttime was fairly uneventful because I did not want to press my luck and hope to get invited to another party at a pub. The night before was unbelievably random and a lot fun, but I figured the chances of that happening again were slim to none.
Sunday, Feb. 21st I woke up at about 8:00am in order to be ready for checkout from the hostel at 9:30. When I handed over my room key I had the manager call me a cab that would pick me up at 10:30. I figured I'd give myself an hour to walk around Sixmilebridge during the day because I really hadn't gotten a chance to do that yet. I took a ton of pictures and ended up walking by the local Catholic church. I asked the man standing at the entrance when the next mass was, and he said it was starting in 3 minutes (...at 10am). I really wanted to experience mass at a Catholic church in Ireland, so I sprinted back to the hostel (wearing my backpack and hiking boots) to ask
Aiden, Stephen and Patrick
the 3 Irish boys I met that were fishing near the bridge. The one on the left was using a Coke bottle as his bobber, and the one on the right offered me his last piece of gum. for a cab at noon because my flight was not until 1:45pm. I sprinted back to the church, still wearing my backpack and boots, and it was definitely worth it. I noticed that on more than one occasion the priest's sermon took a tangent that was geared towards alcohol and drinking, and that locals should decrease their consumption for lent. At one point he asked the parishioners to give up drinking altogether for 40 days....but then I guess his Irish senses got the better of him because he said that drinking in moderation would be fine. After mass, I still had about 1 hour to kill so I walked over to the small bridge in the town center where 3 young boys were fishing. One of the boys put his string and hook through a Coke bottle and was using it as his bobber. The boys looked to be between 9 and 11 years old and they were very friendly. One of them even gave me his last piece of chewing gum. We talked for a while about why Americans like 'rainy Ireland' so much, and about hurling, and about different places where I've fished in the United States. After
the boys left to head back home, I went back to the hostel and waited for my cab to head back to Shannon Airport.
For having not planned my trip to Ireland very well, I was extremely happy with how things worked out and I had a great time. After talking to lots of locals in Sixmilebridge and Adare, I plan on making another trip to Ireland in either April or May to go to Cork.
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Christy Cork
non-member comment
Your life is amazing
How do you do it? You lead an amazing life! Crazy, I'm so jealous! Well done! Who knew traveling alone in Ireland coudl be so much fun!?!