50 shades of oh my

Europe » Ireland » County Cork
July 21st 2012

Published: July 21st 2012

You read about how green the "emerald isle" is, and you read about the rain and the friendly, accommodating people, and the pubs, and all that good stuff. But you fully don't know what any of that is until you experience it.

We've done so much in the past few days --- all of which deserves its own blog entry --- and I wish I took the time to write about it all, but, well, you know I'm having way too much fun doing the holiday thing. So, here's a run down of it all:

Day Two: Book of Kells, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Guinness Storehouse and Temple Bar area. Awesome, awesome and awesome. Both mornings in Dublin were spent sipping lattes on a busy cafe corner. Do you have any idea how cool it is to watch people rush to work on their bikes, in their cars, on their feet while you take time to actually taste your coffee? Every once in a while a workabee sat next to us to chat a bit. Everyone has a tip on what you should do, and everyone seems like they genuinely feel blessed that they got a chance to talk to you. I love this place!

I've got a lot to recap, so I won't go into detail about all that we saw, but wow. The Book of Kells wasn't much to look at (because it's surrounded by tourists drooling on its glass case) BUT the library it's housed in was. People, I inhaled dust off of books older than my country. How incredibly awesome is that. The cathedral was spiritual and so was the Guiness place (in its own way ---- Barley has a perfumey scent to it). And, Temple Bar was, well, I'll just have to tell you our pub stories in person --- let's just say Vegas isn't the only one that has a what happens here, stays here code. Oh, and for some reason they really like to sing Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire (I'm sure it's connected to the amount of whiskey that is poured).

Day Three: More aptly named 50 Shades of Oh Shit because it's our first day driving. We have two cars, and we managed to lose each other. American brains are not built to fully comprehend the left-turn roundybouts --- especially the ones right outside the airport area!

My car, which includes Joe and Tracy, is the leader car. Being the three stooges we managed to lose Ericka's car coming out of a gas station. We pulled over to let her catch up to us and MISSED her passing (and she missed us waiting), sooooo we ended up way behind the follow car. We also ended up taking the wrong detour when our road closed. Did I mention we didn't invest in the international sim card, so we're cell phoneless.

Our detour took us through a tiny country road that weaved past ruins and farmhouses and big-ass tractors on anorexic-ass roads. Our left side became one with the bushes more times than I've become one with anything in my life. BUT, it was enchantingly gorgeous. We were too stressed and too awed to remember to take out our cameras, but that's okay because it's our special little oh-bloody-hell-oh-shit-oh-wow memory. And it all turned out well because we ended up at the sheep farm (our B&B for the night) just a few minutes after Ericka's car.

Day Four: Giants Causeway, a rope bridge built by fishermen, the coastal highway and getting lost in Belfast. We each have a list of things we'd like to do during this trip, and we each have one thing pegged as our personal must see. Giants Causeway was mine. The coastal drive that led to it with its surprise waterfalls, breath-taking cliffs, and twists and turns through beach villages was worth the trip all by itself. And, then you pull into the Giant's Causeway's new visitor center, which is a giant metaphor for the place you're going to see.

Hopping the hexagon-shaped stone columns in the rain had me feeling like a little sea nymph --- until the wind nearly blew me off my pedestal. Then I was ready to try something safer like a little rope bridge that is high above the rocky sea. I almost shit myself going over that one, BUT it was worth every lost minute of my life. If you ever get the chance to go do not skip the bridge. If you fall over you picked a scenic spot to, well, splat.

As usual my words cannot do any of it justice. I don't know if I'll be able to upload pictures just yet, but trust me I will when I get the chance. Even the pictures probably won't do it justice, but man oh man we saw some sights.

The hiking was good too, as was the drive to Belfast. Once inside city limits, however, we quickly discovered what U2 was singing about in A Street with No Name. You see we couldnt find street signs any where --- turns out they're on little black signs high up on the building corners. Holy hell that was frantic ... but we made it, and ended the night at a diner called Springsteens. We had a great time catching up with Patrick and meeting some of his friends.

Next up touring Belfast!

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