Blogs from Ireland, Europe - page 453

Well its been a few days and we still really arent that settled. Although I do have to say that we have spent a good number of days sorting through job sites and applying for a lot of them, getting a few replys which have led to a few interviews in fact Leexa is off on one at the moment (more later). We spent the first 2 nights at Nirelles but she has a very small room and what floor space she did have was taken up by myself and Leeza, so while being absolutely gratefull to Nirelle for putting us up we thought she might like her room back. We moved to another friend of mine from Auckland, Cerian, who had moved over here in November last year and is sharing a house with old ... read more

Well, Sal and Mick arrived in Dublin from Blackpool on Tuesday the 3rd of May, 2005. It was absolutely teeming with rain and so after a brief meeting of the executive travel committee, a decision was made to jump on the first bus out of Dublin to more favourable weather. As luck would have it, the first bus was going to sunny Limerick. Unfortunately, and unbenownst to us, Limerick is not really the best location for backpackers. Some time ago, the two or three backpacker hostels in the town were shut down and converted into emergency accomodation for assylum seekers (unlike Australia, there was no barbed wire etc. to keep these people in). So, after walking around Limerick City for about 3 hours with our backpacks on, we finally located what apparently was the only hotel ... read more

Day 2 we started our 'road trip' - we headed northwest for a few hours, stopping in Galway city for something to eat/coffee and a look around before heading to Connemara where we got a B&B, in a cute, coastal town called Clifden. We had a good night here...had dinner/wine in an Italian type restaurant then headed to Lowry's bar for a trad session (traditional irish music, yea i'm kool, getting the lingo)...Of course, we closed the bar and also, of course the party didn't end there.... ;) some locals invited us back to their pad across the street from the pub. We accepted the offer, thanks to the conservative telling us it was a good idea...We listened to good ol Irish music and Aggie, the Entertainer, performed her best Irish dancing...you walk this way, turn ... read more

Did you know that it's not the celebration of Mexican Independence (from the Spanish)....but rather the Mexican defeat of the French Army? It's true....I think most people just say Independence for the hell of it, even though they live next door to us (in the U.S.)--maybe we should know a bit more. Anyway, I just had one of the most memorable weeks of my life....My advice to the ladies out there: in your life take at least one road trip with a couple of other girls!!!! My advice to the gents: ditto---well, maybe with a couple of other guys...lol. I never laughed so much, my sides are still recovering and perhaps are rock solid muscle from the contractions caused by such laughter. I had 2 visitors in Ireland for a week....I swear we covered every philosophical ... read more

So I was able to hitch a ride from Doolin to Galway and I gave Armindo €10 because gas is around $4 gallon. Neither of us knew the area but it seemed to be near the city center so he pulled over and dropped me off on some corner. It was cool that he drove me because I got to see some of the Burren which I wouldnt have been able to see without doing a tour or renting a car or something. Plus it gave me someone to chill with, i'll be honest and say im just happy to be alive because the roads are extremely narrow. Theyre not even roads really, more like paved paths so everyone drives in the middle since theyre so narrow, but theyre also driving 100km/h and around blind bends. ... read more