More Ireland

Killarney to Ennis - May 9th
First, a caveat:  The hostel I'm currently in only has "internet terminals" rather than actual computers.  This means no way to connect my camera or memory card to download photos, which furthermore means no photos for this update.  Which is a shame because I've got some good ones.  Also, this is a long one.  If you have a short attention span, give up now.

Up bright and early (when I say bright I mean it, the weather was incredible for the entire tour) and out of Killarney.  Most people were hungover, I was not.  This is either because I'm older and wiser, or older and lamer.

The scenery along this route was magnificent.  Ireland is a truly beautiful country.  Green as far as the eye can see with a coastline to rival any other's.  Details on these first few days are a bit hazy and since I was lazy and didn't write anything down I'm afraid I'll be missing some stuff.  As mentioned before we went along the Dinlge Peninsula.  Dingle, or as some of us affectionately called it, Dongle, has some of the best ice cream in the world.  Or so I was told.  Naturally I took this as a challenge and had some ice cream in Dongle.  I mean Dingle.  It was delicous.  It tasted far creamier and milkier than ice cream back in Canada.  Probably because it's made from the milk from cows right there around Dingle.  All the cows in Ireland by the way are grazing cattle, fed on grass.  No feeding factories here forcing the cows to eat an unnatural diet of corn and anti-biotics.

We then took a 20-minute ferry ride across the River Shannon into County Clare and to Ennis.  Ennis..... I don't remember a lot of.  This was the first night I really got drunk so far on my entire trip.  Drunk as in still drinking at 3am and having to be up no later than 8.  The pub featured a local band that was quite good doing covers of everything from Pink Floyd (yes!) to Tom Petty and Johnny Cash.  I would later learn that every single Irish cover band does Johnny Cash's 'Folsom Prison Blues.'  Every single one.

Ennis to Galway - May 10th
The Cliffs of Moher.  I wish I could put pictures in this update.  This was one of my favourite stops on the tour, despite the bone-chilling wind.  The Cliffs are on the short list to be one of the new 7 Wonders of the World.  It's like standing on the edge of the Earth.  Hard to describe without pictures.  Here, I'll try:  They are cliffs and they are high and it looks neat.  See?  Hard to describe.  Words don't do this part of the world justice.  If you are ever in Ireland and you miss visiting the Cliffs of Moher, you've failed in life and deserve to die a slow painful death involving spoons and alligators.

On the way to Galway from the Cliffs we stopped at an Irish fairy meadow-type thing.  Carol, the tour guide, and Brenda, the driver, both 100% Irish, took this place very seriously.  You could walk around the fairy area, but you couldn't go into it.  Going into it would bring bad luck to everyone involved.  They told us of stories from other tours where someone balked at this superstition, ran into the fairy circle, and then the bus broke down and everyone came down with herpes, or something like that.  I don't believe in stupid shit like this but I figured since I was a guest (albeit a paying one) in their country I would respect their beliefs and keep my smartass to the outside.

We got to Galway and did some exploring in the city.  I was craving pizza at this point and convinced some of the others on the tour that they wanted pizza too so we ordered pizza and had somewhat of a pizza party.  Since the night before was a long one this was another easy, early night for me.

Inis Mor (Aran Islands) - May 11th
Inis Mor is the largest of the Aran Islands.  We rented bikes and rode around the island.  I met a very friendly horse that I fed grass from just outside his reach on the other side of the fence.  He liked it and I liked him.  I love horses and could've hung out with that guy the entire day but alas, there was more biking to do.

I got sick of biking pretty quickly and myself and a few others turned back towards the inhabited part of the island to check out the shops and grab some lunch.  The Aran Islands are where big, knitted woolen sweaters originated from.  Well maybe not originated but definitely perfected.  This kind of sweater:

http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/image-files/aran4.jpg

If they didn't weigh 67 pounds I would have bought one just for fun.  They would definitely make for a good Christmas sweater; not overly bawdy with lights and pictures of reindeer, but corny enough to be subtly hilarious.

After Inis Mor it was back to Galway for another night.  On this night I partied.  The details are somewhat blurry but the next day was not one I was keen to begin at 8 in the morning.  Bed time came around 5am.  I'm too old for this.

Galway to Derry - May 12th
Finally we make our way to Northern Ireland.  Northern Ireland is a part of the UK, whereas Dublin et al is its own country, know as the Republic of Ireland.  This is the source of The Troubles in Northern Ireland.  The Catholics are nationalists, wanting all of Ireland to be it's own, one country, and the Protestants are unionists, preferring Northern Ireland being a part of the UK.

If it were up to me I'd be a Nationalist.

Along the way we stopped at the grave site of world-renowned and Irish poet W.B. Yeats.  I'm not much into poetry but I admit it was kind of neat to see an historical person's grave such as his.

Derry, in a word, was incredible.  The hostel sucked balls but who cares.  We went on a walking tour of Derry where the guide, who has relatives who fought and died on Bloody Sunday, explained to us the city and it's history.  It was everything I could do not to cry in front of everyone.  The history is so sad and so emotional.  There are murals on the walls throughout the city explaining the sad and violent past.  I won't get into it, as I could go on forever, but I implore you to look into the history of The Troubles in Northern Ireland and what went on during such events as Bloody Sunday.  And yes, the song 'Sunday, Bloody Sunday' by U2 is about that fateful day in Derry.  I stood on the same streets as those who died fighting for their rights and what they believed in.  It was very powerful.

Once again, the night before was long so this day was a short one.  Bed early and very welcome.  I attempted watching a movie at the hostel and lasted about 10 minutes before dozing off.

Derry to Belfast - May 13th
I was really looking forward to Belfast.  When one thinks of the problems in Northern Ireland they invariably think of Belfast, home of the most bombed hotel in the entire world, The Europa.

We stopped at Dunluce Castle, built on the side of a cliff.  At one point during it's medievel history, during a big dinner party, the entire kitchen area of the castle collapsed into the ocean below -- before the main course was even served!

From here it was to the Giant's Causway, a natural wonder of the world.  The Irish have legendary stories for everything and this place is no different.  The Irish giant, Finn MacCool (awesomely his real name), decided to build a walkway from Ireland to Scotland so he could fight the Scottish giant.  The Giant's Causway is 40,000 or so columns of hexagonal rocks, extending from the coast out into the sea.  It's pretty awesome.  In real life it was formed by underwater volcanoes or something but the Irish explanation is more fun.

Finally in Belfast it was time to explore for a little bit and then to party.  Everyone met at a local pub since it was our last night and we had food and drink.  Some of us decided after the pub closed to go to a nightclub.  I hate nightclubs and this one was no different.  Typical European thumping house music with pushy guys and skanky girls.  Upon leaving the club we were met by a drunken Irishman who decided we were all friends.  He jumped into our cab with us while smoking a cigarette and this pissed the driver off something fierce.  The driver hauled the fucker out of the cab numerous times (he kept trying to get back in) before people on the street intervened.  The cab driver was not a small bloke either, he could have done some damage but showed great restraint.  We asked to be taken to somewhere with food since the drunk-as-fuck Aussie guy wanted a kebab and luckily were dropped, randomly, about 3 blocks from our hostel.  The kebab Drunk-As-Fuck ordered was ridiculous.  No lie, it weighed about 5-pounds.  There were three of us and in about 2 hours we still hadn't finished eating it.  At this point the sun was cresting over the horizon and it was time to go to sleep.  Another too-short-until-morning ahead.

Belfast to Dublin - May 14th
In the morning we took a Black Cab tour throughout Belfast.  The tour guides are normal cabbies, but in this city they offer a special service where for 8 pounds they take you around Belfast and explain The Troubles, the murals and life on either side of the huge wall separating the city; the Catholic and Protestant.

The wall down the middle of the city is called the Peace Wall.  Strange, because it's erected to stop violence from occurring from one side to the other.  Houses behind the wall have protective cages built onto the backs of them to guard from rocks and other projectiles thrown over.  More sad history.  The tour wasn't near as good as Derry's but definitely something to consider if you ever find yourself in Belfast.  After this we had some time to ourselves to explore Belfast before heading back to Dublin.  I walked around some, kind of aimlessly, before getting back to the bus.

Back in Dublin I had a simple night.  Out for dinner with tour folk then early to bed.

Dublin - May 15th
On this day I ventured to do the things in Dublin I had yet to do, mainly the Guinness Storehouse.  Guinness is incredible in Dublin, so much so that it's kind of ruined for me anywhere else.  I was never really a big Guinness fan but I reckon I especially won't be drinking too much of it anywhere outside of Dublin from now on.  I'm not exaggerating, it's really that much better.  At the Storehouse I happened to run into more people from the tour randomly so we hung out for the rest of the day.  At night it was a group dinner and then off to the pubs and another nightclub.  This club was better than the one in Belfast as it actually played songs rather than simply thumping bass with a moron DJ yelling nonsense overtop.  I didn't even bother to sleep tonight as I jumped on a plane early Sunday morning back to London.

I spent my last time in London doing laundry (that shit was stanky) and just relaxing.  The next day I hopped on a train through the Chunnel (an uneventful and unmentioned 20-minutes) to Paris, France where I currently sit.  I did a shit-ton today that I'll write about soon.  On Thursday I'm off to a mountain village in Switzerland.  No internet, no TV, only mountains and fresh air.  I can't wait.