A trek through Ireland

The first foray into the world of international solo travel. Will I survive??

August 26

Just booked a day tour for my upcoming trip to Ireland and for whatever weird reason started entering my old Omaha phone number area code. I haven’t lived there in almost 15 years!!

August 29

Ah, I miss hearing all these European accents and languages! En route to Dublin via Amsterdam. 

August 30 (I)

My first pic from Ireland. Dublin is very quaint and cozy for being a large city and the woman at the airport was super helpful. I walked away with a whole library worth of free regional guidebooks and maps.

August 30 (II)

My first thoughts from this trip – the long flight to Amsterdam “flew” by! I’m amazed at all the doo-dads they have nowadays to keep you occupied. I listened to new music, watched a couple TED talks, looked at the stats about the flight, focused on the geography of countries around the globe, etc. One bummer was that the guy next to the window was a “closed blinds” person. I don’t understand people like that. He would take a quick peek for himself and then immediately shut the blind again. I love being immersed in this accent.

August 30 (III)

Another observation. I love being the one with the accent – even if it’s my dull Midwestern/Central Plains drawl. You suddenly find yourself in conversations with people who find even your most banal conversations intriguing. The people here have thus far been really nice.

August 30 (IV)

Oh, I had a Guinness here because, well, I had to. I’ve always liked Guinness but it is truly 30 times better over here – creamier and more flavorful without the watered down taste I sometimes experience back home.

August 30 (V)

And the temps here have been glorious after the dreadful oven-like temps we had in Mpls last week. It could be jacket weather all year round and I wouldn’t complain at all.

August 31 (I)

Getting a later than wanted start today – partially due to jet lag and getting home later than planned due to accidentally way overshooting my walk back but also due to this room being so quiet and dark, which makes me realize that I need to find a place that’s quieter to live so that I can get a decent night’s sleep for once. Also helps that it was actually a little chilly last night. I had to close the window, even!

August 31 (II)

I’m really digging this airbnb experience. The husband of the couple hosting me for the first couple of nights is French and we got to chat in French for a couple hours during/after breakfast.

August 31 (III)

So many things today I can’t even recall them all. Went to some great museums for Irish history (the art is so intricate and detailed. I stopped taking pictures at some point because they don’t do it justice) and an awesome museum/library that had ancient texts, art, and artifacts from most of the world’s religions. Amazing they’ve been able to preserve them so well for these thousands of years!! I can’t tell you how badly I wanted to open the glass cases and touch the ancient leather book covers! Also had a Nutella shake (it’s as delicious as it sounds), and met a Facebook friend and his partner for the first time in person! And heard this word pronounced by some cute (one of many) Irishman on the street: “stinker”. That’s my favorite word pronounced with an accent I’ve heard so far!

September 1

Great tour today, which was made even better by a cool bud from Los Angeles I met on the bus and hung out with all day. The pics really don’t do the scenery justice. Very picturesque and interesting. I liked the weird landscape without any trees the best – as well as the monastic ruins. I even had a shot of Jameson whiskey – and actually enjoyed sipping on it! Changed locations and discussed American and international politics for a couple hours with my young British host. Tomorrow, I pick up my rental car and head southwest and hope I don’t end up freaking out driving on the left.

September 2 (I)

Well I’ve survived my first day driving on the left with only one moment when a lapse of reason had me driving on the wrong side with cars barreling around a bend toward me. Luckily I figured it out right away. Actually, I kind of enjoyed the experience on the major highways. What I DON’T like are the high speeds on the narrow roads, especially when trucks and buses are zooming around a bend from the opposite direction. I enjoyed listening to some station broadcast completely in Gaelic. Also enjoyed a station here in Dingle called Radio Kerry. I was so fascinated with their strong accents that it didn’t even bother me that I was listening to a sports show!

September 2 (II)

I believe I’ve finally found a liquor I can drink! I ordered a shot of Jameson whiskey and I enjoyed sipping on it, which is perfect for me because that’s the only way I’ve ever been able to do a shot – unless it’s a wine shot…

September 3 (I)

Just had an awesome Irish breakfast at the b&b where I stayed last night. It was very simple, which I think oftentimes ends up being better. Very relaxing with classical music playing. The host Mary is awesome. You can tell that she really enjoys doing what she does. Now I’m off. As Mary said in her thick accent to another guest, “It’s a LUV-ly day forr a drrrive!”

September 3 (II)

I conquered a major fear I had today and drove through Conor Pass – on the left, next to the “plunge to your death” drop-off! I about freaked out when I missed the pull-off at the highest point (because that was the whole point of the drive!!) but worked together with this team of other (I would learn) Americans on this intricate dance to get ourselves turned around without causing a pile-up. The drive wasn’t nearly as harrowing as various web posts led me to believe. I only minorly freaked out and had to clench my teeth and hold my breath on maybe three separate occasions as opposed to for the full 10+ kilometers. Thank goodness I had no oncoming traffic at those spots. With the exception of a couple small “oops” moments, I’ve largely got the driving thing down. One interesting thing I’ve noticed. People here drive on the left but they still tend to walk on the right. I was glad to have that hearty Irish breakfast this morning. I didn’t need to eat again until dinner.

September 3 (III)

I have noticed that I have started reading things with an Irish accent in my head after listening to the Kerry radio station all day. Strangest announcements (for me) on the radio were the daily death announcements where they announced where a person’s body has been or is reposing and when the burial services are. I guess they announce these twice a day. Also I keep hearing reference to “the kingdom” but I don’t understand what is meant by that. And I have never in my life heard the word “brilliant” used so often.

September 4 (I)

So many thoughts today. Had my first day that went off schedule and is causing me a dilemma. I went to see the Munkross Abbey and Castle before departing Killarney today. The castle tour was totally awesome. I can’t get over how utilitarian those buildings were. I left later than anticipated and drove the what seemed like zillion miles of secondary roads (which I’m not fond of due to how narrow they are with tall shrubs on the side that make them sometimes feel like mazes. Add to this that the speed limits are ridiculously high – like 80-100 km per hour and there are trucks and buses on these routes and they curve all over the place and sometimes have rather steep drop-offs on the side). I was about to go see the Cliffs of Moher – one of the things I’ve really been looking forward to but there was a pretty bad car accident a ways up the road and it was being said that the wait would be pretty long. Being late in the afternoon, I headed for The Burren, which is cool but I didn’t realize how far from the cliffs that would take me and some nasty looking rain clouds moved in. I didn’t want to be stuck on the secondary routes in heavy rain so I opted to head for my stop for the night to also avoid night driving. So now I’m in Galway, a ways away from the cliffs, which were one of the things I really wanted to see and I have to take secondary roads to get back to them – something I was hoping to be done with tomorrow (sigh). I’m thinking I’ll likely get up early on Friday, go to the cliffs and return to Dublin right afterward.

September 4 (II)

I’ll have to admit that I’m not a fan of the city of Galway. Maybe it’s just the mood I’m in but literally from the moment I entered the city it seemed “off” and everything just seems to keep confirming my feeling. The airbnb host is nice enough but “odd”. He would ask me questions and then interrupt my answer to go on to the next thing. I even sensed this from my email correspondence when I was booking this place. Oh well, I’ll be too busy to interact with him, really. I hate the feel and layout of the downtown area, the gay bar is the size of a dining room with a bunch of freaks inside (that apparently is universal). I have felt very comfortable in Ireland but I for the first time felt more on guard returning from having my Guinness. At least there was a kind woman at the gas station who help make sense of the host’s directions, which included landmarks, none of which I was able to locate. I did have a great dinner at this cheapie place – seafood chowder and some tomato/mozzarella appetizer. My best meals have come from cheapie joints like that and the fish and chips place I went to last night. I oftentimes have this same experience back home, too. More expensive oftentimes does not equal better.

September 5 (I)

Just got back from a trip to Connemara. AMAZING PLACE. So beautiful. I could totally spend a full week there exploring around. Part of the fun is meeting people at all the scenic sights. I met a gay couple from Holland at the Sky Drive west of Clifden and spoke with a nice English lady in a wheelchair, reading a book while looking at a peaceful fjord. Turns out she’s from a town near Sheffield, where I have visited and knew a lot of the places I had been there, too – one she was at just last week! Met a group of older people from Chicago by a cute, scenic waterfall. The guy said they had been to Ireland many times but always try to see something new because it could be their last time. “Same for me on both counts,” I replied. Met and spoke in French with a French couple, the husband of which was going to take a little nap in the car while the wife went exploring.

September 5 (II)

One interesting experience I had was at a coffee shop in the middle of literally nowhere. I ordered a cappuccino, which seems to have become my daytime drink of choice for this trip, and the woman who owns the shop spoke with perhaps the thickest Irish accent I have yet heard on this trip and in broken English. Her mother tongue is Gaelic. I love hearing the Irish accents but part of me wishes Gaelic had more of a presence. I love that they’ve kept it on most of their signs. It’s been very interesting for me to compare the two languages and try to deduce origins.

September 6 (I)

One of the funner moments of this trip has been the serendipitous rejoining or sighting of people I had previously seen in my journey. Ran into a guy from Barcelona I met last night at Galway’s gay bar while leaving the Cliffs of Moher (about an hour and a half away). He was just arriving. Then, by pure coincidence, ended up riding the shuttle bus after dropping off the rental car at the airport with the same German couple that was in my tour of the Munkross castle in Killarney! These tours and shuttles happen regularly and Killarney is on the other side of the country /and/ we totally went our separate ways for a couple days!! What are the odds??

September 6 (II)

So a couple days ago I was annoyed because a car accident derailed me from seeing the Cliffs of Moher and I’d have to go out of my way to see them. I decided to go see them today and then head back to Dublin right afterwards. In hindsight, that was the right decision and I’m glad I went to The Burren that day because I might not have otherwise. I actually toyed with skipping out on the cliffs today because I was tired and didn’t want to drive on narrow highways again. But I’m so glad I didn’t. I ended up living them and spent a good 75 minutes there. The best was when I heard a lady excitedly saying in French that there was a rainbow on the water. I looked over to the area I had moved on from and there indeed was. Amazing. Not something everyone gets the opportunity to see!! I told this woman with a cane who was sitting down looking bored to go check them out. It made me smile when she got up to look and I could hear her say, “oh, wow!” My pics of the cliffs would have been better had they been taken on a late sunny afternoon rather than an early one. Just take my word for it. Yes, the cliffs attract a lot of tourists but it’s well worth the trip to see them. I’m so glad I did!

September 6 (III)

Funny moments: my airbnb host in Galway was telling me about the commute to the Cliffs of Moher and he said something about having to go up a corkscrew hill. I started getting nervous thinking about clinging to the side of a cliff with a steep drop-off and less than two full lanes. He said it wouldn’t be that bad and added in his thick Irish accent, “but if you do die, at least the last thing you’ll see is some beautiful scenery!” When I mentioned to my host here in Dublin that the weather forecast for my Giants Causeway tour tomorrow called for a 100% chance of rain, he said I’d have “a very Irish experience.” Regarding driving, I pretty much mastered the whole driving on the left thing. What I was never able to master even at the very end was remembering to enter the car on the right side! I would always shake my head and laugh realizing that I was yet again opening the passenger side door.

September 7 (I)

Excellent and educational day tour through Belfast and Giant’s Causeway. I was fortunate enough to sit next to an intelligent, young German college student who I ended up hanging out with all day and catching a drink with and talking international politics after the tour. It was surreal to see the front lines of the conflict that had raged violently for many years in Belfast, leasing to Catholic, pro-Republic of Ireland and Protestant, pro-UK neighborhoods to be separated by a literal “peace” wall and high fence and that still simmers under the surface. Pro-UK protesters were gathering at the city hall. All decked out in Union Jack attire. The tour guides said that they have occasionally run into minor troubles up there because of their Republic of Ireland license plates! The very long history was interesting to hear. And Giant’s Causeway was out if this world!

September 7 (II)

I can’t get this song lyric out of my head after hearing it a couple days ago: “And now you tell me that you’re having my baby? I’ll tell you that I’m happy if you want me to….”

September 8

One of the best vacations I’ve ever taken comes to a close as I head to the airport. I’ve met new friends, shared experiences, spoken some foreign languages, enjoyed new accents and cultures, done some hiking and seen some of the most amazing scenery I’ve ever seen in my life, and had a new experience of navigating while driving on the left! I’ve seen ancient texts and art, learned a lot about history, and sampled the much better tasting Irish draws of Guinness and Smithwicks, and found that I actually enjoy sipping on Jameson whiskey. I’ve conquered fears, done a lot of meditating (admittedly forcedly as I had to concentrate in the unimaginably narrow highways), and also experienced the whole airbnb way of finding lodging. I was about having panic attacks before the vacation at how complicated this was all going to be but somehow pulled it off. I’m so glad to have discovered this country, even though this trip really only just scratched the surface of all there is to see and do here!