 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Ireland 2008
Photos are below, so skip the babble if you want to get straight to it....
Late in August 2008, I drove to Munich airport with a Russian friend of mine, who was working for us here in Gemany. We had tickets to fly to Dublin for 5 days, and were looking forward to a pint of Guiness (OK, maybe just me). We waited an hour to check in, and were at the counter when they informed Nomto that he couldnt trvel to Ireland without a valid visa. Nomto had a permit to live and travel in the EU, however unfortunately did not extend to Ireland (not one of the Schengen states, who knew?). After another hour of rushing around, frantically trying to find another cheap ticket to somewhere that we could visit together, we gave up and I flew alone to Dublin. Was a bit bummed out, after looking forward to hanging out together, but still psyched to finally be visiting a new country after all this time in Europe again!
I arrived in Dublin a couple of hours later (only 2 hour flight from Munich, who knew?!) and was happy to find the people there friendly and helpful....damn, it felt good to be out of Germany (No offence to my German friends, but you guys have to experience real hospitality before you can understand what I'm on about!) I made my way to my hostel, showered and crashed (I know, very lame, but after I needed it after the hours I had been working).
Next day I set out on foot, to orient myself in the city. Dublin is pretty small, you can walk around the city in a couple of hours, as I did. I grabbed a coupleof beers (Smithwicks, pronounced Smiticks) and drank them at the hostel, and later found that they are the equivalent of our Fosters (ie. noone there likes them!). I met a couple of Irish blokes in the afternoon, who recommended a good Irish pub (I guess I should just write pub, considering I was in Ireland), where decided to go in the evening. Thomas, a Canadian guy arrived and woke me from my grandpa nap in the late arvo, and we headed out to the Celt for a few pints in the PM.
The Celt is a little place on Talbot St, just down from the Spire, with live music every night and a great craic (thats Gaelic for 'good times' or átmosphere'). The people were great, mostly locals, and much like the aussies - pissheads all. While outside for a smoke, I started chatting to a guy James, and discovered that he lived in Newtown around 1992-96, roughly the same time as I did. I explained my saga of Nomto not being allowed into the country, and that I was planning to hire a car with him and head south, and James invited me to come with him and stay at his place in Dungarvan.
 |
 |
 |
 |
I woke the next day feeling.. well pretty much as you would expect after about 8 pints of Guiness the night before. Got a text from James, and we were heading down south to Waterford on the bus a couple of hours later. Waterford is the oldest city in Ireland, established originally by the vikings and coincidentally the source of the famous crystal. After a bit of a stroll and a couple of pints, we got the bus to Dungarvan which lies in the southeast of Ireland. Dungarvan is a pretty little town, of about 3000 people with a gorgeous little harbour and an unspoilt atmosphere. I met James' dad Peter (an ex-train driver/station master from Murwillumbah) who would be our gracious host and explained some things about the town as we headed in for....another pint. We visited a couple of little pubs, had some craic and a singsong, then headed home late for a whisky. Another late one, but slept like a log for the first time in a while!
Monday morning, James headed back to Dub and Pete showed me around Waterford, visiting the town museum to learn a little Waterford history (Pete, thanks again for your hospitality, very much appreciated!) A couple of hours later, and I was heading back to Dub on the train; the scenery was beautiful but I unsuccessfully tried to get a couple of decent photos...guess you will have to go see youeself! When I got back to Dun, I met Fabiano, a Brazillian guy travelling for a conference. We headed out together in the PM to the Celt, then met up with Thomas and a bunch of young French wankers (sorry, I cant find another word for this particular bunch) and headed to Temple bar. Three hours and about €65 later I headed back to the hostel for much needed rest.
On Tuesday, Fabiano and I headed out for a day trip to Glendalough (the two lakes) and the Wicklow mountains. The trip was great, first we headed through Dublin and got a bit of a history lesson on the way, then we headed to the coast and south towards Wicklow. We stopped at a little 'beach' where some crazy man was swimming, before heading out of town and into the countryside. The Wicklow mountains are beautiful, very green and partially covered in purple heather. The mountains drop away steeply to some stunning lakes (see Jeremy in front of Guiness lake below) and much of the area is peat bog. BTW we we really lucky with the weather, 3 sunny days out of 5 in Ireland...should have bought a lotto ticket! A great day out, and finished it off in the Celt with a couple more pints of the black stuff.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Wednesday was my last day, went to see the Book of Kells in Trinity College before flying home. I was walking around in the library (all very austere, silence please!), admiring the exhibition when my boss called my on my private mobile....my ring tone is James Browns "I Feel Good", and on the first "WOW..." everybody in the place jumped. I was a bit embarrassed until everyone started laughing (except for the grumpy security woman). I saw the book of Kells a bit later (impressive, but not as jaw-dropping as I had expected) and had a couple of beers with Thomas and Fabiano before heading to the airport and back to Germany.
Last update: December 4, 2008
