Nothern Ireland Tour

Today we awoke early to catch the tour bus at 9am. The bus picked us up at the Linen Hostel and we met at another hostel where the we all moved to another bigger bus. While digging through my wallet to find my ticket voucher, I must have flashed my Kansas Drivers License. The girl in front asked if I was from Kansas and we quickly met two new friends.

Kathleen and John are coworkers both from London. Kathleen is working aboard, originally from California, and John is from London. They are doing a short tour of Ireland starting in Belfast, exactly the opposite of our travels.

It was around 9:30am when the tour started. A combination of the dark drizzling weather, the tour guide's monotone voice, my lack of sleep and my newfound skill to sleeping while sitting quickly knocked me out. I didn't mind catching some zzz's as my main reason for being on that bus wasn't till the afternoon. I picked up a few facts here and there, but it wasn't until after our first stop that I actually woke up.

Our first stop was a Castle by a shore. We were able to get out and stretch our legs. We were only limited to the outskirts of the castle as going in actually costs additional money. Most of tour was on the bus, driving by places and a short narrative about the importance of that location. The scenery was quite good, but the rainy weather was hindering our enjoyment.

As we drove through some wooded areas, the bus driver disclosed that there was a lot of de-froestation going on. However there is a new law that says every single tree cut down two new trees must be planted. As a result the road divides the forest between tall old trees and small new trees.

The sun peaked out from behind the clouds as the bus made another stop. We had arrived a Carrick-a-rede rope bridge. It cost a few pounds just to walk across the bridge, but we thought what the hell? When's the next time we'll be in Northern Ireland right? The view leading up the ridge was spectacular. Cliffs that turn into rolling hills. Again the fields are littered with sheep. I've never been to New Zealand, but I've heard it is the land of the sheep. Right now I am willing to bet Ireland could probably give it a good run for its money.


We reached Bushmill's Whiskey distillery and was again able to take a break. The guide suggested that we try the 12year old malt as it was difficult to find anywhere else. Nathan, Gene and I ended up sharing one just for kicks. It was smooth but I couldn't really tell that much of a difference. I personally have never heard of Bushmills. I've always liked Maker's Mark or Jack Daniels. We bordered the bus just in time to miss the incoming showers.



The bus guide drove through several other points of interest. It seemed that most of the people we kind of tired as I saw several people sleeping, including Gene. I don't blame them the monotone voice of the bus driver reminded me of my highschool biology class and gloomy weather made each site all that less interesting.

We stopped on the side of the road to have a view of another Castle by the sea. This one in fact has been slowly falling into the sea one section at a time. The weather, as it has been for most of Ireland, changed yet again. The clouds opened and sunshine broke through the clouds. It instantly felt warmer.

Our last stop was the main attraction, Giant's Causeway. Giant's Causeway consists of roughly 40,000 interlocking hexagonal columns. Legend explains that an Irish giant built the causeway in order to fight another giant in Scotland. There are similar rock formation on the other side of Scotland. Science explains that intense volcanic activity during the Paleogene period caused these distinct formations.



There are two paths to the causeway. The longer one is to walk along the top of the cliff above the causeway and then back down to the formation. The more direct path goes directly down towards the causeway. There are buses that run up and down the shorter path which costs 1 pound for the ride. With two and a half hours to spare we decided to take to the long way.


Below is a picture of a rock formation called the Gaint's foot.




Each of the hexagonal stones are interlocked together in various heights. They form steps going up and down along the coast before dipping down below sea level. The tops of the columns are sometimes concave and other times convex. The lower columns hold circular pools of sea water where various mosses grow. The columns are a golden brown at top and steadily change to a dark brown towards the bottoms. It is a truly unique site to see.




The guide that sold us the tour tickets had recommended that we try salmon and champ. Champ is mashed potatoes mixed with scallions and if you haven't had salmon yet I feel sorry for you. I've never ever heard of champ until now. Apparently the salmon here is suppose to be one of the best in all of Ireland. The guide explained that the city of Belfast releases 40,000 salmon fry each year into Northern Ireland's streams and rivers in hopes that the adult salmon will return to their birth city to once again spawn; all so I can get the freshest and best salmon available. Good job Northern Ireland!

Welcome to Belfast

I woke up to Belfast as the bus entered the city center. The ride from Dublin to Belfast was 3 hours, but it seemed like minutes to me. I think I have started to get use to this sleeping while sitting thing.

Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland which is its own country, which means I am on country number two of my trip. Located on the north eastern edge of the island, Belfast serves as a hub for us to fly over to Glasgow, Scotland. Crossing into this new country did not require any border checkpoints or customs.

Besides being a hub for our travels, Belfast is also full of history. Home to one of the bloodiest feuds ever, Belfast has many historical places such as the second most bombed hotel in the world. Besides grabbing a claim from violence, Belfast is also home to the world's second and third largest crane (#1 is Dubai), the shipyard that built that world's largest ship (the Titanic), and the oldest News Paper.



After changing our Euros to Pounds, we found the Linen Hostel. Dropping off our bags we headed to the town center to explore the city. The main capital building seems like a central location of the town. There are various historical buildings surrounding it. There was also a Ferris Wheel right next to the capital building which seemed very out of place. That day we explored Belfast and found some tickets for a Northern Ireland tour the following day; the tour included Giant's Causeway which was one of my top destinations on this trip and also to my surprise the tour was ranked #2 in Europe.

We met some French fine arts students at the hostel that night. They could speak limited English and it was extremely difficult at times to establish a clear channel of communication. At some point Nathan was speaking French, I was speaking Spanish (not because I was confused, but one of the girls knew some Spanish), and they were speaking English. This is one situation that I have yet to run into. Thus far, we have been blessed with the fact that everyone was on the same language channel. I guess this serves as a reminder to the difficult times ahead when we venture into a country with a foreign language.

Gul-way not Gal-way!

We arrived by bus in the afternoon. The temperature has dropped significantly and as we waited in line to grab our main pack the clouds broke and it began to hail. With our rain covers on, we began to explore the town center. Luckily there was a hostel right next to the bus station called Galway City Hostel. With free internet, breakfast, kitchen area and clean rooms we quickly signed up.

Galway is on the South Western coast of Ireland. Our original plan for coming here was to visit the Aran Islands. We arrived in the late afternoon and took power naps. Nate went and bought pizza so we could take advantage of having a kitchen. After eating, we headed out to the pub district of Galway.

The nightlife area of Galway reminds me of Temple Bar in Dublin. Small shops and pubs line the sides of narrow cobblestone streets. It was Monday evening so I wasn't expecting too much; I just wanted to grab a drink. We arrived at a pub called King's Head. It was a good crowded for a weekday, especially Monday.

Since Dublin, we had been drinking Guinness and red bull/vodka here and there. So we decided to order something different. I got a beer called Smithwicks (pronouced Smith-icks, the w is slient), a traditional Irish ale. It tasted like a lighter Fat Tire.


Inside a two guitar cover band was playing, they played traditional Irish songs, but mostly covered the typical cover band songs. I requested The Eagles hoping they would play Hotel California, I like to hear the various renditions of that classic track. The guy said he didn't know any Eagles. "Are you kidding me!" I thought. So I asked "Clapton?" he responded with a confused look. "Zeppelin?" <same experession> "Foo Fighters" he responded with "Foo?". I threw in "Stevie Ray Vaughan" just for kicks and he said he would see what he could do. I thought to myself "there's no way this guy can play any Stevie Ray." He introduced the next song as a classic by Johnny Cash and proceeded to play "Hurt". Hopefully this paints a clear picture.

Although obviously lacking as an actual cover band they did play some Irish songs that got the entire crowd singing. We met a group of Scots at the bar. He asked where we were from and misheard Kansas as Canada. "Oh Canada! Lets get a shot" As the bartender was pouring he asked which part of Canada, and when he realized it was Kansas he joked "Oh, the US no shots for you". We ended up dancing and singing Irish songs till the pub closed with that group Scots.

As we were booted out of King's Head, two German girls from our hostel recognized us. We started to chat and they ended up convincing us to go to club Cuba which was caddy corner from our Hostel across from the main square in Galway. None of us were really dressed for clubbing, but oh well.

Along the bar district of Galway, pairs of club promoters stand at each intersection each promoting a different club, again I emphasize that this is on a Monday. You can tell they are club promoters because they are they only ones wearing stocking hats, full winter jacket and gloves. It was about 6°C that night, 42°F, yet most of the girls I saw running round were in skirts, dresses and not a single jacket. The promoters stand on corners with stamps that get you free entry into their club. After getting stamps we started to funnel into the club. The bouncer stopped Nate and said "No track pants", yet I got in with a plain colored tshirt and cargo pants, hmmmm. I didn't stay long as Nate and Gene both went back to the Hostel, but the club was pretty good. They played a variety of techno and hiphop. Since arrival to Europe I have heard the Apple Bottom Jeans song and guess what song was playing as I walked in.

The entire point of coming to Galway was to see the Aran Islands. We got up this morning and realized that the only bus that goes to the Aran Islands had already left 30 minutes ago. As luck would have it, we were not the only people that had missed the early departure time. We had planned to couchsurf the next evening so we were in the dinning area, when a French girl noticed that we were on our couchsurfering account. We ended up meeting two people that day from the couchsurfing connection, Jimmy from Australia and Ariane French Canadian that lived in Bath, Britain. Instead of hitting up the Islands we spent the day exploring Galway with our new friends.

Later that night we met Julia who is a German girl that has been working in Ireland for a while. She recommended that we go see some traditional Irish Dancing a local pub. By the time we left, our group had increased by two other French guys, Clement and Blaise. They were on a roadtrip to northern Ireland, Gaint's Causeway. Clement and Blaise told us that we were welcome to Lyon their hometown in France and that Lyon had the best French food. I guess we will find out soon enough.


And now we continue on the road. We will bus back to Dublin spend a day there to rest and the next morning journey to Northern Ireland and explore Belfast.

A Town Called Dingle

After kissing the Blarney Stone, we once again headed for the bus stop. Ireland's public busing system is called Bus Éireann. Its mascot is a dog. I believe it is a golden retriever and each bus has one running across the length of the bus in gold with green speed lines behind it. I've been recently corrected and apparently the dog on the side is Red Setter[link]. So in essence its the Irish equivalent of our greyhound. The bus traveled back to Cork, from Cork to Tarlee, and Tarlee to Dingle. Each time we barely made the bus departure times. All the buses were about to depart when we waved them down.

A funny thing happened at the Tralee bus station. An older bloke, thats the British equivalent for dude, dropped a bottle of vodka in the lobby area of the station. I had observed him earlier hitting on the information desk person after inquiring about the bus arrival time for Dingle. Immediately after the bottle broke, spilling vodka all over the lobby and as the other people sitting in the area started to move their belongings away from the flood, he, instead of telling someone, wandered out of the building. It was apparent after then that he was intoxicated. About 5minutes later the unmarked Dingle bus appeared and since it was unmarked we were still sitting there waiting. The lobby attendant approached the bus and when the old bloke tried to board he was denied. As the bus started to pull always it occurred to me that he was also on his way to Dingle. So I ran out there to wave the bus driver to stop. Luckily we barely made yet another bus transfer.

Dingle is a small coastal town. I would almost venture to call it a village. You can probably walk the whole town within 30-45minutes. The town is surrounded by farmland. All local children use the bus system to get to and from school in the larger town of Tralee; There were several students on our bus to Dingle. When you first enter into the outskirts of Dingle you see bright green fields, livestock (mostly sheep), and the general stereotypical scenery when you think of Ireland. The coastline is beautiful. With a powerful wind, clouds glide swiftly and the sky is ever changing. After arriving in Dingle all the hostels were again booked and we ended up staying a Bed and Breakfast. It was a bit bigger hit on the wallet but much more comfortable. We didn't have much energy to do too much in Dingle as it was already late when we arrived.

The next morning we walked around town waiting for stores to open. Since it was a Sunday more stores were closed till after 12. We shopped around and I bought a beanie hat since it is quite chill and windy at times here on the coast. Around noon, we found the Grape Vine Hostel which had vacancies for the night. We quickly booked our room, bought lunch, and rented bicycles to explore the Dingle Peninsula.

Head west from Dingle and you will reach Dingle Bay, makes sense right? Rocky cliffs that transform into rolling hills that climb up to become steep mountains is the landscape here. The land is divided into rectangular fields by hip high cobble stone walls and brush. Little white dots appear in each bright green rectangle and become sheep as we ride closer. The larger dots become several lambs feeding on their mother's milk. As we ride along the narrow road that sweeps along the coast line the cobble stone wall to our left dances along the edge of the cliff. I guess the farmers here want every bit of land possible. The road we take gradually elevates and drops and as we climb up one hill, we are rewarded with a brisk ride down before tackling another climb.




We returned our bikes later that evening. I stayed in that night to get some rest. Tomorrow we will journey back to Tralee and try to make it to Galway, which looks like Gal-way, but is actually pronounced Gul-way.

Bumstyle in Blarney

The next day we got up early and took a train down to Cork. From Cork we went to Blarney. Blarney is a small town, its main attraction is the Blarney Castle and the Blarney Stone. I talked to an elderly couple that owned a souvenir store in downtown Blarney. While asking him about hostels/accommodation's he told me a sad story. He said that there use to be live music every night at the two pubs in downtown and it was pretty lively. But then Sept 11th happened and afterwards the American visitors stopped coming. Tourists numbers went down dramatically. Now there is live music only on the weekends at one of the pubs. He ended his story with "That Osama Bin Ladin, he changed the world".

I had a leg of lamb for dinner, it was pretty good. Gene and Nate had fish and chips, but I figured I'd get enough of that in Britain. We couldn't find any hostels that were reasonable, 55Euros/person at best, so we hiked to the edge of town to camp out. The first location we found was pretty good, but Gene touched the plants that were growing all around that area and his hand started to burn. After wiping the tears from Gene's eyes, we moved to another area that wasn't infested with these skin burning plants. The weather was pretty good for camping, but birds woke us up pretty early.


In morning we visited Blarney Castle. The castle's doorways were all extremely narrow. I hit my head several times moving through the castle. The spiraling stairways were claustrophobic and each step was about the width of your shoe. A cold breeze always rushed through the narrow passageways. After we made it to the top of the Castle we each kissed the Blarney Stone for good luck. We checked out the cave system as well which was pretty neat.

Dublin Partytime = Weds thru Sat

The cars here are so different. You hardly ever see trucks or suv's. There are similar cars that are also found in the states, however there is one caveat; They are all hatchback versions of that car. It seems like all cars here are standard, manual drive. I have to say that I am pretty impressed by that fact that most people around here know how to drive stick. Whats even more amazing is that there is so little clearance between drivers, pedestrians, buses, alleyways, etc.

Today our host let us barrow his car. We (me, Nate, Gene, Patricio from Uruguay, and Luke from Calgary Canada) took a road trip to southern of Dublin. Patricio is like an Uruguayan version of Aaron Wang. As we drove around Dublin he was whistling and yelling at all the girls on streets. Pretty entertaining guy. As we got up the mountains and up to winding outskirts of town, we picked up a screw on the rear tire. We swapped out the spare and called Rory, our host. He told us since we were so far out already to go ahead and drive with it. We hit up a town called Glendaloch. We were trying to get to the national park, however we got sidetracked along the way and never made it. We did find a lot of picturesque scenery.

This afternoon two girls from North Carolina came into town. Being die hard Jayhawk fans, we obviously started talking shit on basketball. It's too bad that we are leaving tomorrow otherwise having some other people to watch the game with would have been fun.

We hit up the clubs the last night in Dublin. Luke, the canuck staying at the same place, came with us. The Dublin nightlife pick ups on Weds so it was pretty good. While walking around on the streets, there were a lot of college kids out dressed up, I guess it was a costume party somewhere. The funniest thing we saw was a group of people dressed up as Braveheart characters. A police officer took one of their beers and started to dump out the entire bottle right in front of the owner on the street. As the beer owner stood there in shock, the rest of his group walked by us and shouted "But they'll never take our FREEDOMMMM!"

We were originally going to a club called TwentyOne, but after talking to Batman, Robin, Batgirl and the Flash, we were told to go to club M or ViperRoom instead. We went to a pub for a few drinks before hitting up Club M. Inside Club M they played House mixed with HipHop. I thought I was dancing with Irish people, but it turned out there was a big group of college kids from UF (Florida Gators) and CU (Colorado) college kids.

Today in Dublin

Last night Nate and I went out to take some pictures after dark, it was pretty dead everywhere. I guess Tuesday night is not the best time to go out.

I also had some time to upload some pictures of Trinity College. It is very unique campus spread out and full of history.


Today I awoke with news that customs had called about Gene's entry. He arrived, but the airlines had lost his main bag. After we had breakfast at Spar which is like a small grocery store like a seven eleven, minus the gas. We visited the Ireland National Museum, Killmainham Goal prison, Ireland National Museum of Modern Art, and finished off the day with the Guinness Storehouse brewery tour.



Gillmainham Goal is a reform prison with a long history. Some interesting facts is that during the potato famine, people were committing crimes to get into prison because there was actually food. The prison was so crowded that up to 15 people were crammed in to a single cell. To combat this trend stricter rules were enforced to make prisons lesser hospitable, such as no talking and smaller rations.

The Guinness brewery tour was the highlight of the day. The tour starts at the bottom of a seven floor building. In the ground of the first level is the original 9,000 year lease for the factory. Arthur Guinness. As you walk up each level you learn more about each step of the process. The tour ends on the 7th floor which is circular in shape with glass windows along the edges and overlooks Dublin. In the middle of the room is a circular bar where they server pints of Guinness.