Saturday

Sadly, Saturday was the last day of the Ireland leg of the trip. However, it would be a fun one with stops at 2 Irish institutions.

After a tame evening for Billy and I (but not for most of our fellow travelers), we had an early start at 8:45am. We were more than happy to leave the maze-like hostel in Cork. We had a new bus driver (Barry) as our previous driver, Mike, had to leave for a wedding.

Our first destination was Blarney Castle, home of the Blarney Stone. Unknown to Billy and I, the castle is on a large property with gardens, forests, rivers and even caves (you best believe we spelunked a bit!). Of course, though, the main attraction is kissing the stone. After a series of spiraling stairs that became quite tiny the closer we got (I don't know how a fat person could make it up there), we arrived to the top of the castle. After standing in the queue for a bit, we got our chance. It was disappointing, though, as the stone was just a grey stone attached to the wall - nothing spectacular. Ah well, guess its just another tourist attraction.

We then rocketed up to Dublin to finish the trip at quite possibly the most sacred site in all of Ireland... the Guinness Storehouse! Yes, it was time to celebrate the magic and wonder of 'the black stuff!'

We entered the storehouse and were presented with many options: Buy swag at the store, check out the worldwide marketing campaigns for Guinness, see how Guinness is made, have a pint overlooking Dublin or learn how to pour your own pint. While our fellow travelers learned the joys of marketing, Billy and I made a beeline to pour our own Guinness. A fresher pint you will not find! I refuse to drink it in the States since Guinness will never be this good (until I return to Ireland/UK). Yes, I'm a beer snob.

You start out pulling the tap forward and the glass at a 45 degree angle. As you fill the glass, you straighten out the glass. It should be upright as the beer line reaches the bottom of the harp symbol on the glass. Once it reached the middle of the harp, put the glass down. Leave it alone for a few minutes so the famed foam head can develop. Then, you fill the remainder of the glass (pulling backward on the tap) just so that a millimeter of the foam head rises above glass rim. You can then say a toast to Arthur Guinness and enjoy a pint! As you can imagine, it was utterly delicious. We each got certificates saying we poured a perfect pint, so yeah, we're official now.

After bumming around the storehouse a bit, Billy and I wound up at the Gravity Bar, the aforementioned bar that overlooks Dublin. Another traveler didn't care for her Guinness and dared me to chug it. Not wanting to disappoint, I slugged it down (Billy has a humorous montage of photos of this, similar to a flip-book). I felt pretty good after 2 quick glasses of Guinness.

The bus then brought us back to Paddy's Palace so we could all go our separate ways. It was tough saying bye to our new Aussie, Kiwi, American, Dutch and English friends, but alas. Thankfully, we found out that two UK travelers, Michelle and Jeanette, were also taking the ferry and bus back to London. At least this time, we'd have friends to commiserate with! The four of us, plus Rachel from Australia, got dinner before we had to catch the bus.

The 4 of us soon caught the bus at the nearby station and were shuttled onto a ferry. Unlike last time, we were all awake so we had to occupy ourselves for a few hours. I bought a deck of cards and we played a bunch of different card games. The sea was incredibly choppy, which made for rough going. At around 11pm, we got back on the bus in Wales (which, as was pointed out to me, is NOT in England, but its own separate country. My mistake!) and began the soul-crushingly boring overnight ride back to London.

Friday

Well, Friday was an interesting day. I woke up sick with a cold that I am sure was given to me by the Aussies on the trip because they were all coughing the past few days. We headed on the road and focused most of the day on travel. Along our travels, we went out on the Dingle Peninsula where I bought cold medicine, Mike and I purchased hurlies and slitters (hurling equipment), and visited the statue of a dolphin named Fungie who lives in the bay.

We departed for the bay, heading for Inch Beach, which is known for its surfing. We arrived at the beach and a few of us guys were dead set on swimming on this side of the Atlantic, mind you the air tempature was about 65 degrees and the water temparture was about 55 degrees. We changed in the local toilets, walked onto the beach and ran full on into the ocean, I tripped and fell a bit but continued on. The ocean water helped clear me up a bit and we swam for about ten minutes until our limbs became numb. We made our way out onto the beach where we toweled off got changed and had lunch (a bowl of Irish mushroom soup, which puts Cryan's to shame) and a cup of hot tea. 

We made it back onto the bus and headed to Kilarney. Once there, several people took a horse and buggy ride around the town, others went horse back riding and Mike and I headed into town. I found out then I had twisted my ankle running into the waves. Our search for an ankle brace started and I was able to procure one and mend myself right up. We walked around visiting shops and came across a car with a couple who had just been wed. We found a cupcake shop and had banging chocolate peanut butter cupcakes. 

We left and continued on to our last stop of the day, Cork. Cork is the second largest city in Ireland and was an interesting walk about. The hostel was like a maze and we slept 16 to a room which was not fun at all especially since most of the room went out drinking for a last big party night. Mike and I had decided fatigue was setting in and we needed to relax a bit. We headed out and walked around, had fish and chips and seafood chowder. We saw a stereotypical Irish man drunk and peeing on a wall. We even passed a traditional Irish wake. We made it back to the hostel by 10pm and began settling in. The rest of the tour group got in around 4am It was a fun day but we were definitely feeling the last few days.

Thursday!

A quick jump back to Wednesday night, as my evening diverged a bit from Billy's. After hanging out for awhile at a few pubs, I wound up at a rock club with a number of fellow Paddywagon travelers. A local band banged out all sorts of good songs (Bob Marley, Red Hot Chili Peppers and AC/DC, among others) that we all danced to until last call. This made it 3 consecutive nights in Ireland I closed out a bar, which I haven't done since my college days...

The big locale for Thursday was one of Ireland's most amazing sites, the Cliffs of Moher. This is comprised of two gigantic cliffs at the edge of the land, overlooking the sea. Much like the Grand Canyon in the US, the cliffs have hundreds of layers of different rock in them. With blue waves lapping at the bases of the cliffs, truly, its a fantastic site to see.

The path up the left cliff ends at a "Do Not Cross" sign. However, 9 out of 10 tourists we saw ignored this and continued up the path. Needless to say, you know what Billy and I did. We ended up paying for our sin, though, as the higher up you go, the more flies attack you. It was utterly disgusting being covered in flies. From what views we could see, it was very beautiful but we were better off in the park-sanctioned zone.

The right cliff leads up to an observation castle turret. Naturally, we went to the top of the turret and took in the views, which were amazing. Once you're done with the cliffs, you can visit the museum, which is built into a nearby hill (exactly like the Shire in the Lord of the Rings). One of the highlights was a virtual reality movie of a bird swooping in and out of the cliffs. Right as we departed on the bus, the heavens opened up, so we timed the visit just right.

We then struck out for lunch at a seaside town (whose name escapes me). After eating - I had seafood chowder, Billy rolled the dice on 'New York style' pizza - I went to the local beach. Really, it was a few feet of sand with large rocks. While hanging around with some fellow travelers, a powerful wave ended up knocking me backwards onto the rocks. Ouch. Some other folks got drenched in sea water.

After a few hours of driving and stopping off at another Irish town (other than the cities, the villages kinda blend together), our final destination for the evening was the remote town of Annascul. They have a dedicated Paddywagon hostel there. Yet again, Billy and I wound up in a 4 man hostel with the 2 other Americans and with our own private bathroom. Score. We had dinner at the adjacent pub (the only one in town!) and then began the karaoke. Michelle (who you'll meet later in the blog) and I took a stab at the B-52's classic "Love Shack" and later, Billy and I gave a faithful rendition of the Proclaimers' "500 Miles." Lots of good, clean fun. Since the pub closed at midnight, we all turned in for some much needed sleep. And if you're keeping score, that made it 4 bars closed in Ireland in 4 nights.

Wednesday

We left Derry after a great night at the pub listening to Trad music and dancing. We were onto our next destination, Galway, the place immortalized by the song "Galway Girl'" (which apperared in the major motion picture, "P.S. I Love You"). This day was basically a day of travel,  stopping briefly in a few small Irish villages to eat and stretch our legs. Being that we had much time on the bus, the males on the trip thought it would be a great idea to "hunt" for the Galway girl. Being I was the only guy who was not single, I was the group's wing man. The challenge was to find a girl with black hair and blue eyes, but more on this later. 

We arrived in Galway, which is known for its shopping and party atmosphere. We walked around through the shops, along the river and to the Cathedral, which had a mosaic of President JFK on the wall. Galway loves the Kennedys; there was a bust of JFK in the town as well. After about an hour or two of exploring, we headed back to the hostel (one of nicest ones we had stayed in), showered and went out to the local pub for food, drinks, Trad music and to see traditional Irish step music. Upon leaving the hostel, "The Hunt" was on. Although there was a grand effort on the single men's part, they were unable to find the Galway Girl. I, on the other hand, did find the Galway Girl waiting for a bus when I walked back to the hostel by myself to call it an early night.

While at the first pub, we sat in a boat and ate veggie soup and local mussels, which were delicious. After watching several performances of the dancers, we moved on to another pub "The Spanish Arch," where we continued to listen to a band play Trad music. I spent an hour there and then left and returned to the hostel.

The walk back was amazing.  It was a crisp, clear night where music was seeping onto the cobblestone streets from the pubs. The street musicians were performing with vigor and I stopped and listened to a male and female duo for three songs and then tipped them 5euro. I was feeling so great I stopped at SuperMac, Ireland's version of McDonald's, and had an ice cream cone before returning to the hostel and hitting the hay for a nice sleep.

Tuesday

We promise more posts are coming. Its been tough to get online both because of dodgy connections and having not that much down time. Moving on...

After a night of partying with rock stars, it would be a tough act to follow. Thankfully, the natural beauty of the Emerald Isle was out in full force on Tuesday for us.

We set out from Belfast with an action packed day in Northern Ireland. Our first destination was Carrick-a-rede, which is famous for having a rope bridge. I was expecting a rickety thing with just a few ropes and planks, but regrettably that was not the case. Still, the water that was 40 feet below us was infested with sharks! Once you cross, you go to a cliff where there are incredible views of the surrounding beach, the North Sea and even Scotland. Its easy to see why JRR Tolkien was inspired by Ireland when creating Middle Earth in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

As we continued to drive along the country's eastern coast, we stopped for lunch at a seaside restaurant. While the place itself was unremarkable, their steak & Guinness pie was fantastic. Think beef stew but replace the gravy with a pint of 'the black stuff.' Can't wait to try that recipe out when I'm back in the States!

Up next was Ireland's famous Giants Causeway. The Causeway is an amazing rock formation comprised of thousands of hexagonal rocks (if you remember the video game Qbert, its really quite similar). The formation tapers right into the sea (there is a historic story of how Fionn McCool, a giant, built the Causeway to link up with Scotland and fight his giant nemesis Angus. I was hoping for an uplifting tale about Phil Simms and Lawrence Taylor, but alas...). The young boy in both Billy and I came out, as we ran and jumped all over the rocks. Playing the part of the ignorant Americans, we blew by the warning signs and went right to the edge of where the sea meets the Causeway.

Our final destination was the city of Derry, which is also known as Londonderry. Derry's nickname is the Walled City because of the nearly 2 mile wall that encloses the town. The wall was heavily utilized for many years by the British (and their Nothern Ireland supporters) and Irish to keep each other at bay. We took a tour (courtesy of a tour guide who eerily looked like Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age), which was fascinating. Even though the troubles are over, you could still feel the tension between the Protestants and Catholics. Much like Belfast, there were a number of political murals around the town.

Over the course of the trip, we've gotten along very well with the 40+ folks in our group. Coincidentally, the 4 Americans (all guys too) wound up in the same dorm for the night. We also had our own bathroom, to the supreme envy of everyone else, who had to share 3 other bathrooms. For dinner, virtually everyone went to the cheap restaurant in town (steak and beer for 5 euro? Sold!). From there, we headed over to a local pub that featured live traditional Irish music. Over the course of several hours and many, many pints of Guinness, we all were singing and dancing to the music. In fact, we ended up shutting down the pub that night. All in all, another satisfying day on our trip

Late update on Mondays Adventure

I apologize for the lateness of this entry. We have been in North Ireland and have had limited internet availability.
On Monday we departed from Dublin heading North for Northen Ireland, specifically Belfast. Along the way to Belfast we made a few stops first off which was to visit the Papal Cross which marked the location that Pope John Paul II said mass during his first visit to Ireland to over 2 million Irish people. This was very special to be able to see this location and try to imagine the vast fields, which were full of deer during our visit, filled with that many people coming to see mass.

From there we continued on to a Cathedral to see a very special relic. The relic was of St. Oliver Plunket and specifically it was of his perserved head. Oliver Plunket was a Bishop that was ordered, by the monarch, to stop performing his duties. He refused and was eventually tried and put to death. His head is mo perserved and on display in the town where his congregation was.

Follow that we took a small trip to an old Monistery where monks used to carve huge celtic cross with images explaining to the stories of the bible. It was a cool place with many grave stones and huge tower used as protection for the monks. The fact that crows were cawing the entire time added to mood of the monistery.

We continued on to Belfast which was a special intense experience. If you ever visit Belfast the one thing I suggest to do is take a Black Taxi Tour. This is a tour run by Taxi drivers from both sides of Belfast that work together to discuss both sides of the Belfast conflict. We started by visiting the Protesnt side where we were shown some girzzly murals dipicting and celebrating the killing of Catholics. This murals are in a residenial area were many members of the UDA still live and meet. Some of the Murals have been painted over with more up lifting pictures and tones in an attempt to move forward by the government. The nursey school next to these scenes is aptly named Hope nursery school...

We moved onto the "Peace Wall" much like the Berlin Wall it divids the Protesten and Catholic section, we signed the wall with a message of peace and realized tensions are still high in this area as rocks and bricks are thrown from behind hedgerows in our direction.

We contiuned to the Catholic side of the wall and saw how those that live near the wall have cages around their decks to block out debris that is thrown over the wall. We viewed the Catholic IRA murals which were much more political in tone.

We left with new knowledge on such an old conflict.

We checked into our hostel, 12, person dorm a place to lie our heads ar night. We learned about the Belfast Giants their hockey team. I learned rocket is Ireland term for arrugala.

We went to dinner at Ryans pub and had Carlsberg to.drink hot wings made with malt viniger for starters and chicken boxty, irish potato pancakes for main. It was great food and good company.

We continued on to another pub Robins Pub to listen to Irish music. We entered the haberdashery to hear the band playing "Galway Girl," we approached the bar and this is where things get interesting. I noticed someone I knew from the states it was Nathan Maxwell the bass player for Flogging Molly. We politely approached him and asked if he was indeed Nathan, he was!

This encounter was huge for Mike and I. When we orignally booked our trip we had planned to see Flogging Molly play in Dublin but was not able to get the trip to sync up to the tour schedule. I had joked with Mike that we might bump into them in a pub.

We began chatting with Nathan and we shared our first Pint of Guinness in Ireland with him. He told us the story of his first pint in Ireland. From here on the Conversation and Guinness flowed freely. We introduced him to our group and he spent the entire night talking about politics, religion, family, music etc. As the evening continued our group got smaller and smaller we were left with Myself, Mike, Nathan, and out group member friend Mike. The pub was closing and we were politely asked to leave. Nathan expresses he wanted to hang some more. He invited is back to his room.

We got to the hotel and were not allowed in his room. We went to the lobby lounge and were introduced to Dennis, Flogging Molly's guitar player, their lighting designer, and road manager. We continuednour convo and disscussed with Dennis a possible move to NJ. We finally left with hugs and handshakes and got back to the Hostel at 3am completely amazed by the days events.

We now toast to Nathan, said in an Irish accent, "To Nat'an Maxwell, may he find God before God finds him!"

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Update from the road

Strap in, going to be a long post!

Bill and I are fans of zombie movies. Over the course of the beginning of our trip, though, we ended up feeling like the walking undead.

After being dropped off at Newark airport by my folks, we waited at the terminal. We found out that the flight was delayed a hour (10:30pm instead of 9:30pm) because of the monstrous thunderstorm in the tri-state area. As 10:30 drew near, the flight was pushed back to 11:30. Great. Thankfully, a surprisingly good Falcons/Jaguars game helped bide our time.

A little after 11:30, we finally boarded the plane (row 5!). However, all was not well. Despite the cute Icelandic stewardesses, there was no A/C on the plane. Also missing were our pilots. Turns out, they were coming from a flight from Boston and were also delayed. Nearly an hour later, the pilots arrived and the A/C was turned on. We finally took off close to 1am. Note that both Bill and I had been up early that day (around 6-7am).

The flight over was fine, despite the strange Icelandic woman sitting next to me. However, neither Bill or I were able to sleep. Maybe a minute or two here and there, but nothing substantial. We arrived at Keflavik, the Icelandic airport where we had to transfer. Keflavik is outside of the capital of Reykjavik, and is out in the barren prairie. Very odd airport, too, although we were elated to get 2 more stamps on our passports. The flight from Keflavik to London was uneventful and we both got about 2 hours of sleep. We arrived in London at 4pm local time. As you can imagine, we were both pretty beat.

After navigating through Gatwick airport, we took a train to Victoria Station in London (while passing the factory that graces of the cover of the Pink Floyd album Animals). We trekked to the nearby bus station to get our bus to Dublin. After splitting a BLT sandwich, we boarded the bus at 6pm local time.

I'd love to say the English countryside is quaint and scenic, but that would be a lie. The views reminded us of driving in Pennsylvania on 78. Thankfully, books and movies kept us occupied. Soon, fatigue set in and we started sleeping. Around 9pm, we ate dinner at a rest stop. It was a delicious meal of…. KFC. Yes, the Colonel. For whatever reason, KFC is huge here in the UK. With crispy chicken in our bellies, the bus ride continued on.

Over the next few hours, we continued to sleep where we could amid constant bus riding and 2 more pit stops. England has more circles than Flemington, and we swear our bus driver went on every single one of them (and had no idea where he was going). At the fantastic time of 2am local time, the bus pulled into Holyhead, a port on the western edge of England in Wales. We disembarked the bus, gathered our belongings and were 'inspected' (ie asked 1-2 questions) by Welsh police. In a testament to government inefficiency, we then put our things back on the bus and got back on. The bus drove onto a HUGE boat and we then disembarked again (I'm on a boat!). We were escorted to a higher deck and told to come back at 6am. It was now 3am.

Billy and I each found two chairs that we put together for makeshift beds. I loaned Billy my inflatable pillow for sleep. We got about 2 hours of good sleep, although Billy transferred to the floor at some point. At the bright hour of 6am, we were driven off the bus to the Dublin bus station. Thankfully, our hostel (owned by the tour company we were using) was next door. We went to check in but were told check in at 12pm. Keep in mind, we had been up for nearly 36 hours and each had about 4 hours of sleep, not to mention we hadn't showered nor eaten a substantial meal in that time, either.

Begrudgingly, we got breakfast at a local chain store. Evidently, Dubliners aren't early risers as the streets were damn near barren. We later stashed our bags at the hostel and started seeing some sights, thanks to our 12th or 13th wind. We walked about 30 minutes to St. Patrick's Cathedral, explored a bit and then begged the hostel to let us check in early. No luck. We then walked to the Irish Writers Museum, walked around inside and then checked into the hostel.

After walking up 2 flights of stairs (with 15 pound carry-ons and 40+ pound suitcases), we got to our room. However, there were no towels and no electrical outlets. We asked for towels and were told to use the outlets in the hallway. Those outlets didn't really work, though. Great. I took a quick shower (which consisted of 30 second sprays, then the water shut off, so you had to keep washing during those sprays). We got agitated by this, in addition to there being no manager at the front desk, and ended up getting a private room at another nearby hostel. We were much better off!

After Bill showered, we trekked out to that most Irish of attractions, the Jameson Distillery! We took a tour of the distillery, learning how Irish whiskey is made. At the conclusion of the tour, we each got a complimentary glass of Jameson. We ended up eating a hearty meal at their restaurant, too (Billy had bangers and mash!). We walked back to the hostel and then promptly passed out.

We woke up a bit, and are now watching the BBC (coverage of the Libyan rebels entrance into Tripoli) and a Gaelic football match (Kerry vs. Mayo). Sounds lame to call it an early night in Dublin, but given everything I just detailed for you, I hope you can understand! We're up at 6am tomorrow with the bus leaving at 8am for Belfast.

Tune in for more updates from the road. Who knows, there might even be pictures next time!

Night of Departure

So in less then 30 minutes Mike and I will be leaving for Newark Airport. It is still a bit surreal that this is actually happening. We are excited to venture forth. Hopefully we will be able to update you all when our flight lands. Wish us safe travels! See you all in 12days!

Day before the trip

Well I am packed and ready to go! Mike and I depart tomorrow night...it is surreal we have been planing this trip for so long that I cannot believe we are actually going. Tomorrow we start our journey leaving from Newark, flying to Iceland, then flying to the UK, taking a bus to the ferry, taking the ferry to Dublin arriving on August 21st. It will be a trip of fun, discovery, adventure, and relaxation. Wish us safe voyage and enjoy the tales we shall share!

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August 19th 2011-August 31st 2011