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