The Real Day One Of Ireland
Kim rouses me from a three hour nap to tell me when the bus is leaving for the Bunratty castle. Kim has already paid dad the fee for bus travel unlike his other daughter with the useless 100 bill in her wallet. Kim is such a suck up. Though I am very excited to see a castle. The only one I've ever seen is Cinderella's (which is still very exciting to me every time I return to Disney World).
I go to hop in the shower but get confused about how to work it. I call in the better genius of the two of us and he figures it out. You pick temperature then the pressure. I grab onto the bar and hoist myself up over the three foot tub wall and begin my routine. It's a laborious task because it is so narrow that when standing facing the showerhead, my arm is grazing the shower curtain. You can probably guess how well I'm taking this.
After an excruciatingly long shower with extra turns and washing strokes, Steve and I venture the ridiculous hallways to get to the lobby. I feel like we are stuck in Labyrinth and even if I leave lipstick marks a leprechaun will find them and turn them the other way so I'll never make it back to Room 354. Upon entering the lobby, the Keane, Raab, and Sweeney clan are ready to board the bus to the Folk Park. It's rainy, chilly, and windy but we're armed with umbrellas (or "ums" as dad calls them) and lots of film so nothing is standing in our way.
Impressive, right? I think it's cool that they pretty much let you run wild in there too. They say "no flash photography" yet Kim takes a picture with flash and the workers inside look the other way. Then they encourage you to climb the steep winding staircases to the top of the castle. There's no sign warning that you can fall down or bars up at the top from keeping you away from the building edge. Pretty much Ireland seems to be a no hazardous zone and they rely on their people not to make dumb decisions and unlike America, have no supervision anywhere. Could you imagine this castle in the USA? Basically you wouldn't be allowed up the stone steps, there would be an elevator installed to take you to the top where you could look out from ten feet away, and then they would make you watch a movie about all the cool parts of the castle they will not let you see. This is where Ireland differs from us. This is where Ireland is a hell of a lot cooler. We have to treat our fellow Americans like they’re idiots or else if not warned something can be steep or hurt you, they'll sue. So instead our country sucks the fun out of history.
The only part about running rampant in the castle that stinks is the group from some foreign country that is literally up our ass whenever we turn around. There is a point when we're standing in a circle and this woman in a blue jacket appears in the middle. She follows my Uncle Dennis down into the dungeon where there is no room for more than half a person anyway. I go to take a picture, woman in blue jacket. Mom goes to climb down stairs, woman in blue jacket. Apparently social manners are completely lost on these people wherever they're from. They don't understand the meaning of personal space. We make the call to hit up a pub in order to lose them.
Dad's dying for a real Irish pub. It was like the one thing he's been talking about so far this trip. Everyone else is joking about my dress since I recounted the dress fitting several times already. Even Father Bill has cracked jokes about the thing! Once inside the dark wooded pub, we all order an assortment of Irish beers. Steve and I get Smithwicks, sparking an obsession with the dark beer for the rest of the trip. I then order a seafood chowder as does grandma. It comes with brown bread and it's very yummy. After a round of drinks and munchies, we all head outside to congregate as dad goes to fetch the bus.
As we're walking over a little bridge to get to the vehicle, I look down at the muddy river we're crossing. My first thought, 'the Mighty Mississip!' My hand reaches for my pocket; I gotta take a picture of this and send it to Rob. My hand falls onto an empty pocket. Right. No cell phone. This is going to be a rough five days without texting or random picture sharing with my friends. So Rob, this is for you:
Everyone is pretty much spent for the day so we all go to our respective rooms. I finally drift off again only to be woken by the shrill ring of the phone. Pher is back from his visit with Anna's uncle and wants to use Nico. I drag myself out of bed and downstairs to the hotel pub to meet up with him, Anna, and my parents. We order some more munchies and beers but I'm famished because my body is still on New York time, my watch is still on New York time, and right now I would be sitting on a train in Hunterspoint talking to Steve about what we should have for dinner. I go to order something else but the kitchen is closed. It's not even ten. Closed? Anna turns to me and offers to take me down to a "chip store". I'm not sure what a chip store is so I ask, "Like a Sevs?" She then looks at me like, what's a Sevs? I guess even though she's been living in Arizona for about two years our lingo can still be lost on each other. I find out a chip store is a fish and chips place not a 7 Eleven. I wonder what would happen if I asked where the nearest Civs is next.
I go to hop in the shower but get confused about how to work it. I call in the better genius of the two of us and he figures it out. You pick temperature then the pressure. I grab onto the bar and hoist myself up over the three foot tub wall and begin my routine. It's a laborious task because it is so narrow that when standing facing the showerhead, my arm is grazing the shower curtain. You can probably guess how well I'm taking this.
After an excruciatingly long shower with extra turns and washing strokes, Steve and I venture the ridiculous hallways to get to the lobby. I feel like we are stuck in Labyrinth and even if I leave lipstick marks a leprechaun will find them and turn them the other way so I'll never make it back to Room 354. Upon entering the lobby, the Keane, Raab, and Sweeney clan are ready to board the bus to the Folk Park. It's rainy, chilly, and windy but we're armed with umbrellas (or "ums" as dad calls them) and lots of film so nothing is standing in our way.
Impressive, right? I think it's cool that they pretty much let you run wild in there too. They say "no flash photography" yet Kim takes a picture with flash and the workers inside look the other way. Then they encourage you to climb the steep winding staircases to the top of the castle. There's no sign warning that you can fall down or bars up at the top from keeping you away from the building edge. Pretty much Ireland seems to be a no hazardous zone and they rely on their people not to make dumb decisions and unlike America, have no supervision anywhere. Could you imagine this castle in the USA? Basically you wouldn't be allowed up the stone steps, there would be an elevator installed to take you to the top where you could look out from ten feet away, and then they would make you watch a movie about all the cool parts of the castle they will not let you see. This is where Ireland differs from us. This is where Ireland is a hell of a lot cooler. We have to treat our fellow Americans like they’re idiots or else if not warned something can be steep or hurt you, they'll sue. So instead our country sucks the fun out of history.
The only part about running rampant in the castle that stinks is the group from some foreign country that is literally up our ass whenever we turn around. There is a point when we're standing in a circle and this woman in a blue jacket appears in the middle. She follows my Uncle Dennis down into the dungeon where there is no room for more than half a person anyway. I go to take a picture, woman in blue jacket. Mom goes to climb down stairs, woman in blue jacket. Apparently social manners are completely lost on these people wherever they're from. They don't understand the meaning of personal space. We make the call to hit up a pub in order to lose them.
Dad's dying for a real Irish pub. It was like the one thing he's been talking about so far this trip. Everyone else is joking about my dress since I recounted the dress fitting several times already. Even Father Bill has cracked jokes about the thing! Once inside the dark wooded pub, we all order an assortment of Irish beers. Steve and I get Smithwicks, sparking an obsession with the dark beer for the rest of the trip. I then order a seafood chowder as does grandma. It comes with brown bread and it's very yummy. After a round of drinks and munchies, we all head outside to congregate as dad goes to fetch the bus.
As we're walking over a little bridge to get to the vehicle, I look down at the muddy river we're crossing. My first thought, 'the Mighty Mississip!' My hand reaches for my pocket; I gotta take a picture of this and send it to Rob. My hand falls onto an empty pocket. Right. No cell phone. This is going to be a rough five days without texting or random picture sharing with my friends. So Rob, this is for you:
Everyone is pretty much spent for the day so we all go to our respective rooms. I finally drift off again only to be woken by the shrill ring of the phone. Pher is back from his visit with Anna's uncle and wants to use Nico. I drag myself out of bed and downstairs to the hotel pub to meet up with him, Anna, and my parents. We order some more munchies and beers but I'm famished because my body is still on New York time, my watch is still on New York time, and right now I would be sitting on a train in Hunterspoint talking to Steve about what we should have for dinner. I go to order something else but the kitchen is closed. It's not even ten. Closed? Anna turns to me and offers to take me down to a "chip store". I'm not sure what a chip store is so I ask, "Like a Sevs?" She then looks at me like, what's a Sevs? I guess even though she's been living in Arizona for about two years our lingo can still be lost on each other. I find out a chip store is a fish and chips place not a 7 Eleven. I wonder what would happen if I asked where the nearest Civs is next.