A quick compendium
Tuesday
Plane
Material Girls, Tough Guy school
bad chicken
throwup immediately upon dublin
angelina jolie is first thing i see on their tv
epic bus ride, mountains, suffering, sleeping, discussion with lady
marsh grass and everything's pretty
bus driver sneaking through belfast street, hits a public worker's truck, tears off chunk
rainbow as the city is half-covered in rain and half in sun, rain on the mountains, full bow rainbow, belfaster states it happens all the time
tour of belfast
discussion with the family we're staying with's american-fanboy 10 year old and a tour from the mother
he eagerly discusses american cartoons
belfast, cup of tea, sleeeeeeeeeep due to death
awaken, meet full family, including other cousins and friends, fish and chips can barely touch, liquor store for goddamn huge supply of booze, including jameson, tour of neighborhood, including Sinn Fein HQ, end up going out to the pub, win the second game of pool, in spite of their BS rules and cheating...lost a raffle/guess 10 songs game, harassed by four drunk ass kids @where you from? America.
finally sleep
next day, storm blew in, no going to the beach
carrickfergus, carrickfergus castle
dinner, wind squalls intense, sunny and incredible, patches of sun illuminating boats on the loch. hardcore.
back home, hanging out, drinking with dinner, steven takes us out. irish army, 27, barfighter.
badnewsbears.
devenish again, botanical, college student, drunk til 6, destruction and vomiting, and had to take the bastard home to his own house. had learned some sketchy information from Steven.
gooooood stuffff, even though fucked up
next day, slept til 1:30
awaken to full breakfast, and pissed irish parents at their big drunk son. we watch IRA videos on their youtube. steven takes us on a tour of west and central belfast, including the protestant area and shankhill road (shit, ULster crap, Red Hand Commando murals) Later that night, learn even more about IRA, their families' history in the irish revolution, military stuff, The Troubles magazine, irish rebel music, all the while over wine and carling, these guys are educating me something fierce on the Troubles. Arrests. People they knew. Relatives. Local events, local arrests, local bomb making places that had been found int he past, including one behind the house where they live now, but had been busted years before.
Belfast is much nicer now due to the general end of the Troubles.
We go to the Pub, for 'one'. One turns into three. The devenish has 200 people in it, dancing and singing to 60's-80's pop songs, it's awesome. I wish everybody was there to dance with me. fucking awesome. I'm now addicated to magnor's cider...comes in a big bottle, goes down fast. the wife beating drink. Makes you want to fight, fuck or dance. I wanted to do all three.. However, had to get up at 6 to catch the ferry to glasgow.
Get up, groggy. Ferry is a casino and shopping mall that floats. fast.sit on the back deck. watch ireland disappear, and scotland appear. \the drive is the most bveautiful thing i've ever seen in my life. A misty mountain island out in the sea by itself. Mountains that are dark red, brown and green, gnarled trees covered in hemlock and vines, sheep and humble, solid, stately, warm homes in white plaster in the small valleys, bubbling brooks and waterfalls abound.
Humble, beautiful, rich, wet.
After Ayr, gets boring. Glasgow. Aisling we meet. Hanging out, go to MclEan's where we're staying. Halfhostelhalfhotel. I pass out from exhaustion. Wake up, hang out, put up thick curtains for her after dinner, break curtain rod. break bed. Then we go out. break bank. Seven bars, a ton of booze. break glass. head for chips and gravy, go home. manchester united versus aston villa. bedtime. today, met americans for scottish breakfast...an at least second gen arab from new england and his asian wife and their daughter. they ask what their bread is 'you're from here, aren't you?" i correct them, but still inform them. we discuss our origins...they're from germany, born in colorado and new england. talk football. talk tourism. good times.
tour of glasgow. tour of botanical gardens. tour of University of Glasgow (Harry Potter scenes there) coffee shop, ,thrift store, wandering, restaurant, badk here, getting ready to go home.
glasgow is beautiful, old and vibrant. it's growing.
Plane
Material Girls, Tough Guy school
bad chicken
throwup immediately upon dublin
angelina jolie is first thing i see on their tv
epic bus ride, mountains, suffering, sleeping, discussion with lady
marsh grass and everything's pretty
bus driver sneaking through belfast street, hits a public worker's truck, tears off chunk
rainbow as the city is half-covered in rain and half in sun, rain on the mountains, full bow rainbow, belfaster states it happens all the time
tour of belfast
discussion with the family we're staying with's american-fanboy 10 year old and a tour from the mother
he eagerly discusses american cartoons
belfast, cup of tea, sleeeeeeeeeep due to death
awaken, meet full family, including other cousins and friends, fish and chips can barely touch, liquor store for goddamn huge supply of booze, including jameson, tour of neighborhood, including Sinn Fein HQ, end up going out to the pub, win the second game of pool, in spite of their BS rules and cheating...lost a raffle/guess 10 songs game, harassed by four drunk ass kids @where you from? America.
finally sleep
next day, storm blew in, no going to the beach
carrickfergus, carrickfergus castle
dinner, wind squalls intense, sunny and incredible, patches of sun illuminating boats on the loch. hardcore.
back home, hanging out, drinking with dinner, steven takes us out. irish army, 27, barfighter.
badnewsbears.
devenish again, botanical, college student, drunk til 6, destruction and vomiting, and had to take the bastard home to his own house. had learned some sketchy information from Steven.
gooooood stuffff, even though fucked up
next day, slept til 1:30
awaken to full breakfast, and pissed irish parents at their big drunk son. we watch IRA videos on their youtube. steven takes us on a tour of west and central belfast, including the protestant area and shankhill road (shit, ULster crap, Red Hand Commando murals) Later that night, learn even more about IRA, their families' history in the irish revolution, military stuff, The Troubles magazine, irish rebel music, all the while over wine and carling, these guys are educating me something fierce on the Troubles. Arrests. People they knew. Relatives. Local events, local arrests, local bomb making places that had been found int he past, including one behind the house where they live now, but had been busted years before.
Belfast is much nicer now due to the general end of the Troubles.
We go to the Pub, for 'one'. One turns into three. The devenish has 200 people in it, dancing and singing to 60's-80's pop songs, it's awesome. I wish everybody was there to dance with me. fucking awesome. I'm now addicated to magnor's cider...comes in a big bottle, goes down fast. the wife beating drink. Makes you want to fight, fuck or dance. I wanted to do all three.. However, had to get up at 6 to catch the ferry to glasgow.
Get up, groggy. Ferry is a casino and shopping mall that floats. fast.sit on the back deck. watch ireland disappear, and scotland appear. \the drive is the most bveautiful thing i've ever seen in my life. A misty mountain island out in the sea by itself. Mountains that are dark red, brown and green, gnarled trees covered in hemlock and vines, sheep and humble, solid, stately, warm homes in white plaster in the small valleys, bubbling brooks and waterfalls abound.
Humble, beautiful, rich, wet.
After Ayr, gets boring. Glasgow. Aisling we meet. Hanging out, go to MclEan's where we're staying. Halfhostelhalfhotel. I pass out from exhaustion. Wake up, hang out, put up thick curtains for her after dinner, break curtain rod. break bed. Then we go out. break bank. Seven bars, a ton of booze. break glass. head for chips and gravy, go home. manchester united versus aston villa. bedtime. today, met americans for scottish breakfast...an at least second gen arab from new england and his asian wife and their daughter. they ask what their bread is 'you're from here, aren't you?" i correct them, but still inform them. we discuss our origins...they're from germany, born in colorado and new england. talk football. talk tourism. good times.
tour of glasgow. tour of botanical gardens. tour of University of Glasgow (Harry Potter scenes there) coffee shop, ,thrift store, wandering, restaurant, badk here, getting ready to go home.
glasgow is beautiful, old and vibrant. it's growing.