(no subject)
My friend Spoon and I went to Ireland from the 19th-23rd of this month. We went to visit our friend Mike. Mike as some of you know is a very good friend of mine that retired from the Army in June and returned to the land of his birth and youth, Ireland. He bought a house up in a town called Baly Buffay (Spelling?) where his father was from. It is so close to the border with Northern Ireland that Cell phone coverage changes depending on where you are in the house.
We arrived late on a Thursday night into Dublin and went looking for a hotel. We ended up finding an Awesome place completely by accident called the Hotel Arlington. We ended up staying at the hotel for drinks because they had live music and the place was rocking. If you have ever heard the Guinness in Ireland is different/Better than the Guinness you will get anywhere, let me tell you, it's true.
The next day Mike drove us around Dublin showing us where he grew up. The houses, schools, where he caught a beating from The Guard (Irish police.) Dublin is one crazy place to drive it has more one-way streets than even Stuttgart does but he navigated it with ease. He also took us out to the Shore and showed us Irelands "eye" a tiny island of the coast. It was absolutely beautiful and the smell of the salt laden air made me miss home. We also walked to the Guinness factory for the requisite "tourist photo's/souvenir shopping” That night we walked out of our hotel which abuts the river Liffey, crossed the river and were in the famous "Temple Bar district” The temple Bar is a pedestrian area full of pubs and clubs; as well as, The hard rock Cafe Dublin and other kitsch touristy stuff. We started out at the “Temple Bar” a pub that has been in operation since the 1840’s and for which the area is named. I had to get used to not smoking in the pubs, but I had my first taste of that while home this summer. We pub hopped and ended up at a nice two level place where we found some seats. I was wearing a Newport shirt and the bartender looked at me and asked about it. It turned out she had returned six months ago form a year living there (queue “It’s a Small World After All” theme music.) We conversed about it for a while and I went outside to smoke. I was told that in the Temple Bar area, you are more likely to hear people from anywhere else in the world other than Ireland and I am a believer now. I heard, Spanish, protugese, french, and various other languages I didn't recognize. I met a guy from Canada (he was wearing a Bosox shirt so I started a conversation) and ended up talking to a girl named Jordan from Minnesota that was stopping in Ireland before going home after a semester in Italy. I got into a game of my barstool your barstool with an australina woman. As we left the pub and returned to the hotel, to my great surprise and pleasure, I walked past a drum circle. It was about 15 people beating on various types of drums and a ton of people just dancing in the streets to the combined rhythm. Very very cool. We left Dublin Saturday morning for the three hour trip to mikes house.
The three-hour drive from Dublin to mikes home was quiet and slow but very beautiful. His town is very small and is divided from the next town by only a river. They unsurprisingly are called the twin towns. Mike actually lives about 5 miles outside of Bally bufay. He lives on a road with no name off of a road with no name and there is no house numbers or even a zip code. To get a cab to come to your house you have to give a narrative or try for a land mark such as “The yellow bungalow just up from St. Brigit’s well” or pick a family that has been there a while and say the new bungalow just across from the so and so’s. It seems the only small roads that have names are the roads that go somewhere and are named for their destination i.e. “the Dublin Road”
His house lays in a very quiet area, the only sounds you tend to hear are the occasional passing tractor or car and bleating of the sheep the next hedgerow over.
The first night at the House was mikes 28th birthday (he has been 28 for the 6 years I’ve known him) we went to town and we went to several of the pubs and a hotel in the town to celebrate. We met someone he may or may not be related to (the guy said he was related to the McCruddens of Letter Kenney. A town a few miles away.) I’ve been hanging out with Brits, Scots, and Irish folk for about the last two years, but the accent in that area is so thick that I had to keep asking people to slow down and repeat themselves to understand them. Catching a cab after the pubs empty is almost a joke. Everyone spills onto the street and tries for the few cabs in town. Unlike Dublin where the taxis have signs up in that area you have to look for a little yellow square somewhere near the license plate.
The next couple of days were spent just hanging out with the family at the house. All in all it was a great trip. The airfare between Frankfurt and Dublin can be as low as 80 Euros if you book in time so I will probably go back at some point for some more exploring. I’ve posted some pictures. The link is below for all of them.
http://groups.msn.com/Woodhouseplace/ireland.msnw
and here are some of my favorites
We arrived late on a Thursday night into Dublin and went looking for a hotel. We ended up finding an Awesome place completely by accident called the Hotel Arlington. We ended up staying at the hotel for drinks because they had live music and the place was rocking. If you have ever heard the Guinness in Ireland is different/Better than the Guinness you will get anywhere, let me tell you, it's true.
The next day Mike drove us around Dublin showing us where he grew up. The houses, schools, where he caught a beating from The Guard (Irish police.) Dublin is one crazy place to drive it has more one-way streets than even Stuttgart does but he navigated it with ease. He also took us out to the Shore and showed us Irelands "eye" a tiny island of the coast. It was absolutely beautiful and the smell of the salt laden air made me miss home. We also walked to the Guinness factory for the requisite "tourist photo's/souvenir shopping” That night we walked out of our hotel which abuts the river Liffey, crossed the river and were in the famous "Temple Bar district” The temple Bar is a pedestrian area full of pubs and clubs; as well as, The hard rock Cafe Dublin and other kitsch touristy stuff. We started out at the “Temple Bar” a pub that has been in operation since the 1840’s and for which the area is named. I had to get used to not smoking in the pubs, but I had my first taste of that while home this summer. We pub hopped and ended up at a nice two level place where we found some seats. I was wearing a Newport shirt and the bartender looked at me and asked about it. It turned out she had returned six months ago form a year living there (queue “It’s a Small World After All” theme music.) We conversed about it for a while and I went outside to smoke. I was told that in the Temple Bar area, you are more likely to hear people from anywhere else in the world other than Ireland and I am a believer now. I heard, Spanish, protugese, french, and various other languages I didn't recognize. I met a guy from Canada (he was wearing a Bosox shirt so I started a conversation) and ended up talking to a girl named Jordan from Minnesota that was stopping in Ireland before going home after a semester in Italy. I got into a game of my barstool your barstool with an australina woman. As we left the pub and returned to the hotel, to my great surprise and pleasure, I walked past a drum circle. It was about 15 people beating on various types of drums and a ton of people just dancing in the streets to the combined rhythm. Very very cool. We left Dublin Saturday morning for the three hour trip to mikes house.
The three-hour drive from Dublin to mikes home was quiet and slow but very beautiful. His town is very small and is divided from the next town by only a river. They unsurprisingly are called the twin towns. Mike actually lives about 5 miles outside of Bally bufay. He lives on a road with no name off of a road with no name and there is no house numbers or even a zip code. To get a cab to come to your house you have to give a narrative or try for a land mark such as “The yellow bungalow just up from St. Brigit’s well” or pick a family that has been there a while and say the new bungalow just across from the so and so’s. It seems the only small roads that have names are the roads that go somewhere and are named for their destination i.e. “the Dublin Road”
His house lays in a very quiet area, the only sounds you tend to hear are the occasional passing tractor or car and bleating of the sheep the next hedgerow over.
The first night at the House was mikes 28th birthday (he has been 28 for the 6 years I’ve known him) we went to town and we went to several of the pubs and a hotel in the town to celebrate. We met someone he may or may not be related to (the guy said he was related to the McCruddens of Letter Kenney. A town a few miles away.) I’ve been hanging out with Brits, Scots, and Irish folk for about the last two years, but the accent in that area is so thick that I had to keep asking people to slow down and repeat themselves to understand them. Catching a cab after the pubs empty is almost a joke. Everyone spills onto the street and tries for the few cabs in town. Unlike Dublin where the taxis have signs up in that area you have to look for a little yellow square somewhere near the license plate.
The next couple of days were spent just hanging out with the family at the house. All in all it was a great trip. The airfare between Frankfurt and Dublin can be as low as 80 Euros if you book in time so I will probably go back at some point for some more exploring. I’ve posted some pictures. The link is below for all of them.
http://groups.msn.com/Woodhouseplace/ireland.msnw
and here are some of my favorites