ireland.

So I went to Ireland a long time ago, and mentioned how amazing it was and how I couldn’t wait to write about it. Remember that? Nah, I don’t either.

Okay, I do. Sorry it took so long to update, but I’ve been really busy with school. These next few weeks are going to destroy me. But hey, I’d rather be doing this than cleaning a meat room (which I return to when I get home. Please, someone shoot me.)

But my travels in Ireland began in Dublin, a city I had high expectations for. As you know already, those expectations were not met – at all. I was fortunate enough to meet some students from Notre Dame at the airport, and we spent Friday night visiting some of the thousand pubs that exist in the city. But my night was brief, as I needed to meet Chris at the airport extremely early.

The only portion of Dublin worth mentioning was when we visited St. Michan’s Church, and took a tour of their crypt. Our tour guide was somewhat crazy, but a priceless raconteur. He showed us some exposed mummies, and even allowed us to touch one that was the skeleton of a Crusading Knight. I thought touching a skeleton would be very creepy, but it was less scary than I imagined. I was amazed how well preserved the bone was, but limestone apparently is good for keeping places dry.

So skip to the next day, when Chris and I had to go out to Dingle. Now, we hadn’t booked a hostel yet and my phone was not working so I was quite worried on the travel over there. But luckily we were able to find a payphone, and procure a place at the Ballintaggart Hostel (which as I mentioned earlier, was the best place we stayed at). We spent that night touring the tiny town, before stumbling upon a pub where traditional Irish music was playing. Unfortunately, this was the only time we heard trad music during our tenure there, as most pubs had places playing American music (this one place in Galway had a BLUES band. They were really good, but I was in Ireland, not Memphis).

Chris and I rented bicycles the next day and biked all around the western portion of the peninsula. It was so pleasant out that we were riding in short sleeves, which for the middle of October is not necessarily commonplace. The landscape was simply beautiful. I wish I could use some more hyperbole, but I think being minimalist in this situation is just as effective. Just visit there – you’ll understand.

Our stint in Dingle ended on Tuesday, when we trekked up in Galway. Keeping with our trend of not booking ahead of time, only to find out we didn’t need to anyway; we stayed at this rather sterile hostel in Dingle. However, we met some really cool and interesting people from the States and Canada. Most notable was this guy from Wyoming, who we spent some time with and would later meet up with in Belfast.

But the nights in Galway are probably the best memories I possess. We found this really large, fun pub called the Black Rose (it was actually in Gaelic, but I don’t remember how it was spelt: Roisen Dubh or something). There we randomly met these Irish Girls, who soon enough introduced their fellow Irish friends, who with their New Zealander “mates”, who were also with these French and German girls. Oh yea, and these two older guys from South Africa and Portugal were involved in this (large) crowd. The pub turned into a dance club after-hours, so needless to say we danced. Luckily, Europeans are terrible at dancing so our buffoonery was not as lame as it would have been stateside.

On Wednesday we attempted to rent a boat and row to this nearby castle, but because it was pouring outside, and being the middle of October, we were unsuccessful. Needless to say, it was a day spent indoors reading, which is always nice from time to time.

We were originally going to leave on Thursday for some unknown location in Northwestern Ireland, but because a) we weren’t in the mood to leave Galway and b) a musician Chris really enjoys was having a free show that night we decided to stick around another day. We made good use of it, and visited the Cliffs of Moher, and passed through the Burren. The two landscapes were entirely different, but both amazingly beautiful. The Cliffs were absolutely massive, and so windy that at some parts you had to walk backwards because the wind gusts were so strong that it blew your breath back into your lungs. The Burren is this large landmass that is covered in limestone. On Thursday night we saw James Yorkston (check him out by the way. Good stuff) and ran into the same people that we met on Tuesday.

So on Friday, with our amazing journey quickly ending, we arrived at our final location: Belfast. I must say that Belfast was probably the most enjoyable place we visited. Perhaps it was the culmination of an already amazing week, or that I was totally unprepared for what and who we were about to meet. It was probably both, but nevertheless it was incredible. From the moment we arrived at our hostel, we felt at home. Everyone, including the staff, was so friendly, that we all went out for drinks. Now, this never happens at hostels, or anyone for that matter.

We went to this pub that was once a communist printing press, until it was bombed during The Troubles. Now it houses a HUGE variety of whiskeys, and that night was host to a Halloween party. It was humorous to see the different costumes, the best being a girl dressed as a Rubik’s cube. Personally, the funniest moment for me that night was in the bathroom, where a man dressed up as Robin Hood stumbled in, shouted something completely incoherent, was then immediately picked up by a bouncer, and brought outside. It was surreal.

Saturday Chris and I went for a walk to the Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods to see the murals. I had really wanted to take a Black Cab Tour around the neighborhoods, as they provide a personal account of what it was like living, or growing up, during that period. However, we were really short on funds so we decided to do it on our own. When I go back to Belfast, I am going to make sure to have enough pounds take the tour.

I think wandering around on our owns was more beneficial anyway, as we stumbled upon really interesting things: the Sinn Fein headquarters; a massive wall that still divides the two neighborhoods; an old checkpoint gate; an array of Protestant and Catholic murals; and a pleasant park. I’m not going to give an account of the conflict that occurred in Northern Ireland, as it would take awhile and I am unsure of my accuracy. But you should read about it though. It’s amazing that a conflict of that ferocity and magnitude (from a civilian perspective) occurred within Western culture since the Second World War. It is also appalling that I knew very little about it, other than it being some religious conflict, which is really only the tip of the iceberg (and not necessarily correct).

So there you go. Sorry it took so long to post it, and I must admit I don’t think I recapped it well. But alas. Photos are here and here.

Chris – if you have any additional comments or stories, feel free to post them.