Ireland

Here’s the deal. I just took a nice long, eventful trip to Ireland. I wanted to write a blog about it but to make it more reader friendly I’m going to number brief descriptions and below include (by matching number) a more detailed explanation of what happened. This way you can choose what seems interesting and it makes this whole process more effective (I hope).

Here goes:

1. We learned that you need to be 27 to rent an automatic car big enough for 5 people in Ireland.

2. Creepy overly drunk 60 year old men in bars can sometimes be the best tour guides ever.

3. I got chased by a cow that was protecting a castle.

4. I explored a shipwreck.

5. Met a dog who made a great tour guide.

6. I attended my very first (and possibly last) stag party.

7. We stayed in a castle that was cheaper than a hostel.

8. I almost got my nose pierced.

9. I had a pint of Guinness on St. Patricks Day in Ireland.

1. The game plan had been to rent a car in order to drive around the country. We went from Dublin to Galway to Castlebar and eventually back to Dublin. Driving was going to be the most effective way to do this until we went to Hertz rental and they basically laughed in our faces. On the bright side we met the nicest bus driver throughout our entire trip riding the shuttle to and from the airport. This led us to take the bus throughout Ireland, which was probably safer for us anyway.

2. When we got to Galway we met two fairly creepy extremely drunk 60 year olds in a bar who told us the best place to visit in Galway was one of the Aran Islands Innes Oire, they told us we would have the island entirely to ourselves and it would be one of the prettiest places we would ever see. Turns out they were totally right, I wouldn’t change my day in Innes Oire for anything and from then on out I decided to always take advice from drunk locals in the bar (something we continued to do).

3. On Innes Oire there was a ruin of an old castle we decided we wanted a closer look at. We went up, climbed over fences and up hills. Eventually we got there, my friend Elizabeth and I strolled up to the castle, around the corner, only to come face to face with a cow (not a bull mind you, a cow. The cow charged at us, and we went sprinting back around the corner and I went right over the fence, I’ve never been so glad to be a steeplechaser. It’s been decided that the moment of the trip we most wish we had a picture of was Elizabeth and me, running away from castle and cow, with looks of pure terror on our faces. It’s safe to say that was the scariest moment of my life.

4. On the far side of the Island was a rusted out old ship that we went and wandered through. It was so cool. Plus it had a gorgeous view of the Cliffs of Mohar. Thank god my tetanus shot is up to date.

5. Darby, the dog that we found on the island, decided to follow us around the rest of the day showing us the quickest ways around the island. Everyone is friendly in Ireland.

6. A stag party for those of you who do not know is a bachelor party. On our way to dinner after the island we ran into these two guys singing on the street, they shanghaied us into becoming their backup singers for wonderwall. Turns out one of the guys was getting married and they were having his stag weekend in Galway (stag and hen parties are all the rage there). So they invited us to join them for dinner and we ended up hanging out with about 20 guys, some of them Olympic rowers (though they were Irish and that was probably a lie), for dinner. They also gave us great advice about what to do during our stay.

7. We stayed at this fancy resort in Castlebar that was actually in a castle because they upgraded our sort of shitty hotel room to a swank resort/spa one for free. Since we were sneaking two people in, it ended up being cheaper than a hostel!

8. Unfortunately my friend got sick so we had to scrap that idea.

9. I don’t think that needs further explination.

Also, since some of you may not be my facebook friends and would like to see pictures (mother) here’s a slideshow I made with pictures from the trip.

http://www.youtube.com/user/walkysacynic#p/a/u/0/SzAumTMQB-0