Ireland: Part I (the part that didn't suck)
Jet-lag? Ha! That's for wimps. We got to Ireland Sunday morning at about 8 am, and it was the best day of our trip. We picked up the clown car that we'd rented. Julie couldn't get the car into first gear, and we almost got hit by a van (a slight exaggeration, but it's funnier that way). Turns out the gear boxes are backwards because of the whole driving-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-road thing. Then we almost got stuck in a tiny town because we absolutely couldn't figure out how to get the car into reverse. I was ready to get out and push, but instead we flagged down the next Irish person who passed and asked for help. He was polite and tried not to laugh as he showed us the little ring on the gear shift that you have to lift up to get the car to stay in reverse.
We arrived in Lisdoonvarna (home of the world famous Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival)around 10:30 and can't check into our hotel until 3. We wander around town for a while and get hit on by some guys who are still drunk from the night before. (The bar is still open, and they've spilled out on to the sidewalk.) We try to eat lunch around 11, but all the restaurants in town are closing until lunch because mass is starting. So we buy sandwiches at the grocery store and eat in the town square. We get adopted by a big, fat (but still adorable) dog, who Julie ends up feeding most of her sandwich. Then we make a quick trip to see the Cliffs of Moher. Much prettier without all the fog this time.
We check into the hotel around 3, and take a quick nap. We wake up at 5, and our power's out. I go downstairs to see what's going on, and it turns out the power is out in the entire village (and the next village over). I go upstairs to tell Julie, and when I try to unlock our door, the entire lock comes out of the door knob. Um, that's not right. Luckily, they have another room they can switch us to. I try to take a shower, and the water runs out while I'm all soapy, so I have to rinse off with a facecloth and the little bit of water I can get out of the sink.
We eat dinner at the restaurant across the street. The power is still out, so they're only serving soup, cod, potato and veg. Whatever, as long as it's food. The power comes back on as we finish eating, which is a good thing because otherwise we would have been hitting the pubs by candlelight, and that could have gotten real creepy real fast.
Well, I guess it was a little creepy anyway (but in a really entertaining way). Turns out the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival is full of middle-aged men who really want a wife. I danced with two old guys. One was short and balding. The other had a big gray mustache and kept trying buy me a drink. If I'd let him, I think he might have proposed. Julie on the other hand did get a proposal. He was 48, Scottish and wearing a tasteless shirt. After telling her he liked girls who look like they'd be good at bearing children (charming), he really believed she was going to move to Scotland to stay home, have his babies and take care of the dogs. When he went inside to get a pen to give her his phone number, we ran back to the hotel as fast as we could.
Jet-lag? Ha! That's for wimps. We got to Ireland Sunday morning at about 8 am, and it was the best day of our trip. We picked up the clown car that we'd rented. Julie couldn't get the car into first gear, and we almost got hit by a van (a slight exaggeration, but it's funnier that way). Turns out the gear boxes are backwards because of the whole driving-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-road thing. Then we almost got stuck in a tiny town because we absolutely couldn't figure out how to get the car into reverse. I was ready to get out and push, but instead we flagged down the next Irish person who passed and asked for help. He was polite and tried not to laugh as he showed us the little ring on the gear shift that you have to lift up to get the car to stay in reverse.
We arrived in Lisdoonvarna (home of the world famous Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival)around 10:30 and can't check into our hotel until 3. We wander around town for a while and get hit on by some guys who are still drunk from the night before. (The bar is still open, and they've spilled out on to the sidewalk.) We try to eat lunch around 11, but all the restaurants in town are closing until lunch because mass is starting. So we buy sandwiches at the grocery store and eat in the town square. We get adopted by a big, fat (but still adorable) dog, who Julie ends up feeding most of her sandwich. Then we make a quick trip to see the Cliffs of Moher. Much prettier without all the fog this time.
We check into the hotel around 3, and take a quick nap. We wake up at 5, and our power's out. I go downstairs to see what's going on, and it turns out the power is out in the entire village (and the next village over). I go upstairs to tell Julie, and when I try to unlock our door, the entire lock comes out of the door knob. Um, that's not right. Luckily, they have another room they can switch us to. I try to take a shower, and the water runs out while I'm all soapy, so I have to rinse off with a facecloth and the little bit of water I can get out of the sink.
We eat dinner at the restaurant across the street. The power is still out, so they're only serving soup, cod, potato and veg. Whatever, as long as it's food. The power comes back on as we finish eating, which is a good thing because otherwise we would have been hitting the pubs by candlelight, and that could have gotten real creepy real fast.
Well, I guess it was a little creepy anyway (but in a really entertaining way). Turns out the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival is full of middle-aged men who really want a wife. I danced with two old guys. One was short and balding. The other had a big gray mustache and kept trying buy me a drink. If I'd let him, I think he might have proposed. Julie on the other hand did get a proposal. He was 48, Scottish and wearing a tasteless shirt. After telling her he liked girls who look like they'd be good at bearing children (charming), he really believed she was going to move to Scotland to stay home, have his babies and take care of the dogs. When he went inside to get a pen to give her his phone number, we ran back to the hotel as fast as we could.
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