If all the hostels are like the one last night, Europe won’t be so bad. I was on the top bunk, but even so, I slept fairly soundly. I still woke up a bit early, but I sort of expected that. Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for the 'travel' Category
Cambridge!
June 18, 2007A hostile hostel?
June 17, 2007I’m now laying in bed at my first hostel. So far, it seems alright. My three roommates (Tom, Devon, and their friend) are from the University of Michigan. They also arrived today, but from an overnight flight, not from Dublin. Thus, I was a little surprised when they asked me to come out for beer at 10:30 pm.
This afternoon, I tried to visit some English landmarks, but I couldn’t get to the closest (The Globe) until after it had closed to the public at 5:00. So, instead I walked along the waterfront of the Thames. There was a lot happening today. At different points along the river, I saw a festival raising money for various refugee aid programs, a city “Melt Down” featuring lots of live music, a huge series of military flyovers celebrating veterans, and the big sights, like the Eye of London, Big Ben, the Millennial Bridge, and Trafalgar Square.
The rest of the guys are still out, so I’m going to try to get to bed before they come back. We’ll see how this four-person room works out…
Flying Away
June 17, 2007As I write this (in my journal), I am sitting in an airplane accelerating down a Dublin runway bound for London. I’ve just said goodbye to my family, and I’m off on my own in another country for the first time.
I have enjoyed having Dad, Mom, and laura with me in Ireland. I think they all had a good time as well (other than the cold and rain in the last few days). Laura’s a lot of fun to have around; she and I sing and tell each other how to say things in Spanish and Chinese. For example, I now know that in Spain, the proper way to greet a young lady is “Hola, chica bonita.” In turn, Laura now greets young Chinese women by saying “Ni hao. Wo gege hen shuai.”
Actually, beyond seeing sights like the Rock of Cashel; Newgrange (a tomb built before the pyramids and still intact), Trinity College and the Book of Kells, and the Jameson distillery, I have actually spoken more conversational Chinese than I have in quite a while.
Our first night in Dublin, we had been traveling all day and were absolutely famished. Unfortunately, most of the pubs we saw mysteriously did not serve food. So, when we say the tempting signs for a reasonably priced Chinese buffet, we ran in. The first thing we noticed upon entering was a large list of rules on the wall. First and foremost was the rule, “One plate per customer!” This rule even had subsections: “You must clear your plate before getting more food”; “Our waitresses are not allowed to throw away food. Please help them reduce waste and Eat Everything!”; etc. This language quite frightened us, so everyone got small portions. Good thing, too, because the food was terrible.
Dad had to ask for some sweet-and-sour sauce to go with the spring rolls. At first, the lady didn’t know what he was talking about, and started yelling, “You must pay! You must pay!” over and over. Dad got a little upset as well, but eventually received some soy sauce. The next event was our complete lack of tea. What is Chinese food without green tea? So, to show my family that I had actually learned soemthing at school, I told the waitres, “Women xiang he cha.” She said, “Cha ma? Lucha hao bu hao?” Turns out she is Korean, but studying Chinese, so she knew barely more than I do. I told her that green tea would be fine, so she brought out a kettle and a couple of cups. By a couple, I mean exactly two cups for four people. Eventually, we convinced them to give us two more cups and no more tea (when we first asked for two more cups, they thought we meant more tea).
After that, the meal went relatively smoothly until it was time to pay. Then, we discovered that they had charged us €12 ($16) for the tea; €3 per cup. First of all, what Chinese restaurant charges for tea? Secondly, why did they charge us for two empty cups? Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to debate it because we were late for the Dublin Literary Pub Crawl that we had scheduled. Suffice it to say, that was the worst Chinese meal I have ever eaten.
Also, this morning at the hotel, there was a Chinese lady at the front desk, so Dad told her I knew Chinese. I said, “Wo baba shuo tai duo le.” She laughed, and we talked for a little while; she immigrated to Ireland four years ago.
I think I’ll stop here, since we are about to land in London (it was a very short flight). Until next time…
Our first rain…
June 13, 2007This morning, we had the best breakfast yet. I had some of the tasty fresh Irish cereal, green tea, a crepe with fruit, sausage, and some steamed hot chocolate (so good…).
After breakfast, we walked downtown a while, since we were planning on an 11:15 walking tour. Laura and I changed some money at the Bank of Ireland, while Mom finally bought some of the Irish wool scarves that she’d been eyeing.
The walking tour didn’t end up being much of a walk, but it was very interesting. Our guide, Barry Maloney, apparently studied history in school, so he definitely knew what he was talking about. He told us about the battle of Kinsale, in which an Irishman traded information about the Irish and Spaniards’ sneak attack on the English for a case of whiskey, thereby thwarting the fifth Spanish Armada and Ireland’s shot at independence.
This afternoon, we travelled to the Rock of Cashel, which is where St. Patrick baptised the Kind of Munster in the 400s. In 1101, the land was given over to the church to use as Ecclesiastical ground. It was in use from then until the 1800s and is still used as a cemetery today. Sadly, it was overcast and rainy, so I didn’t get many good pictures.
More Irish Travel
June 12, 2007
On Monday, we headed down towards Dingle for our next Bed and Breakfast. Along the way, we saw many castles, scenic views, and even took a ferry across the Dingle Bay.
After checking in for the night in Dingle, we headed out to a scenic loop along the peninsula. There are some extremely old sites out there; churches founded in the 600s, a stone building from 300-400 A.D. (built with no mortar, but it’s still waterproof), etc.. Of course, we had a pretty harrowing drive as well. Where the road wasn’t just one lane shared for both directions alongside a cliff, there was also the fact that (as Dad put it), “If the bushes aren’t scraping your mirror, you’re too far towards the center.” Read the rest of this entry »
The Daughertys return to Ireland!
June 10, 2007Last night was only six hours long, and very little of that time was spend sleeping, because my family and I were on an overnight flight to Ireland. When we arrived at 6:30am, we were all officially on a new continent for the first time.
The plan in Ireland is to drive to a lot of sights and end in Dublin. Unfortunately, this involves Dad driving a van on the left side of the tiny roads, and me in the passenger’s seat navigating and saying, “Left. Left. Left.” It can be quite scary at times.
We arrived at our first semi-large town, Gort, at 7:45am. Nothing looked open except for the Gallery Cafe, where one man sat on the patio. So, we parked and headed over. Once we arrived, we realized that they were probably closed, because the man appeared to be sleeping with his head in his hands. Nevertheless, Dad asked if the restaurant was open, and the man looked up and explained that nothing would open until 11:30… People are tired; he, for example, had just gotten back from an all-night party.
When he guessed that we’d been traveling all night, however, he decided to offer us some tea and toast anyway. So, though we all felt as if we’d be imposing, we followed him inside and thankfully ate his toast, ham, and fresh jam, and drank his tea. Everything was delicious, and we decided that being served tea by a hungover-but-friendly Irishman was the perfect start to our vacation.
Since we finished breakfast at about 8:45, we decided to attend the 9:00 mass at the church across the street. Mom remarked that we’d seen the partiers, and now we could see the churchgoers. I told her that in Ireland they’re not necellarily different (as evidenced by the slight smell of whiskey by the altar during communion).
After Church, we headed up to Galway, our original destination. Galway is a cute little Irish town, and we stopped in a 1950′s-themed diner for reubens and hamburgers for lunch. Next, we drove south to Doolin, where we had reservations at a bed and breakfast. Nearby, we toured the Cliffs of Mohr, a famous set of cliffs and small castle on the western edge of Ireland.
For dinner, we tried Irish pub fare; I went with some of the best fish and chips I’ve ever had and a Guiness to drink. Finally, I drank some hard cider and listened to live music with Laura and Dad before going to bed.
