FRIEND OR FOE FRIDAY!!!!

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1)   FRIEND!  There is no better introduction to a city than a free tour!  Meet Mik, my tour guide in Dublin.  Sure he was unkept, sure he threw around dodgey dates from time to time, but Mik made it FUN to learn about Irish history! During the three hour tour, Mik was full of energy and kept the tourists guessing on what to expect next. 


2) FOE!  How do you take a tour of the Guinness Factory in Dublin and order something else from the bar at the end?  Even if you don’t like Guinness, you have to suck it up and drink it on this special occasion.  I hope this woman had an allergy that I don’t know about because I see no other reason to be a party pooper at the Guinness factory.

3) FRIENDS!  They’re from New Zealand, of course they’re friends.  I met these brothers at the Guinness factory and ended up going out with them for the night.  The older brother works in Finance in London so we had plenty to talk about.  These guys were a lot of fun.

4)   BOTH!  I had a good time with a couple of these guys the first night but then they ditched me the next night!  Since I didn’t have a phone I had to make 1995 plans where I told them I would meet them outside of a specific bar at a certain time.  No quadruple checking!  Just have to stick to the original plan.  I guess it was too much for them though because I got stood up!  I can’t be too mad- I did the same thing to someone else the night before.

5)  FOES!  This loser couple in Fedora hats tried to take a picture of themselves with the obelisk about 15 times.  It’s as if the camera knew not to photograph two people in those ridiculous hats at the same time.


6)  FOE!  This guy looked like a real creep.  He was by far the oldest guy in the bar and just looked like the type of person that buries things in his backyard.  As you can see, he totally caught me taking his picture here.  Haha.

7) FRIENDS!  These guys were awesome!  I went into a bar alone after getting stood up by the London guys. Within seconds I started talking to these two guys from Long Island and New Jersey!  We had a great night in Dublin!  

8) FRIEND!  This woman must be a real-life leprechaun!  I’ve never seen anyone this short.  She can hardly take pictures over the protective barrier to the Cliffs of Moher.

9)  BOTH!  This is great camera work by my friend Maarja!  This guy is sitting there in a red Wisconsin jacket, red Wisconsin mock turtle neck and red Wisconsin hat.  So, naturally, I went up to him and said, ‘So where ya from?’  I thought he must coach at Wisco to be wearing so much garb.  Nope, he graduated from there about 35 years ago and just loves his glory days on the football and track teams.  Unbelievable.

10)  FRIENDS/FAMILY!!  While in Ireland, I tracked down distant relatives!  Justin and Maria Tuohy (brother/sister) were AMAZING!  They were so excited to meet for dinner and discuss the family tree.  My great grandfather and their grandfather were brothers!  They were two of nine children that all came over from Ireland in the 1920s in search of work.  Five of the children remained in the USA while four returned.   Justin has done some significant work in tracking down the genealogy and I’ll be able to help him when I get back home.  These two were incredibly nice- I still can’t get over it!  They walked me along the boardwalk, took me to dinner and surprised me by putting me up in a cozy B&B for the night.  Just when I thought my family couldn’t get any better!

11)  FRIEND!  I met Maarja from Estonia during my stay in a hostel in Killarney.  She was so cool and I was psyched that she was able to join me for my road trip along the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula.  I’m confident that she’ll be making her way throughout Europe and then onto America in the coming years so I look forward to our reunion!

The Irish Crescendo

KILLARNEY, IRELAND
DOOLIN, IRELAND
GALWAY, IRELAND

My Irish luck started to turn around when I rolled into the friendly town of Killarney.  I met a 28 year-old girl from Estonia named Maarja in my hostel.  She had been living in Sweden before finding a job in Ireland.  She worked there two days and realized she didn’t like it so she took a different job in Poland and now had a couple weeks to kill.  She had sold her entire apartment and now everything she owned was stuffed in two suitcases weighing 45 kg.  Incredible.  We went for a drink around 23:30 (yes, I’ve submerged myself in the European culture by speaking in military time) and were completely SHOCKED by the Killarney bar scene.  It was Sunday night and the bar was packed.  The live band was really good and the crowd was decked outp.  Perhaps I shouldn’t have worn skinny jeans with hiking shoes?  Yeesh.  Someone is probably featuring me on their Trendwatch blog.

Maarja was really cool so I invited her along for exploring the Ring of Kerry.  Throughout the car ride, she taught me a great deal about growing up under control of the former Soviet Union.  We ferried across to the Valentia Island where we saw very modest dinosaur imprints and hiked an impressive lookout.  I couldn’t help but think just how much Ireland encompassed the color GREEN!   It looked green, it smelled green, it tasted green, and just FELT green overall.  It’s the only place where I needed sunglasses while it rained.  The showers would end just as quickly as they began and they really were worth it- they left the terrain so enriched.  I was able to see and enjoy so much more of the ride since I had my trusty navigator, Maarja.  Roadtrips are definitely more fun when you’ve got good company…not ANY company…but GOOD company.  And Maarja was good people.  We especially enjoyed the hike that overlooked the rock formations near the Valentia Island bridge as well as the Lady’s View towards the end.  Overall, the Ring of Kerry was fantastic- what else can you expect with a name like that?!

Maarja at the Lady's View

Maarja and I went out again that night (slightly more dressed up) and, again, found a great crowd and a lively band.  We had met a 37 year-old German woman who was visiting Ireland for the 7^th time!  She loved it so much that she drove her van all the way from Germany each year and spent weeks driving along the countryside.  The only other country she had been to was Denmark.  When Maarja asked the obvious question of why doesn’t she move to Ireland if she loves it so much, we were surprised that the woman had no answer.  It was like she had never thought of the idea before.  It was kind of strange. 

The next morning Maarja and I hit the Dingle peninsula and I enjoyed it even more than the Ring.  The streets were definitely getting even narrower with each passing day in the old sod.  The speed limit was 100kph but I had trouble breaking 75 while still feeling like I was in control.  The weather was dare-I-say WARM by Irish standards so we stopped at one of the few sandy beaches in Ireland for a swim in the sea.  How sad that they consider this weather summer!  J Maarja was much braver in the water but she’s from Estonia!  That must have felt like bath water compared to what she grew up with!  We saved room for a giant plate of fish and chips in the fishing village of Dingle to get us through the drive toward the17th century beehive huts along the way.  We timed the ride perfectly that we caught a nice sunset as we took the ferry across to Shannon.  We hadn’t arranged accommodations for the night and it turned out to be a good thing.  We were heading for Ennis and banged a uey in search of Doolin.  It was situated very close to the Cliffs of Moher so it would be a good starting point for the following day.

We stayed at the Rainbow Hosted that surprisingly didn’t have a homosexual vibe despite its name and the fact that we were the only girls in the place.  It had a strong hippy vibe though that broke out around 1:30am when they all gathered around the wood-burning stove in the cozy common area and started beating their African drums.  The Four Non-Blondes’ version of ‘What’s Going on’ was much better than their rendition.

I wish I could say that was the most interesting part of our evening but it wasn’t.  Earlier, we had drive the car down to the closest put that ended up being a stone’s throw away from the hostel.  We schmoozed with a cool American from Alaska while a talented 11 year-old piper was piping!  He was incredible on the flute!  We headed for our car around 11:45pm and I noticed there was an old man trying to get into it on the passenger’s side.  I had asked what he was doing and soon realized that he was the drunkest man I have ever met in my life.  He was probably about 75 years old and he couldn’t even stand.  He was so obliterated that he thought it was his car!  His 60 year-old friend was only slightly less drunk and neither of them would let us near the car.  When the older one took his hand off the car and came toward me, he fell and almost cracked his head on the pavement.  We went back in the bar for our Alaskan reinforcement and he tried to coax the old timers away.  The 60 year-old tried to start a fight with him and insisted that he was drunk but he had a pee stain around his crotch about the size of a grapefruit that made us all think otherwise.  Have you ever vehemently denied your drunkenness when you’ve already peed your pants??  Hopefully this Irish trait is not in my family tree.  With the help of a few locals, we were able to assist the old timers to the NEXT car over where they could hold on for dear life until the spins ran their course. 

We had some phenomenal weather the next morning at the Cliffs of Moher!  We walked along the ridge and looked over at the many cliffs of shale and sandstone that dramatically dropped into the oceanic abyss.  I was embarrassed when I finally asked Maarja, ‘Soooo, is that it?’  It’s not that they weren’t impressive- it’s just that it wasn’t clear if the Cliffs referred to the impressive cliff to the left or the impressive cliff to the right or the entire coast that was in view.  She was thinking the same thing!  I sheepishly asked some nearby tourists and they admitted it too!  I’m so glad I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know.  In case you’re in the same predicament in the future, the Cliffs of Moher refer to the entire area in view- all were over 600 feet above the water and all were inspiring.

Maarja and I continued on through the beautiful Burren region near Ballyvaughan where the stones seemed to be sprouting up right from the patchy grass.  There were many camps and tents independently set up along the coast and I was reassured that this was a good life indeed.  Waking up in a tent next to the ocean in the FILL IN THE BLANK region would knock the socks off any 5 star all-inclusive resorts.  Well, it would knock mine off.

Thanks to my Uncle Jimmy’s devotion to our family’s genealogy I was able to track down some of our ancestry in Ireland on my mother’s side!  My father had always insisted that my mother descended from leprechauns....there was no better explanation for her shortness. J  I was interested in putting the rumors to rest!  I didn’t have an email address but I knew this woman taught at the University of Galway.  I sent a hopeless email to the default address for her department and it actually got to her!  And she answered!  Maria Tuohy was SO excited that I had reached out and she insisted that we get together in Galway during my visit!  I cannot believe that I was able to track down family and set up dinner all within 3 days of a random email.  I knew they were going to be great from the very beginning!

They surprised me by reserving a lovely Guesthouse for my last night in Ireland- incredibly thoughtful.  It felt SO nice to have my own room and organize everything the night before my next move!  I set out to explore the vibrant college town of Galway and wrote a couple postcards while I anxiously awaited the arrival of Justin, Maria’s brother, who would join us for dinner.  Upon first impression, Justin could have served as the stunt double for Liam Neeson…so we could be related to Liam too!  He was incredibly warm and welcoming.  We picked up Maria and they took me for a walk along the pier before settling down for dinner. Maria was so sweet and it was remarkable to see the family resemblances in just a few hours of getting acquainted.   Justin politely waited until after dinner to bring out the extensive family tree he started working on only three days earlier when he received my email!  Those O’Hara’s know how to work hard and smart!  We traced back the tree and discovered that my great-grandfather and their grandfather were brothers.  Of the nine siblings that left Ireland in search of work in the USA, 4 of them returned.  It was a really fun night and I felt so lucky to be related to such kind and generous people!  And smart!  Oh and good-lookin' too!  Check out the photo :)

Justin, me and Maris with our family tree!

                              Click on this link to see all the other great pictures from Northern Ireland (you don’t need a facebook account to view the photos): http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.915265897657.2363180.1611207&l=89eddb9a9b&type=1

FOODS I TRIED- Guinness, Coddle Stew, Dark and Stormy, crazy good assorted sushi, local cider beer

No luck in Ireland!

DUBLIN, IRELAND
GLENDALOUGH, IRELAND
KILKENNY, IRELAND
CORK, IRELAND

                Ahhh, yes!!  English once again!  How I’ve missed my native tongue.  After a fresh, green Irish stamp on my passport, I left Dublin airport and headed into the city.  I set up shop in my hostel and started my search for potential ride shares throughout Ireland.  Everyone told me that the Irish countryside is best explored by car so I wanted to make friends in my hostel in hopes of having a road trip in a few days! 

So Irish!  Even the lamp posts have shamrocks

It turns out my hostel mates weren’t really looking for friends though!  Everyone stuck to their own groups (or their computers) so there really wasn’t much conversation going on.  I found the same to be true on my 3 hour Dublin walking tour.  During the introductions, there were 5 girls from America also on the tour so I thought for sure I would have some friends by the end of it!  And being the one that always starts conversation, I decided to sit back and let them come to me.  Never happened!  In 3 hours’ time, I was shocked that none of these girls asked where I was from in America.

Trinity College

Grafton Street

The tour itself was fantastic!!  Our guide, Mik, was hysterical when reenacting Irish history.  Aside from all the beer-loving Irish jokes, he really knew his facts and gave tourists a great introduction to a new city.  There was so much energy to this little city and it certainly catered to tourism with its plethora of lime green double-decker buses barreling around each corner.  I was able to research my family name origin in the infamous Old Library in Trinity College (founded in 1592, holy moly), shop the bustling area of Grafton Street, view the sumptuous collection of ancient religion doctrine in the underrated Chester Beatty library, and still have time to drink some beer in Temple Bar!  I visited the Guinness Brewery, which had a theme-park atmosphere complete with interactive displays and activities, including learning how to pour your own Guinness!  Check mine out:

The perfect Irish Guinness pour

The brewery tour concluded on the top floor where you could enjoy a nice Guinness as well as a 360 panoramic view of Dublin.  I ended up meeting a very cool Kiwi named MATT who now worked in finance in London.  His brother was visiting from New Zealand and they were in town for the weekend so I joined them for a night out in Temple Bar.  The sound of live music was busting through the bars and out onto the streets by the time we arrived!  Some was of Irish decent, most was modern American rock.  The three of us met a group of British blokes and had a fun night getting to know each other over some Strasbourg’s.  We had drunk enough Guinness (aka coffee-flavored beer) at the factory.

Temple Bar

Temple Bar

Temple Bat

The next day I saw St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Christ Church before crossing the river toward O’Connell Street to see the Spire.  I took a detour to find the Leprechaun Museum but it was closed.  I can’t believe they were able to round up all of Ireland’s leprechauns and put them in one museum!!  While shopping for souvenirs I finally heard my favorite Irish tune- Molly Malone!  I had asked Mik for the story behind Molly but he couldn’t say for sure.  Her statue on Suffolk Street certainly emphasized her large chest and some say the song has innuendos to suggest she was a part-time woman of the night.  But many others say she was a fictitious female fishmonger.  Regardless of her legend, I have liked the song since I learned it in 3^rd grade music class.  Crying cockles and mussels, Alive, Alive-O!

Spire in Dublin

St. Patrick's Cathedral

 That evening I had planned to meet the British blokes again.  Since no one has phones, it’s kind of exciting to make plans and see if the person sticks to them.  Nowadays people either confirm or change plans about 15 times so meeting up with other backpackers is kind of like showing up for a first date.  Turns out, I got STOOD UP!  The guys never showed so I wandered into a couple bars and listened to music.  A couple guys gave me some room at the bar to place my order and soon enough we were friends.  They were both from Long Island!  We had an AWESOME night in Temple Bar and I couldn’t be more thankful for them letting me tag along.  Very cool guys!  Spoiler alert- they will definitely be featured as friends on ‘Friend or Foe Friday’.

The next morning was pretty embarrassing but is worth telling.  I had rented an automatic car from Enterprise because we all know what happened in Iceland when I was asked to drive a manual.  I took the hour-long bus ride out there, 15 min shuttle ride to the dealer, 25 minute paperwork where they charged me an Irish arm and leg for insurance, and I finally got the car.  Gosh darn manual!  Even after telling them I absolutely didn’t book that car no matter what their records claimed, they said they had no other cars.  I said, No.  Then they said it would cost double.  I said no.  Then they said it would be 20 euros extra per day.  Again, I said no.  I told them that they really didn’t want me driving a manual, shifting with my left hand, maneuvering narrow Irish roads (on the wrong side) while navigating by myself.  I think he finally got the message when I asked him if the pedals went from left-to-right clutch, brake, gas even when it was on the other side of the car.  Haha.  I told him he would need a new clutch or a new car by the time I was done.  Then he said I would have to pay for a new clutch if anything happened.  I flipped out telling him that they had just charged me for FULL coverage insurance and doubled the price of the rental- what did the full coverage actually cover?  What if the water pump goes?  What if the steering wheel falls off?? Do I have to pay for that too? 

I felt the tears building so I started to leave and told him, ‘Well I guess I’ll just do my best with your car.’  He rushed out and said that he was concerned for the car at that point. Haha.  I was not laughing at the time though.  Tears just started flowing non-stop.  Absolute waterworks coming down my face as I apologized repeatedly for crying.  Haha.  He kept saying, ‘No, no, don’t be upset.  You’re on holiday!’  He gave me the automatic for free and told me to have a great trip.  I can’t imagine that poor guy going home and telling his wife about the freak show American he met at work that day.  Hahaha.

Malahide

I quickly learned how to maneuver around those tricky Irish roundabouts and found my way to the castle at Malahide and to the port city of Howth.  I gave two French guys a ride down from the overlook and then headed for Waterford.  I got lost pretty easily and ended up in the beautifully tranquil monastic site of Glendalough.  The valleys were so majestic that I ditched my plans for Waterford and decided to stay for the night.  I went for an easy hike along the lakes but miscounted the distance so it ended up being very long and I didn’t get home until it was dark.  My hostel didn’t have internet so I headed to the only light in town, which was the main hotel.  There was a family in the lobby and the kids were singing Irish folk songs for their grandparents’ entertainment…and mine as well.  They even threw in some songs from Bruce Springstein’s ‘Live in Dublin’ tour.  Very cute.

Beaches in Ireland?  Yup, near Malahide

Glendalough

When I was leaving, there was an old man standing in the doorway and, when I asked him if I could get by, he struck up conversation.  We did the usual introductions and I found him asking questions and sort of answering them for me.  “You hated your job?  Yeah I can tell you hated your job” and “You’re happy now.  Yes, I can tell you’re much happier now.”  I didn’t really give off either vibe but he had already decided my answers for me.  In regards to what my plans are when I return home from my trip, I had said that I had some big decisions to make.  He told me not to worry about it because God had already decided for me.  God has a plan for each of us and there’s no use in worrying and trying to plan our lives- ‘What man proposes, God disposes.’  I told him I was going to keep thinking about it just in case the big guy got busy.

He was obviously very religious so I asked if he had had any revelations and sure enough he had.  He had visited a priest of some sort that had placed his hand upon his forehead and it caused him to collapse.  He vividly remembered seeing himself floating above his body and he came back as a natural healer.  When he even rubs elbows with strangers in the street they stop and tell him they felt something from him.  I respectfully listened to his story but started to think it was time for me to go.  When I said goodbye, he lightly grabbed my wrist and said, ‘You’re going to have three children and one miscarriage.  You’ll be married but not the way you expect.’  As this information sunk in, his palm made its way toward my forehead and I got completely weirded out.  I wasn’t afraid of him hurting me but I was afraid of the spirituality he was trying to bestow upon me.  I certainly didn’t want to collapse on the dark, isolated street with no one around me but this old healer of a man.  I sharply pulled away and started to tear up and he said, ‘Oh you’re crying.  You’re crying’ as if they were joyous I’ve-been-touched-by-an-angel tears!  But they weren’t.  I told him I didn’t appreciate him telling me about my future.  He had no right to tell me things that I didn’t ask for.  He apologized and when we amicably went to shake hands goodbye he wouldn’t let go!  He kept telling me, ‘I’m not God.  I’m not God’ to which I responded, ‘Then you shouldn’t play one.’  When I got to my car only 20 feet away, I turned back and he was gone.

This guy really threw me for a loop!  Was he completely full of crap or not?  Should I believe or not?  A lot of people skeptically viewed Jesus the same way I looked at this guy.  Should I be religious or not?  What the heck is going to happen to us all when we DIE?!  Oh my god, panic attack.  The only thing worse than trying to answer these questions is trying to answer them alone while getting lost among the sheep of Ireland.  There were more hopeless tears throughout the next day in Ireland.  I hate that guy for talking to me.

Castle in Kilkenny

I yearned for some comfort food so I stuffed my face at good old McDonald’s in Kilkenny before visiting its impressive medieval castle set above the River Nore.  Can you believe people really lived in castles?  It blows my mind to really imagine all this history playing out in real life.  I made it to Cork by late afternoon to find that many things were closed since it was Sunday, including the famous Blarney stone just outside of town.  Pious Ireland gets me again!  I stumbled upon a great outdoor music festival going on so I enjoyed that for a couple hours.  Between numbers, they expressed sympathy for poor New York City who was enduring Hurricane Irene at that time.  (Yes, I’m exposing my tardiness with this blog entry).  I had heard SO much on the news and radio about this hurricane and couldn’t believe it was actually mentioned at the festival.  I wasn’t worried for NY one bit!   First, all hurricanes turn into rain by the time they hit the city and second, New Yorkers endure far worse on a daily basis to be bothered by some rain.  It was North Carolina that was suffering!  And later, it would be Vermont!  And after that, it would be Mr. Hanson’s boat and dock up in Maine!  It was the first time I understood just how much the world cared about New York City.  Everyone constantly had their eye on the big apple.  Maybe I had misunderstood the true honor in living there for 5.5 years.

Castle in Kilkenny

TRENDWATCH: Belgium

Check out this hot mama!  She’s sporting a WHITE trenchcoat, pants, and shirt for her bike ride through Bruges.  I told you this place is charming!  And don’t get thrown off by her sporty black and white hat.  It is counterbalanced by her black patent leather pointed shoes with bedazzled silver-wedged heel.  This woman isn’t concerned about saddle soreness. And why should she?  Looking like that, she’ll probably be asked if she needs a lift to the moon.  You go, Bruges girl.


Sorry google blogger still hasn't figured out how to post portrait pics!

FRIEND OR FOE FRIDAY!!!

           The Dutch are such lovely people!  I’m happy to say that none of the actual Foes featured here were of Dutch decent.  Oh there are some Belgians sprinkled in as well.

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1) FOES!  All three generations pictured here are foes of mine.  Grandmother, mother and daughter were the rude ones of the plane that gave me grief when I wanted to sit in my assigned seat.   Nastiness is in that blood!  I had to wait for them to all fall asleep to snap this picture.

2) FOE!  Here’s the old timer that woke me up in the airport and started swearing at me in German.  We went back and forth with our banter until he got a phone call and I obnoxiously took a couple picture of him.

3) FRIEND!  It’s Sander!  What a great host in the Netherlands!  I had a fun four days with Sander at his family’s apartment on the beaches of Noordwijk.  He’s traveled to over 50 countries in his 25 years so it was really helpful to get some advice from him in regards to Europe.  He was especially good at introducing me to some really good Dutch food and drinks.  The most surprising one was probably the buttered roll with chocolate sprinkles inside.  I had no idea it could taste so good.  Note: There is no nutritional value  in this sandwich so best not to get hooked on it.

4)  FRIEND!  Sander and I traveled down to Belgium to visit his grandfather for the night.  After a lovely meal, the three of us shared a massive chocolate dessert.  It was his grandfather’s first time ordering one sundae with three spoons!  As you can see, he enjoyed it!  

5) FRIEND!  Two gals traveling on their own are bound to be friends!  We found ourselves on a train heading toward Brugge and were eager to help each other out where we could.  She was from Iran but had studied in several European countries over the past 8 years.  She was heading to Ghent for a PhD course- yup, she was a smart cookie.  And really cool too!

6) FRIEND! This woman was great!  She was from Antwerp but had moved to California about 20 years ago.  Her son and she were back in Belgium to check on her sick father.  She was so friendly when I asked her to take a picture of me in the fancy train station.  She had reminded me that this train station was famous for the flash dance performed years earlier.  It was a youtube phenom so we found it only necessary to start our own flash dance as pictured here.

7) FRIEND!  I wasn’t as successful going to the bars in Brugge alone but the bartender and owner was really cool.  He was really nice and taught me the art of scraping the first layer of foam off the top of a Belgian beer to eliminate the CO2 intake.  (Ed)Wardo was super cool.

8) FRIENDS!  This guy was a bartender at Wardo’s bar but had the night off.  As you can guess, he was really drunk and our friendship was brief but I appreciated him befriending me when I was all alone.  His girlfriend and he had just come from a bike/drinking race so they were as messed up as they look in this picture.

9) FRIEND!  My first couchsurfing experience!  I found Hucky’s profile on couchsurfing and was so happy she was able to host me two days while in Brussels.  She had an extra room available for me and went above and beyond when it came to hosting. She worked for the German Embassy in Brussels so she really enjoyed meeting different people and helping them acclimate to a new environment.

10)  FOE!  Yuck, foe.  This woman washed her hands in the sink of the women’s room at the Brussells airport.  Then she took off her stockings and washed those too.  Then she put her feet up to the sink and started washing them in the sink.   Absolutely horrendous.