As I promised, I'll tell you a little bit about our Easter holiday and our trip to the south of Ireland.
We left Dublin at around 12:00, heading south, towards Cork county. As we approached the big city (Cork), the direction road signs became lousier. So we were taking some wrong turns or just not taking the right ones. I must admit- that was no surprise. We were driving and we stopped at the more interesting places on the way. The road lead us to many villages and towns, since the national roads in Ireland goes through the center of each and every one on the way.
When it come to cities, luckily there are the Irish Roundabouts. Ahhh, the magnificent Irish Roundabouts! Now, let me tell you a bit about it: they are quite wide, with 2 or 3 lanes, sometimes there are traffic lights at the enterance and sometimes even along the roundabout.
One of the places we had a stop was a village near Cork, a very touristic one, called Blarney. Why is it so touristic? because it has a castle. One taxi driver told us we should kiss a certain stone at the castle, but he forgot why... Back to Blarney and its castle. So what do they do? Charge 9 euros per adult only to enter the castle and it's gardens. Does that worth it? Don't know. We didn't even hesitate and decided not to pay. 9 is far too much for just another castle that looks exactly the same as other Irish ones.
There was a shopping center pretty close to the castle's entrance. Since it was made especially for the tourists, they sell Irish gifts only. Besides all that, there are many pubs.
Then we continued towards the coast, and this time we passed through another touristic village called Kinsale. It is s supposed to be the culinary capital of something (of Ireland or the county). But we weren't hungry, so we didn't eat there. Which will turn out to be quite a fatal mistake. We continued driving along the coast, tying to find a nice B&B to spend the night. It was around 18:00, and we found a great B&B in a place called Kilbrittain. Don't get too excited, the initial Kil comes from the word 'Cill' in Gaelic, and means Church. Our room's window was facing the Celtic Sea, that will soon merge with the Atlantic Ocean. how Amazing was that! An hour or so later we started to feel hungry, so we got into the car and drove to the near village, and then to another one, only to discover all the restaurants are closed. Even the hotel's restaurant was closed. Then it hit us! It was Good Friday! Easter! We already knew the poor Irish are not allowed to consume any alcohol that day, but no eating, as well??? Eventually we came across a convenience store, so we ended up eating sandwiches ans dairy. Certainly not the kind of dinner we had on our mind that day. But we are lucky we were able to buy something to eat. By the way, remember the alcohol restrictions that day? We noticed the alcohol shelves at the supermarket were covered by a plastic covers...Sounds familiar?
It's getting too long, so in brief- the next day we were doing the Ring of Kerry, where I took the amazing landscape pics I attached to my previous post. Been to a Natioal Park near Kilarney, a very nice town. Then we drove in a very narrow national road, and again, you can find a related pic in my previous post. Then been to a Village called Kenmare, and this time we ate there, not waiting for the evening hours, affraid we'll stay hungry...
At the late afternoon hours we were in a town called Waterville, because at the east side of it there's a loch, and at the west side there's the Atlantic Ocean. It was a beautiful town, but we decided to driver further mre for a hour or so, and then find a place to sleep. And then we were in Cahersiveen, a disgusting town, with dirty, old and ugly B&Bs, not to mentin the horrible hosts. I'm tellng you so you can learn fom our mistakes. After that we drove for another 30-40km, to the next town, Killorglin. a very nice town, definately unlike the previous one. There we found a very nice B&B- Grove Lodge, with the nicest hosts ever- Delia and Fergus Foley. We enjoyed our staying there. We also ate at a good Indian and Pakistani Restaurant, and we had a long talk with the nicest waiter ever- Manny (NOT to be pronounced like Money!).
The day after we were heading back home, had a stop in Kilkenny, the town where you can smell the beer in the streets. Probably becaue of the tens of pubs over there (and only 2 or 3 restaurants). Oh, and there's a castle as well.
By 20:30 we were home, so tired and exhausted, thinking we have 36 hours until tuesday morning, which means 36 hours to relax, sleep, watch TV and eat, without even leaving the house.
But we were sooooo wronge......
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Monday, April 9, 2007
The One and Only Ireland
The Last few days Dan and I were exploring Ireland, the country where in addition to the Careful, Children Crossing road sign, you can see Cattle Crossing, Causion Cross Wind and Leprechaun Crossing road signs.
and find that the maximum speed allowed is 100 km per hour.
But also the only country where you can find that kind of breath-taking landscapes.
The country that in addition to the gazelle and cow road signs, you can find a road sign that from a distance looks like the Puma logo (but actually notifies the driver of a merging road)...
The only country where you can smell the beer in the outside fresh air and find empty beer-cans thrown at the national road in the middle of nowhere, and still find a sign such as this:
The country where you can find an advertisment sign for Castle for Rent, a place called Kilbritain, and a chain of islands called after the cattle family (The Bull, The Cow and The Calf)...
The country where you can find a roadkill every 1000 meters and sometimes even every 100 meters. Mostly foxes and crows, yes I actually did mean crows, but also other kinds of birds and badgers (and no, I didn't even think about taking a picture of it...).
The only country where you can find yourself on a national road such as this,
and find that the maximum speed allowed is 100 km per hour.But also the only country where you can find that kind of breath-taking landscapes.
More about our Easter holiday, in my next post.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Ode to the North
Last Monday-Tuesday we've been to Northern Ireland. The place where Pind (sounds almost like pint that ends with a D, but still, not exactly) is actually Pound (the currency).
Dan had to be at a place called Banbridge, for some meetings. Luckily, he rented a car on the company's expense, so I joined him. I've decided that while he's on his meetings, I'll go to Belfast. I did some checking on the internet, and it took me 15 minutes until I found a proper website to check whether there's a bus or a train from Banbridge to Belfast. They should do some major upgrade works on their SEO... I discovered that there's a direct bus, Ulsterbus, line no. 38 or 238 or 238a to Belfast, every 20-30 minutes. I was afraid it was too good to be true, and hoping that the internet search doesn't necessarily say anything about their service.
Well, the bus was exactly on time, every time! And it's surprisingly good, considering the fact that it arrives from Newry.
I don't know whether there was a vacation from school those days, but there were many teenagers at the lawn of the city hall in Belfast. Seems like they all fancy the Gothic look: dark black hair, dark cloths. They all look the same. The girls wear too much make-up powder at that age, and the shade usually doesn't fit their skin colour. When they'll grow up, it doesn't matter whether they'll keep the gothic look, they'll add some tan to it. Yeah, many Irish women (haven't see tanned men, yet) put some kind of lotion that makes their skin look tanned. But it seems like they put it on their lags and their faces only, so when it's extremely hot, like these last few day, so many girls wearing t-shirts and skirts, uncover their extremely white, untanned hands (compared to their faces or legs).
By the way, after that, they'll probably get pregnant, have kids and that's it...
Except the city hall I went to the Belfast Castle, just to discover that except for the great view from up the hill, there are 2 rooms to be seen by the public, and the rest of that pretty huge castle is used for conferences and weddings... It all explains why they don't charge to enter the castle.
The most interesting thing was a neighbourhood where walls at the end of each block is painted, and it all been kept from the time of The Troubles. I took many pictures over there, and there were some more, but I didn't have the time to stay there, I had to go back to Banbridge, and then back to Dublin. I give you a quick glimpse. If you wish to see some more, just email me.
It was a nice place to visit, Belfast, but certainly not a must.
And now, for the first time, I going to use my blog to say hey to Jeremy, the taxi driver from Banbridge. We had a nice, long chat when he was taking me from the hotel we were staying, just outside of Banbridge, to the town center, to catch the bus to Belfast. I'm quite sure he doesn't read my blog, but still... I hope you enjoyed the Chelsea-Valencia match yesterday (He flew to London for the match!). And please, next time you drive with an Israeli, I think it's pretty stupid to ask whether it's safe living there... You're from Northern Ireland, you must know that what's on the media is quite different from the real, everyday life.
Tomorrow is Good Friday, and the following Monday is Easter Monday. What better reason do we have to go out of the city for few days? This time we go to the south, and when we're back, I'll update you, of course ( who else???)
Dan had to be at a place called Banbridge, for some meetings. Luckily, he rented a car on the company's expense, so I joined him. I've decided that while he's on his meetings, I'll go to Belfast. I did some checking on the internet, and it took me 15 minutes until I found a proper website to check whether there's a bus or a train from Banbridge to Belfast. They should do some major upgrade works on their SEO... I discovered that there's a direct bus, Ulsterbus, line no. 38 or 238 or 238a to Belfast, every 20-30 minutes. I was afraid it was too good to be true, and hoping that the internet search doesn't necessarily say anything about their service.
Well, the bus was exactly on time, every time! And it's surprisingly good, considering the fact that it arrives from Newry.
I don't know whether there was a vacation from school those days, but there were many teenagers at the lawn of the city hall in Belfast. Seems like they all fancy the Gothic look: dark black hair, dark cloths. They all look the same. The girls wear too much make-up powder at that age, and the shade usually doesn't fit their skin colour. When they'll grow up, it doesn't matter whether they'll keep the gothic look, they'll add some tan to it. Yeah, many Irish women (haven't see tanned men, yet) put some kind of lotion that makes their skin look tanned. But it seems like they put it on their lags and their faces only, so when it's extremely hot, like these last few day, so many girls wearing t-shirts and skirts, uncover their extremely white, untanned hands (compared to their faces or legs).
By the way, after that, they'll probably get pregnant, have kids and that's it...
Except the city hall I went to the Belfast Castle, just to discover that except for the great view from up the hill, there are 2 rooms to be seen by the public, and the rest of that pretty huge castle is used for conferences and weddings... It all explains why they don't charge to enter the castle.
The most interesting thing was a neighbourhood where walls at the end of each block is painted, and it all been kept from the time of The Troubles. I took many pictures over there, and there were some more, but I didn't have the time to stay there, I had to go back to Banbridge, and then back to Dublin. I give you a quick glimpse. If you wish to see some more, just email me.
It was a nice place to visit, Belfast, but certainly not a must.And now, for the first time, I going to use my blog to say hey to Jeremy, the taxi driver from Banbridge. We had a nice, long chat when he was taking me from the hotel we were staying, just outside of Banbridge, to the town center, to catch the bus to Belfast. I'm quite sure he doesn't read my blog, but still... I hope you enjoyed the Chelsea-Valencia match yesterday (He flew to London for the match!). And please, next time you drive with an Israeli, I think it's pretty stupid to ask whether it's safe living there... You're from Northern Ireland, you must know that what's on the media is quite different from the real, everyday life.
Tomorrow is Good Friday, and the following Monday is Easter Monday. What better reason do we have to go out of the city for few days? This time we go to the south, and when we're back, I'll update you, of course ( who else???)
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Some Cricket Facts
Here are 10 things I learned about Cricket last Friday.
Please note: The additional info is based on my own knowledge and the opinions that are stated are my own and does not indicate anything else but my thoughts:
1. It happens once in 4 years: Cricket World Championship. The first one was at 1975, in England. By the way, it was The West Indies who took the championship. They also won the following Championship. But it stopped there.
2. This year it take place in Guyana, South America. I am almost certain Guyana was once a colony. Next to Guyana lies Suriname, An Ex-Colony of the Netherlands. At first Suriname was a British colony and New York was a Dutch colony. There were loads of gold in Suriname, the Dutch knew it but the British didn't. That's why the Netherlands offered Britain a swap, and they agreed.
3. Many Ex-Colonies are participating at the Cricket World Championship: India, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Zimbabwe, The West Indies (Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad etc.) Australia, New Zealand, Ireland. Some of the mentioned above suffered, were exploited and abused more than others.
4. England, the biggest imperialist country ever, have never won the championship, though getting into the final for 3 times. How ironic.
5. The referees are dressed like colonialists.
6. Surprisingly, Pakistan lost to Ireland at the first stage of the games, and is out of the competition. Less than 24 hours after their defeat, the Pakistan coach, Bob Woolmer, who's actually an Ex-English-Cricket Player, was found unconscious in his hotel room. It is suspected he was actually poisoned and was strangled, which caused his death. The case in being investigated by the Guyana or the Jamaican police (It was unclear by the article I read...).
7. The match I was watching at Dublin Airport was between Ireland and England. Unfortunately, England won.
8. About the game itself: In the Cricket World Championship, a match will last 1 whole day (8 hours in total). The Non-World Championship match will last few days!!!
It's pretty much like Baseball: there are a bat and a ball, but it shaped different than the baseball ones.
There are two teams that are playing against each other, of course. One team is at the field, while the other one is hitting the ball and tries to gain as many runs as possible.
9. For further information go to www.cricinfo.com or at their world cup website http://uk.cricinfo.com/worldcup2007
10. So for those of you who used to think like me that cricket is boring: Think Again!
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Please note: The additional info is based on my own knowledge and the opinions that are stated are my own and does not indicate anything else but my thoughts:
1. It happens once in 4 years: Cricket World Championship. The first one was at 1975, in England. By the way, it was The West Indies who took the championship. They also won the following Championship. But it stopped there.
2. This year it take place in Guyana, South America. I am almost certain Guyana was once a colony. Next to Guyana lies Suriname, An Ex-Colony of the Netherlands. At first Suriname was a British colony and New York was a Dutch colony. There were loads of gold in Suriname, the Dutch knew it but the British didn't. That's why the Netherlands offered Britain a swap, and they agreed.
3. Many Ex-Colonies are participating at the Cricket World Championship: India, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Zimbabwe, The West Indies (Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad etc.) Australia, New Zealand, Ireland. Some of the mentioned above suffered, were exploited and abused more than others.
4. England, the biggest imperialist country ever, have never won the championship, though getting into the final for 3 times. How ironic.
5. The referees are dressed like colonialists.
6. Surprisingly, Pakistan lost to Ireland at the first stage of the games, and is out of the competition. Less than 24 hours after their defeat, the Pakistan coach, Bob Woolmer, who's actually an Ex-English-Cricket Player, was found unconscious in his hotel room. It is suspected he was actually poisoned and was strangled, which caused his death. The case in being investigated by the Guyana or the Jamaican police (It was unclear by the article I read...).
7. The match I was watching at Dublin Airport was between Ireland and England. Unfortunately, England won.
8. About the game itself: In the Cricket World Championship, a match will last 1 whole day (8 hours in total). The Non-World Championship match will last few days!!!
It's pretty much like Baseball: there are a bat and a ball, but it shaped different than the baseball ones.
There are two teams that are playing against each other, of course. One team is at the field, while the other one is hitting the ball and tries to gain as many runs as possible.
9. For further information go to www.cricinfo.com or at their world cup website http://uk.cricinfo.com/worldcup2007
10. So for those of you who used to think like me that cricket is boring: Think Again!
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
An Old Friend from Dublin
I forgot to tell you all that I met an old friend from last October (those who saw my pics from the October 2006 trip to Ireland might remember him).
I'm talking about the crazy drunk Russian singer from Grafton St.
I'm talking about the crazy drunk Russian singer from Grafton St.
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