Ireland Overall

Well, the city of Dublin was not what we expected: the people, consisting of more foreigners than dubliners it seemed, were not quite as welcoming as expected. The city was smaller in size than expected, and during our first couple of nights, there was a real great pub experience to speak of. Everyone was a little stand-offish and there was a serious lack of jolly singing. The first person we really got on with was a Turk who owned a kabob shop named Saleeb. He ended up just giving us free food and advice. He warned us of all the "nackers" (gypsies) on the north side of Dublin. And he told us how he bought everything from thieves that came by his shop to resell "discounted" items. Flat screens for $130, bottles of Jameson for $10, video games for $8 (which he turned around and sold to a legitimate gaming store across the street for $35). Saleeb was definitely responsible for the best quotes from Dublin: "You got to be like Jewish to survive this fucking recession" and when I asked him if we could give him money for all the free food he gave us, he replied with a smile, "Fuck off, I'm turkish. No irish, no american." Other than him, we were befriended by a Swede at a bar while watching a champions league soccer game, who eventually took us to another to another bar and bought a bunch of drinks. But we think he roofy'ed Colin, or someone did, cuz the rest of the night was a blur to him and he didn't drink nearly enough for that to happen. Colin thought I stole from McDonald's and wouldn't eat what I actually bought him, then proceeded to chase me down the street in what for him was a full sprint. Before he eventually fell down in the streets. And that was pretty much Dublin. That experience was enough for us to want to leave the city for a little bit and take a bus out to Galway, which is about a 3 hour bus ride to the west coast of Ireland. Here we stayed at a little B & B, with a nice little old Irish lady. This city seemed to be a bit nicer quality, and not so bustling with foreigners. We took a bus tour out into the country, where we had a hard time actually seeing the beautiful Cliffs of Moher due to the rain and fog that came in just as we showed up. The night that followed in Galway city turned out to be the best memory of Ireland. We watched a rugby match between Ireland and England at a pub where there actually was chanting and singing. We introduced Canadian mountaineers to some locals, and ended up meeting to Dubliners named Eric and Simon: cousins that showed us the best of the Irish people. Both very intelligent and interesting, Eric proved to be my new favorite gay friend who talked about boys and fashion while Colin and Simon trailed behind talking about history, philosophy, and spirituality. We started pub hopping with them at about 8 o'clock at night, and ended up staying at their hotel bar 'til 3:30 in the morning. Colin and Simon must've put back 10 pints of Guinnes a piece, while Eric and I were downing vodka and red bulls like no other. It was by far the best night in Ireland, and Eric and Simon were hands down the coolest Irish people we've ever met. The next day we caught a bus back to Dublin, where we stayed at a shady hotel, waiting to leave for Paris. It was hard to go back to Dublin after spending a day and a half in Galway. So, in conclusion, a crazy Turk, a Swede, a couple bus tours, and the two coolest Irish ever made up a trip that'll be hard to forget. Hopefully Paris will prove a little less hectic, and without the weird roofy night.