What's in the middle???

Ireland - Day 3
On this my third day in Ireland I had my first traditional Irish breakfast, something for your inner carnivore. It consists of a couple pieces of bacon, two- links of sausage, a few pieces of unidentified meat pudding, fried eggs, and a bit of toast. Note to self: order a non-traditional Irish breakfast in the future.

The middle of Ireland is beautiful and peaceful. However, I was a bit concerned when at Athlone castle where there is a cannon pointed at the hotel across the river. I couldn't ascertain the source of the hostilities, but when betting on a hotel or a cannon, I'll side with the cannon.



Later I headed over to Connemara in Co. Galway. The sights were stunningly beautiful, but the roads gave me quite a fright. Imagine a typical canyon road; twisty, narrow, no shoulders, full of blind corners, but with a speed limit of 100 km/h (60 mph). I thought surely no one would take these roads at that speed, but as the cars behind me tried to crawl up my tailpipe, I quickly discovered that I was wrong.

There is a fine art of being able to pull into the shrubbery to let the other cars pass without clobbering oneself or others. Not having mastered this skill, I ticked off quite a few Irishmen who were stuck behind me until I found a safe place to pull over. Fortunately, the rear window of my car clearly advertises in big lettering that I am driving a rental car, and are mostly likely a foreign idiot.

Discovering Dublin

Ireland - Day 2
After sleeping in as long as I possibly could, I set out to see Dublin. The first thing I discovered was that the Irish general elections was coming up soon. It was hard to miss since every lightpost far and wide was plastered with faces of candidates. Amongst them all I found the candidate for me.


I don't think his chances of winning are very good, but Bert's not such a bad candidate. Sure he'd have a nervous breakdown at least once a day, but at least you'd know he really cares.

There are a half-dozen main attractions that everyone must see in Dublin. I saw 2.5 of them: Grafton Street, Temple Bar, and Trinity College (without visiting the Book of Kells)

Instead, my top priorty was just looking around and taking in the sights, like the colorful doors of Dublin. Most older cities are a composite of blah colored stone buildings. Although this is also true of Dublin, the doors of each of the buildings is painted any number of cheerful, bright shades. You wouldn't think it would make that much of a difference, but the little patches of color in the city really brightens things up.


Favorite quote of the day: On my way to Athlone for the evening I got lost (go figure), and I stopped at a gas station to get directions.

ME: Excuse me sir, can you tell me where I am?

IRISHMAN: You're in the middle of Ireland.