Eire: A Quick Recap

I started typing a list. This is by no means complete. Also, there are pictures. Lots and lots and lots of pictures.

1. Everything was green. As green as the postcards, posters, pictures, brochures, stories, videos, and eye-witness accounts attest; That green.


2. It does rain sometimes, just not on me. The climate seems to be what I would expect Seattle to be like: overcast, ocassionally drizzly, and cool.


3. Also, there are cattle and sheep everywhere. Everywhere.


4. I think it's a shame newer, bigger roadways are being constructed across the country. You don't need new roads. You can walk it.


5. I hate American tourists. I have hated American tourists since my first trip abroad, and they have not grown any less loathsome as I have matured.


6. Everyone in Ireland knows someone in Boston, or has lived in Boston.


7. High Tea at the Shelbourne was awesome.


8. All the Irish people we met were very nice. Most had awesome accents.


9. Dublin is tiny. Tiny like Boston is tiny. Tiny like, I could walk across it in ten minutes.


10. Most tourists go to Ireland to track down relatives/ancestry/genealogical records. Irish comedians amuse themsevelves by misdirecting these people to other parts of the island.


11. The number of Dunkin Donuts in Boston is fewer than the number of castle ruins in Shannon, which is fewer than the number of tanning salons and "adult" toy shops on any given street in Dublin.


12. Guiness is cheaper than Carlsberg in Ireland. This is something that should have been obvious to me before I saw the bill.


13. Guiness is owned by a mulitnational beverage conglomerate, not based in Ireland. Guiness is still delicious, though.


14. Entirely too many Irish folks drink Budweiser, Bud Light, and, [blech] Coors Light.


15. Sweaters of Irish wool are exceptionally warm.


16. The Liffey was pretty. Don't touch it.


17. Public transportation is significantly cleaner, and more punctual, than the MBTA.


18. The US dollar is weak!


19. Hurling is awesome. And easier to explain than cricket. Which still makes more sense than Australian football.

Thanks a million.
-t

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