Goodbye Ireland, Hello Wales

July 3, 2016Leave a comment

We recently left Ireland, the land of amazing dairy (creating equally great lattes), and set off to the UK starting in Caernarfon, Wales. I still don’t completely know how to pronounce that city’s name- Welsh is proving very difficult. Take a look at this town’s name we saw as we passed on the train!

Literally did not even get the entire name in my photo it is SO long!

It was truly a unique time to be in Ireland because this year marks the 100th year since their fight for freedom during the Irish Revolution. We saw this anniversary, along with the excitement surrounding the Irish team’s (short lived) success in Euro 2016 celebrated through outpourings of Irish pride all over the south of the country, from larger towns like Dublin and Galway to more rural places like Kilkenny and Dingle.

The second half of our time in Ireland was my favorite; we spent it in more rural areas, soaking in the Irish countryside. Before visiting I imagined all of Ireland to be a crazy quilt of different green patches sewn together over rolling hills. Serine and breathtaking.

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Now that I’ve seen a bit of the country for myself, not Hollywood’s version, I realize there is a lot more to Ireland than that, but the “greenness” of everything still shocked me!

As I reflect on my visit here are a few quirky notes on Ireland of things that stood out to me as being different from the US. I broke them up, in no particular order, into “the good” which are the things I wish I could take back to the US with me and “the bad” which are things I’m happy to be leaving behind.

The Good:

Farm fresh dinner from McSwiggan’s, voted the best in Galway

Kind, generous, American loving people (this is, of course, a generalization but what I personally experienced). A big shout out of thanks to all the patient bus drivers who helped us find our way
Excellent access to wifi in most places- Cork even had city wide wifi
Restaurants having a list of their suppliers on the menu (this way you know exactly where your meal is sourced from- what a concept)
Delicious food fresh off the farm
How amazingly green everything is
The crafts and music of local artists

A loom of a local craftswoman

Musicians practicing at the pub
When you enter your hotel room, you place the key in a slot above the light switch for the lights to work (saving electricity by turning all lights off when you leave the room AND you never need to worry about loosing your keys)
How people were encouraged to pitch in to keep their city clean! Ireland even instituted a “Tidy Town” award that goes to the cleanest town

Clean up, clean up everybody do their share!

And the Tidy Town award goes to… Galway!
Tea everywhere at all times (with the best milk you’ll ever taste)
Tea time at Cupan Tae

The Bad:

Lots of smoking everywhere; we couldn’t really sit outside without being absorbed in a cloud of smoke
A downside to the charming windy streets is smelling the exhaust of cars just inches away from you
Few towels in hotels/b&bs, not a big deal, but a bummer if you have long hair to dry (aka no wash clothes or hand towels)
The bipolar weather- it’s not safe to go out without a raincoat and umbrella even if it’s sunny
Me hanging out with Fungi, Dingle’s resident dolphin
Old plumbing in most places had me questioning, will the toilet flush? Will there be enough water pressure to wash my hair?

I probably sound incredibly spoiled but this is so you all can be prepared when you visit and I can have a good laugh looking back at the thoughts of my younger self. Now I’m off to enjoy the beautiful Welsh seashore- expect more on Wales soon!

Irish Street Art

June 30, 2016June 30, 20164 Comments

I’ve been finding really cool street art all over Ireland. In every town we’ve stopped in there have been quirky, random, sometimes beautiful pieces covering the walls. No Banksy’s yet but UK here I come! Below are just a few I caught to share.

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Live Music in Ireland

June 27, 2016June 27, 20162 Comments

I have been feeling so inspired by the live music performed in Ireland. On a nightly basis every pub on the street will have signs announcing their live music offerings. We happen to be in the right place at the right time last night and heard a really great couple perform. The woman performed violin and vocals and her husband played the accordion. For a taste of what I’m talking about, listen to the clips below- the first an upbeat jig, the second a ballad.

I love how so many people in Dingle, Ireland still know how to play an instrument. In the family we are staying with, all three children play the piano and the mother plays violin in a local orchestra. Reflecting on my own experience in the states, my only musical education (to my mother’s dismay) was playing the saxophone for one year as a middle school elective. Neither of my parents actively play an instrument, although both took lessons as children, and my sisters, who both took piano and guitar lessons growing up, chose not to continue with their practice. Very few of my friends play, though we all seem to have taken lessons of some sort as children. How come so few of us carry this practice through to adulthood? Whenever someone does bring a guitar to a group event everyone seems to enjoy it and joins in nodding their heads to the beat.

I think one contributing factor may have been the fact that electricity didn’t reach parts of the Dingle Peninsula until the late 1960s! Without television (which was adopted widely in the US in the 1950s) learning and playing music was a wonderful form of entertainment. And today, with a world of unlimited, personalized entertainment at our fingertips who takes the time or has the attention span to master an instrument. I applaud all of you who do!

So next time I go to turn on Netflix, I’ll need to stifle the internal guilt I feel for my lack of musical abilities, and maybe even browse for a good guitar teacher in the Bay Area while watching Orange is the New Black.