Guinness is the drink!

Tonight is my last night in Ireland.

Me and my Ireland travel companion Renee flew into Dublin Friday afternoon. We got a decent hotel room and headed out the to pubs.


I quickly found Dublin to be a very friendly and outgoing city. Much more so then London. The people in the pubs were very happy to talk to us and would often jump into a conversation with us or stop us in our tracks from drinking our Guinness before it was settled and ready to be drank.


The pubs in Ireland really have personality. Even more so then London. And I think the stereotype of a red faced, smiling, drunken Irishman holds pretty true. Not to mention the red hair! Also, unlike many other countries and the beer that represents their country, the Irish actually drink Guinness. No joke, you go into a bar and EVERYONE is drinking Guinness. Pint after pint. They fill the bar with them. The girls even drink it here. So, doing my best to follow the saying "When in Rome"... I have been drinking lots of Guinness! Oh and lots of Jamesons whiskey.

Saturday we got up and went to the Guinness brewery but the queue (line) for entry was too long so we just went to the gift shop. Also, Friday night we found out why our nice room was so cheap. Apparently it was directly above a Kerioke bar and you could hear it clear as a bell late into the wee morning. The guy who sang 'Girls just want to have fun' at 2:30 in the morning should be shot!


At around 2:30pm Saturday we jumped on my first train ride of my life (i was pretty excited i must say) to go from Dublin to Galway. I was sad to leave Dublin as I found it a fun and friendly town. (And cheaper then London). I really enjoyed the train ride and we were prepared and brought 4 large beers with us for the ride (cider beer, which is also big here in Ireland).

When the train arrived in Galway we found that most of the hotels and hostels were fully booked. We walked around with all our stuff (something I feel like I will be doing a lot of the next couple weeks) for about 45 minutes. The last hostel we went to was booked but recommended a bed & breakfast that was cheap and so we went with it. Betty would pick us up soon.

And so about 5 minutes later an older lady entered and introduced herself as Betty. She had a hard to understand Irish accent and seemed tough as nails. She drove us about 5 minutes to her house just a couple minutes from the downtown area in a residential neighborhood. She had converted her house to a bed and breakfast and when we got into the residence was happily surprised by it. We met a couple other travellers who were also staying at Betty's. She made us some tea and gave us some cookies. Funny thing too, she would only talk to me. "Chris would you two like some Tea?", "Chris would you like me to make you two breakfast in the morning?". It was funny, she would not talk to Renee while I was around.

We hit the town last night (saturday) and I think I probably drank 7 Jamesons whiskeys but in true Irish fashion I managed to hold it pretty well and didnt get too drunk. Galway is a youthful town and I found most of the bars to be a bit too 'college scene' for an old guy like me. The average age in most the bars here was probably 22. So, I enjoyed Dublin more then Galways as far as nightlife goes.

This morning Betty woke us up and made us breakfast, we got up a bit late and she had to come wake us up a couple times. By the time we got up and out it was noon and when we got to the bus station we found that we had unfortunately slept through the last bus to Doolin, the town we wanted to go to. This was a learning experience as our only other option was to rent a car and drive. A process that added a bit more stress to our day and cost us about $130 each.


But the drive was great and we are now settled in easily the nicest place I have stayed for the cheapest amount. I am writing this now, but soon we will go to a nearby pub in this tiny oceanside town and get some Guinness. Nothing too late though as we plan to get up very early and visit the nearby cliffs and caves. And possibly just walk on the beach (if there is any beaches that can be walked on).


The country here is beautiful. So hopefully we can see as much in the morning as possible. Our flights back to London leave from Shannon (20 minutes drive away) tomorrow around 1pm. I might cancel that flight and get one directly into Europe. We shall see.