Peebo.net

Today is day six in Ireland. Fantastic trip so far. Since I’m at an Internet Café and paying by the minute, I’m not going to attempt a concrete summary but just provide you with some quick impressions. Here goes.

Dublin was smaller than I expected, at least at 7am on a Saturday morning after a flight from New York City (five hours—not much time for sleeping). Smaller and colder. Few people on the streets. Low buildings. The river Liffey is narrow too. Temple Bar is not a bar but an area filled with bars. Important thing to know.

Trinity College is also small but impressive, Our tour guide was a student—informative and funny. Reminded me of a co-worker named Martis in his leather boots and sunglasses. Everyone goes to Trinity to see the Book of Kells and so did we—two pages on view. (Ancient illuminated manuscript. Google it.) The real treat for me, though was the Long Room in the same library—upstairs from the Book of Kells. Amazing. Literally smells of books. The collection housed in that one space boggles the mind. (Largest single room library space in the world—beating Cambridge by three meters and not by accident.) Makes you want to read, write, and contribute something to history or letters or literature. (We had nothing like this at MSU.)

Other Dublin things: Jameson Brewery with a sample at the end. (Yum. Katy’s now a whiskey drinker.) Guinness, sweet Guinness–not the brewery though, just the pint(s). The best of them at “Mulligan”—said to have the best pint in Ireland. I’d agree if they weren’t all so good.

I have been surprised by Irish pubs (not just in Dublin but all around). They don’t fit the stereotype. I pictured heavy wooden tables–dark, cramped–but most of the real Irish bars (as opposed to the ones with shamrocks that scream “Drink here, tourist! We’ll deliver everything you’d expect and put it on a t-shirt to boot!”) frequented by real Irish people mostly seem well lit with low, lightweight stools and furniture. I think I’d combined Czech Beer halls with American Irish pubs in my mind. Also there doesn’t seem to be a set template for “a pub”—the best ones each have a unique personality. We went in a hardware store/pub yesterday (looking for an electrical adaptor, not a pint). The place was crazy. Half the room was hardware, the other half was a bar. (I am not kidding.) It was about 11am and a few regulars were already drinking. The barman came out from behind the tap and found our electrical adaptor on the opposite side. Strange. I liked it.

After Dublin the driving began. Left-hand side of the road. Wow. Brain gets all messed up. It seems so wrong at first, but you get used to it after a day or so. Some turns still cause confusion—never sure which way to look.

The first few hours out of Dublin you wonder what all the fuss is about—farmland, gentle hills. It could be Poland. It could be France. Except for the funny advertisements and miniature trucks and cars it could be Arkansas. Then at some point the road narrowsand it begins. That Irish countryside of postcards and picture books and sweeping helicopter shots in bad comic films. It’s freaking gorgeous. You have to resist the urge to pull the car over to side of the road every few miles and take pictures—sometime you don’t resist.

Some sights along the way (from Dublin to the Dingle Peninsula where I am right now). Google the following for pics and more info:
-Rock of Cashel (I’ll admit I thought it was literally a rock before we got there. It’s not.)
-Cashir Castle
-Dromberg Stone Circle
-Charles Fort
-Beehive Huts
-Mizen Head (southern-most point in Ireland)
-Healy Pass
-Early Christian Monastery Ruins
-Killarney National Park
- Slea Head (western-most point in Ireland)
- Blasket Island Heritage Center
- and much more

Back to the drive.
The route: Dublin –> Kinsale –> Kenmare –> Dingle. (you are here)

Next: Castlegregory –> Doolin –> Aran Islands –> Bunratty. (Fly out of Shannon)

It’s a lot of driving but it’s amazing driving. I keep shouting “The Vista! The Vista!” as we round a bend or go over a hill. Driving through the mountains is amazing. It’s like no landscape I’ve seen elsewhere. Few trees. Exposed rock. It has a raw ancient feeling. You get the distinct impression that what you’re seeing has looked just this way for a long, long time. Sheep dot a landscape with no fences. They roam the steep hills and wander across the road. On the minor roads many minutes (5, 10, 20) can pass without seeing another car (even if you’re pulled over on the shoulder taking photos of rocks and sheep and panoramic views that won’t fit in your camera)—though I suspect this may not be the case in high-season.

I’d like to describe Healy Pass to you but I can’t. I’d like to tell you about the place Katy and I call the middle of nowhere—a valley between two dun-colored hills on a road with no number on the map—but I can’t. I’ll show you the video we shot and post the pictures but it also won’t do it justice. You’ll have to come see for yourself. I’ll lend you our map.

Time is ticking at here at the Café. I’d better run. I have some more driving to do.

posted by peebo on Thursday, October 7th, 2004 at 7:24 am
View realted posts in category: travel
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.