Blog 9 observations

Blog 9 Observations

1. The Irish wit is marvelous.

Dan and I have been sampling Irish whiskey throughout Ireland.

In one pub, he was trying to decide whether to have ice or not.

He asked the bartender, “How do the Irish take it?” Without missing a beat, the bartender said, “From the bottle.”

The whole country has been following the World Cup. Last week, we were all watching the game in a pub. We asked the man next to us, “Has England played today?” He quickly replied, “No, Germany beat them 4-1.”

2. Driving in Ireland is for suicidal maniacs. Most of the roads are narrow, filled with potholes, and yet, the speed limit is 60 miles an hour. My boobs bounce up and down and my head swings from side to side. Of course, we get behind the inevitable truck going 15 miles an hour. Unless the truck driver decides to pull over, it is impossible to pass. When someone does pull over, the custom is to give him the finger (no, not that one—it’s a thumb’s up!)

3. On the rockiest mountain, in the wettest bog, along the most remote seashore, there are fairly large, modern houses on large areas of land. I’m not sure there are enough people in Ireland to fill all of the houses; yet, they seem occupied. Despite the poor economy, we have not seen any poverty, and we’ve covered a lot of territory. The only sign of it has been the number of educated people overqualified for their jobs. There are 232,497 B & B’s in Ireland. I know. I’ve counted them all. We have stayed in 2 super luxury ones and in one working farm house—dairy cows.

4. There are a lot of bald men-- whether by genes or shaved heads by choice??

5. Music: We’ve enjoyed a number of evenings listening to wonderful music: guitar and violin; harp, guitar, and “low” flute played by 2 excellent singers; accordion. The audiences in pubs include great grandmothers through tiny infants in prams with all ages in between. Each pub seems to have its own special characters: seedy looking men, with bright red cheeks, bulbous noses, who are either in advanced stages of alzheimers or are in a drunken stupor…I’m a thinkin’ the latter! (By the way, I’ve started dropping the endings of words.)

6. Food: We have not had gourmet meals (we are not gourmet eaters), but we have not had any bad meals. Most of the food has been very, very good. I’ve particular enjoyed the fresh fish: cod, salmon, sole. Mushy peas are served with pride: “We have mushy peas on the menu tonight,” enthusiastically announces the waitress.

Think Del Monte canned peas mashed up. The soup is outstanding—especially the potato leek. The portions are huge, and when Dan (the carnivore) and Shirley (the borderline vegetarian/fish eater) can agree, we share meals. We both agree that Irish whiskey is delicious!

7. Despite the beautiful green fields, we have not seen any agricultural products growing although the fruit and vegetables on display in a farmers' market were prize winning specimans.

This will probably be my next to the last blog, in which I’ll cover Dingle, Cliffs of Moher, Gallway, and our fun, fun evening tonight in a castle.