//Europa 2006//

Well Then...

So begins our Euro-Trip experience.

So begins our unfrantic struggle to use the train.

So begins our love for this Ireland place.

And so begins the gradual thinning of our pocketbooks.

(We're not really carrying pocket books)

Currently, we're on a train to Dublin on this our third day of travel. I believe I'll start at the beginning though, and work forward. Perhaps not all on one post.

We left Asheville and got to Dublin quite seamlessly, with a few luxuries thrown in for good measure. On the morning of June 7th, we arrived and found some bus tickets into the city. We soon discovered that the guys that drive those buses don't really care how close they get to light poles, low stone walls, bicylists, or any number of small European cars. Graham, ever the backseat driver, took it hard. It's bad enough for me to come within a yard of a mailbox, imagine the look on his face as we scraped the paint off a Peugeot. Anyway, we made it downtown and easily found a train station. But said station didn't validate Eurail passes so we searched and eventually found the big daddy station in Dublin. We were trying to get to the Hylton house (south of the city) but didn't have directions. Graham utilized an internet portal to check his email and "wrote down" the directions. Our newly validated Eurailpasses served us well and got us on the Dart (ever notice how a bunch of public transit systems have art in them? Atlanta: Marta, Charleston: Chart-something, Dublin: Dart... Makes you feel sorry for Warsaw)

Anyway, we got off at the correct stop and consulted the "directions". Here in their entirety: "go into the village/ left at light / 4lr / tl / stonewall / right after park" In retrospect they kinda make sense but it took a local pet store owner and a doctor's receptionist to help us get our bearings and we were warmly welcomed by three old friends. Abby made tea and everybody was involved in some pretzel making and we all sat down to a fine, umm, tea? early tea? no idea. 'Twas grand though. Emily walked us as far as the train station and Graham and I headed north to Dublin and west to Galway, feeling the power of unlimited rail. The countryside was amazing. Fragrant too. We eased into the Galway station and found our hostel. Sleepzone was an exceedingly nice place to be, I'm already lamenting over leaving. Nice people, nice beds, great city. We headed to the supermarket for dinner and feasted on: Potted meat, cream crackers, mature cheddar cheese, and orange juice. We ate at a park with an Asheville-esque drum circle going on. Back at the hostel, Graham decided to sleep (predictable?) and I decided to try out open mike night at a local pub I'd heard about. (even more predictable?) I gave myself a little tour of the city (it was after 10:00 and still quite light outside) and it definitely endeared itself to me. Eventually I made my way back to "The Cellar" and signed my name onto the short open mike list. They provided a guitar and the entire pub absolutely went wild over Folsom Prison. That was fun. I got 2 coupons for free beer. I used neither.

We decided to go to the Cliffs of Moher on the morning of June 8th and soon made that decision a reality. The bus ride to the cliffs showed off some of the very best of Ireland and also the neurotic tendency of the Irish to build stone walls. I shudder to think how many tons of stone lie on the rolling hills near Doolin. They just love rocks. Of course it's really all they've got 'cause it's not advisable to build a fence out of grass. Or sheep.

The cliffs, though a touristy place, were majestic. The ocean always reminds me of God's glory and power but those cliffs (with the sea at the base) sort of took it to the next level. We walked out farther than 96% of the tourists and found some solitude. We payed by missing our bus.

The walk to Doolin was great. We've got pristine weather here which, according to all the locals, is the best they've seen in years. We soaked it in on the 4.5 mile path along the cliff-lined shore through cattle fields and plastic-wrapped hay bales, dodging the leading John Deere imitators plugging along the road.

We reached to town of Doolin and, parched, wandered into the local pub for some Coke. We paid dearly for our two 200mL drinks and sat awhile. We had a while. The bus was about four hours out. So, it being late afternoon, I decided to try for some food somewhere. Nobody took a credit card unless your purchase was over 20 Euros. Eventually we found a campstore and I got a loan from Graham and bought a can of corned beef. That's Irish, right? Graham didn't eat any. He said he was a “fine tuned machine” whatever that meant. We found a spot on the seashore nearby and stuck around there napping and reading until the bus came at 19:25. A sleep-filled bus ride later, we were back in Galway and Graham announced that he was willing to go out and actually buy food at a restaurant so we asked around for a good, cheap place and were pointed to a place specializing in fish and chips. Best cod I ever had in my life. Graham stayed at the restaurant a little to here a next-door jazz band and I headed to find Galway Bay, a place out of a Johnny Cash song. Found it. Came home after a while but not before playing a couple songs with some guys on the street. First eagles I've sung over here. Good times. Graham and I reconvened and went to sleep.

# posted by Caleb @ 7:04 PM