Ramblin' Man

I’ve traveled to more countries in one week than I had ever been to by the age of 21.  Since I last updated, I’ve gone to England, France, the Netherlands and Belgium.  London was nice.  Everything was very grand but we did arrive during a weird time in London.  Riots had been going on in London and the surrounding areas.  In fact, many people were arrested and 3 people were killed.  The riots started after one individual was shot by police but soon escalated into something much more sinister.  Businesses were destroyed, homes were lost, and the rioters cited economic motives but I find it hard to imagine how burning someone’s car will help you make money.

Regardless, our trip to London was pleasant enough.  Our first day, my phone was having issues so we were unable to meet up with my friend Jess or Andrea, our friend we met in Dublin.  It was a sad state of the world, but we were able to visit Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace, for which I am sad to say I was not so impressed.  While the grounds of the palace were quite nice the actual building was somewhat lacking in the grandiosity that was characteristic of London in general.  The next day, Ross and I rented bikes and traversed the city on the wrong…excuse me, left, side of the road all the way to London Tower, which was more of a castle than a spire.  After several messages describing how flawed we were in planning I met up with my friend Andrea who is currently living in the south of England.  Ross’s friend Samantha also joined us.  Fun fact about Samantha:  She received the same scholarship to go abroad that Ross and I did but after leaving to travel the British Isles, she never came back to the States and is currently residing in Wales for the conceivable future.  Anyways, we viewed the city from atop the London Eye- very beautiful- and spent some time conversing in Trafalgar square before the other two headed for home. 

The following day, we left for the coast of France to go to a music festival called La Route Du Rock.  This festival was located in a beautiful little town on the coast of Brittany, France.  After travelling under the English Channel, we eventually made it to Paris and then to St. Malo, France.  The main part of town was situated in a stone fort and several castles were scattered along the coast of the town less than a mile from shore.  However, like most places in Europe during our adventure here, it was overcast and raining slightly.  The first day of the festival we listened to several bands we had never heard of and won’t care to hear again.  Practically none of the bands had lead singers and most played some type of math rock – jam bands without creativity( sorry if you like math rock).  The music on the second day was greatly improved, however the weather worsened significantly.  Like much of our trip in Europe it has rained a lot, but on this particular day the bottom dropped out.  Ross and I arrived early so he could watch the Low, his new favorite band (seriously though, Ross hates them with good reason) so we were plenty rained on by the time the better bands started coming out like Cuults and Blonde Redhead.  We were also front row at that point so we weren’t too upset.  Then, the Kills came out and the place exploded.  They rocked our extremely wet socks off.  After the Kills finished melting faces, we left for home, soaked but content.  At the last day of the festival we got to watch Okkervil River play a great set; their lead singer was so charismatic. However, my mind was officially blown when the Fleet Foxes showed up to play.  I noticed the lead singer offstage right before they were set to come on stage so I raised my arm and shouted “Fleet Foxes Rule!”  Just as I was about to retract my arm, the lead singer returned my salute and I lost my mind.  Their set was ridiculously good, very ethereal while still rocking out to tunes like Mykonos, Blue Ridge Mountains, and White Winter Hymnal.  I loved every second of it.  However, festivals in Europe and the US are very different.  For one, there are sooo many festivals in Europe but they don’t have nearly as many headliners.  Also, the crowd is much less flamboyant and there are no illicit drugs as far as I could see…weird at a music festival.

After leaving St. Malo the following day, we tried to make our way to Bruges, but because it was some sort of holiday in Europe we couldn’t get there unless we paid about 100 euros and as we had already shelled out $300 on a eurail pass we couldn’t justify that kind of cash.  What were two young travellers to do? As it turns out, one place our eurail ticket could take us was Amsterdam…so that is exactly what we did J until we meet again dear reader…

Coming Home

I feel as if I’ve come home to Ireland.  Everyone here is so friendly and the countryside is the greenest land I have ever seen, and if only it didn’t rain here almost every day it might be truly idyllic.  And even if it doesn’t rain the threat of rain in the form of clouds is omnipresent.  Although, without all the rain it might not be so green and the occasional brief rain shower never really hurt anyone anyways. 

After leaving Dublin, we headed to Youghal which we learned only after arriving in the town is pronounced like “ya’ll,” a nice reminder of home to be sure.  This is where we got our first taste of foxy Irish folks- foxy meaning average people, it appears to be a positive term.  We couch surfed with a fellow named Ian Malone lives in a town of 3,000 named Youghal through www.couchsurfing.org, which is a brilliant website matching up travelers with people who are willing to host them.

A few interesting things about Youghal and Ian.  Youghal is a town of about 3,000 and was the home to Sir Walter Raleigh.  It was where Raleigh first brought back potatoes and tobacco and may have been the first place either were enjoyed in the old world according to Ian.  It is also the site of the filming of the movie Moby Dick starring Gregory Peck.  Ian is an artist or was before he stopped making art.  He also has been unemployed for 6 years but due to the unemployment benefits in his country he hasn’t been forced to gain employment to pay for his living arrangements.  He is a very lively fellow, eloquent, and loquacious on many topics, and is quite fond of merriment and good conversation.  We spent the first evening with him drinking and went to a local pub where Tom Waits once played according to some foxy lady at the bar.  We had a great time at the bar meeting some real foxy folk.  It was marvelous to hear the word “fuck” flow so freely.  We stayed up until 5 am due to a guest at Ian’s who refused to take the hint to leave despite Ross snoring on the floor and myself bundled in a blanket hoping for sleep. 

The next day we woke up slow and toured the town.  As Ian was our guide, our tour consisted of the town walls and several pubs.  It was another very nice day in Youghal but afterwards we were rather tired.  After our stay in Youghal, I decided to visit the town of Rosscarbery in County Cork where the Maloneys, my mother’s family, is believed to hail from while Ross stayed in Cork City.  I did not find the Maloney’s pub I hoped to find but I found an adventure all the same.  Rosscarbery was a beautiful, quaint seaside town.  I decided to wander the countryside and attempt to find a stone keep that was supposed to be next to the ocean.  I wandered about for hours in the most beautiful countryside these young eyes have ever seen, filled with rolling hills and a deep blue ocean.  I also met another traveler along the way-a dog I named Paddy.  He kept me company all day and bothered all sorts of animals on our travels, including hectoring horses, chasing cattle, and bothering birds.  Eventually Paddy and I found our keep, but it was located beyond fences and wires on someone else’s property.  AS I had been walking for hours already, I wouldn’t allow a few pieces of metal to stop my quest so I clambored over them and fulfilled  my journey.  I wish farmer’s fields back in the states were filled with castles, keeps, and the like.  It would make for a very exciting landscape. 

After leaving Rosscarbery, we made our way to Blarney Castle where the ever popular Blarney Stone is located.  Blarney castle is a very neat specimen of an ancient castle that has been rather well maintained.  We toured the dungeons and the banquet halls and eventually made our way to the top of the castle where the battlements and the stone lies.  Blarney stone is a national treasure in Ireland, any who kiss it are believed to be blessed with the gift of gab or the gift of eloquence as it is also called, but if you ask me there is a big difference between the two.  In order to kiss the stone you are required to sit down reach out your arms and lean backwards and down.  The stone is at the very top of the tower which makes for a rather exciting kiss.  In order to make sure I got the gift of eloquence, I made sure to slip the stone some tongue, which is almost certainly why this post is so long J

After touring the castle, we visited the Blarney forest which is also very beautiful and filled with remnants of a druidic society that once inhabited the woods.  It was also the site of a very daring ninja game which I hope you all enjoy watching.  Oh yeah, it was also raining at this point, like it did frequently in Ireland.  Later that day, we went back to Dublin.  While Ross was working on his finances, I started playing a guitar at the back of the hostel.  I was finishing my first song when I noticed I was not alone.  People in the adjacent hotel room were listening to me play, which I thought rather funny and so I continued playing.  Forty five minutes later there were about a dozen people listening to me perform.  A few people even gave me a few euros.  People came from the pub next door and brought their friends to hear me play.  I got more than a few handshakes from drunken Irishmen I could barely understand saying you always here the best music in back alleys.  Not sure which alleys they frequent but I thought it nice all the same.  I went out that evening with a couple of German hitchhikers, one of whom was also a singer, so we shared musical interests among other stories.  It was phenomenal craic…once again referring to a good time and not crystallized cocaine.

The following day we were to depart for London but not before enjoying the wondrous beverages of fair Dublin city.  We first visited the Jameson’s distillery of which Ross and I became whisky taste testers, and in the process gained a healthy appreciation of whisky and a slight buzz- 3-4 shots of whisky at 11 am will do that to you.  We then visited one of the most popular destinations in Dublin, the Guinness Storehouse, where Ross and I were able to procure more than our fair share of Guinness through deception and also good fortune.  The view at the top of the Guinness Storehouse was the most beautiful I saw in all of Dublin.  Afterwards, we stumbled to a local food store and had beer battered burgers- the state fair should really take notice.  Finally, we made our way to the ferry and took a delightful ride to Hollyhead, Wales.  Upon arrival, we waited in a Welsh train station for over 4 hours and we are currently on that train headed to London.  It has been quite the adventure so far and I hope it will only continue to entertain both you and myself.  Until we meet again dear reader… 

The Beginning

We have arrived. It’s been a year since I began planning this trip and 6 months since I began real preparations, and now it’s finally here. We touched down in Dublin on August 2^nd at 6 am local time.  The city was still asleep and we needed to find lodgings. The first hostel was closed but the next was open, so we dropped off our stuff and began to explore. We went to Dublin Castle and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Both of which were incredibly beautiful.  The churches here are massive and so ornate in comparison to the homeland. That night we decided to enjoy Dublin for its most renowned assets- the pubs.  Before we left for Dublin, I asked a Dubliner what Dublin had to offer and he replied, “Women…and beer…lots of beer.”  We were not disappointed. All of the people here are so friendly and the beer flowed like water, very expensive water.

We embarked on a pub crawl and made friends with some American travelers. There was so much live music at the pubs.  At one bar, Ross and I sang a song that we didn’t know the words to but now I can’t get Sweet Molly Malone out of my head.  At the last there was dancing but not what we expected.  We danced to music by AC DC, Bruce Springsteen and Adele.  It was weird.  The next day we strolled around the city, visiting Trinity College and seeing the Book of Kells, which is a very old and very elaborately designed book of the four gospels.  Dublin has an interesting sort of beauty.  Most of the buildings in the city are made of grey stone and both of our days in the city it was overcast (which I hear is quite the usual), but the city is adorned with beautiful flowers and the architecture here is very pretty, so I love it. 

That night we wandered the city (don’t worry mom, I’m still alive) and listened to some street performers where a very old man challenged the crowd to a dance off.  Ross almost joined but my camera had just run out of memory.  We are currently on our way to Youghal in County Cork where we are staying with someone we found on couch surfing.  Tomorrow we are going to Rosscarbery where my family hails from.  I’ve come to discover that I love meeting people as much as I love travelling, and I am forcing myself to be more extroverted.  Only time will tell how this will turn out.  Before I sign off, I would like to introduce a recurring segment to this blog. This is the Rosstory.

Captain’s Log. Stardate: 08-04-2011

This is not, in fact, the Rosstory as that is a stupid name for anything. This is the Captain’s Log. Jean Luc-Picard had one, and if this trip is the Enterprise, then I am certainly the captain. "bahahahahahahaha" says colin

Dublin has been everything I thought it would be; lots of pubs, sexy accents, and tasteless food. We’ve met our fair share of friends at the hostel. Rachel pointed out to me that it is really easy to recognize and bond with other Americans. Conversations always start with “Where are you from?” or “Where are you traveling?” or “Have you enjoyed _________ so far?”. Some guy from Michigan told us we had friendly accents, which I almost took offense to as I’ve made a conscious effort since 8^th grade to NOT sound like I’m from rural North Carolina. I guess I can’t escape that part of me, although I’m slowly building a dictionary of European slang to bring back to the US so that’ll help.  “Rubbish” and “lorry” are a part of my regular vocabulary now.

One funny thing that happened was that Colin was tricked into buying Papa John’s pizza last night. I guess he’d had a little too much to drink. Who comes to Dublin to get Papa John’s? Even if I were in America, Papa John’s is dead last on the list of places I’d buy pizza from. I ended up eating some though, to ease Colin’s embarrassment.

I’m also growing a beard for my trip. Status at this point: Healthy Stubble.

Marginally more interesting details to come later. Ross out.

I told you it was the rosstory for a reason as most of that is utter rubbish.  Especially the part about Papa John’s, which goes under the name of Hungry Harry’s here so I can almost understand his naivety, but he’s my baby Ross so I would never really hold it against him.

Until we meet again dear reader…