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…