Back to Irish adventures! See previous post for the first part.
Monday: Found the Kiwis! By which I of course mean my New Zealand friend and her New Zealand friends. One of the Kiwis rented a 7-person car, and off we went for a terrifying careening drive through the Irish countryside. I thought Ecuadorian roads were bad. They have nothing on the narrow twisty full-of-blind-corners Irish lanes.
Sidenote I found myself thinking how the Irish flag is so perfectly representative of Ireland. I have never seen grass so naturally green. Suburban Americans kill for that color green in their lawns. The countryside is full of beautiful rolling hills blanketed in what my Kiwi friend referred to as “highlighter green.” The hills are criss-crossed by rows of gros (goss?), a hedge plant with bright yellow flowers (okay not quite orange like the flag, but close.. see what I mean?). Add sheep and low medieval crumbling walls, and it is quite idyllic.
I just told this to my dad, and he scoffed “Grass is just green. It can’t be greener.” YES. YES IT CAN. (clearly never been to Ireland. scoff.).
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| The Glendalough round tower |
After braving car sickness, we and the Kiwis first enjoyed a traditional Irish restaurant where lots of stew and lamb and brown bread were eaten. Then off we careened to Glendalough, an ancient monastic village set between two lakes in the mountains. Saw some nice ruins and some adorable newborn lambs. Tried to not think about that we could have just eaten their siblings.
And then my friend Ziyi and I were purposefully abandoned by everyone in Wicklow, a town on the Irish coast, where we set up camp at Captain Halpin's Bunkhouse (really). Went to one of two restaurant-pubs (synonymous words in Irish) where we ran full force into Irish hospitality. Irish lads bought us both the “usuals” of Guinness and Jameson+ginger ale, and then after a bevy of some of the worst (and increasingly unintelligible, see previous post about the Irish accent-to-alcohol ratio) pick-up lines I have ever heard, attempted to sneak a kiss when posing for a photo with us .There is an excellent photo of a shock-faced Ziyi getting kiss-bombed which I will post as soon as I kidnap her camera. Too much fun.
Tuesday: I cannot get over how good Irish brown bread is. It is so much better than any other brown bread I have ever tasted and I have no idea why. They pride themselves in it and the pride is completely deserved.
After filling up on bread, I spent the morning on a long run along the coast of Ireland while waiting for Ziyi to wake up. Yes I ran on vacation (insert Hildabeast friends’ collective gasp of horror, then my subsequent eye roll). Ran along some rivers, meandered through some fields, and skirted the Irish sea. I love using a run to explore new countries, such a unique way to see the detail of an area. College running buddy Jenna, you would've loved it. Then, tricked city gal Ziyi into hiking by telling her we were going walking. Win! (an astute person would point out that walking is essentially what hiking is of course, but for some reason walking sounded less intimidating?). We hiked about 5 miles up a trail along the Irish coastline.
Sidenote Irish hospitality is truly touching. The Irish are the friendliest people I've ever met. We had three separate Irish elders greet us while walking and spontaneously explain exactly how to reach this beach full of seals and how to get back. We didn't even need to beg for directions. Friendly to tourists? How refreshing.
We hiked to this hidden-away cove where seals were known to sunbathe. No seals on the beach. Disappointing. And then I looked over the rocks, and lo and behold there they were frolicking in the bay! Baby seal was unsure what to make of me: kept popping up, staring at me, looking at mom, and then cocking its head and staring some more I watched them for at least an hour. I love wildlife.
We then saw some lighthouses (Grandpa Dykhuizen, I'll send you a picture) and hiked back into town. Then this morning I woke up at 5 a.m. and started the journey from Wicklow to Oxford. sidenote Not that I support this idea, but if anyone is ever thinking of sneaking into the U.K., they should definitely do it through Ireland. Minimal customs on the way in, no customs on the way back at all? Huh?
Clearly the mark of a successful vacation was my perfect 5-for-5 in the Days in Ireland: Days Drinking Guinness ratio! Everyone should be so proud of me and my low tolerance. I may never drink Guinness again and my body hates me at the moment but at least I made the Irish proud.
Now ready to bury my nose back in the books. Cheers Ireland. Until next week! LP
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