Wednesday, March 24
Today I went on an actual tour - the Ring of Kerry. We left Killarney via tour bus at 10:30am and returned at 5:00pm. The pictures should indicate - the trip had spectacular scenery. This is probable the biggest draw to this area in Ireland. There was about 30 people on the bus. It was nice to just sit back and have information provided to you versus reading it or asking questions. Our guide was great.
Some of the more memorable things I learned today were:
-- Gaelic is actually the native Irish language. Only about 3.2% of Irish people speak this (mostly in the western counties); however, they all learn Gaelic and English when in school.
-- Ireland is going through much the same as the US with economy problems. The counry has roughly 2 million homes - 365,000 of which are vacant or not finished. The unemployment rate is 12%
-- The great Irish famine resulted in mass immigration to the US. Current day, there are over 40 million Irish Americans in US. There are only 4.2 million in the country of Ireland.
-- Ireland has 2 very distinct sports - Galeic football and hurling. Both are played in all 32 counties of Ireland and each year they have a championship. Gaelic football is between rugby and soccer. Hurling is some sort of a skilled sport involving a stick - not like cricket - but maybe similar.
-- We passed through a town of 2,500 people. The town had 52 pubs.
The day was perfect for pictures. Bright blue sky, puffy white clouds, mountains, trees, green grass, the Atlantic Ocean. On our first stop we were in a location that was famous for their Irish coffee. I drank one of these (includes a shot of whiskey). We get on the tour bus, we're seeing the awesome scenery, and the guide puts on traditional Irish music. It was unbelievably peaceful. It might have arguably been the most relaxed of my entire life. Had a nice lunch with an older couple from New Jersey. Turns out the lady was a surgery center director. We discussed minimally invasive surgery over lunch. Nice.
How's the hostel going? Every person should experience a hostel at some point in their life. It should be part of sales training. Yesterday I was down in the "common lounge", just feeling things out. I was listening to conversations and quickly picking up on the dynamics of the room. One of the guys said: "Hey, dude in the hat, what's your story" I'm thinking: "Really - what's my story?" I proceeded to tell my story. From this point forward - I was in the inner circle. Next thing I know, I was at a traditional Irish dance with 5 of my closest friends jumping around like the most uncorridinated guy one good imagine. It was awesome. We danced Irish poko (or whatever it was) for about an 1-1/2 hours. Then, we hit the pubs. We found a pub playing live Irish music - it was great. We had people from Boston, Maine, Germany, Brisbane (Australia), Ireland, etc. It's unbelievable how intelligent and talented these people are. You can learn a thing or two talking with them. One of the guys plays his guitar on the streets of Killarney to pay his hostel fee for the day. That's about as close to homeless as you're going to get.
I'm currently in the "common lounge" writing this blog. A bit uncomfortable. There is 15 people with 10 different conversations going on. The only bad thing about this hostel is the fact that my bathroom is 2 levels down from where my box is. It's a community bathroom. Basically - I have no bathroom. That's fine - I've dealt with worse things in my life.
Things to do list -- check your attitude and stay at a hostel for a couple days - it is an experience of a lifetime.
Today I went on an actual tour - the Ring of Kerry. We left Killarney via tour bus at 10:30am and returned at 5:00pm. The pictures should indicate - the trip had spectacular scenery. This is probable the biggest draw to this area in Ireland. There was about 30 people on the bus. It was nice to just sit back and have information provided to you versus reading it or asking questions. Our guide was great.
Some of the more memorable things I learned today were:
-- Gaelic is actually the native Irish language. Only about 3.2% of Irish people speak this (mostly in the western counties); however, they all learn Gaelic and English when in school.
-- Ireland is going through much the same as the US with economy problems. The counry has roughly 2 million homes - 365,000 of which are vacant or not finished. The unemployment rate is 12%
-- The great Irish famine resulted in mass immigration to the US. Current day, there are over 40 million Irish Americans in US. There are only 4.2 million in the country of Ireland.
-- Ireland has 2 very distinct sports - Galeic football and hurling. Both are played in all 32 counties of Ireland and each year they have a championship. Gaelic football is between rugby and soccer. Hurling is some sort of a skilled sport involving a stick - not like cricket - but maybe similar.
-- We passed through a town of 2,500 people. The town had 52 pubs.
The day was perfect for pictures. Bright blue sky, puffy white clouds, mountains, trees, green grass, the Atlantic Ocean. On our first stop we were in a location that was famous for their Irish coffee. I drank one of these (includes a shot of whiskey). We get on the tour bus, we're seeing the awesome scenery, and the guide puts on traditional Irish music. It was unbelievably peaceful. It might have arguably been the most relaxed of my entire life. Had a nice lunch with an older couple from New Jersey. Turns out the lady was a surgery center director. We discussed minimally invasive surgery over lunch. Nice.
How's the hostel going? Every person should experience a hostel at some point in their life. It should be part of sales training. Yesterday I was down in the "common lounge", just feeling things out. I was listening to conversations and quickly picking up on the dynamics of the room. One of the guys said: "Hey, dude in the hat, what's your story" I'm thinking: "Really - what's my story?" I proceeded to tell my story. From this point forward - I was in the inner circle. Next thing I know, I was at a traditional Irish dance with 5 of my closest friends jumping around like the most uncorridinated guy one good imagine. It was awesome. We danced Irish poko (or whatever it was) for about an 1-1/2 hours. Then, we hit the pubs. We found a pub playing live Irish music - it was great. We had people from Boston, Maine, Germany, Brisbane (Australia), Ireland, etc. It's unbelievable how intelligent and talented these people are. You can learn a thing or two talking with them. One of the guys plays his guitar on the streets of Killarney to pay his hostel fee for the day. That's about as close to homeless as you're going to get.
I'm currently in the "common lounge" writing this blog. A bit uncomfortable. There is 15 people with 10 different conversations going on. The only bad thing about this hostel is the fact that my bathroom is 2 levels down from where my box is. It's a community bathroom. Basically - I have no bathroom. That's fine - I've dealt with worse things in my life.
Things to do list -- check your attitude and stay at a hostel for a couple days - it is an experience of a lifetime.
Ran/walked 8 miles today after tour. Still feeling a little weak - but getting stronger.
We are so enjoying your blog! What beauty at the Ring of Kerry--you lucky guy1 I think half the fun would be talking to all the different people. Take care. Bob and Annie
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