Day 233 - Life on the Aran Islands and a Visit from Lemdog!
On the 22nd of July I found myself aboard a ferry heading 45 minutes out to sea off the westcoast of Ireland. Over the next five weeks I would call Inis Mor Island and specifically the Kilronan Hostel my home. The small island is one of the last places in Ireland where the approximately 800 locals still primarily speak the Gaelic (Irish) language, although most also know English.
I met my new boss, Andy, the Aussie and was shown to the bunkbed that I would be calling home for the length of my stay. The hostel is actually one of the nicer ones I have visited, with a brand new kitchen, free internet, and dvds galore in the tv room (www.kilronanhostel.com). I spent my first day on the island in search of a job that would pay a little cash, since I was only earning a free bed to sleep in at the hostel. After several hours of walking around the seven mile long island and stopping at every pub, restaraunt and B&B I realized that it would be very dificult to find a job since it was the tourist season was already in full swing. That night I went out to “The Hotel” with a few co-workers and other people who were working on the island. The Hotel was the ritziest drinking establishment on the island, with a “fancy” bar and restaurant. But when there are only three pubs to choose from you really can’t be too picky. We were fortunate enough that night to be entertained by two locals who were nearly pushing 90, but man could that Granny rock on the keyboard. When her husband got that accordian going I realized that I was faraway from the bars of Huntington Beach and the rap/dance music that played. Besides the music, the biggest shock of the night was to see Budweiser on tap and many of the locals actually drinking it. Being that I wanted to experience the true Irish culture I decided to pass on the Bud-Heavy and instead have a pint of the “Black Stuff”, Guinness. Honestly, back in the States I never really gave Guinness a chance and only had a pull maybe twice in my life. But people are correct, it does actually taste better in Ireland and over the course of the next month and a half I came to really love it!
The following morning I woke to my alarm ringing and it was time to head to work for the first time in nearly eight months. Not that changing sheets and cleaning toilets for two hours a-day was comparable to my previous engineering job. Regardless, I was a working man again and I even managed to break a little sweat while wrestling with the sheets and learning the inside-out trick so I could correctly put a cover on the duvets. This routine continued for about ten days; waking at 9:20 a.m., having some toast and cereal, stripping the beds, putting on new sheets, cleaning the bathrooms, vacuuming, etc. Then after a week and a half into my new position the owner of the hostel offered me a promotion, I earned the title; laundry-boy! I now had the responsibility (and earned a little spending cash) to make sure that all of the sheets were clean for the following day. This meant that I was doing ten-fifteen loads of laundry a day on top of my other duties! Over the course of the five weeks there is no doubt in my mind that I did more laundry than my whole life combined! Now you may be thinking that life on the island doesn’t sound too enjoyable, but I still managed to do alot of cool activities combined with a fair share of partying. The partying highlight of my week was undoubtedly on Wednesday nights. To me it came to be know as Wilful Wednesday @ Watty’s (Wilful being the name of the coverband and Joe Watty’s was the pub). I managed to spend every Wednesday night on the island in the middle of the dancefloor in a drunken haze, pumping my fist along with some classic rock songs, including some not so classics covers like the Fragglerock and Ghostbusters Theme Songs! Friday nights were spent at “The Hotel” listening to Mickey Martin sing/play traditional Irish music, among other songs. Although, these nights at the Hotel typically ended up being much more laid back than the chaos that occurred when Wilful came to town…
Over my five weeks on the island I drank alot of Guinness, but probably nowhere close to the amounts that the locals consumed. What also struck me as different was that it was a family affair for the Irish, with little children staying in the bars with their parents until past midnight. After all of the drinking I saw on the island, I am convinced that in Ireland students health teachers do not teach them that alcohol is a drug, but instead it serves as one of the portions on their food pyramid! They take the phrase of a “liquid diet” to a whole new level…
It was at these bars that I learned one of the most common Gaelic words; craic (pronounced crack). Everyone kept referring to the pubs having “good crack”, now being from the States you typically would find good crack on the mean streets of Philadelphia for example, not in small town pubs. While on the island I even searched high and low for former Cowboy, Michael Irvin, figuring that if there was good crack around he, out of anyone would likely be present. But to no avail, no Irvin and no crack use from what I saw… It wasn’t until after hearing the phrase numerous times that they explained that “craic”, was not only spelled differently but also meant basically “fun, or a good time” in Irish/Gaelic. So instead of referring to drugs, instead everyone was saying which pubs were a good time to have a pint or to at… I’m still not convinced that the phrase will fly back home in the U.S. though.
On top of making the toilets sparkle, changing sheets, doing laundry and drinking absurd amounts of Guinness I spent the afternoons exploring the island. This included bicycling, swimming, a little fishing, or just chilling out outside the hostel with a great view of the harbor. The island had two great prehistoric forts, Dun Aengus and Black Fort, set atop cliffs that shot into the swirling ocean hundreds of feet below. Also, just walking around the island was entertaining in itself, watching the locals driving their horse-drawn carts and passing the cattle and thatched roof huts. Life on the island was definitely laid-back. With no shopping, movie theater, etc. and only a supermarket, a brand-new ATM, and a bank that is opened two times a week, Inis Mor Island was miles away from the busy lifestyles of the US in both distance and culturally. However, living on the island does make one realize how few material goods that you need to get by and hopefully I can carry over a little bit of that experience with me when I return home…
After five weeks of working, partying and enjoying the island lifestyle I was headed back to the mainland to meet my Dad in Dublin. He had decided to fly over and spend a week with me roadtripping, drinking beer, and seeing the sights of Ireland. On the August 30, I met my Dad in downtown Dublin where we would spend one night. Being back in a large city like Dublin was a little overwhelming and it was actually one of my least favorite places in Ireland. However, it is home to the Guinness Storehouse, the most popular tourist attraction in Ireland. So that was our first mission for the day, get my Dad over his jet-lag by having a pint of the “Black Stuff”. The self-guided tour of Guinness was good compared to the three other brewery tours I had done on the trip, with the highlight being the free pint in the Sky Bar overlooking Dublin. We actually managed to get our first pints without giving up our ‘free tab’ so we both had two pints for free (fitting seeing that my sisters husband loves Guinness and wanted me to drink a pint for him). From the bar we headed downstairs to the giftshop to pick up a few souveniers along with about 90% of the other visitors. From the looks of their shop you would think their merchandise is more popular than the actual beer. My favorite part of the Guinness Storehouse was the fact that the owner, Arthur Guinness, signed a 9,000 year lease on the brewery. Apparently he believed in his product and ensured that Guinness will be around for a long time! The rest of our day in Dublin was spent exploring the Temple Bar area, eating Irish boxty’s for dinner, and having a few pints in the bustling bar district.
On the 31st we were headed south to the Kilkenny to visit the “Kilkenny Castle”. The town of Kilkenny was much like the other small towns in Ireland, quaint with pubs lining the narrow streets. We happened to be in town the day before Kilkenny played for the Hurling Championship so the town was decked out in their yellow and black flags, banners, and jerseys. We visited the Kilkenney Castle before continuing south (with only one or two scares of my Dad accidently pulling into oncoming traffic) to the small town of Cashel. That evening we went out for a few pints and listened to some traditional Irish music before calling it a night. Early on the first we awoke in the shadow of the Rock of Cashel, which was our first destination on the day. The Rock is historically signifact both religiously and involving the Kings of Munster and it’s midevial architecture is some of the most impressive in Europe. From Cashel we continued south dodging traffic on the insanely narrow roads to the town of Blarney, home to the world-famous Blarney Castle. A few local Irish laughed when I mentioned that Blarney Castle was on the itinerary, but no tourist in the right mind would visit Ireland and not kiss the Blarney Stone! So my Dad and I climbed the towers of the castle and planted one on the Stone, however I am still waiting to get the promised gift to gab.
From Blarney Castle we continued west to the tourist town of Killarney. It was already late in the evening and after a full day of driving we decided to skip the pints and only stayed in town to get some fish and chips before calling it a night. The morning of the 2nd we were up early to visit the Muckross House on the banks of the Lakes of Killarney. The house was not overly impressive, but its lakeside setting amongst sprawling gardens was a nice touch. From Killarney we went north to the Dingle Peninsula, a nearly 30 mile loop along the coastline. We chose to tour the Dingle Peninsula over the more well-known Ring of Kerry because of both time constraints and positive suggestions from other travellers. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate and for most of the day we were driving around looking at thick fog and rain and couldn’t get a great look at the scenery. We did make a few noteworthy stops along the peninsula, one at an old fort overlooking the ocean and another to throw down a pint of Guinness at a local pub. From Dingle we continued driving north, through Limerick and to the small coastal village of Doolin. Doolin is known as the Irish music capital of the world, and I hoped to spend the night in a pub listening to some tunes. After a fish and chip / Guinness stew dinner and a few beers at O’Conner’s we continued on a mini-pub crawl seeing what the town had to offer. We spent a few hours listening to Irish music, beforing ending the night at our hotel bar which offered an Irish man singing the likes of Elivis Presley and Johnny Cash, among others. After a solid night of drinking pints I was glad that it was only a short stumble down the hall to the room.
The following morning after some liquids to shake the minor headache we were off to the Cliffs of Mohr. For once the weather cooperated and we were able to get a great look at the sheer cliffs shooting several hundred feet down into the ocean. We were also fortunate to get a view of the Aran Islands, so I could point out to my Dad where I lived/worked the previous month and a half. From the Cliffs we continued north through the Burren and their limestone fields, stopping several times to take some photos of the almost pavement like rocks and thatched-roof cottages that occasionally dotted the hillsides. We made our way slowly around the coast until eventually arriving in the entertaining city of Galway. That evening we set out to explore Galway’s happening nightlife, but not before eating another serving of fish and chips at the famous McDonough’s. I also had the opportunity to try mushy peas, which taste exactly like they sound, like mushed peas (not so delicious). While sitting at dinner I noticed a slightly intoxicated Irish man stumble into the restaurant, I couldn’t believe my eyes, it was no other than my boss from the hostel, Dave! After introducing my Dad, we made plans to meet up later that night, but judging by his slurred speech and the fact he had already drank four pints I guessed that he wouldn’t make it to 10:30 pm. My Dad and I spent the rest of the evening strolling aruond the town/pubs before settling into a bar with a good crowd and great cover band. Although they didn’t play Irish music, they covered some great rock bands - Pink Floyd, The Doors, Nirvana, Neil Young, Lynard Skynard, etc. After a couple hours of drinking Guinness and rockin’ out we went around the block to meet up with my boss. To neither my Dad or my surprise he was no where to be found, my guess is his earlier pints caught up with him and he was long passed out… We went back to the previous bar for a few more drinks to build on my solid buzz before making our way back to the hotel, but not before making two pitstops for drunk food; Supermac’s and 7-Eleven!
On the fourth of September, and final day of travel in Ireland we went north from Galway through the Connemara. Again, the luck of the Irish was not with us as the clouds rolled in and views of the mountains dissapeared. The weather did clear enough to get a decent look at a scenic fjord and also some good fishing streams that my Dad enjoyed looking at, and likely wishing he had more time to actually fish them. As the afternoon passed, we left the scenic northwest corner of Ireland and made the four hour journey back to Dublin to fly out the following morning.
After a great week of travelling through Ireland and seeing a majority of the popular sights, my Dad had to unfortunately fly back to Pennsylvania to head back to work. Luckily for me I still have a few months to travel, but in the past week I had been spoiled with hotel beds and rental cars, and it was time to get back on a budget which meant hostel bunkbeds and bus/train travel. From Dublin I was flying into Edinburgh, where I would travel around Scotland for ten days before swinging by London to visit some friends and ending my Europe travels in Munich for the biggest beer bash in the world - Oktoberfest!
