Day Eleven - Ireland's End is Near

So it's been 10 days now that I have been away from home. I have had more activity and excitement in these last 10 days then in the 6 months prior to my departure. For my own sanity I feel the need to slow down the pace a bit. Tonight will be a quiet one at the hostel.

I had the same plan for last night but a funny thing happened to me. After arriving here in Killarney, a small town situated near the Ring of Kerry, I was stricken with a bout of hunger. To appease the stomach gods I ventured out into the streets in search of a tasty bite to eat. I was just wandering around, as I usually find myself doing in new locations. I chanced upon an alleyway that really didn't look particularly promising in regards to my search for food. Yet I still felt
a need to explore. Shortly after turning into the alleyway I glanced to my left and couldn't believe what I saw. In the window of a small hostel I recognized the face of my German friend from Galway, Henning.

I ran up to the window, excited to see a familiar face. Henning looked up as he heard me rapping at his chamber door, yet at first he did not realize who I was. When he walked closer his excitement matched mine and he quickly let me in. We decided that we must go out for some pints in celebration of our chance meeting in this town that is in a completely different area of Ireland from where we originally met. We both caught up on our adventures since leaving Galway and then went out to a pub christened The Grand. Henning told me that there is live music there every night of the week. After having a fantastic time at The Grand we bid what will truly be our final farewell, that is of course until I reach Munich where we have plans to meet up again.

So going back to my original opening bit about having a quiet night tonight, I am very much looking forward to it. In the last few days I have been in a new city pretty much every day. That starts to take it's toll on you after a while.

I originally had planned to have a one week anniversary list of the things I have learned while being abroad. Since I missed that milestone I will have to change it to a ten day anniversary list. So here it goes, some of the interesting lessons I have learned so far:

- The Gaelic Irish language is very important to very many Irish citizens, yet only a very small portion of people are able to fluently speak and understand the language. Still, 99% of signs are bilingual, listing both English and Gaelic words.

- Doing your laundry in a sink not any bigger than a shoe box can be messy. I apologize to all of my hostel roommates for the wet floor in the bathroom.

- Guiness tastes a million times better in Ireland. I actually have grown quite fond of that beer. It may only be because everything else that is served at pubs is crap.

- Irish people love to wear my hats. I lost count of how many times I have been at a pub or a club (ha! that rhymes!) and have had my hat stolen from me by some intoxicated Irish person. This goes for girls and boys.

- People from around the world are not as foreign as I once believed. After speaking with travelers from Brazil, Germany, Australia, Belgium, and France I have learned that we all have much in common. Language is usually the only major difference.

- It is not easy to take a decent picture when it's overcast all the time. Many of my photos look better in person. My camera is not able to capture the light all that well sometimes.

- Cooking a decent meal for yourself is so much more satisfying than eating out constantly. I already knew this one from back home but this lesson has been relearned since eating out in Ireland can cost one a pretty penny. I should probably say it cost me a pretty Euro but that isn't as catchy, is it?


- I thoroughly enjoy blogging. Now I can see why this has caught on so much in the last few years. It is a great way to share my experiences while at the same time organizing my thoughts.


- Bus rides almost always make me fall asleep, no matter how awake I was when boarding the bus. There is something about the constant hum of the engine coupled with the vibrations of the bus that just puts me out every time.

- Hostels are great places to meet people. I was told before my trip began that this would be the case. Now I just wish the United States would catch up with Europe as far as the number of hostels goes.

- Living in the Bay Area really is expensive. One can get a room in an apartment in the city center of big places like Munich for about what I paid to live in the suburbs.

- I write long blog entries when I am waiting for my photos to finish uploading to Flickr. You readers are lucky it takes so long to upload these damn pictures or else you wouldn't have this great long list to enjoy.

I suppose that covers some of it. I have learned so much more than that but I didn't exactly write every lesson down as they happened to me so it isn't so easy to recall each one. I will leave you now with the updated Ireland photo extravaganza. There are some really good ones now since I went to the Ring of Kerry. The Ring of Kerry is a very scenic drive through Irish countryside that has some of the best sights in Ireland. Unfortunately the weather was pure crap today when I went so the fog is prominently featured in almost every photo. Although I did particularly like the way it hung around the mountain peaks, as you can see in a few of the photos. Other photos of note are a couple castles I have seen. I'm glad I was able to see at least one castle here in Ireland. One more thing I would like to mention is I have really enjoyed discovering stencil graffiti in the different cities and towns I have visited. I am glad to see that there are stencil artists out here.

Until next time, kids.