On our way to the next town today Aaron and I were listening to a radio program where the question of the day was: "who's the craziest person you've met?" A guy called in and was talking about how he met Lenny Kravitz and he felt that he was the craziest person he had ever met. He went on to say that he looked like someone who was "bunkers" which of course we recognized as the word bonkers. However, I like bunkers better and shall be replacing it in my vocabulary.
As I was saying....it is quite literally bunkers here. The roads are small and curvy and the cars so fast that all of this combined almost results (almost) in a heart attack every several seconds. I've had to employ the art of Lamaze breathing to make it. I'm not sure how Aaron is coping with it. We don't talk much during those times. However, we did come to our own conclusion about the traffic/driving situation. There are really only two types of drivers here in Ireland. They are either drunk or not drunk.....either way, they are both very,very bad. FYI- Since we are not from here, neither of them apply.
Let's see, since the last post we have visited several towns and traveled many a mile. Some towns we've found to be refreshing and welcoming, with the shopkeepers urging us to stay there (read: smaller, rural towns like Westport or Doolin) while others have been cold, fast, uninviting and dirty (the bigger cities like Belfast and Cork ). In fact, we were booked to stay in a hotel in the heart of Cork that was within walking distance of the city center. Pictures and reviews said this place was great. We were taken up to our room, had a look around and a couple of hours later (after really looking around at the awful little room with no heater, peeling/moldy ceiling and listening to some very loud men talking/yelling for a greater part of the two hours) decided we would not stay that and walked out and drove out of Cork. Talk about relief!
On a plus side though, we've continued to take in the beautiful country of Ireland. We've seen Boyle Abbey, what the Irish term as "derelict" castles, some major touristy and over done castles and a very cool one being Bunratty castle that not only gave you a great view of a castle inside but also an "insider view" of what life was like for peasants,farmers, etc. on 256 acres of land. There was a lot of walking that day!
We were able to catch a live and traditional Irish music session in a pub that was amazing and still makes us smile. We went to the impressive (and very windy) cliffs of Moher yesterday, waited for some sheep and babies to cross the road, and sampled some very interesting and not so interesting food. Tomorrow we are touring the Rock of Cashel.
This trip continues to be a learning curve with surprises around every corner (like fast cars, slow workers and little sheep.) We've come to see that not all that glitters is gold (as in the over-hyped reviews in travel books, reviews on rooms or fancy restaurants that serve mediocre food) but to take pleasure in the ordinary, beautiful surroundings and to take it all in stride day by day. After all this is a great adventure!
I've got to get a little sleep before our early start tomorrow! Goodnight for me and I hope you all have a good day!
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