Before we left the hotel first thing in the morning, I woke up to hear the television on, as Wendy had tuned into "Ireland AM":
What i can tell you about "Ireland AM" is that it's just like Good Morning America; except for the news anchorwoman isnt nearly as hot as Diane Sawyer and the set looks a little underbudget. Other than that, its the same-- you find yourself staring at the tv for 5 more minutes than you should waiting for something/anything important to happen-- and say to yourself "damn, i gotta get dressed."So we get going finally to Galway and its quite nice, set on the sea. Dave and Janine look really happy-- to be out of the car-- its about almost 2 hours drive.
When on vacation in IRE you walk around, sightsee, and then of course you need to eat. Then, you need to eat, again. Because you are an American. And Americans like to eat. At least i do. Thing is: it becomes kinda embarrassing because the Euros dont mow food down like you see us do in the States. They will have like a half a sandwich and cup of soup for lunch. And you notice them eating their meals at a nice smooth pace. Very efficient. Janine and I were the first to notice that there are no obese people over here. Not like walking around the KofP Mall or Hershey Park here, no sir. But as i freely admit, we are Americans and i kinda realized the way some of us eat can be a bit embarrassing. Here's a pic of our table, after ordering just our appetizers. Owen is laughing at what hogs we are:
Need fuel to travel. Gotta feed for fuel.
Later after refueling in Galway we came across a little Irish invention; and this could impress any Germans following this blog. Lynching. Apparently the roots of this attempt to control adverse human behavior can be traced to 17th century Ireland. Here's a pic from in front of a castle in Galway where the mayor James Lynch Fitzstephen (king) sorted out the bad louts, including his own son! Charming. (But hey- times were tough in 1750, right?)
I also discovered that Galway has poker. You have to go to a special after hours "club" where you can play snooker (billiards) and gamble with other Gaelic degenerates-- sorry i meant gentlemen-- and play Texas Hold'em. I dont know if you will be able to zoom in on the photograph below to see the hours the cardroom is open, but i will tell you the sign says its only open 8pm to 5am. Monday through Sunday. That makes the weekly game i play in look more like church bingo hours. I hereby recommend that VOP, Rob O'Brien and Mike Ryan petition the ownership for "euro hours" be established down in the men's grillroom at Rivercrest CC.
Later on we had to refuel (again) and ended up at Quays Pub. I'll try to update some better photos, but i'm not sure pictures do justice for this place, as they tore down a church and reassembled the arches and stained glass and lots of the thick wooden moldings and stuff inside this stone and mortar building. I guess we can count this as another Irish invention; melding a church into a pub. Brilliant.
Eventually at the end of the day, we ended up at Durty Nellies pub in Limerick. Meeting friends/locals for pints and good conversation is referred to in IRE as "good craic" (pronounced "crack"). Kelly met up with a nice fellow, John, who shared a pint with us. He then called his local golf buddy, John #2, to drive over and meet up with us. After another pint or so, you can see he was quite chummy with my little sister. Lol.
Truth be told, both Johns were gentlemen, and great to talk to (like so many people we have met so far over here). Eventually, the subject turned to politics somehow. They said with a wink and a smile, how acutely aware they were of President Obama's part-Irish heritage. Lol. Probably the one of the funnier things they said revolved around the subject of the handling of the global banking crisis. After the Johns learned i was in wealth management, they asked if i knew Bernie Madoff. I said no. And i mentioned that Madoff was now sentenced to a minimum security prison in North Carolina with other white collar swindlers-- essentially a country club. John #2 then set down his pint of Harp, and made us laugh by telling us about the scandal revolving around the office of the Irish Taoiseach (thier prime minister, pronounced 'tea-shock'); saying that millions of dollars in bad bank loans are missing and in Ireland if you steal money they dont throw you in prison, telling us in his thick Irish brogue: "they pat you on the back". Slainte!
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