get off topic and ramble forever? The whole "this is what I'm going to
cover in this post" approach failed epically, because writing these
things takes awhile and an hour into it I'd already forgotten about my
bullet-point approach. So to wrap up the two I remember not
addressing: Scotland scenery, which I can actually tie that in with
what i've seen of Ireland by train as well, and my issue with
"crisps."
The crisps first. So over here, and in the UK, potato chips are
called crisps, and of course fries are called chips. Crisps just
doesn't make a good noun in my opinion, it's a great descriptive word,
but it'd be like replacing rice cakes with rice crunches or
something...I'm not feeling it, and I'm not feeling these crisps
either. Of course, in theory and practice the name is the only
difference, physically they are one and the same, so they should taste
just fine right? Becoming the train traveller that I have, I've grown
accustomed on travel days to scrounge the vending machines for my
hearty fare, and when I tire of Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bars
(seems impossible doesn't it, to tire of something so wonderful?)
well, a bag of chips/crisps could hit the spot...that is until I see
the flavors...oh man, Houston, we have a BIG problem. Let's see,
should I go for Roast of Beef, Bacon and Sea Salt, or Chicken? Would
someone like to explain to me why on earth a sodium rich, crunchy
processed wafer of potato needs to taste like chicken?!?! Doesn't
everything in the world already taste like chicken? Can we not at
least preserve the sanctity and integrity of our beloved potatos?? I'd
honestly rather purchase a tin of roast beef or sea-salted bacon from
these machines than have a dried potato taste like said meats.
One of the cooler things about travelling by train, is of course, the
scenery, and I've got to say, the cows back home would moo with envy
if they could see what they're missing over here; rolling, green
fields, the grasses always tall and well watered, a cool breeze
constant on their hides, and rarely more than an hour or two of direct
sunlight to bake their hides...yep, Texas cows are missing out. Beyond
the sight of happy Irish and Scottish cows though, it's really very
relaxing to just park it at a window for a few hours and take in the
rolling hills, occasional ruins of castles, cottages probably built in
the 1600s which occupy fields, long abandoned and with their thatched
roofs long gone, looking both inviting and desolate all at once. I've
met a lot of travellers who prefer busses, saying that the take almost
amount of time, sometimes less (this honestly is true in Ireland alot
of the time) however, travelling by bus, the view just isn't the same,
you don't feel like you are cutting through the middle of the
countryside so much as plowing through it on an artificial and ugly
stretch of pavement. Scotland was especially great, as that was the
only time I had mostly spectacular weather on the trip, but the
constant grey and rain in Ireland does manage to keep everything at
its greenest and most vibrant.
I wrapped up an altogether unspectacular stay in Galway, minus a few
cool people I met, from the States and from Sweden. Most of my
companions seemed to enjoy Galway, but other than a quiet hike around
the bay while the tide was out, I felt like Galway the town was
nothing more than a tourist trap on the coast. Lots and lots of
subpar street performers out in town for the upcoming arts festival
such as the two Indian fellows with golden microphones cranked up too
loud performing hits from Snoop Dogg and other hip-hop artists while
doing a strange version of the robot and attempting to break-dance.
Food in Galway was even more expensive than in Dublin, and after two
days of eating "fresh" at Subway, I bit the bullet and went in search
of an Irish place with seafood chowder. I found a place that offered a
reasonably priced two course meal, and I ordered seafood chowder to be
followed by shepherd's pie. I guess you get what you pay for, my
chowder came out nice and steaming, and I fished in to see what
treasures lay in wait, only to bring up what I prayed were just
strangely colored and shaped scallops, but was instead treated to
steaming chunks of imitation crab meat....yeah, on the bay, right
next to the Atlantic, I was served fake crab. I actually like the
stuff, but not in what I had been preparing myself for; fresh Atlantic
seafood. Bummer...well, there's hope for the Shepherd's pie, right?
Wrong again, as it came out doused, no, drowned, in what was probably
McCormick's minute brown gravy mix, hydrated powder straight from a
pouch. On the plus, I'm going to contract with Dorito's or Tayto's (an
Irish crisp company) to bring out two new flavors or
crips...McCormick's Sheperd's Pie with Veg, and Imitation Krab. I'll
be able to retire by Christmas!
So out of Galway and on to Killarney, where I am now, after another
long travel day. The ironic thing is, while Galway to Killareney
would probably only take an hour or two by bus, it took about eight by
train (that's six more hours of scenery I got over you bus loyalists
though! ). The reason for this is that for whatever reason, many of
Ireland's railways lead back to Dublin, which is to the far Eastern
coast of the island, and so in order to get to other villages, you
must first backtrack nearly back to Dublin, hope off at some little
tiny station, wait an hour or two for another train which will take
you to yet another station, rinse and repeat, until you finally arrive
at your destination. These travel days can be great on your pocket
book, and are great for reading. I've now finished three books on this
trip, one an 1100 pager from cover to cover, and the newest was a 340
pager I traded my 1100 pager for at my hostel this morning. Yep, I
read the whole book today...started it when I hopped on my first train
at 11, and closed it about 10 minutes before rolling into Killarney at
7. Alll in all I've probably read close to 1600 pages in my 17 days,
but the only book I'm considering trading out for at this hostel is a
400 page book about something, an it's entirely in Italian...honestly
have no clue if it's fiction or non, it's got a map of China printed
inside it, so we'll see how that goes.
Killarney has a national park within walking distance that I am
looking forward to hiking around tomorrow, and admission is free which
is even better! Monday I will head to Cork for two days, and then
it'll be time to return to the States after a quick one day return to
Dublin and then a hike to the airport to sleep for a little bit before
flying out at 6 am Thursday morning.
As always, thanks for tuning in, I'll probably get one more post in
before I head back, maybe two, but that's pretty optimistic with my
luck or lack of with the Internet lately.
Ciao
Bryan, the Lonely Traveller
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