Recently moved from Melbourne, Australia to Friedrichsdorf, Deutschland. Did we make a mistake? Are we having fun? What are those crazy Germans up to now? All this and more will be covered in this blog.
Took Belinda's parents and sister up Feldberg yesterday to enjoy the view - we had no idea what an interesting view it would be on this particular day.
Firstly, let me set the scene:
That's right - freezing f'n cold. It was around -5.5C, with a wind chill factor to about -15C. Not a place for the faint at heart. Then we saw this: That right there is a model in a bikini, with a surfboard, getting photographed. Before I snuck this shot we saw here kicking around in a skimpy Santa suit. When we were driving back down Feldberg she nearly caused an accident as we saw her getting photographed TOPLESS! That's right, TOPLESS in -5.5C weather!
When is an Autobahn not an Autobahn? When it's a carpark!
Every day for the last 2 weeks, there has been a traffic jam on the A5 between Friedrichsdorf (where we live) and Frankfurt (you know, that big city that was named after the sausage) - and not only in one direction. Every day this traffic jam is between 8 and 12km long. Every day this traffic jam is because of an accident.
It is as though everyone has suddenly forgot how to drive because it has started to get cold. It hasn't even started to snow yet, so I am kinda concerned how this is going to look in a few weeks time...
If you want a really fucked up read, then check out this article on The Age's website. It is about peasants selling blood in order to survive in the poorest parts of China.
One of my friends reliably informed me that today was International Toilet Day. Toilet humour it one of my favourite topics, so I thought I would copy my response that I send them and paste it here on my blog for you to enjoy.
"International Toilet Day" huh? Well if that ain't enough to give you the shits! :)
But on my favourite topic - I saw a report on TV the other day that was saying that Germans are predominantly folders, whereas Americans are predominantly scrunchers. Because of this, the Germans find the American thin and baking-paper like toilet paper too easy to break through (if you get my drift...), whereas the Americans find that the German multi-layer softer paper isn't rigid enough for the folds to be able to grab anything...
God, I nearly spewed writing that...sorry. :)
PS: Folders are people who fold the paper into many layers, and then use sheer finger pressure to remove the .... Scrunchers scrunch the paper into a ball, using the edges and the folds to, I guess, kinda scrape it off.
Keep all that in mind next time you eat a Picnic bar... :)
PPS: I just chuckled when I had to click "Log out" to log off another website. :)
Went to the ice hockey today to see Frankfurt Lions play the Hamburg Freezers. The game was a pretty good one, with the Lions having a 2-0 lead, before the Freezers came back and scored 2 quick goals to make it 2-2 by the end of the 2nd period. The third period saw the Lions take the lead again 3-2, and then the Freezers snuck the equaliser in with about 2min to go to send it into overtime. Nobody scored in overtime, so it went to penalty shootouts, which Frankfurt lost 2-3. :(
But the game is not the thing that I really wanted to mention too much. For some reason, the Lions played in their 3rd Jersey for the first time this year. This year it is also a different jersey to the green and pink one that I posted about last year (and their other 2 jerseys have changed too...but not so much).
The thing that I found crazy is the number of supporters who bought themselves this new jersey at the game today. The selling of jerseys here is a massive business (I assume), with a massive percentage of the crowd having one. Then the supporters go nutty when a special jersey comes out, like this 3rd one, or some that look like they were made in the past for games around Xmas (with snow-flakes on them etc).
I mean, I am kinda a "supporter stuff whore" who likes to buy stuff to show his support for a team, band, or whatever - but the germans are leaving me for dead in this department.
That was it. Not very interesting...sorry. For more interesting posts, see the ones that were posted a few days ago.
Ok, so in Europe you are bound to get a lot of multi-culti going on, but a restaurant in Bad Homburg seems to have either 1) taken it too far, or 2) misunderstood the assignment. I have their flyer infront of me, and it reads:
Pizza Service beim India Haus Nur deutsche und italienische Küche
Which when translated means:
Pizza Service from India House Only german and italian food
Anyone else confused? With a name like "India House", I would expect, well, INDIAN FOOD! But no! That would make too much sense! How about we call ourselves India House and then only serve german and italian food - that will confuse the hell out of everyone!
Oh what a difference a day makes, 24 little hours...
STORY #1 - Arsehole Taxi driver, aka. Silence! I KILL YOU!
This morning I flew to Amsterdam to go and visit a key Customer. I usually get picked up at the airport by my Sales Guy, but he wasn't coming on this visit, so I had to take a taxi about 15min to the Customer.
So, I get in the taxi, and the guy asks me where I want to go. I tell him the street name and number in "Schipol". He tells me that he doesn't know where that is, and I tell him to put it in his TomTom system that he has on the dash of the car. So I tell him the address again so that he can enter it. Now he tells me that "this is Schipol" and that "it is too close - take a bus". I tell him the address again, and he says again "this is too close - take a bus". I told him that I didn't have time to take a bus, but he just said "this is Schipol - too close - take a bus". So, after a few more attempts, and voices being raised on both sides, I get out of the cab and slam the door. I ask the attendant to get me a new taxi, but he says "he has to take you". I discuss this with the attendant for a while but he says that it is the driver's punishment, and that he has to take me even if it is close. The driver is now out of the taxi and claiming that I never told him the address, a claim which I refute. Back in the taxi and he is pissed. I give him the address again and he punches it in the TomTom and speeds off like a freakin' idiot. During the 15min drive to the Customer he keeps claiming that I never told him the address, that is it too close and I should have taken a bus, and that he had to wait at the airport for 2hrs for this fare. I tell him that I am sorry, but that's not my problem. The ride of joy continues with him yelling at me in a mixture of English and Dutch, and me yelling back in a mixture of English and German (sounds really nasty when you are angry). He is now claiming that I shouldn't have yelled at him because he is a person and not an animal, even though he is doing the same to me. Anyway, we finally arrive at the Customer and he says "30€". I ask where the meter is because I cannot see it, and I can't believe it could be 30€. He shows me the meter and it has 21€ on it. He then says "but I had to wait at the airport for 3hrs" (up from 2) and that I have to pay for that. I tell him that I don't have to pay for that as that is part of his job - waiting. Eventually I have had enough and I say "fine" and give him my credit card - "*sigh* you don't have cash?". I did have cash, so I got it out and said "I need a receipt". More sighing and he writes me a receipt for 21€. I tell him "no, I need the receipt for 30€ if you are charging me 30€" (still haven't given him the money yet). More bitching under his breath about "I am just taxi driver" or something, and he tells me that I should lodge a complaint. Anyway, I give him the cash and I get the change for the 21€ that is on the receipt and get out. Now as I am walking into the Customer he is doing the slow driving, stopping, glaring, mad eyes shit. Oh well, not my problem...freak.
Before you ask, no, he isn't a native Hollander.
Man, I was so mad after all that that I was physically shaking...
Anyway, the taxi back to the airport runs under contract from my Customer, and they gave me a card so that I can call them next time I turn up, and I don't have to ride with Dr Jihad again...
(For the reference to "Silence! I KILL YOU!" have a look at this clip on YouTube).
STORY #2 - Lady that doesn't like to be touched, aka. WHY FLY THEN?!?!?!?
So, after the Customer visit I rock up to the airport in Schipol (with a different taxi). The 4 lines for the security check already stretched back to the doors (about 30m long each), and it was only 13:15. I would hate to see this at 17:00!
Anyway, I finally get to the front of the queue and go through the security check without a beep (wearing my best "don't beep" shoes, shirt, and pants - but I still beeped in Frankfurt this morning).
While I am packing my stuff, there is a lady who is having to be searched because she beeped. She is busily telling the lady who wants to search her "I don't want you to touch me. My body is mine, and I don't want anyone to touch it." (While doing this, she is mainly pointing at her boobs). This discussion goes on for a while, and I pack my things slowly, as this is quite entertaining. She is even trying to convince the search lady that "it is my necklaces" and "I don't want to be touched" - yeah, BECAUSE TERRORISTS NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT ONE, YOU STUPID... I turned away for a minute and I think she ended up getting touched, and I heard her telling her husband about it, who wanted to raise a complaint or something...
Lady (I hope you are reading this) - if you don't want to be touched, take the f'n necklaces off and all other metal that you have on your person. Then, to be really sure, take of your shoes as they usually contain metal. Finally, if you really don't want to be touched, DON'T FUCKING FLY!
Some people...
STORY #3 - Amazon gone wrong, aka. I say Hardcover, you say Paperback, let's call the whole thing off!
About 1 week ago we ordered Harry Potter 1-4 off Amazon.uk, all of them in Hardcover format. I was very certain to make sure of this, as we had all of the others in Hardcover, and wanted to complete the set so. Anyway, after a few days the books arrived, and books 1, 2, and 4 were Hardcover, and book 3 was Paperback. I had a look at the order sheet that they sent with it, and it quite clearly said HARDCOVER for all of the books. Closer inspection showed that the ISBN on the order for the HARDCOVER actually matched the ISBN on the Paperback, which was kind of worrying.
Anyway, I sent the book back with a letter explaining this and asked for a replacement with the HARDCOVER version. Anyone see where this is going yet?
So today I go to pick the book up. What do I get? PAPERBACK!!!!!! What's on the order sheet that is with the book? HARDCOVER!!!!!!
I log on to the Amazon.uk site and look up the old order, which is now showing PAPERBACK against the book 3 where it showed HARDCOVER before. I check Bel's email and find the old order which quite clearly states HARDCOVER. Looks like they realised their mistake and fixed the website, but still screwed up the order anyway...
So now I may have to send the book back again (and pay for return shipping) and hope that I get the hardcover this time. Although, I may not have to send the book back, as we did get a mail from them after the last f'up to say that I didn't have to send the other one back because it would be quite expensive, but it was too late...
Right, so that is it from me for now. My hands are freezing cold and it has been really hard to type this - I think it is around 1C here at the moment.
This was at breakfast in Switzerland were the french and german speaking parts border with each other - therefore the sign was in English, French, and German. My first look at the card made laugh because I thought they meant to say "Plain Toast" and came out with "Pain Toast" instead. Then I was informed that this is french for "toast bread". Still, the idea of "Pain Toast" makes me laugh..."Mummy, my toast tastes like owies!". Can't remember if I have shown this one before. It is in an airport somewhere in the north of Germany, and is an ad for Sixt car rentals. The sign below it says "Warning! Only stuck with cheap [glue]." I think it goes on to say that they couldn't afford anything better because there is no room left in their prices for better glue. I just loved the English on this sign in the toilets in Düsseldorf. "The toilet is only intended for the absorbtion of human excrements". Couldn't really be more clinical if it tried.
I don't remember if I have banged on about the Bild newspaper before or not. But I saw another classic front-page headline the other day. Forget all the other important shit that is going on in the world, like flooding in Hamburg (under 3m of water), or that stuff with Pakistan. What is more important is that the "First Bundesliga Goal scored with Penis" happened! [snip - photo removed because it turned into a porno ad] And don't ever accuse the Germans of not being able to make a joke. They even used phrases like "dieses Tor war geni(t)al!" (genial means ingenious/genious, and genital means...well...genital). If you can, you should really try and read the high quality article on the Bild website (try translating it through google or something) here.
So it has been a long time since I have posted - mainly because every free moment of mine over the last few months has been spent reading, researching and writing, but as of last weekend I am finished my masters!!!!!!! (Well assuming its processed properly)
I am so glad I am finally finished, as is Brett who has spent the whole time I have been studying doing all the housework and cooking, and trying to amuse himself - poor Brett
...when you are sitting on the beach. ...when you are having a BBQ in the sun. ...when you are forgetting to put sunscreen on your forehead. ...when you are in general enjoying the warm summer weather in AUS.
Why? Well, when we got up it was around 0C, and at 10:14am it is still around 3C...and winter isn't even here yet. :(
On Tuesday last week, Bel and I headed in to Offenbach (it's own town, and NEVER to be called a part of Frankfurt) to see Wir sind Helden play in the Offenbach Stadthalle. I had been looking forward to this gig for ages, and the Helden didn't let us down.
At the gig you noticed the effect of the new non-smoking laws as all the fans stood outside tarring their lungs before the show started. Inside the venue there was not a single whisp of the foul smelling blue smoke to be seen - and I was a very happy camper!
I don't remember the name of the warm-up band, but that is ok, as I won't be rushing out to buy their CD. I mean, they were ok, but they were a little loud and heavy compared to the Helden, so they didn't really fit the scene - IMHO.
Around 9pm Wir sind Helden hit the stage, and went on to perform for somewhere between 90min and 2hrs, with 2 encores. I am not the world's biggest fan of the guaranteed encore, but I am glad these guys came back on twice and added some of the older and really popular tracks to the gig - tracks like "Elefant für Dich" (Elephant for you) and "Denkmal" (Monument).
During the gig, Judith Holofernes (who formed the band, and does all the vocals), who was a little sick, laid down some great vocal and guitar performances and was dancing and jumping around like a complete freak the whole time, kitted out in a green dress with purple pockets that reminds you of the uniforms in US Diners - classic. Jean-Michel Tourette put in some nice work on the guitar and a few different forms of keyboard, including one that is worn like an electric guitar. The other two members of the group rounded out the performance with some nice work on guitar and drums as well, with the whole band then backed up a 3 piece brass section for that extra bit of umphf.
Anyway - if you want to learn any more about the band, check them out on Wikipedia or on their own website.
After dinner tonight I switched the TV on and flicked over to N-24, which is a station that does a lot of Docos and other stuff. Part of tonight's Wissen section was showing us how Zungenwurst (or Tongue Sausage) is made.
Basically Zungenwurst is a Blutwurst (blood sausage) that also contains pigs tongues. The pigs tongues are put into a big drum with salt and some water for about 24hrs, then they are cooked for a while, before being shock cooled in ice water. You know that the tongues are correctly cooked at this point because the slime and other crappy bits of the tongue can be removed with your bare hands without much effort. While this is going on, fat from a pig's back gets cubed and cooked in boiling water. You know the fat cubes are ready when you squeeze one between your fingers and it easily springs out and flies around the room. Into our lovely pig fat comes a shit load of fresh (important) pigs blood. If it wasn't fresh, the blood would have clumps and wouldn't taste like fresh death - and we wouldn't want that now, would we? After the death juice and the fat gets mixed together for a while, it is then filled (by hand - poor sausage makers) into synthetic intestines (sausage skin), and then 4 full tongues are inserted by hand into the blood and back-fat mix that is now conjealing and quivering in the food-condom. The slowly conjealing mass is now cooked for a couple of hours to ensure that the blood and tongue doesn't try and french-kiss you like an French Rugby Union front-rower who just got hit in the mouth when you try and eat it, and then gets shipped off for us to enjoy (?!?!?!) on our tables all over Germany.
Now, I have seen some pretty horrible sausages in my time here, but this one "licks" them all.
This is the variety with the whole tongues and diced pig fat. There are also other "cheaper" varieties where the tongue is cubed and mixed in, so you don't know if that chewy disgusting mass in your mouth is fat, pig tongue, or a part of your own tongue that you bit off in the hope that you would never taste anything like this ever again...
Firstly, if you have never seen "Thank you for Smoking!" then you really should hire it and have a squiz. Quite a funny piss-take on the smoking industry.
In line with most people in the world, I really don't like Mondays. But I have to say that I really loved last Monday! Why? Well, on 1st Oct 2007 the new Anti Smoking Laws (Nichtraucherschutz)kicked in in Hessen and a lot of other states in Germany. Now it is no longer legal to smoke in restaurants, pubs, clubs, trains, etc, unless a completely sealed off seperate room is provided. There are a few exceptions to the rule (eg. Festzelte or festival tents), but for the most part jetzt ist Schluß!
The first time I actually noticed the effects of the new laws were actually the day before they kicked in, when I picked Bel up from the Airport. Usually there are a bunch of people standing around smoking in the arrivals hall, but now all of the ashtrays have been removed, and the air there smells like...well...air! Now the only place they are allowed to smoke is in little smoking rooms scattered around the airport.
In open railway stations, people are still allowed to smoke on the platforms, but only in certain areas. So all of the smokers have to huddle together inside the yellow box painted on the platform and smoke their lives away. That means that the rest of us can stand at a distance and just point and laugh while they merrily kill themselves with no further impact on us.
One of the coolest parts of this whole thing was the speed with which it was done. None of this "give them 18 months to prepare" or whatever - it was announced in the first week of September (and right at the end of the week), and came in to force on the 1st October. Therefore most places haven't had time to prepare the "seperate room of death", and therefore smoking is completely gone in most places.
Anyway - thank you German Government for finally saving my lungs. Pity you couldn't have done it earlier...
Right, so this week goes down in history as my "What the hell are you doing here?" week.
On Tuesday I had to drive to Düsseldorf to help a Customer with a problem they were having. I arrived at the site and fixed the problem within 1hr, but had to wait for some software licenses so that I could install them for the guy. While waiting we decided to get a coffee, but there was none on the floor we were on, so we went down to the foyer. While sitting there chatting to the Customer, my phone rang - it was my Sales Guy checking if the licenses had arrived or not. While talking to him I noticed a familiar looking person walking by and I yelled out to him. Turned out that it was one of the guys who used to work for my company in Australia, who is now working for this Customer in Düsseldorf.
Then I got up this morning and went in to Frankfurt to watch the AFL Grand Final (GO CATS!). I arrived early and got a table and ordered something to drink. After a while more people started turning up, and at one point I noticed a familiar looking face in the crowd. I thought to myself "nah, it can't be", so I didn't think much more about it for a few mins. During the first quarter I kept looking over at this guy thinking "it could be...". When I went to get some breakfast at the buffet, this guy saw me and was like "What the hell are you doing here?!?!". Turns out it was a guy that I went to uni with and did a few projects with...and it was who I thought it was. This guy's wife was also one of my managers at my Company in the past. They had moved to Germany a few years ago and are now living and working in Stuttgart. Not only that, but this guy works for a company that used the same relocation company as mine did when we moved to Germany. He and his wife actually had the same relocation agent at the company and B and I did...
Small world, huh? Any other of you guys hiding over here without telling me about it?
So, while Bel has been doing some study, visiting, and enjoying her time in Australia, I have had a bit of Boys' Time. :)
On the first weekend I decided to head to the IAA (Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung or International Car Show) in Frankfurt. This is the biggest car show in the world, filling 10 Exhibition halls (some multi-story), plus the Festhalle (Festival Hall containing Mercedes), plus a stand-alone building (contained BMW by itself), plus a bunch of external positions as well - this thing was in 2 words FREAKIN' MASSIVE! I personally buzzed through most of it in 4hours (had another Man-pointment to go to), but I know some people that took 9hours to go through the whole thing on the first public open day.
On the first weekend alone 385,000 people visited the IAA, and I reckon that most of them were in the hall with Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa, and some of the other big names. It was almost impossible to move in this hall, and the only way to move was to squeeze yourself into the stream of rubber-necked camera-carrying locals and internationals and just go with the flow.
That the halls with the big, expensive, and powerful cars were full to bursting point was not shocking, but must have disappointed the organisers a little. The main theme of this exhibition was supposed to focus on CO2 reduction and alternative fuels, in the name of the Environment. To that point though, there were a hell of a lot of hybrid cars there, and it really showed that a lot of car manufacturers are either taking it seriously or "tun als ob"...
Also, genug Quatscherei - here are the pics (click to enlarge)...
VIPER ATTACK! I love this car!
Feel sorry for this guy (and all the others) who permanently had to wipe finger prints and dust off the cars.
Model of a potential future Honda.
Even KIA came up with a pretty decent looking concept car.
This BMW reminds me of a shark.
Crazy arsed Citroen that must have been designed with the female market in mind.
This Hummer is "der Hammer"! I think this one was in the Transformers movie.
Toyota "mixin' things up" a little.
To remind Chis of the good times.
Outdoor off-road track. Queues were massive to get a "test drive" as passenger in these cars.
So, where will all you guys be when the siren sounds to start the AFL Grand Final on Saturday? I am sure that you will all be comfy at home, or somewhere else, enjoying the afternoon sunshine, having a few beers, etc...
Me? I plan to drag myself out of bed around 4:00am so that I can get into Frankfurt to see the game live at 6:00am at YOURS Australian Bar (same place I saw Australia down Croatia in the world cup last year).
So 2 weeks ago we had our first visitors for the year, with my Dad and Diane rocking in for 1 week before heading to London for a couple more. And just like when Susan, Screwsy, and my Mum came to visit, we had a great time showing them around some of the sites, and just generally hanging out.
On the day of their arrival, I got a call from Dad from Heathrow saying that he didn't think they would make their connecting flight to Frankfurt, because they had been put in a holding pattern over London, and then parked out in the boonies. I got another call a little later to say that they would just make their plane, but weren't sure if their bags would or not. Skip forward to us waiting in the airport. After about 1hr of waiting, they finally came through the doors in the International Terminal (worst part of the airport). Turned out that 3/4 of their bags had made it, but the toilet bag hadn't. This was eventually delivered to us at 21:00 on the following day, without anyone actually calling to see if we were home - which luckily we were. That same night (when the arrived) we took them to Café Klatsch in Friedrichsdorf for some Flammkuchen and a few bevvies - both of which went down a treat, with Diane requesting a second visit later in the week (I was only too happy to oblige).
The next day took us to Heidelberg, which is one of my favorite places to take people because of the beautiful old castle, and the killer view it offers of the town and river below. Not to mention that the town still has some nice "old town" feel to it, although it is fairly touristy now. That being said, we found a nice little place for lunch, and to hide from the rain, that offered basic german food, which went down well with the Aussies on Tour. We also managed to get ourselves interviewed for some German TV Show or Doco that we researching if people knew the song Ich hab' mein Herz in Heidelberg verloren (I lost my heart in Heidelberg). After I answered a few of their questions in German, they turned on Dad and Diane. After I told them that they came from Australia and didn't speak German, the guy switched to flawless English and asked what we sing in Australia. Next thing you know, Dad, Diane, and myself are singing "Waltzing Matilda" with Bel hiding somewhere in the background.
The following days took us for a walk around the top of Feldberg, where you can get a nice view of the surrounding area (and a nice drive up some windy roads for the petrol heads); to Braunfels (cute Castle where you need a group of 5 or more for a tour, but has a cool Alt-Stadt); Frankfurt (just for a look-see, shopping, and an excellent dinner at an Italian Restaurant where the waiter spoke no English); Herzogenaurach (more than just Adidas and Puma...there's Nike as well!); Saalburg (Roman Fort); Hessenpark (old buildings); and finally to the Wine Festival in Friedrichsdorf itself.
One of the best parts of the week was being reminded of the cool things that surround us that we take for granted. For instance - we planned to go to Nürnberg after Herzogenaurach, but the traffic heading to Nürnberg was crazy, so we bailed. D&D weren't phased at all, because they even found the views from the Autobahn amazing - views that we pay no attention to anymore, since we have been here basically 2 years, and that is "common day" kinda stuff now.
Anyway, thanks for coming and visiting guys. We loved having you here, and look forward to having the next group that come towards the end of the year.
Traditional Bindy-pose by the river in Heidelberg
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon...
View from the Heidelberg Castle back down to the river
Dad and Diane at the Heidelberg Castle
B&B&D walking on Großer Feldberg
Crazy toothless busker dude that gave us a personal performance in Frankfurt (I ran in to buy a coffee...)
B&B&D near the Old Opera in Frankfurt before going to dinner
Make me clean my room, will you??!!?! Now it's payback time!
Show us your best TV Ad Flammkuchen pose, Diane!
The father, the beer, and the cheesy baked pasta thingy in Café Klatsch
After returning from our 4 days visiting Chis and Bec, we returned to the Shannon Airport, rented a car, and headed towards Doolin. We didn't know anything about Doolin, but Chis and Bec said that they had spent some time there and loved it, so we thought we should give it a shot...and we weren't disappointed. Different to the first week in Ireland, this time we basically spent the whole week in this beautiful part of Ireland, which is home to the Burren.
So, as we had previously done (or not done), we didn't have accomodation booked in Doolin, but thought that we would just rock into the town and see what we found. What we ended up finding was a B&B on top of a cliff overlooking the town and the ocean, with a ripper tower castle in the hills directly behind it. We shared breakfast on the first morning with some lovely American ladies who were also touring Ireland. One of these ladies is involved in some movement against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and she told us of the time that they were protesting in the OC in California. On this day, the cast and crew from The West Wing were there to film, and the noise of the cars supporting the protest was interrupting filming. The producers asked them if they could postpone the protest (which they hold every week) but the ladies said that they hold it all the time and never miss one, so they wouldn't postpone it. Anyway after the filming the cast came and joined them in the middle of the round-a-bout to lend their support to the protest. Pretty cool huh? The second morning involved sharing breakfast with a lady who looked and ate like a horse, and her spoilt children. Stark contrast to the day before, and due to them we postponed one of our planned events for the day (which we did the following day) so that we wouldn't have to cope with them.
Castle above our B&B at sunset...pretty!
The Castle as seen from the road leading up from our B&B close to sunset
The first full day in Doolin took us south for a drive to the Cliffs of Moher, and the continuing further south to the Loop Head Peninsula. The Cliffs of Moher were pretty impressive, although it was freezing cold. We bumped into our lovely Americans here again, and then marvelled at the sheer drop into the ocean that these cliffs offer. We also marvelled at 1 very bad busker, one very good busker, and many dumb tourists who apparently can't read signs, no matter how many languages it is written in.
From the worn tracks it would appear that these aren't the only illiterate tourists around
This chick was acutally very good at playing the harp and singing. She was the good busker...pity we already gave money to the crap one...
The Loop Head Peninsula is also very much worth the drive if you ever get over here. Along this coast line there are a lot of parts of the cliff that have broken away and formed islands, like when the London Bridge in Australia collapsed.
The next day took us for a drive through the Burren area, which is a rocky desolate landscape where all the top soil was removed due to receding ice many 100s or 1000s of years ago. One of the most well known structures here is the Poulnabrone Dolmen, which is/was a burial toom in ancient times.
Bel and the Burren
The Poulnabrone Dolmen
While driving through this area, we saw a guy hiking on the side of the road with a massive pack with a huge stuffed donkey strapped to the back of it. We stopped and asked him if he wanted a lift, but it turned out that this Aussie was walking the length of Ireland to raise money for Donkey Sanctuaries (was going to do the hike anyway and take the donkey for fun, and someone suggested he should raise money...). Two catches - he had to stop for a beer at every pub he passed on the way, and a stuffed donkey becomes very heavy when it rains for 2 weeks straight.
The next day, Bel and I did a tour through an underground cave that holds the 4 largest self-supporting Stalactite in the world. This was discovered by some cavers who saw a river flowing into the hills, and followed the rule that where a river flows into the hill, then you will find something cool...and they did. The tour was pretty cool for us too, as we were the only two on it, so we got to ask a lot of questions and spend as much time as we wanted looking at it in pure silence.
B&B with a big hanging thing and dopey looking hats
The big hangy thing by itself...the photo doesn't do the size of this thing justice
The next day took us from Doolin to Athenry where we got into some more castle action. But my favorite part of Athenry was walking into a Hurling training session across from our B&B and spending 1hr talking with a guy who played all his life, and getting the low down on all the equipment and how the game is played. These guys are freaking nuts. Speaking of - I found out that the goal keepers don't even wear a box for protection...
The County boys training hard, trying to get selected in the squad for their upcoming quarter final
On the streets of Athenry
Another one of the Castle during sunset
Picture at the Cliffs of Moher. Notice the layering due to different kinds of rock and soil
Anyway, even though we only saw the bottom half of the country, I would highly recommend Ireland to anyone who was thinking about a holiday in this region. Sure, the weather is crap, but you will still have a great time, and see heaps of interesting stuff (and take more photos than you could possibly blog in a lifetime).
After a relaxing night in Kilkenny, we got up and headed into town to buy a new camera and have a look around. After a bit of shopping back and forth, we picked up a camera at White's in the main street and then went on a tour of the castle. We didn't think that the camera battery would be charged, so we didn't take it out for the tour and therefore there are no pics. But let me say this - if you are ever in Kilkenny, you really should go on this tour. The castle is awesome, and it is one of the best castle tours we have ever been on. (I found this pic on the web...)
After the tour we walked back to the B&B and picked up our car (after a 30-45min conversation with the owner on the doorstep about everything and anything) and headed to the Rock of Cashel. The Rock of Cashel has a history that spans back from the early kings in Ireland, through the Church, and to today as a ruin thanks in part to Cromwell and his army burning it (with thousands of town people taking refuge from them inside) and the elements. If you have the chance, you should really check this out as well. Luckily here I actually decided to check if the camera's battery had a charge or not, and it turned out that it did. :)
After the Rock it was on to Cork for the night. Now, when we were in Dublin we saw something on the news about Ambulance drivers saying that Ireland needs postcodes, but we didn't really get what they were banging on about...until now. When we tried to put the address of the B&B in the Navi, we realised that we didn't actually have it. By that I mean that we had the name of the B&B, and we had the name of the Suburb, but we didn't have a postcode (and the suburb wasn't in the Navi by name), and we didn't have a street. So Bel rang the B&B again and asked them what the address was. They told us that the name of the B&B was the address, and that there was no street name, and there is no postcode. Apparently this is normal in Ireland... Anyway, we navigated our way to the suburb/village, and after a few laps of the center of the town we managed to find the B&B based on the picture in the B&B book we had.
The next morning we had planned to go to the Bantry House and Gardens in Bantry which has been in the White family since 1765. Unfortunately this was going to be too far for us to reach and still have time to get to our flight in Shannon. Therefore we gave up on that idea and headed to the Blarney Castle instead. :)
View of the Blarney Castle on the walk from the car park
View from another angle. The Blarney Stone is in the middle on the right hand side of the castle
View from the top of the Castle down to a couple of towers
Bel infront of one of the towers seen in the previous pic
From there it was on to the airport and off to Bath to visit Bec and Chis.
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