And just like that, it’s Blog Post #40. Thank you to everyone who has supported this endeavour forty times. I appreciate you both. After Blog Post #39, a few people asked me, “What about Ireland?” Ireland is their own country…but they’re part of Northern Ireland (no border between them…but they use different currencies)….or maybe they’re separate and linked only by history….Brexit will sort out any confusion. For seven days last month, Ireland became more. It became better, exciting, and a little extra special. For the seven days my wife and I were there touring around, it was GREAT Ireland!

Ireland

Walking is a great way to get around….except in Ireland. No, it’s not the alcohol. It’s the traffic lights. You’ll wait many minutes to have the lights change to cross the road. All traffic in all directions must be stopped for a period of time before the walkers can begin their walking. We watched as locals ran for their lives dodging cars to cross roads. The locals knew the long wait….and now we do too. Even the chickens could be seen Jay walking across the streets of Dublin. I saw some Irish sheep crossing the road and decided to ask them why it was so difficult here. I said, “Bah Ram Yew, Bah Ram Yew….” Ok, maybe I didn’t ask. They couldn’t understand my accent anyway.

Dublin

Dublin was beautiful and we were fortunate to have the sun out. We ran at the River Liffey and I was able to take a photo of this amazing sunset.

As a tourist in Dublin, the Guinness Factory is a must. Guinness does, in fact, taste better and fresher in Ireland. However, the factory tour was cheesy. I heard locals call it, “Guinness and the Chocolate Factory.” We received a golden ticket which was good for one pint of Guinness at the rooftop bar. Did you know that Guinness is not actually black? It is red. After a few, I didn’t know if it was maybe purple or blue.

Galway

Waiting for a bus in Galway, we asked a local, “Does the bus driver give change?”

He said, “What?”

“Does the bus driver give change?”

He replied,” …..the bus hasn’t come yet?” He couldn’t understand our accent I guess.

Not even in Kathmandu had I seen traffic as bad as what we found in Galway. Built for horse and buggy, this place was not equipped for the kind of traffic it had. We took a bus our first day and watched as people walked right by the moving bus that was always stuck in traffic. Of course, we caught up with these walkers once they had to wait for a pedestrian light. We never took the bus again and continually found ourselves getting to destinations before buses and cars (once we learned to risk life and limb crossing roads).

I took this photo in Galway showing The River Carrib.

We had two perfect nights in Galway. We had amazing dinners, great drinks, and the rain stayed away. I told my wife, “I swear I’m going to put you in a blog I write. About a Galway trip and a perfect night” .

Back to London

Before returning home, my wife and I went back to London for one full day. A beautiful sunny day greeted us and we ended up going back to see some things we had already seen …but in the sunshine. I took this photo of the House of Parliament in London.

See Something Suspicious?

Travelling The Tube, there are frequent announcements that if you see something suspicious you should inform an attendant or authority personnel. The announcement ends with the slogan, “See it. Say it. Sorted.” We have a similar slogan in Canada; “See it. Say It. Snap it. Post it. Share it. Like it. Sorted!”

I did overhear someone go up to a transit officer and say, “That woman has a yellow jacket on.”

The officer replied, “That’s gonna sting.”    Sorted!

I went up to the same officer and said, “There’s a lady over there with a green dress on.”

He replied, “Is it a real green dress?”

I said, “No.”

“Good. That’d be cruel.”    Sorted!

Neon Lights

I kept seeing suspicious things all around London. We passed by a Sainsburys (the name of a grocery store chain). Their neon sign wasn’t functioning properly and the ‘U’ and the ‘R’ were not lit up. I think it was a subliminal advertising campaign that let us all know that something’s not right; ‘U R not here and you should be.’

So after shopping in Sainsburys, we walked past the Wellington Hospital. Their neon sign was not working for the ‘WELL’. They don’t care about ‘Well’? Insert your own jokes here.

Words of Wisdom

1. Keep track of your stuff when travelling. There was an announcement at the train station in Dublin that said, “We have a John Henry Waterbottle here. If you’ve lost a John Henry Waterbottle, please come to the service desk.” I thought, “I hope he finds his family.”

2. Keep track of your appointments. I had a dentist appointment this month. The dentist office e-mailed me two reminders, phoned with a reminder, phoned again saying that it was to pre-confirm that I have a confirmed appointment and that they will call again to confirm. I received another call reminding me that my appointment is confirmed. Is this the world we live in now?

It’s time for the ending jokes. There were two blog posts this month so the material may not be as amazing as it usually is. Enjoy.

While my wife and I were in Great Britain and Great Ireland, our friends went and watched Jerry Seinfeld live in Vancouver. They invited us to go for soup and babka and then to the show. We told them that even if we were home, we couldn’t go. Firstly, the soup place won’t serve me and secondly, they don’t know how to take reservations (actually, they take the reservation… they just don’t know how to hold the reservation). We also didn’t want to lose the car in the parking garage and have the goldfish die. Our friends also invited Delores and I don’t really know her. I can never remember her name yada yada yada. 

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One very popular tourist destination in Ireland is The Blarney Stone, a block of stone built into the Blarney Castle. Legend has it that kissing the Blarney Stone will lead to great elegance and speaking skills. Tourists go to Ireland looking to kiss the stone and take photos of themselves. Some locals enjoy peeing on The Blarney Stone and then later watching tourists kiss it. I skipped The Blarney Stone.