1. It is much smaller than you think.
Seriously, the country only spans around 200km from side to side!
2. But it will take you a ridiculous amount of time to get around.
You would be amazed how many people I get driving in from Dublin (a 3 hour trip) who arrive a good 8 hours later, lost, confused and exhausted. I always feel the need to hug these haggard souls, make them a nice cup of tea and draw them a nice hot bath (although we don't actually have a bath - but drawing a shower sounds wrong - and somewhat invasive)
3. The Irish do drink more than the Aussies, and that's saying something!
In our little town of Killarney we have a little joke that there are more pubs and clubs than people, and we are only mostly joking. Although the pubs technically have to close, on most days they will run a lock-in, letting out their overnight faithfulls at open the next day, as the day crew shuffle in at 9am to knock back a Guinness or two.
4. There are a suprising amount of deer
 |
| Even more considering I didn't know Ireland even had deer! |
It felt wrong writing this after an unseasonable three days of straight sunshine, but it's true - Ireland rains a whole damn lot. But I maintain its the pretty type of rain, the type you like to walk through or can still take pictures through, and which only lasts a few minutes or an hour. And did I mention its pretty. Oh the sonnets I could write to Irish rain.
 |
| "Oh Irish rain...please...um...rain more?"....Okay maybe sonnets aren't my thing. |
6. Irish history is complicated - and sad.
A brief - comparatively - but brilliant sum up by one of my favourite bloggers can be read here, here and here. Between occupation, famine, civil war and - in the north - domestic terrorism, the Irish unfailing resilience is impressive.
7. Every candy shop is a Willy Wonka-esque shop of wonder.
The Irish seriously know how to do sweets! They have entire walls of bonbons (these differ from boiled candies), along with more traditional gummy sweets, chocolate sweets, international sweets, sodas and even my personal favourite sherbet!
My first day in Killarney I wandered into what seemed like a tiny shop, only to find myself surrounded by wall to floor candy and the sweetest local I have met, Niall. When he found out I was new in town and starting a new job he began pulling jars of sweets off the shelves and loaded me down with candy. After paying a measly 2 euro for close to 12 euros worth of candy he wished me luck and let me know if the job fell through I should come back to him and he would find me something nice. I go in every week and the one week I didn't he worried and asked around if I was okay. He is seriously such a sweetheart! (and his blackcurrant bonbons rock!)
8. The Ice-cream is Awesome!
 |
| Mmmm...ice-cream! |
9. The accents aren't that hard to understand, if you listen real close.
And nod your head a lot. Unless they've been drinking, oh...damn. Yeah...I still suck at understanding people. For the first month the accents here in Kerry were so thick I couldn't understand half of what was said. I would just smile and nod my head alot, and basically everyone thought I was a bit of a spaz. Now I walk around with one earphone in, so everyone thinks I'm a rude little rebel instead.
10. Ireland is Green!
The emerald isle indeed. I was expecting coast to coast rolling hills of grassland - and it almost delivers. But damn the green that's here is really really...green!
11. Traditional Gaelige or Irish really isn't spoken much anymore.
But it is on pretty much every sign!
12. The banks kinda suck.
I never felt particularly spoilt by Australian banks - especially as we do not have any of the amazing travel credit card opportunities available to American or European citizens. But geez compared to Irish banks, I'm missing NAB like crazy. Bank of Ireland has a 50c charge for ANY bank activity - that includes ATM withdrawals, any form of payment, bills, anything! And they do not pay interest on everyday accounts and only pay 1% interest on savings accounts! (which have rules so strict there is little point in having one). It's no wonder most people only use cash!
13. The only Irish songs you will learn are the annoyingly repetitive ones!
If you are a masochist of some kind and wish to have a more melodious version of the small world song stuck in your head then please enjoy. To say these are the only ridiculously repetitive and earworm songs is a lie - but they are my pet ones.
14. Community is very important.
On St Patrick's Day, rather than the massive drinking festivals you see around the world and even in Dublin, I was amazed to watch my local parade. There were soccer teams marching, and girls' dancing groups and kids dressed up like local council members and marching bands and horse drawn carts and gymnasts and tractors and even the local beauty queen. Every one in town came to see their kid or their sister, or aunt or brother marching. I've never seen anything quite like it.
15. There is so much National Park.
Killarney National Park is one of six nation parks in Ireland and is over 100 square km. That may not sound very big to most of you but to put it in perspective - this park has around ten towns inside of it. Towns completely surrounded by national park. It also has some big ass lakes - which are creatively called - Killarney Lakes.
 |
| Pictured: big ass lake |
16. It's an unwritten rule that everyone owns a dog
 |
| And every single one will come out on a sunny day |
17. The people are pretty great.
Even if I can only understand half of what is said, I'm working with some great people and I've made some pretty great friends too.
 |
| Although to be fair - my friend Christina is actually Romanian |
18. It feels like home
I should clarify - other that a pechant for overly partaking in alcohol at the drop of a hat, Ireland and Australia share no grand familiarities. And in a bizarre way, Australia doesn't feel like home anymore. More like the apartment that you and your roommates shared in college, full of amazing memories and people you miss, but not quite the right fit anymore.
Rather, right here, right now, I feel like we are exactly where we are supposed to be. Doing exactly what we are meant to be doing. And all in all, that's pretty great!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for reading. If you liked the article and want to see more like it – let us know down in the comments. If you want to follow along with us - you can subscribe to our email feed down below, and be sure to check us out on facebook or follow us on twitter.
If the pretty pictures caught your eye and you would like to see more travel photography hop on over to flickr or for our daily oddities check out our instagram feed.
As always – Don’t Forget To Be Awesome!
No comments:
Post a Comment