Ireland Day 2 (July 8, 2012) - Castles and Monasteries

   Day 2 of the trip to Ireland started with an early morning grog, as the Flying Dog Double Dog (11.5%)

 I consumed as my Night Cap beer, really took it's toll on me.  I quickly had to shake off the grog, pop an advil and get downstairs to eat our free breakfast, as the Paddy Wagon Bus was leaving at 8am sharp for the Glendalough and Kilkenny tour.

  Now like everyday in Ireland, it was raining yet again, how wonderful, but atleast we were getting a view of the real Ireland (a joke that the bus driver would tell later).  I pounded back my Rice Krispies with a decent amount of sugar and terrible watered down juice (got to love hostel breakfast) and Hanne and I were ready to tour some of the Irish countryside.

  The bus driver, John (a rather large older gentleman) came to the lobby and rounded up the free tour, we followed him to the big green paddy wagon bus and settled in for the ride.  Now John, or JJ, as he liked to be called, was a very interesting fella, he loved the bus microphone, much like the contestants on American Idol.  He chatted the entire trip about anything and everything, his life, Ireland, told jokes, the economy, this man was on a role, he was very informative, but there was just times when the people had to laugh at just how long winded this man was, he truly loved his job.

  Our first stop was in the Wicklow National Park Glendalough Valley, which was located up in the Wicklow mountains.  These mountains at one point in history were said to rival the Swiss Alps, but obviously that was disproven very quickly.  This place is full of nature, ruins and folklore.

 

  Hanne and I started by walking on the trail that lead around the lakes, where the bus driver informed us, was home to Irish folklore, where a saint drowned a women that was attracted to him, however, the bus driver disproved this and stated that "the gentleman did not drown her, he simple got an erection and to get it down he rolled around in sharp edges, but the women drowned another way".  Ohhhh, well that's one way to suppress the urge and a round of applause for this saints dedication to fighting the need for human contact.



   The trail wrapped around and lead us to ruins of a monestary (oldest in Ireland) that had grave yards scattered all around the rock remains. 

The church itself stood from around the early 1200's.  The ruins were kept well and was a great place to wonder around and get lost for awhile.  After, it was almost time to leave, so I grabbed a cola on the terrace and the rain started really started to pour, so the bus driver informed us when we got back on the bus, that it was one of the worst recorded summers ever in Ireland (I need to research this).

  On our way to Kilkenny, we had one quick stop at Brownshill Domen, which is a temple that was built to bury either high priests, or kings, very large stone with an environmental scan of the area that still needs to be done.

  Finally, we arrived in Kilkenny, I was excited to see the Smithwick's brewery and of course enjoy the beer of the very same.  Kilkenny, is quite a small medieval city with a lot of charm and naturally Irish pubs.  However, some bad news, the Smithwick's brewery was closed on a Sunday, so we took a few pictures and headed for the castle.

 

  The Kilkenny Castle, an impressive structure was built in the late 1100's to the early 1200's and was the home of the powerful Irish Butler family for 600 years.  The grounds is quite large, and one must pay entrance to go into the Castle, which is now used as a museum, banquet hall and meeting place.  The castle has a rose garden on the side and a view overlooking the canal down to the city, as most castle's are usually elevated, so that the occupants can see what is happening at all times.

  Now it is time for that fantastic pint of Smithwick's with Hanne grabbing a Kilkenny, both brewed by Smithwick's, and I must say the difference in taste was noticeable to me.  I enjoyed that Smithwick's very much, probably just the placebo effect of being in Kilkenny, but hell it worked.

  We finally arrived back in Dublin around supper time, so time for my favorite part of any travel, eating and drinking, so we went to O'Shea's Hostel Bar for some great food.  Note:  If ever in Dublin, eat here and try lots of their dishes, affordable and amazing.  I had the Bangers and Mash, and man I had never seen three large sausages stacked on a think layer of mashed potatoes with gravy that high in my life.  Needless to say the third sausage might have been my death, but it was all worth washing it down with a fresh Guinness.

  Day 3, was going to lead us to the coast and the Cliffs of Moher, in which I have a funny story, so we watched a movie in the old theatre on O'Connell street and called er a bit of an early night.  Have to save some of the stamina for another night of beer tasting.....

  Stay Tuned for Day 3, and enjoy a great beer tonight (just do it),

  Roy

Land of Leprechauns, St. Patrick and Guinness Beer

Day 1:

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Ireland for the second time in my life.  The first time was on a back packing experience about 3 years back, but I must say the city was even more impressive then I remember it.

I have always felt that if I was not Métis/Canadian and German that I would have definitely been of Irish descent.  A country with a troubling past, beautiful nature, great music, great food, great beer and an all-around great atmosphere; this is a place that everyone needs to visit at some point in their life.

We arrived on a Ryan Air flight into Dublin on June 7 (Saturday), after hearing the triumphant music that accompanies any landing, followed by clapping of the passengers and bragging that Ryan Air completes over 90% of its flights on time and has the most punctual record in all of Europe, finally a time to enjoy a vacation.

The shuttle down town costs 6 Euros, which is a decent price as it dropped us right near our accommodation (Paddy’s Palace).  Paddy’s Palace, offers a free breakfast, free wifi, tours around Ireland and a friendly staff.  On the other hand, the showers have push buttons with scolding hot water and locks broken off the doors.

After having a hardy Irish breakfast at O’Sheas, we headed to the city hall to meet for a free tour of Dublin city.  

I have taken these tours before in many different places and they have always been informative and entertaining, so we were excited to learn and get some exercise.

Our guide was originally from Northern Ireland and had lived in Dublin for five years, she was energetic and a fast talker, but got the groups attention with her humour and energy.  First stop, we went to Dublin Castle, built in 1204 and for the 700 years following would be the seat of British rule in Ireland.  In the courtyard, a wall was even constructed so that the occupants of the castle could not see the poor people that surrounded its walls.  The castle in my opinion is not one of the most spectacular castle’s I have viewed in Europe, but then again, I don’t believe it was supposed to be.

From Dublin Castle we walked past the large Christ Church Cathedral and heard the story of St. Patrick, who was sold as a boy to the Irish as a slave.  One night he had a dream that a boat would soon be coming to take him back to England and two days later he was on the boat and sailing away from Ireland.  During his captivity, he embraced the Irish culture, which was a culture directed towards honouring many gods, but the dancing, singing and lifestyle attracted St. Patrick.

He then studied to become a priest and eventually became a Bishop in Rome, but had another dream that he must make it his mission to return to Ireland to convert the people to Protestant.  He succeeded by convincing the Irish Kings to convert, thus leading to the people eventually following their Lords.

Next we walked past the old Viking settlement, which had been knocked down, but was reconstructed from bricks that had been laid.  

This is where I was selected to lay down with 9 other people in the outline of their old dwelling and display how the Vikings slept.  I have found out that the Vikings are responsible for inventing the “SPOONING” position, so thank you Vikings.

After we walked into the Temple Bar District, which houses many of Dublin’s famous pubs and clubs, all within walking distance, reminds me of a stretched version of the oude markt; we saw where U2 got noticed and where Bono once was refused service in a bar based pre-judging by the manager, so Bono vowed to the manager that when he got famous, he would return, buy the building and fire the manager.  This is exactly what happened.

Then we passed by O’Connell street that has the island of Irish revolutionary statues along the River Liffey.  Behind it all, is the Millenium Spyre, 

which many Irish people are not impressed with, seeing as this Milennium project that was erected in 2003 during the only time in Irish history they were considered an economic powerhouse cost in the millions to build.  The locals make jokes about the Spyre with nicknames such as (“the erection by the intersection”, “the stiffy by the liffy” and they refer to writer James Joyce’s statue as “the prick by the stick”).

Some of the revolutionaries who through the many generations fought for Irish independence and have statues on the street include: Daniel O’Connell, Charles Parnell and James Larkin. 

Next we ventured to Trinity College, I have to say that if I had a chance to do an exchange again, I would attend this institution, such an amazing history.  Built in 1592 by the British, it was initially built as a Protestant seminary that would “civilize the Irish and cure them of Popery”.  Up until the 1960’s the Catholic Church deemed it a sin to attend this institution.  Recently, this is Ireland’s most prestigious University that houses the ancient “Book of Kell’s” and became famous for the library being in the Star Wars movie “Attack of the Clones”.

We were also informed that the tower at the middle, as in the fashion of Irish people and luck, was said that if a student walked under the tower, then they would be given bad luck on their tests.  Also if you walked under the tower and the bell sounded it informed everyone that a virgin had passed underneath, got to love folklore.

The final stop on our amazing and informative 3 hour walking tour was at St. Stephen’s Green, where we saw the Wolf Tone monument, who was a revolutionary in the late 1700’s and the famine statue.  The great famine was a very dark period in Irish history, especially when the subsistence crop of potatoes started to fail.  Most people in Ireland at this time owned a small plot of land where they farmed potatoes to eat, since one could live quite well of water and potatoes and corn to sell at the market to pay rent.

Once the potato crop failed, the people had to make a choice about the corn, whether to eat, or have shelter.  The British Empire (and as Indigenous people in Canada, we have felt this as well) left the Irish people to starve and die.  Over half to three-quarters of the Irish population died during this famine, so we paid our respects at the famine monument.

In the evening, we settled in at O’Neill’s pub, now if ever in Dublin this is a place to eat, the buffest style Irish food was incredible.  I had the traditional Irish stew with lamb and a pint of O’Hara’s Irish Red Lager.  O’Neill’s pub also has the most Irish craft beer on tap then any place in the city.

After that, I enjoyed a friar’s weisse, which was a very smooth German style weiss beer that tasted of banana, clove with a hint of citrus.  Then we continued the pub crawl by heading to the Foggy Dew, which was packed wall to wall, so I enjoyed a Caledonia Smooth (great Irish beer).

We ended by heading to the Porterhouse Microbrewery, which brews its own beer and has an extensive list of import craft beer.  This is where I sampled some of the house beer and also enjoyed the Flying Dog Double Dog, which was an 11.5% knockout punch of a beer.  The Porterhouse has three levels and is usually packed full as it resides on the same street that U2 was discovered and has live music every night. 

Stay tuned for Day 2 of the Ireland vacation as we explore the Wicklow mountains, Kilkenny and more food and drink!!

A Night with Friends, Sushi and Westvleteren!!

Yesterday, I got a slight taste of old Leuven mixed with new Leuven, as my friend Gonzalo (alias: Newland Savage on Face Book) 

graced us with his presence in Leuven.  After many confusing texts and wandering around Leuven, we finally coordinated our reunion in the always impressive Grote Markt.

It was exciting to see an old friend, so as per usual; I lead him to Café Belge, so we could have some proper beverages.  As we sat down and started reminiscing, I ordered a Zee Zuiper (Tripel) and Gonzalo had a Leute Bokbier to kick start the evening.  We discussed world politics, literature, religion, relationships, future prospects and toasted his acceptance to do his Master’s in Lille, France.

Round 2: I ordered a Hector Tripel and NEWLAND ordered a Gulden Draak, quite a powerful beer, but this lead us to discuss mutual friends, finances, travel, globalization and capitalism.  The conversation flowed like the great beers we were enjoying, as I looked at my watch I realized that it was time to go to Tomo’s for sushi.

I had only been to one previous sushi night at Tomo’s, but free fresh homemade sushi, how can this evening get any better.  

As we entered Tomo’s attic kot, I must describe this place; first off, it is in a shacky looking building that is crying out to be clothed with a new paint job.  We ring the buzzer and wait, finally a voice yells out and a set of keys descend from the upper window, naturally Gonzalo misses the keys, as he is a soccer player, not a baseball player.

We enter and start our climb around the narrow tiny steps that will bring us to the attic, where you enter through the attic door into the kot, a very unique place to live.  It is a comfortable space, where two guys live, my friend and fellow Canadian Chris Adrien occupies the little cubby hole right up against the roof, where he stores his stuff and sleeps, I am impressed with his tenacity to climb the very dangerous unhinged latter to his mattress in the ceiling every night.

As we take an open seat on the floor, the sushi gets cut and dispersed, it is delicious, everyone has switched to wine, but in true Roy fashion, I continue to drink my Jupiler and Vedett that I picked up at the Nacht Winkel moments ago.  As people start to leave, Sajjad (who is passed out sleeping in Tomo’s bed), Kaja (our Slovenian friend – hope I spelled the name right), Gonzalo and myself encounter a pleasant surprise.

Tomo pulls out a box of 6 Westvleteren Abt 12, accompanied by two beer glasses of the same brand.  He informs that he acquired this rare purchase in Brussels during the very surprising marketing stunt by the Abbey.  I have not had one of these for three years and obtaining them is not an everyday thing.  As Tomo starts discussing in an entrepreneurial fashion the reselling to make profit on E-Bay, I cannot help but form a strategy to talk him into letting us try one bottle.

As we start discussing it, Kaja and Gonzalo become a key part of the convincing, we are relentless and we can see Tomo start to think “perhaps let’s give it a try”.  The full court press is in action, as Tomo finally agrees that we can share one bottle of the good stuff. 

Now for all the naysayers that declare that St. Bernardus Abt 12 is like having a Westvleteren Abt 12,

I again, like in my review will kindly disagree, especially enjoying this beer slightly chilled and at room temperature really brought out the special taste.  Deep amber in appearance with a sweet malty aroma of dark fruit and raisins, the taste and flavour jumped right out of the chalice and provided that wow moment.

Lately, I have been reading from a few bloggers that Westvleteren is over rated, or the hype is not worth the sip, for this I am truly disappointed in my fellow beer tasters, because the malty sweet raisin taste, perfect mouthfeel and pleasant finish make this beer worth the wait every time.

There are similarities between Bernardus and Westvleteren, but in a taste test the flavour of Westvleteren is like Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls to Hakeen Olajuwon’s Houston Rockets, both great teams, but the Bulls are one of the greatest dynasties ever, it is blasphemous to speak otherwise.  I feel this way about sampling Westvleteren last night, definitely a dynasty.  Thanks’s Tomo for sacrificing one of the bottles in the package for a sushi good time!!

Over and Out,

Roy

Amsterdam x THREE

Greetings,

  It has been awhile since I blogged, so naturally if nothing happens in your life in the last month, then I would say it is time to spice it up.  I have lots to talk about, but first I want to focus on my most recent trip to Amsterdam.  Last week, I took another visit to the city of Sin - they call Vegas "Sin City", but wait till you see the Red Light District.  

  Both of these places are cash cows to say the least, but Amsterdam is also chalk full of history.  This recent visit to Amsterdam was my 3rd time being in this (on everyone's bucket list, as a place to be at some point in their life) place.  After three times, can you believe that I have never had a picture with the gigantic I AM-STERDAM sign, I have always meant too, but I guess this glorious potential photo that I will inevitably throw on Face Book will have to wait.

  The first time I made the journey to Amsterdam, I was an inexperienced, fresh out of University traveler, who had never stayed in a hostel, let alone ever dreamt of being in a place like Amsterdam.  I went with my girlfriend Hanne, who organized everything because of my inability to abstractly think of a world outside of Saskatchewan.  We stayed in Nordwijk, about a 45 minute drive into Amsterdam city at a Beach in the Flying Pig Hostel.  This was a nice place and gave a free shot every night at 9pm, needless to say I question the authenticity of the alcohol.

  I remember my first visit to Amsterdam, it was quite astounding, looking around, capturing the images I have only heard about, adamantly holding my wallet, as a strong line of defence against pick pocketers.  The canals were unbelievable, first canals I had viewed at this point, the street from the station that lead to Dam sqaure where Madame Teusseau (sorry if mispelt) was situated.  As well, the tourists were off the hook, they flowed everywhere like a swarm of mosquitos after a fresh rainfall.  The hustle and bustle felt like Manhattan at noon hour, I said felt like, nothing could compare to that swarm.

  My first visit was full of culture, naturally we viewed the An Frank House,

The wax Museum a fore mentioned,

saw Rembrandts impressive statue and lastly viewed the Sex Museum, wow what a tourist trap that was, but who cares your on vacation.  My experience with the Red Light District was only a day time experience, so not much to mention, but we did eat at a touristy place that appeared as if laundering drugs and money through the back door was a possibility, needless to say the food was terrible, but are the Dutch really known for their fine cuisine anyways.

  Jumping ahead two years later and I found myself passing through Amsterdam a second time with my backpacking entourage.  Many of my fellow backpackers were relatively new to exploring Europe, so as the experienced veteran I booked the trip, and I wanted to see this Amsterdam's Red Light District in action (especially with all the rumors that it might shut down).  

  This time, I rode on the Canal Bus transport and being as I had seen enough separated from the group, rented a bike and rode out to explore the Van Gogh Museum and the parks outside the centre.  Now to describe my bike ride, I need you to close your eyes (seriously close them) and picture yourself stuck in traffic in downtown Toronto at rush hour.  Now after your done shivering at the thought, the point is that bike riding is an art form in the Netherlands, so I was impressed with my new art form.

  Now I saw the Red Light District at night for the first time, needless to say it is busy, it wants your money and it will find some way to get it.  You will understand what I am talking about, when you open your wallet the next day and go oh shit, the money for my trip to Denmark has just enhanced the Dutch economy ; )

  It was a great experience, I was 26, the hustle and bustle was crazy, weed was smoked everywhere and the streets were filled with drunken British bachelor parties, so this is were I said perhaps I should have my Bachelor party here, but what could I have been thinking.  After our money had been drained, and after a number of touristy meals (meaning bathroom breaks were necessary).  My time there was impressive, but very pricy.

  Fast Forward to 2012, in fact just a week ago, my buddy Derek and Donny,

 who were to be my groomsmen in my wedding party until the wedding got cancelled, still trooped it to Europe to come visit me.  Now, I have been in Belgium for two months and I welcomed a nice visit from Saskatchewan, as I continue job searching and Hanne and I try to get our life back on track.

  Therefore, what other place to meet then in Amsterdam, with Nizer (another groomsmen) joining us over the weekend.

I took the bus from Brussels North Station (the scene of the Brussels criminal red light district) to Amsterdam.  I met the fellas at our hostel in the Red Light District (Hostel the Globe), we were in a 22 room mixed bedroom that contained an overwhelming amount of dudes, the room stunk regularly and there was a giant 7 foot Irish man that slept and farted (overwhelming farts) in our area.  He was a nice enough guy, but needless to say I will let Donny tell the story.  As well, my first meal there still gives me nightmares, I ordered a BLT, very hungry and excited, the food came on untoasted bread, with very little lettuce, one tomato and two uncooked slices of bacon laying on top of the bread.

I took one bite, spit it back on the plate and took it to the guy working, the hostel staff never really seemed to care much.

  The first night went well, we partied Amsterdam style in the Red Light District, but keeping in mind I am 30 now, the zest to go crazy when you are 26 has left.  The Red Light District (was just the same as when we left it, nothing had changed), most of the stuff to do or see, we have done before.  In that case, we started noticing the scammers and the drug dealers more, the dirtiness of the area and how crowded it was.  

  As well, the food again was not that impressive and often times were over priced.  Don`t get me wrong, Amsterdam is an amazing city, but once you have partied in the Red Light District once, in my opinion that is enough.  We spent a lot of money and all of us still are wondering on what.  The highlight was seeing the fellas and touring the Heineken Brewery, which I will write for the WBC website, but again boredom scammed us into sitting in an ice bar sipping (I think it was vodka) out of ice cubes and watching a racially insensitive 4D show with the little Inuit character.

  

  On top of it, we drank Heineken`s all trip, now for one or two pints this is okay, but for a whole weekend, this can get kind of tough, so needless to say, the city is still beautiful, a must see, but for myself, the Red Light District and me are through, but I say that now because in September my brother comes down......YIKES!!!

  I will just have to tape my wallet closed......................

  Cheers,

  Roy