Corking Good Time

Friday, we rented a somewhat strange, oversize, odd looking vehicle and drove to Cork. Good times. While exhausted by trying to find where our hostel was (the street networking system is a little odd around, and the people really have no idea how to give decent directions. "Go down that road for a bit, take a right, it's on the corner. You can't miss it." Right.) we still managed to explore the town a bit and see some sites.

Saturday morning, we decided to take a bus trip to Killarney, a nice little town. Beautiful drive. While there, we rented bikes and rode to Ross Castle (which has been at the same spot for a long, long time).

A word about the weather here in Ireland (and Scotland for that matter). Beautiful. Every where we have gone it's been nice. All the locals say it's been raining the whole summer (I'm sure it's global warming, right?) but that the last two weeks have been great.

Riding in Ireland is really interesting. I'm quite independent, and the whole concept of telling me to wear a bike helmet makes me very irritated with big brother and the works. But no such problem in Ireland. lots of people riding bikes. No helmets.

But this is the place that we really need them. Honestly, this was the first time in my life that I really wished I could have been wearing a bike helmet. Narrow roads, with somewhat different driving styles, and you're riding a bike on the shoulder. A little scary.

Anyway, we rode to the castle, then we're making our way to the Killarney National Park when it was determined that there probably wasn't time for us to all make it and back. Well, Blogger had all sorts of energy. So I rode on, saw about half of the National Park (they don't make 'em the same way as in the states, but it definitely was beautiful), then returned the bike about fifteen minutes earlier (it was a fast ride). After that, I took the bus back (But evidently a different one, since I haven't seen the rest of the crew yet. Via email I have been informed that everyone is back in Cork).

Everyone is so into talking here in Ireland. Everyone is like Seth. They just can't walk by and say a simple "hi." A good long talk is in order. The people are definitely fun.

Ireland - Dublin

Before Dublin, some thoughts on Ireland in general. 6 Million People and 32,000 square miles. That's it. No more.

There are 37 cities in the world with 6 million or more people. 40 of the 50 States have 32,000 square miles or more. My real home state, Oregon, has 3 times the square miles as Ireland (98,000). I currently reside in Kern County, California, a land mass of over 8,000 square miles, a fourth of the size of the entire country of Ireland.

Now think about it. Think about all of the history that goes with such a small patch of land and a few people.

Books such as "The Irish Saved Civilization" are vey helpful in such an endeavor. But contemplate how many self proclaimed "irishmen" that you know in the states. U2, Guinness, Irish Ales and Setters, movies, poetry, etc.

Think how many Boston Red Sox, Patriot and of course, Celtic fans that you know who all seem to be Irish.

Think of all the lame excuses you have heard people give for their failures of "I can't help it, I'm Irish."

Ok, the last one was a little mean. I'm fairly Irish myself, you know. Couldn't help it.

Anyway, The Legal Pad flew into Dublin a few days ago, spent most of their time finding a place to eat dinner, playing hearts, and generally relaxing. I can't say that we really saw that much other than an irish good time.

The next day, after taking care of laundry and other matters (ahem). . .. Well, ok, i probably can't gloss over that. Other matters would mean tracking down the backpack (along with a significant portion of Seth's travel money, which he can't seem to carry around in small amounts) that I, Blogger, left in an internet cafe the night before (closed before I could get it back).

An aside on Blogger's personal habits. I'm absentminded. I like to think of myself as a deeply philosophical person who lives on a somewhat higher intellectual plain than some people resulting in more difficult than usual time in dealing with the small, almost inconsequential activities of everyday lfe. That may sound somewhat egocentric, but you have to do what you have to do to cope with the realities of life, and one of those realities is that I'm absented minded. Ok. Enough of that. Happy Seth?

The first stop of the day was the famous Guinness Factory. Actually, this was pretty interesting. Guinness put together this incredible world class building (has a view of all of Dublin in a round all windows top floor) to commemorate and explain their drink's history. 249 years ago, Arthur Guinness signed a contract for 9000 years to rent the ground that the factory was built on for 45 pounds a year. Ridiculous.

All sorts of interesting things in there about how the Guinness Book of World Records was started, ancedotes of historical figures and Guinness, etc. It sorted of reminded me of the world of coke in Georgia.

After Guinness, we went and saw the famous Kilmainham Gaol where the leaders of the 1916 Easter uprising were executed. The Easter Uprising against the British is basically why there is a UK Ireland and an independent Ireland. Even though the uprising was unsuccessful, public sympathy was swayed by the execution of many of the leaders. Many of those leaders were very personable and became somewhat legendary for their actions.

One of those leaders was Joseph Plunkett, who married his fiance at the prison three hours before being executed. They had ten minutes (supervised) to talk before the execution and that was pretty much that.

I suppose it could have been worse.

After cheering ourselves up, we went downtown to the Temple Bar area, found some live music, a good meal, and played some cards again. Good times.

Blogger in Ireland

Blogger regrets to inform you that he really doesn't have the time to blog tonight. However, he celebrated his sister's birthday in the land that his rebellious (on irish politics) sister loves. He will blog more later.

Lying Low

Day four in Scotland, we were ready for a slow day. So after I came back from a walk up on Carlton Hill (beautiful outlook and park where you can see 360 degrees around the city), we had brunch, then a leisurely walk down to Leith (on the waterfront, but officially part of Edinburgh now).

We read books, watched a movie, and just were in general, lazy (JS was a little under the weather). We did not take any breaks like this on our last trip. For a refresher on what 11 countries in 30 days is like (and with actual creative writing by JS on this, as well as Seth) follow the link. http://mjbigger.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_archive.html

In a few minutes, we leave for the airport to catch a trip to Ireland.

Driving on the left side of the road: a study on human terror

Fortunately, no physical harm came to the occupants of our motor carriage in the making of this study. Psychological harm was unavoidable.

There's five disturbing factors about driving in Scotland: (1) Driving on the left side of the road, (2) Driving from the right side of the car, (3) extremely narrow roads, (4) different traffic signs and signals, (5) managing the panic and terror from the passengers inside the motor vehicle.

During the course of one day's driving in the making of this study, over 400 miles was covered. Good fun!

As many people are aware, Blogger prides himself on his handling of a motor carriage. He has driven 1500 miles into mexico (2000 total, but other drivers covered the rest) in three days, once went on a memorable Yosemite/Death Valley/Las Vegas/Grand Canyon weekend tour http://flibbydibby.blogspot.com/2007/06/road-trip.html much of it covered on back out of the way roads, including the very obscure Sherman Pass), and generally drives way more than the average man with somewhat scary levels of self confidence. However, driving on the left is a different proposition.

First of all, your depth perception is completely different on the right side of the car. Stress analysis results from passengers show that other than the one attempt to go the wrong way on a one way street (seth TOLD ME too!) and Bloggers exit from the vehicle while it was still in drive (we stopped that baby a good four inches from the parking garage wall. I think it's in my left arm's union contract that it does not touch the gear shift. At least it really didn't want to do anything once the car stopped), the highest indicators came from the left side of the vehicle being closer to objects than the passengers were comfortable with. Ahem.

We evidently scraped some curbs (very lightly, I didn't even notice. I think that's just good driving myself) and were within a few inches (according to Seth, and we know that he never stretches the truth to make a point) of a parked bus. As previously discussed, the roads are quite narrow and for better or worse, lane occupation is looked on as a privilege, not a right.

In Inverness, my inner Seth came out when I find myself talking through the open window of my car to the college girl occupants of the car in the adjoining lane (which I needed to be in to continue on the right path) and telling them "I'm a tourist. I have no idea what I'm doing. Please let me into your lane." Which they did.

So anyway, driving was an experience. Seth drove the last 150 miles and I can honestly say that I have a much better understanding of the terror. He did a fine job, but brushing against tree branches at 30 miles an hour does show you that things are a "wee bit crowded nie awhn ta glen."

Which brings us to our actual driving route. We left in rush hour traffic from Edinburgh, traveled through the center of the city, and then made our way via Perth to Inverness. Walked around a bit (they actually had a pretty impressive mall. It's scary to see what influence we American's have had on our their culture.) with particular glee in the more old fashioned part of the city.

Then we drove south along the shores of the beautiful Loch Ness home of the very famous monster of the same name, who we didn't see once the whole entire time. Unhospitable brute.

We drove along to Ft. Williams, saw the waterfront, then made our way via the mountain pass by way of Glencoe to Glasgow. From Glasgow we made our way to the town of Biggar. I'm sure that you're all aware that when my ancestors came over from the country, they changed the spelling of our last name from Biggar to Bigger. So coming back to Biggar was a home coming of sorts and I was happy to do so as a Bigger instead of a Beggar.

At Beggar, we played Hearts for several hours until Seth got into his whole "the system is fixed, it's all luck, and all goes against the bloody irishmen" losing funk. Teresa kept on beating him. He hates to be beat by a girl. It's very amusing.

We ventured home in the dark to Edinburgh. I love these country roads. Tons of fun. I felt the swagger come back. No speed cameras on the country roads. Good times.

Cruising

Day 2 Scotland started with a walk to the bus station where we caught a tour bus. There's much to be said for a really comfortable bus. However, staying away so that you can see the sights is not one of them. I think Seth and I probably slept over two hours of our four hours of riding.

The highlands were especially beautiful, reminding me of the old George McDonald books I grew up with.

Our first stop on the tour was another castle. This time it belonged to Bruce King of Scots. He was the chap in the 1300's who took over the fight from William Wallace (of Braveheart fame) against the English and won the Scots independence. Quite a leader, etc. The scots were very irritated that in the movie Braveheart he was portrayed as having sold out William Wallace. Evidently, this is distinctly not true. But of course, as good California's (in the present only for me), we expressed strong disbelief that Hollywood would portray something historical with any degree of lack of accuracy.

We also saw a monument/statute of William Wallace on the way in. JS was disappointed that William Wallace looked nothing like Mel Gibson. Life is full of disappointments. From seeing the Scottish girls around here, Seth and I have concluded that the two actresses that portrayed the leading ladies in the film were also horribly historically incorrect. How sad.

After the castle, we went and saw a nice little display of sheep herding by some border collies. Seth raised sheep. I had a sheltie. It seems horrible that we weren't able to combine resources earlier in life for financial gain.

The last stop was the Lock Lomond, the largest body of freshwater in the United Kingdom. We took a nice cruise on the lake, etc.

After arriving back in Edinburgh, we caught a meal while watching Ryder Cup "action." While golf's a fine playing sport, watching's never been my thing. However, everyone is absolutely crazy about it here, and seem to believe that America feels the same way. Since we were winning, we played the part of the superior American's beating europeans at some random sport we took up just because we're good at such things.

After dropping off Teresa and Jeremy, Seth and I scoured the city for any sign of real American football. After asking at least thirty people, being directed to various sports bars around the city, and deciding that it was practically hopeless, we finally discovered "the place" in town that actually carried a game. At that point, it didn't matter what game. It was football. And three American college students were there trying to keep track of their fantasy football teams. Good times. The afternoon game got over at half past midnight. Then the search for internet began.

From Scotland, Blogger remains your faithful blogging servant. Tomorrow, he should have an update on driving on the left side of the road. Good times.

Youth Hostel (Cue Scary Music)

If you believe what Hollywood tells you, hostels are filled with hockey mask wearing, chain saw carrying, reclusive psychos who chase around mindless hot babes in houses of wax or something (at least I remember something like that from the trailers).

Well, hostel's are pretty entertaining.

8 people to a dorm where Seth and I reside. This morning I was woken up when a staff member shook the person in one of the other bunks to wake them up and let them know that they were in the wrong bed (I guess they had come in early this morning and just taken an open bed, not realizing that the actual person it belonged to was the only early riser of the bunch.).

The rooms have names. Ours is Gotham City. Every bunk and key is assigned a Batman character. I'm "The Joker." I've been avoiding sleeping pills.

Seth (and I get a real kick out of this) is Robin. Tights and a mask. That's Seth.

Anyway, the only thing that really stinks is the showers. It's nice to have your own shower.

I miss long showers.

Hot showers!

First Day in Edinburgh

Scotland's first full day commenced with a trip to the grocery story (discussed supra). Following that came a tour of the famous Edinburgh Castle.

The oldest standing building in the Castle was 12th Century. In other words, really old.

Various English Kings, guys named McDonald, and other folk of interest lived there throughout the years. Some of them died there in ultra violent ways (killed in kilts!).

Interesting historical note; in 1707 the Brits and Scots united and the Scots gave up the crown, scepter and colors which was stored in a backroom in Edinburgh Castle. For ever a hundred years, no one even bothered to check and see if they were still there, until the 1800s when Sir Walter Scott, with permission from some Prince friend of his, "broke" into the castle and discovered them under some linens in an abandoned room.

Sir Walter was an interesting chap, BTW. Lawyer (good bloke), who actually wrote so frenetically because he was trying to paying off an astronomical debt that his father's estate had left him. He succeeded. He also was extremely instrumental in political affairs, something that Rob Roy fans will dubiously appreciate since RRs political skills were a bit lacking.

After the castle visit, we walked to the stadium to the see the Edinburgh Hearts play ("the Heart and Soul of Edinburgh." Ugh) I was scooting down the aisle to get into my seat just when the first, and only, goal of the game was scored.

And now we break in with a word on soccer. Boring.

While substantially more interesting in person than on TV, it still reminds me of chess without the strategy part (oh yes, I know there is some strategy, but since one random shot can make all of the difference in the world versus all of the strategy of the rest of the game, I stand by my statement). People cheer wildly when someone actually misses a goal! "Good try old chap!"

My mom used to lecture me on "empty calories." explaining that my intake might be fine but that there was no nutritional value to what I was eating, etc, etc. Soccer is sports version of empty calories. There may be plenty of hooting and hollering, running, sweating, and cursing, but in the broader scope of sport, it's all empty calories. Burning them off with no goals.

Which brings me back trying to get to my seat when a goal had just been scored. A goal is a time for everyone to drunkenly (perhaps that's why I don't like the sport, it's only palatable drunk) hug each other as if the Allied Tanks had just rolled into Berlin. It's very embarassing to be trying to squeeze through to one's seat in such a situation, but I was already committed to it when that lucky son of a gun got it past the goal keeper and made the day of every "hearts" fan.

After soccer, we walked back, got some food, and then hung out at an alehouse and played cards.

I won.

Good day.

Scottish Hero Series

Today, we bring you a Mr. Grant (first name already forgotten). Mr. Grant was a gentleman who's life spanned 97 years and ended in the late 1700s. He was notable for recruiting young lads into the army as late as 67 years of age and then, at the ripe old age of 95, fighting a duel with some young buck (with pistols. Swords were a bit too much). He survived for another two years.

Seth has been inspired. Everyone grows old, but you can be pick fights as long as you draw breathe.

Edinburgh, Scotland Welcomes Legal Pad

Yesterday, after a brief airport stint in England, we made our way to Scotland. After confirming our travel sources over dinner that food is extremely expensive here, we decided to buy breakfast and lunch at a store today.

Seth spotted some yoghurt and we were all at the checkout when I noticed his find. Since I had only bought lunch stuff, I ran back and picked up a little carton for me as well. Unfortunately, the picture of the strawberry with a white substance coating it was evidently not indicative of Yoghurt. . .

Since it was the only thing I had to eat for breakfast, I decided to drink the entire carton of cream anyway. Yum, Yum. No nephew Ben allergic reactions have come forth, but it is a lesson. When traveling in foreign countries, don't rely on misleading packaging. In fact, you may want to even read the label, since this is an english speaking country and all. . . .

A WORD ON ARRIVING ON TIME AT THE AIRPORT

No.

Actually, the start of this trip was significantly different from previous trips. We left on time for the airport. We arrived without incident. People did not shake their heads at us as flight staff reopened the doors to let us in.

This is different than our experiences in Egypt, France, Rome and various local destinations. #

Weird. We'll try leaving on time again to see if it's just the novelty that's strange.

Legal Pad Traveling Tips

As many people are aware, the Legal Pad occasionally takes trips abroad so that we can brag that we are more sophisticated than our Bakersfield neighbors. Ahem. We often read travel books on the plane (sometimes on the way home) so that we can spout off some historical tidbit as if this is the sort of knowledge that is common in Legal Pad circles (actually, it is. But as will be discussed supra, Jeremy is an absolute freak).

First of all, when traveling abroad with friends, everyone should know their place. Here are the players.

JEREMY (JS)
Jeremy is the planner. In fact, if it weren't for having a list for just about every project and activity in his little life, he probably wouldn't be able to face another day. He has longer lists than Santa Claus in December. He fidgets when something on the list is not followed to the letter. He gets a smug look of satisfaction everytime he is able to cross something off the list. When he comes to the end of a list, he looks lost and confused until he takes the immediate time to make a new, longer list.

JS reads books for two years in advance on various obscure things relating to where we are traveling. And when it comes to the traveling, JS takes care of everything. Seth, Teresa and I just clear our schedules and show up. JS is the planner.

SETH
Seth is Security. He insures that no one messes with us and if they do, that they quit. He oftentimes enjoys putting us in exciting situations to remind us of his value in getting us out. In Legal Pad travels around the world, most of the good stories start with "Then Seth wandered over to join the wedding party at the little church within site of the Vatican" or something like that.

Seth also carries a lot of luggage. He's like a Clydesdale of backpacking. Just put more on and feed him regularly.

TERESA
Teresa is sweetness and light in a dark Legal Pad world. Her presence is like what the United Nations security forces wish they could accomplish: she keeps the peace. When JS and Security and Blogger try to settle things like Moe, Larry, and Curly, Teresa is the Mother Teresa that makes us all be nice to each other (and helps Security be nice to the rest of the world).

Teresa is like a hummingbird; she needs fed frequently or her energy evaporates and she goes into hibernation.

BLOGGER
Blogger entertains. Sometimes by tripping over a curb and falling in the middle of the street, then staggering as he gets up (Because the weight in the packs shifted) to the point that passerbye's laugh at him thinking that he is under the influence of local scottish brews. He finds internet cafe's. He gives an occasional lecture (in a scary reminder that he is his dad's son) of various dangers associated with traveling abroad, and gets lost so that JS and Security can feel needed when they set him back on the right course.

Blogger's Back

Blogger has returned to the land of the online and is posting live updates from his trip to Scotland and Ireland with Seth, Jeremy and Mrs. Jeremy.