Ireland Travels Part One

Well I can not tell you how happy I was to get out of Dublin and see the "real Ireland" and see for myself what all the hype about this country was. Due to time constraints (mainly due by Kate needing to work) we managed to do a one week flyby tour of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Day One: Dublin to Cork

The trip started out as a scary one as I had to drive through Dublin (it was worse than Nairobi!) where I got totted at a lot and had to navigate around the first of many many roundabouts, buses and people (some of which lay in front of buses and cars). It then followed after nearly having a heart attack going straight onto the motorway where you find yourself having to do 120km (this is the speed limit I swear), though people pass you at that speed.

Our first stop was Glendaloch. This is about an hour or so out of Dublin and thankfully got me off the motorway and onto some winding country rounds surrounded by trees. The place is a must see by Dubliners standards (well at least that was what Kate was told). It was nice with trees and forests and some ruins of buildings, but in terms of what we were going to see later, I'd rate it about a 2.75 (maybe a 3) out of 5.

From here it was to Cork. A average size city with a river running through the middle of it. From the brief bits we saw that night, Kate and I could already tell the place had more culture than Dublin. It was however a lot smaller geographically than we were expecting. As per the stereotype people from Cork require a lot of concentration to understand. That night was mostly spent wondering around the streets and watching the world go by. This was mostly due to Kate and I being indecisive in choosing which pub we wanted to go into and suited us (the problem you have when you have too many choices).

Day Two: Cork to Trallee via Mizen Head

Kate and I first spent the morning wondering around the city. First stop was the art gallery which I really enjoyed seeing a collection of statues and monuments and this modern life art exhibition. Then it was off to see the city walls which were a let down as we could only look at them and not walk on them as the gates were shut. Finally it was a quick look around their historic goal (which we both kind of snuck into without paying as time was short and knew we could not see most of it anyway. And yes, I know that should be no excuse).

It was a windy and at times slow drive to Mizen head on many of Ireland's back roads to this mysterious Mizen Head which I only briefly read about and was 2 hours out of the way. Thankfully however the view on the way and the way back were soo worth it as was the place itself. This site ranks about 4.5 out of 5 and it certainly I place I would recommend going to. it was one of the view places Kate and I struggled to stop ourselves taking pictures and from constantly pulling over on the side of the road.

Trallee, will sadly always be tarnished for Kate and myself. Due to crappy directions from our accommodation we spent two hours, a lot of stress and petrol trying to find the place. I can now say I know the town a lot better than I was ever wanted to.

Day Three: Trallee to Tarbet via Killarney National Park

After our free breakfast Kate and I departed from Trallee very quickly and headed backwards to drive around Dingle Peninsula and then to Killarney National Park. The peninsula was again meant to be another one of the must sees of our trip, and again Kate and I were a little disappointed. While there we checked historic houses and became more informed about the potato famine and its impact on society. Before heading off to the national park it was a stop at a historic oratory which is meant to be the oldest and best constructed one around.

Muckross at National Park was where I was meant to get my road tramp. However this was the not the case and was fulled with tourist, bike riders and horse and cart rides. This turned out to be yet another reminder that Irelander's don't do exercise and don't know what a real tramp is. Don't get me wrong the views of the lake were nice and it was good to do some walking out in the open. There was also a nice surprise of this old monastery from the 1300's we were able to walk around inside of. I think its fair to say Kate and I rated this monastery and fairly high and easily a 4 out of 5.

So Tarbet is this small town which has really nothing there (well on the tourist map anyway). It was here however that Kate and I experienced true Irish pub life with the locals. It was a Sunday and the pub didn't get busy until 10pm. While there I had the pleasure of drinking a pint of Guinness while listening to live music. I was also however subjected to be dragged (literally) onto the dance floor (we were the only ones on it) by a 60 year old drunk Irish guy. He managed to keep me on the floor for at least three songs. Not long after this Kate and I was subjected to "dancing" Polish style. Lets just say it was interesting...

Day Four: Tarbet to Galway via Cliffs of Mohir

So the day started off with rain and a lot of it. This kind of put a damper on Kate and I being excited about taking the car ferry across. After a few twisted roads we arrived to tourist fulled Cliffs of Mohir which were still covered by rain. Kate and I left the place a lot wetter and also thinking they were cliffs just like clffs we have at home, just a little bit higher. Later that day talking to some Italians however they informed of they were the most impressive natural environment they had seen. It was here that Kate and I really started to question if our standards in terms of natural "wonders" were unrealistically high.

Once in Galway Kate and found ourselves surrounded by thousands of young(ish) people. Kate and I had not realised we had arrived at the place on the first day of cup racing. In Ireland this is a big deal. To make life more interesting Kate and my accomodation was right on the strip which was surrounded by most of the pubs in Galway. Cant really recall what we did in the afternoon, but know it quickly passed as it the crap weather.

Kate and I spent the evening in a nice Italian restaurant which had a watermill inside and looked out onto part of one of the main rivers in Galway. It was a nice chance for Kate and I to get all dressed up. Afterwards we joined the crowds and walked the streets and took in some of the street shows. What surprised me was while there were a lot of people drinking out of the streets in designated areas, everyone was in a good mood and there was no sign of drunken behaviour which I would expect in NZ. The evening was finished off talking to a Northern Irishmen who had lived and studied here 50 years ago and was trying to track down friends he knew back then.

Dublin

Rembrandt at National Art Gallary

So after spending five complete days in this city I’ve certainly come to notice a few things.

The first is the weather, but you all would have heard enough about that in my emails, so I’ll leave it there.

There are more beggars holding paper cups here than I was expecting. Well in reality I was expecting any, so seeing so many of them was surprising. Especially since a lot of them are young. There were even children asking for money outside Luas (metro) terminal.
All women appear to wear makeup and blusher is their best friend. Arriving into the city and not wearing it I felt very under dressed.

People here are ghostly white, except if they are wearing fake tan.
There seems to be little architecture in the suburbs. The houses on a street are all the same and none of them are stylish. I feel I could walk into my next-door neighbour and know exactly where everything is.

You can’t just get out of bed and have a shower here. First you need to get up and turn on the heater for the hot water. To make it more confusing there is one for summer and winter.
The city does not know how to make a good coffee. I had been warned but risked it yesterday in a fancy restaurant in a wealthy seaside village ( U2 have houses there) just outside Dublin and it was one of the worst coffees I have ever had.

Tracksuits amongst the youth are popular. It is common to see groups of them handing out in parks in their tracksuits. A lot of the time they completely match i.e. all white, pink etc.
The city is overrun with tourist, in some way’s it is worst than Istanbul. They are constantly slowing me down and they are always taking up the footpath. (I know I am one of them technically, but don’t see myself like them)

Pedestrians appear to believe they rule the roads and will try to cross whenever the road is clear. They seem unfazed by cars, buses etc who narrowly miss them or are tooting at them.

Kate thinks Dublin is actually quiet dirty. While it is not the cleanest capital I have been to, I think its the dark buildings combined with near constant overcast weather that makes it look dirtier than it is.

Emotional Turkey

The Teams final dinner together on a rooftop bar

Me infront of the Blue Palace

Firstly, sorry this blog has taken so long to come about. Hope what it becomes will be worth it.

Turkey for me (the little I saw of the country) was a contrast in almost every way to everywhere else I have been since away. It was also the place where I had to sadly say a lot of goodbyes and venture out on my own again. It truly made me realise how much I had come to rely on travelling with a group of great people and the relatively easy source of good company.

Istanbul which has about 16 million people is a city which appears never to sleep. When you are in the centre of it, it feels like you are surrounded by the 16 million people. This was especially the case at the Grand Bizarre and Spice Bizarre on a Saturday. What was also felt very fast is that women also appear to be subordinate to men. Men appear to view western women as objects and do not hide the fact they are eyeing you up so to speak. They are also very happy to call out to you with such comments. Walking in numbers especially with males certainly lessens this happening, but it is still there. Men hold all the jobs from hotel clerk, waiter to shop attendant to policeman. It was very rare to see a woman holding a position at times it was rare to even see a woman walking certain streets. It truly did feel that for every 20 or more men out on the streets there were 1 woman. When spending my time in Cannakle (closet town to Troy) which is fairly liberal and has apparently a high student population (though all I saw was naval men) it appeared to be a little more even say 10 to 1.

The food in Turkey is not what I was expecting. Firstly it is expensive in general for what it is. Not just because I had come from Eastern Europe where things are cheap. To my surprise there was no mention on any menus of fallafil, there was little mention of hummus and there was eggplant in or on nearly everything. The kabab's which we have at home are rare and are mainly the kebabs you have on a stick.

Turkey is expensive for motorist, not that this stops them from driving or making them drive smaller cars. Its was over $NZ3.70 a Lt. Apparently they have the highest petrol prices in the Europe due to having over 52% tax. They also have the highest electricity in the Europe to. This is why they have the no power without your key card in the holder in every hotel room.

Terrorists

Some of you may already know but there was a terrorist attack in Istanbul last Monday at the USA Embassy. This was kept fairly quiet from the tourist and I only found out by accident the following day. Apparently this is the first publicly noticed attack (and only because it happened outside the embassy) in the last few years. In general however there are attacks on police and soldiers nearly every week which most people just accept. The attack did result in more police and army personal being on the streets with their guns.

Palaces

They certainly know how to do their palaces here going by the two that I was lucky enough to see inside and the ones that I went past. While I could go on for ages about how amassing they are and how luck the Salton's had it, its best to show you some pictures I guess. Topkapi Palace had it for size and grandeur while Dolmabahce Palace had it for location being right on the Bosporus River.

Palace (Dont let the picture tick you it is impressive and it is huge)

Dolmabahce Palace

Gallipoli

Me at the NZ Memorial

After going I could simply say I have now done my dutiful pilgrimage as a New Zealander, but that would be kind of distasteful and not really honouring the true significance of it all. It was certainly interesting to hear the details from a Turkish perspective, especially after studying it at school. While there is was strange how Mr Gill my history teacher kept popping into my head. This was the same for another girl from my school who I randomly meet there. The place on the surface is so gorgeous with a fantastic view. Then you think about all the men who lost their lives there, the number of shots fired and the freezing winter all those who were there experienced and it takes the initial thoughts away.

One of the surprising things that you could not help but notice while there were the number of Turkish people who were there. There were buss loads of them. Apparentlty over the last few years the government has really tried to push the significance of this event. They to now have a day in Turkey which they remember.

Troy

Well I was lucky enough to hear both the story about the legend and the real thing. While there I was able to see evidence of the nine Troy cities that have been there over the last few thousand years. The cities had either be destroyed by earthquake, fire or battle. Apparently what has been uncovered to date only makes up about 10-15% of what they believe was Troy. It is amassing to think that it was only confirmed in the last decade that this city was in fact Troy.

The End of Easter Europe

So now that I am in Ireland my time in Eastern Europe has officially come to an end. Trying to look on the positive sides I'll list the good parts about this, which are

• There are no more traffic driving on the right hand side of the road. Though I had just got use to this.
• No more people wearing socks with their sandals (this is just wrong I think in any country)
• No more cars being parked on footpaths leaving little room for pedestrians.
• No more cars parking on corners making it impossible to see what is coming around the corner
• Being able to understand the majority of what is on TV
• Having Western breakfasts again - where there is cerial, porridge and bread can be toasted
• Sure there must be more, but I really cant think of any.

Bulgaria Continued

Roman Ampıtheatre, Plovdiv

Well since this is now my last day in Bulgaria I now feel a little more qualified about writing about the happenings here.

There seems to be many similarities in someways here to Romania. In terms of they have a lot of the same brand shops, their road system works the same. I have to say it is nice being at a crossing and knowing how long you have to wait and how long you have to cross. Additionally the country also loves their monuments and statues. Sadly another similarity I have noticed is that a lot of the old buildings and monuments have graffiti all over them or are not well maintained. It is something that does surprise me a little.
Now what else is there that I have noticed...

• Well the main one is the written language here. It is completely impossible to decipher the written language as it looks like wingdings at times. This has made it confusing when trying to find things. In the last three years however a lot more English signs have been created on buildings and also streets signs to make it easier for us travellers to understand. This is apparently connected with the country joining the EU and also trying to get the Winter Olympics.

• There is a lot of sexualised advertising here compared to Romania and Hungary. There are Billboards advertising sex shops and sexualised graphics trying to promote products. While I like to think of myself as not being prudish it is surprising considering how religious the country is.
  


• Talking about religion. It is strange for my to see coming from such a non religious country to see people from all walks of life come into churches to quickly pray. At times there are groups of girls who will come in together while shopping and light a few candles, pray to a few mytars and then leave again.\


• The food here as was in Romania influenced a lot my the Italian's so there is pizza and pasta on a lot of menu's. Thankfully here there has also been a Greek influence which means a lot of salads for me to chose from. This has been great as I was getting tired of basing my meals on bread and my body had been missing veggies. It is still missing fruit however as it is still hard to find fresh fruit here. Overall the food here is good and most of it is organic as the country is not developed enough to use pesticides. This has meant that I am enjoying veges like beetroot which I have never liked before at home. It is hard at times though as the country loves their cheese and put it on everything without even pointing it out on the menu.
  Food here in general is very cheap to eat out. I managed to have accidentally of course for less than NZ$10 a large size veggie pizza, a 500ml beer and a large salad. At times I have managed to have a whole meal for under NZ$5 without trying too hard.


• The country has a lot of sports shops, they appear to be everywhere. The strange thing is though apart from when up in Bunsko near the mountains you never see anyone doing exercise about from walking the streets. People are also not dressed in sport gear. Am thinking people must exercise in secrete or something, I don't know.


• There continues to be shoe shops galore here. Eastern Europe appears to have a thing for fashionable shoes. If only my baggage weight was not an issues I would so be having a field day in all the shops as many of them are so different from home. I must say though I am impressed how the women here are able to walk so well on the uneven cobbled stone paths.


• As mentioned earlier I went tramping in the Pirin Mt's. I think a lot of the views are equally as good as those in NZ which i think is saying something. It was amassing how you would just turn a corner and there right in front of you was a clear large lake with Mt tops being reflected in the water. What I do have to say about NZ tracks however is they are well marked. Here you have markers that just suddenly stop with no indication. This caused as to get slightly lost and thankfully with the help of a local guide who happened to be wondering past we were able to get back on track after going through some rubbish at the back of a hotel and through some thistle bushes.

One of the many lakes on Mt Pirin

Bulgaria

Well it seems a little superfical to be doing this blog so early into my time in the country, but I have the time and guess I can add and modify it later on.

I am currently in a town called Teolovo Vernova. While it appears to be a small town, it has a population of over 80,000. The town is all set against a cliff with streets going alongside it. The architecture is very different from Romania as the houses are no longer as colouful and are made of different materials. While it is a long way off Greece it kind of has that feel.

So what have I noticed so far:

• People still like to wear the colour yellow... am guessing this must be a Eastern European thing.
  Shops and food joints open late in the day. It was too early to have bruch this morning at 10:30am. At this point in time we were only able to have an alcohol drink or a coffee.
• Ice cream comes in flavours you just dont have at home and are very fancy though they are sold at the side of the street. The price is determined by the wieght of your order and not the scoop number.
• There are a lot of houses on the market here. While the prices are in Euro's they are still a lot cheaper here than at home (Mish maybe we could look at a house here :) )
• People appear to dress more modern here and less trashy than in Romania. We (the group) thinks this is why the Bulgarian girls are in general prettier.
• People continue to work and use their cellphone at the same time... it is normal to be served while the waitress etc are on their phone
• Getting and change continues to be something that annoys people here. While I get this, when you only have ATM money it is hard not to want it. Last night at dinner the smallest change they have was a $10 note!!!

Time running out so will update rest at latter date

Romania

Viscri fortified church from 1200's. It is the scariest building to climb up, but worth it for the views

Sibiu at the "big Square" looking at the council building

Peles Castle in Sinia. Created in 1880's especially for the Royal family. It is a truly amassing building. One tourist thought is made Versailles look shabby.

Well my time in Romania is coming to an end. I have one more night in Sinia and then a night in the capital Bucharest and then I'm outta here for Bulgaria. While I did not know too much about Romania before coming I feel I do now. It is really a country of changing environments and sociatial views. Every place I have been to so far is very different. In Sinai for example the buildings have a Scandinavian feel, while out in Sibiu it all feels very modern (even with 600 year old buildings).

So again rather than the blow by blow of my trip here are some things I have noticed or been thinking about.

The Romanian people here are on average very short. It is a nice change not to feel like a midget. It is also proving very helpful under very low doorways and ceilings.

The language here is based on Latin (unsurprisingly) with the country's name. In general it is easy to interpret the written language as a lot of it sounds similar. I however continue to give myself a pat on the back for working it all out. One of the jokes at the moment is based on my height and understanding of written Romanian that maybe there is some Romanian in me...

I have been told on several occasions not to read too much into people here not smiling or looking happy as it is a through back of Communism which feel in 1989. I have however found that for those under 30 this is certainly not the case. The people appear to be very affectionate to each other especially partners and at times you want to tell them to get a room etc. Waiting staff however do not fill into this category and are often grumpy. However it is still expected to give them at 10% tip.

The coulour yellow is dominant everywhere still as is the colour white in clothes. also on the clothes note, there is a lot of what NZder's would call slutty clothes being sold here. no one in the group feels comfortable in buying any of the clothes. This country is also very comfortable with ultra short shorts and shirts. It may be sounding old fashioned or judgemental, but in all honesty, here brings a new dimension to short shorts and mini skirt.

Drinking is not a big thing in Romania. They have little issues with alcoholism and drunked behaviour. While there are a lot of bars here and many start drinking early, they don't do so in excess. Women rarely drink and if they do it is only about one. The problem is so small that while there is a drinking age of 18 here it is not enforced. If a young child buys alcohol it is just expected they are getting it for their parents etc.

Smoking is very big here and it appears everyone over the age of 20 does it. Though there is also a lot of younger people doing it also. It is not uncommon to see people smoking while working.

Drivers do not understand cyclist. I learnt this the scary way in Sibiu when a rent a bike for the day. What makes the whole experience more scary is you don't wear helmets. Drivers are able to give way to horse and carts but not bikes. Though you are on the right of right they still expect you to go further right and full off the road. Then there is them constantly tooting at you and then there are cars passing cars while passing you and another car is coming towards them from the other side.

Intrepid Begin's

(The trip layout for those who care)

So my trip has started. There is a group of 9 including the leader. I am surrounded by Aussie's and one American. All of whom seem to be okay, though mock and hassle me on my accent and speech all the time. I have really hit it off with Hannah who is the same age as me. We both appear to be bff's and are constantly talking and doing dumb stuff together. Yesterday for example, we took over a train cabin and were singing and dancing to lame 80's music on her Ipod. Strange I know but we had been on the train for over 6 hours and awake since 4am.

Hungary

Well we only spent one night in the country before heading off to Romania. It however was a cool experience. Managed to go into underground cellar that was created in the 15th century. It is 122km long. The really cool part about this all was that we were there the one night a year where there is wine tasting!!! While some of the wine I would rather not to have touched my lips overall they were really nice. Especially when the whole tour cost around NZ$8. It is fair to say that i was feeling a little under the weather that night after already going out to other local cellars trying every wine that was on their menu which included the famous bulls blood.

Romania

The difference between this country and Hungary was obvious right from the boarder which we crossed on the train. The scenery instantly changed. The buildings were different, as were the modes of transport, the appearance of the locals. Its hard to explain, I hope the pictures may help.

My first two nights in Romania were spent in a home stay. This I thought was going to be roughing it which I was fine about. Instead it was in a large newly built house. Every room had their own TV and bathroom. It is fair to say that I had the best feed on the trip here. I have become in love with this eggplant dip that they have here!

In my time here so far, here are some of the things I have noticed about the place.

The country is more into yellow than Hungary. So many of the buildings here are yellow as are the outfits people wear. I say people as guys also dress in yellow. Not just the top half or bottom half but the whole outfit.

Wearing socks under sandals is common place by all generations

Locals are very good at steering at you if you are doing any sort of exercise more than running.

Most television is in English with translation. This is how many of the locals learn to speak the language

Using horse and cart as means of transport is common here and they even have their own street sign.

Agriculture is big here. It is strange seeing it all being done by hand, especially hay making which is in season at the moment. The people do about 4 stacks a day. Due to it being done by hand I am finding myself having to get use to seeing people walking around towns/cities with large blades as they go off to the fields.

Due to the Roman influence here there is a large number of Italian restaurants serving pizza and pasta.

Women start wearing scarves over their head from the age of 40. At this time they also start wearing knitted jerseys all year road, long dark skirts and appear to put on about 30kgs.

Socialising here is all about the park bench. There are outside nearly every second house in villages and towns are filled with them. At night everyone comes out and sits out on them to meet up with friends and family and also to simply watch the world go by.