Hello everyone! My weekend trip was a big success, and I arrived back in Dublin Monday evening pretty exhausted. The highlights of the trip were the Blarney Castle, the city of Galway, and the Cliffs of Moher. More about those to follow. The number of my traveling companions started out at 2, and then we gained one in Tralee and two in Galway. 6 total by the end.
Cork: about a 4 hour bus ride from Dublin for 10 Euro. Arrived in Cork around 12:30 pm and checked into our hostel (Kinlay House). We were on the third floor in a 10-bed room with its own bathroom. Nice view from the window.
Like Dublin, the Cork downtown area is separated by a river. As we drove into town, I saw a few cargo ships and lots of boxes. Must be a shipping centre.
Unlike Dublin, there is an ocean smell when you stand on a bridge over the river. And unlike Dublin, the topography of Cork goes uphill from the river. We walked up a ways to get to our hostel, passing by rows of connected houses and businesses, with each tenement higher than the last and painted a different pastel color. Strangely enough, it was one of the first times that I actually felt like I was in Europe.
I have learned that many shops and restaurants close early - around 5 or 6 in the evening. Pubs also stop serving food at this time. So we're in Cork, having gotten back from the Blarney Castle and walking around and enjoying the town in the afternoon, and alas, we had to go to Subway for dinner.
Later that night, we found ourselves in a pub participating in a "general knowledge" trivia challenge. 6 rounds of 8 questions per round. General knowledge in the States is not the same as in Ireland. This challenge was biased towards Irish history and culture, and especially sports. The city known as the City of the Tribes? no way. Some question about the captain of the English world cup team 20 years ago.
In darts, the highest score attainable from three triples is 171, not 180.
The longest non-water sporting event? The Tour de France.
What sports object is limited to 38 in. long and 4 in. wide? A cricket bat, of course.
What is the sport with the biggest pitch (field)? We wrote down golf, but I guess the quiz author wasn't that creative of a person.
The maximum number of people on a tug-of-war team? 8
The fuel that airplanes use is what substance? Kerosene.
Muhammad Ali lost how many fights - 3, 4, or 5? A rare multiple choice question.
There were the occasional American questions - the bottom stripe of our flag is what color?
what is the distance of the the famous Indianapolis car race?
Route 66 connects what two cities?
Regardless, Team America scored 28/48, three points lower than the second-lowest.
Bus ride to Tralee in the morning.
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