Ireland

12.11.07

In a plane from Cork to Cardiff

To honour Mark and other English-speaking people I have met/will meet on this trip I decided to continue writing in English. So they would know how odd the countries are they live in (just kidding). I'm sorry for the mistakes I make but it's been a while since I last systematically studied English. Take the whole thing as a demo version of our blog. After this trip I will continue in Estonian... If you want some more, learn it :p.


In the previous post I described how I flew from Tallinn to Stansted and from there to Cork. The flight was alright. Typical Ryanair... a bit too tight for the legs... a magazine advertising some island around Cork about which the locals have no idea... and a really odd announcment at the end of the flight reporting that "this flight arrived TWO MINUTES before time which is yet ANOTHER ON TIME FLIGHT FOR RYANAIR!!!111. HOORRRAAYYY!!"

Anyway, at the moment I met my Konstanz friend Mark at the Cork International Airport started a fabolous weekend full of unexpected experiences. My flight to Cardiff is a bit short for describing all of those so I just try to note down the most colourful ones:

Well I did expect the traffic to be the other way around. But it appeared to be crazier than I thought. Besides driving on the wrong side all the inhabitants in Ireland seem to be suicidal by crossing the street whenever they want (ignoring red light) and wherever they want (ignoring the foreseen crossings). When walking around the city and blasting over crossroads with Mark I felt like toddler trying to stay close to someone who knows the system. I obviously didn't know the system and felt like risking my life at every other junction. Later it appeared that the cars are not particularly angry about pedestrians wandering around. They even stop at pedestrian crossing with red and let them politely across. Moreover, Mark reported crossing the street at a wrong time and place just under the nose of a policeman. So on my last day in Ireland I realised that this system might actually be more human than our car-centered survival battle in Tallinn. At least pedestrians seem to have equal rights with cars.

Another familiar topic – the taps. I managed to get Mark to agree with me that the two-tap system is odd and old and cannot be reasoned. He said he realised that only after talking to outsiders... I hope the Irish (and British) will eventually learn from the international experience.

If you walk in a bar in Ireland do not expect them to have a variety of different Irish beers. It appears that actually there aren't any good Irish beers besides Guiness and its local little brother Murphy. Instead you'll be offered a variety of choice from American and Frensch beers. Unbelievable!


I had timed my visit just right as I arrived on Mark's 22nd birthday. This meant getting to know Mark's fabulous friends and several downtown bars. Slainte to y'all!

But visiting Ireland was not only about learning to cross the roads and getting to know the real taste of Guiness. On Satyrday Mark surprised me by taking me out to a bike trip to Killerny National Park. This meant cycling 50+ km through picturesque hilly Irish landscape. Superschön! The day was made complete by a small local restaurant serving excellent (and big portions of) local food.

I have to end for now as my plane from Cork to Cardiff is landing now. But I thank Mark from the bottom of m hear for this superb prolonged weekend full of fun and enriching conversations. I wish you all the best. Mark, don't forget the Estonian you learnt. You can never know when a (fucking) Estonian is about :)


I also made some pictures:

A walk-about in Cork
Mark's birthday party
Bike trip in Killarney National Park

Stay tuned for more updates soon!