Where is Jo?: Week Two: Hitting the Emerald Isle

I write from Dublin... After a very short flight, we touched down amid green pastures and caramel coloured cows (actually it was painted on the side of a hanger, but I think it looked nice). Ireland is in the midst of a drought so the green pastures are leaning more towards the poo brown variety, but even then, a sprinking of emerald is certainly seen just about anywhere.

Dublin is a gorgeous town, with more of a country-bumpkin feel to it than the stale and depressing place I had heard so much about. Much smaller than Perth, the streets are wide and airy, and coloured flowers line the footpaths. The people smile and tip their hats in greeting and music can be heard from every corner. Temple Bar (or Temple Barf as it is know to the locals) is the pub/club area of Dublin, and is a myriad of winding cobblestone lanes and secret drinking holes.

Interestingly, everyone thinks we are from America. We went into one pub and a gentleman exclaimed' Oooh, you is from T'Americas!". We told him we were from Australia and went on our way. When it came to paying for the drinks, the bar tender couldn't understand a word we were saying. We were told 'It's yer American accent, yer see!" Generally speaking, if you don't sound Irish when you are talking, then you are from T'Americas.

We had a fantastic time looking through Trinity College and seeing the famous Book of Kells- the most impressive old book in the world up until yesterday when they uncovered a more impressive one at a construction site. Bummer, hey. You travel the world to see the best book on the planet, only to be outdone by one day.

Other than that, I have managed to fit in the odd spot of shopping. Mostly to get some new winter clothes after throwing most of them out in London whilst delerious from heat stroke. The weather is about ten degrees cooler and even a bit cold at night. A most welcome change.

We also did an embarassing viking tour of Dublin on one of those Amphibious WW2 buses. Admittedly, wearing plastic viking helmets whilst roaring through Temple Bar yelling obscenities at the masses had it's moments. I think I even learned a thing or two about Dublin's history. But it was hard to listen when you are being poked in the eyeball by plastic horns every time the bus turns a corner.

One highlight was catching the train up to Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland for the Lughnasa Fair (scroll down heaps for photos). It's a medieval fair held in a castle perched atop a rocky outcrop on the sea. We saw a fair bit of sword fighting and basket weaving but nothing too exciting due tho the bad weather. The castle itself was stunning. The men in chainmail were a bit on the hairy/smelly side.

Here are some more photos of London and a few of Dublin, but if you scroll further down the page there are a couple more. Next stop- Kilkenny.

xoxo