Waxing and washing

So the time has come to wax. I guess you can wax in many ways but I try to make a point of only waxing reflectively. So I’ve told you lots about my trip, but how was the trip? What’s it like driving around Ireland for 2 weeks? What’s Ireland like? What have you learned from the trip?

Before any of that, I want to give myself a major pat on the back for planning and executing a two week trip abroad, with 7 different hotel stops, without screwing anything major up. We never arrived anywhere to find ourselves without a reserved room and none of the hotels were bad. In fact several were quite good. So there’s that, but since I’m not interested in planning anyone else’s trip for them, I’ll move on.

Though I never saw anything that used the phrase “Emerald Isle” or even the word emerald during our trip, Ireland is indeed very green. Not the city streets, of course, but the countryside is relentlessly green.

Speaking of the city streets, by the way, I should just note that compared to the Dutch and Belgians, the Irish are absolute wizards in the laying and maintenance of cobblestones. While in Bruges, we could see a new cobblestoned sidewalk being laid and it appeared as if there might be just a hint or design work going on to minimize its comfort level for walking. Irish cobblestones, on the other hand, are nearly flawless.

Of course, there are no potholes in Ireland either, since potholes come from the freeze-thaw cycle, and it never freezes in Ireland and at least in the weeks we were there, it barely thaws as well. You could store wine outside.

I know I’ve gone on about the driving, but the back roads thing becomes enervating after a while. I didn’t put a scratch on our car (aside from that one momentary bottom-out in the Black Valley) or anyone else’s car. But the concentration required to keep the car in the right place, which usually consisted of between a white line in the center (except when there wasn’t one) and a hedgerow on the side took a little too much out of me.

I did learn to use the side view mirror to see how close I was to the center line as a way of avoiding the vegetation or rocks on the other side. And I only screwed up a couple of times and never at a high speed or in a way that could have caused us bodily harm. I was able to park pretty well and gained a great appreciation for roundabouts, which are not really difficult and convey lots of information about where all the converging roads are headed. The two things I never got used to were putting on a seatbelt from the right and looking to my left to see the rearview mirror.

Really, though. It was too much driving. Too much distance to travel for the amount of time. Too much time in the car. It wasn’t extreme for the most part, but it got progressively wearing. One needs either more time or a less ambitious itinerary.

The other thing, and this is what you have to go in knowing, is that there isn’t a lot too do in Ireland. With a few exceptions, it’s not a place you go to do things. It’s a place you got to be and experience. Honestly, that’s not everyone’s cup of tea (oh, and by the way, forget about tea, the Irish are coffee mad. It’s hard to be in a good sized town and not be spitting distance from a café). If you want activities, you absolutely must plan them.

That said, it’s a lovely place to be. The people are just as wonderful as you hear. Some of our favorite moments were in taxicabs.

Enough for now. More in a couple of days.