Woo! Travbuddy tells me I have now been to seven percent of the worlds countries! (travbuddy.com/seecretajman) Ireland was amazing. It's too much to write about in full, but I loved it. Some of my favorite memories were going to a bar called Hussey's and one called Durty Nellie's, finding out what Black Pudding was, sleeping in a castle, discovering I was on tour with the parents of two of the New Kid's on the Block, trying to defeat jet lag, but mostly spending time with amazing friends. I was surprised at the prevalence of the gaelic language, as I thought it was mostly a dead language, or one that no one really spoke. It's actually on all government issued signs and taught in schools. I think it's silly to say something like, "everyone in Ireland is so nice!" or "The Irish are so friendly!" but it is true that everyone I met was very welcoming, happy I was enjoying their country through music and extremely willing to help me and go out of their way to make sure I had the best time in their towns. It was an amazing trip.
Ok, so on to some restaurants. Every one of them was new, so #152-154 are all checked off. I think this is the first one that I've completed that referenced doing something more than once (read ten books, go to ten museums...) so I'm psyched about that one. The first picture is from Nimmo's in Galway. It was very fresh, and although my bread has too many seeds all up in its business, it was very good. The second is from the Hotel Meyrick restaurant. Out of all the hotels we stayed in, this one had the best food. It, like the third picture, is also from Galway. On the third, we were starving, so I ran up to a bar and said, "where is the dirtiest and cheapest place to eat?" Without missing a beat, he instantly told me The Charcoal Grill was the place to go. It was fantastic, although one of my friends threw up after. This is, of course, just a selection of the places we ate.
Now as for the museums...There was one in Galway, but it was closed. We went to the Guinness factory, which had museum like exhibits, but I feel uncomfortable counting it. I did go to the Ireland Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) in Dublin. They had a lot of creepy videos, and art work that I accidentally touched.
This guy is from outside the museum. He is art.
So that's #4 checked off, as well as #152, #153, #154 and #200! I read a little bit but mostly slept on the bus. Two novels currently unfinished.
Now, onto booking my flight to Seattle!
Yesterday we went wine tasting, my first time. As they grow a lot of these Pacific Northwest wines in the desert, they have a lot of tasting rooms close together right outside the city, as opposed to going to a vineyard. I said earlier that I found my love for Red Cat in sort of a gray area--between making the list and starting the blog, so that one doesn't count. Also, it's a chilled red so it feels too much like white. The red wine that I found I like is called, "Chocolate Wine"! It tastes like tootsie rolls. I don't love it, but I like it!
