Top Ten Things I’ve learned so far while in I R Land
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Top Ten Things I’ve learned so far while in I R Land
1. Americans get shafted in Europe. For every 3 Euros you spend it’s 4 American dollars. That is fine and good except that every meal is 10+ Euros.
Dinner: 2 x 10 = $27
Drinks: 2 x 5 = $13
Dessert: (optional) 1 x 5 = $6.5
So for a hamburger and fries for two, drinks (two drinks mind you), and dessert will cost you $47. Oh yea, no refills. The only saving grace is you just have to tip them 10%.
2. If you ever go to Europe and rent a car with an automatic transmission, get the most dinged up piece of crap you can. There are many reasons why you want this, but the main one is you are sitting on the wrong freaking side of the car and driving on the wrong freaking side of the road. You are bound to hit something so it’s just best that you get a car that is already “broken in” for you. Our car must have been driven by a lot of Americans because the lady at the rental agency marked up about each side of the bumper and two side panels before we left. They’ll never notice that minor “nick” I added.
3. To go along with #2 above, be sure that your passenger is also involved with the driving. If the person in the passenger seat is hoping for a relaxing, normal drive, they better buck up and get with reality. They are in the seat with the “Hail Mary” handle so they best be looking out for their own “arse” and remind the driver over and over, “left lane…left lane.” That has been my mantra since getting behind the wheel, but Mary Jo has done a terrific job of helping. Needless to say, I have taken more lefts than rights and do a lot of praying when I do make a right.
4. I learned today that there are drunk, red necks all over the world. In this case, it was a fellow red head making us look bad, but he had so much Guinness in him he didn’t care. He offered me one since we shared a common bond in the brotherhood of crimson hair and ivory white skin, but it took all I had to understand him through his think, drunken English accent and tell him I didn’t want one. As I watched him act like an idiot with his two other buddies, I couldn’t help but think of the guys back in the States who go shirtless at baseball games or the Fair with their Def Leppard t-shirts tucked in the back of their shorts. The only difference is this guy could speak another language. I couldn’t tell if it was Slavic or Gaelic, but I was pretty impressed the guy could communicate in another language while lying on the ground with no shirt on. At least their red necks are educated which is more than I can say about ours.
5. Unless your wife enjoys athletic activity, don’t rent “bikes” and go for a “short” ride. Just pay the money and do the tour bus. Not only will your butt not hurt, but you and your wife will be speaking at the end of the tour. Granted, this was a pretty hilly ride so I can understand why Mary Jo wasn’t speaking to me for much of the ride.
6. The Irish must have had too much time on their hands over the last three or four hundred years. The countryside is absolutely beautiful, and you can’t get enough of the fresh crisp air. I just don’t get why they erected hundreds if not thousands of stone fences that separate very small patches of land. They ranged from 20 yard by 30 yard patches to football size patches of land. They go for miles like this, and I couldn’t imagine why or how long it took them to build those fences. Granted this was on Inis Mor, an island off the coast, but it just amazed me they would spend that much time building fences made of very heavy stone.
Ok…that is just six of my top 10. More to come tonight.
-matt and mj
Top Ten Things I’ve learned so far while in I R Land
1. Americans get shafted in Europe. For every 3 Euros you spend it’s 4 American dollars. That is fine and good except that every meal is 10+ Euros.
Dinner: 2 x 10 = $27
Drinks: 2 x 5 = $13
Dessert: (optional) 1 x 5 = $6.5
So for a hamburger and fries for two, drinks (two drinks mind you), and dessert will cost you $47. Oh yea, no refills. The only saving grace is you just have to tip them 10%.
2. If you ever go to Europe and rent a car with an automatic transmission, get the most dinged up piece of crap you can. There are many reasons why you want this, but the main one is you are sitting on the wrong freaking side of the car and driving on the wrong freaking side of the road. You are bound to hit something so it’s just best that you get a car that is already “broken in” for you. Our car must have been driven by a lot of Americans because the lady at the rental agency marked up about each side of the bumper and two side panels before we left. They’ll never notice that minor “nick” I added.
3. To go along with #2 above, be sure that your passenger is also involved with the driving. If the person in the passenger seat is hoping for a relaxing, normal drive, they better buck up and get with reality. They are in the seat with the “Hail Mary” handle so they best be looking out for their own “arse” and remind the driver over and over, “left lane…left lane.” That has been my mantra since getting behind the wheel, but Mary Jo has done a terrific job of helping. Needless to say, I have taken more lefts than rights and do a lot of praying when I do make a right.
4. I learned today that there are drunk, red necks all over the world. In this case, it was a fellow red head making us look bad, but he had so much Guinness in him he didn’t care. He offered me one since we shared a common bond in the brotherhood of crimson hair and ivory white skin, but it took all I had to understand him through his think, drunken English accent and tell him I didn’t want one. As I watched him act like an idiot with his two other buddies, I couldn’t help but think of the guys back in the States who go shirtless at baseball games or the Fair with their Def Leppard t-shirts tucked in the back of their shorts. The only difference is this guy could speak another language. I couldn’t tell if it was Slavic or Gaelic, but I was pretty impressed the guy could communicate in another language while lying on the ground with no shirt on. At least their red necks are educated which is more than I can say about ours.
5. Unless your wife enjoys athletic activity, don’t rent “bikes” and go for a “short” ride. Just pay the money and do the tour bus. Not only will your butt not hurt, but you and your wife will be speaking at the end of the tour. Granted, this was a pretty hilly ride so I can understand why Mary Jo wasn’t speaking to me for much of the ride.
6. The Irish must have had too much time on their hands over the last three or four hundred years. The countryside is absolutely beautiful, and you can’t get enough of the fresh crisp air. I just don’t get why they erected hundreds if not thousands of stone fences that separate very small patches of land. They ranged from 20 yard by 30 yard patches to football size patches of land. They go for miles like this, and I couldn’t imagine why or how long it took them to build those fences. Granted this was on Inis Mor, an island off the coast, but it just amazed me they would spend that much time building fences made of very heavy stone.
Ok…that is just six of my top 10. More to come tonight.
-matt and mj
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