During the [tag]summer[/tag] of 2006 I went to several countries in [tag]Europe[/tag] starting with [tag]Ireland[/tag] and moving on to [tag]France[/tag]. Here Are those tales, and of course pics from my journeys can be found in
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DAY 1!

Honestly today could not have gotten here fast enough. For the past few days I have been having stomach problems from nervousness. No that I am underway I am a little relaxed. Check in at the Birmingham airport was fairly painless, I even got to keep my shoes on this time. My first struggle didn’t come until I tried to jam my bag into the overhead compartment, I took a little coercing but I managed to get it luckily, I have a fear of checking my luggage and never seeing it again. It got to the point I had to quit visiting the unclaimed baggage center because so many of my shirts kept showing up on the clearance rack.

All of the times I have flown across this country this was only my second time being let out on the runway (the first time was [tag]Jacksonville[/tag] muni airport, but that time there was a horse tied up on the runway to so it wasn’t so bad). I tried to snag a few pics since I was so close to the outside of the planes, but my lens fogged up once I got out of the plane. [thumb:4:c] The [tag]Charlotte[/tag] airport is absolutely hemorrhaging with stores, i think there was a magazine stand or a Brookstone every ten feet or so. And paying 2.35 for a 20oz soda amounts to nothing more than high way robbery. My tiny 5 dollar teriyaki bowl did little to quell my thoughts of protest. That shit is entirely unacceptable. The worst part is I haven’t seen a single Dr Pepper since I set foot here. BLASPHEMY!!! Other than that is has been fairly pleasant. My Gate changed required me to walk from one end of the airport to the other so I did get to stroll and people watch,

[tag]New Jersey[/tag] is where things got interesting. I woke up to the sounds of the captain announcing that there will be a bit of a delay and we won’t be landing at 4pm as planned. Thats not such a big thing. When my flight finally did land, I met up with my buddy Cherry, not exactly a Jersey native, but the closest thing I had to a tour guide. We left the airport and caught a cab to Penn station. From there we rode the light rail to [tag]Hoboken[/tag]. The smell on the on the flight was pretty hard to describe, think a burning ass mixed with the smell of urine and plastic. Not pleasant at all, my lungs still feel a little raw from it. [thumb:10:c]Once it hit hoboken proper it was pretty cool, it reminded me of a mix of [tag]Atlanta[/tag] and San Francisco, I wish I had more than just a few hours to look around. Fortunately we had a mission, Cherry took me to possibly one of the best sushi houses I have ever been to, A tiny little place called Robungi. The interior decor looked like all of the Jaws movies had vomited on the walls, but the food more than made up for it. [thumb:12:c]

In the midst of enjoying our food, we lost track of time. once we did notice. It was definitely time to go. We had less than 30 minutes to get back to the airport. and it took us at-least 45 to get were we where. Things looked pretty bad, but the trains ran on time and the cab driver got us to the airport quickly. I got to the concourse and the flight had been delayed ten minutes. I was so close. So I dashed over to the security checkpoint after standing in line, the agent there told me my ticket was no good and I needed to go to customer service. So dejectedly I head over to customer service, where the agent there tells me my ticket is fine. So one more time through security. I was everything but stripped searched. So after my violation was over. I run down the concourse to the appropriate gate, which is of course the last one on the end. carrying a 30 some odd pound back pack, my camera in one hand my wallet belt and passport in the other. and as i get to the end. Lungs still burning from the Jersey funk. I watched the door to my flight close and it back away from the gate. I missed it. I was defeated. So close and yet so far………..

So in a really unexpected twist of fate. It looks like I will be getting my chance to explore more of Hoboken like I wanted. When I missed my initial flight to [tag]Dublin[/tag] I went to customer service where they placed me on stand by for the next flight heading out two hours later. Now when that flight started boarding it was revealed that it was overbooked. Meaning there were no seats left available. Funny thing is that it was oversold to the point they were offering compensation if you gave up your seat to fly the next day. Since I didn’t even have a seat I saw no real harm in taking the risk of volunteering to wait. In return I got bumped back to tomorrow a free hotel room and a $400 flight voucher and meals for use at my discretion.

At least that’s how it would have worked out, had 5 people decided not to show up at all. I was pretty excited there for a bit, but in the end I still made it to Dublin only a few hours later.

There is something inherently wrong about leaving at 9am for an overnight flight.

Now for some Haggis!

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Dublin, It is a very pretty city everything in a bit cramped and really packed in tight. I do like the fact you can walk almost everywhere, but it took me 30 minutes to figure out that street names were printed on the sides of the buildings and not on poles like i am used to. And I wonder how many Americans die here every year because the looked the wrong way before stepping out into traffic. After almost getting hit by a bus I still find myself only looking left sometimes before sticking a foot out. I think it got to be such a problem in certain parts of town it actually has the words “look right” printed on the sidewalk. All and all I have been just a little unimpressed with Dublin a lot of the people seem very nice, but it seems more like a tourist destination than a place to learn about Ireland, there are more restaurants than grocery stores and gas stations combined. kinda reminds me of new orleans in that aspect. I am curious as to what the Dublin night life may be like, But since i saw people lining up pints on the bar before 11am I am pretty sure I can guess what to expect. As of right now I am heading to [tag]Bray[/tag] for the night than tomorrow I am going to decide if i want to give interior Ireland A chance or head on over to the [tag]U.K. [/tag]
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Good thing I decided to go to Bray, Dublin had ruined the entire country of Ireland for me. The views of the bay and the beach as I passed [tag]Blackrock[/tag], and the time I spent sitting on the beach and walking through the residential district of bray renewed me almost, I made me feel warm and fuzzy all over. After Bray I caught the bus up to [tag]Enniskery[/tag], where I ate my first official meal in Ireland. A place called Kingfisher’s that served a pretty interesting array of products. After debating the curry or the california rolls, I settled with the pineapple burger (score!!!).

Now everyone who knows me, knows that adventure doesn’t end with dinner. Earlier in the day I had a very enthusiastic and very inebriated tour guide named Charlie was that drunk uncle everyone has but now one talks about. He told me to go see Enniskerry initially. He also recommended i walk up to see the Powerscourt gardens and waterfalls. From his enthusiasm I assumed it had to be pretty awesome. He also told me it was only two kilometers or so outside of town. I started walking in the direction given to me by a shop keep and after about half a klick or so I found my first sign telling me I was going the right way. it also read 4 kilometers to my destination. So i figure what the hell and keep walking. eventually I did make it to my goal, and yes Charlie was right it was awesome. Unfortunately they also have a strict no camping rule. Which meant it was now time to talk back to town. So I start heading back, about a klick in say fuck it, and grab an hours sleep in some underbrush, then I start back on my way. I hit town about the same time the pubs were letting out. these were the first people I had seen in several hours. And like most people leaving a pub they struck up conversation with the first person they saw, me. we start chatting I told them where I was from and where I was headed. Then they ask me were I was staying for the night. And I told them Bray which was a 4 kilometer walk away. Apparently that just wouldn’t do, so they took me home with them. I had an awesome time, I got to hang out with people who aside from having no clue what they were saying where almost exactly like the people I hung out with back home. the best part of the night actually occurred just after the ride there, we tore thru the country side at break neck speeds in a [tag]Jaguar[/tag] driven by a one legged man named Paul. Paul was my hero for the night. never saw a man powerslide a fully loaded jag into a driveway before. Once we got to their place we sat and talked about our countries, and I learned most of the Irish don’t like Bush. Another thing I learned is that my host Eimear also hates the queen of England she made that point very clear after teaching me the correct Irish pronunciation of the words slut and cunt.
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The next day my wonderful host dropped my back in central Enniskerry while heading back we passed about 12 backpackers starting their hike to Powerscourt. I am glad I beat the crowds. Of course i couldnt imagine a 8 klick hike draggin rolling luggage.

Most of my thursday morning was spent in Enniskery people watching, About noon while I was waiting for the bus and trying to figure out what to do next with myself this girl sat down next to me. Think Natalie [tag]Portman[/tag] with really short red hair, drooooooollll. Needless to say I had to start a conversation with her. We spent the next hour or so talking about Ireland and riding the bus to [tag]Dundrum[/tag], where she worked. i decided it would be a cool stop so i hopped of there to. [thumb:41:c]Dundrum is home to one of the Largest malls in Ireland. Malls are really cool places to go people watch, it offers you a sample of local music pop culture and fashion trends. Everything in the mall was obscenely expensive. The same watch i bought for $300 U.S. was in their malls for about $675 u.s.. the food court was an entirely differently experience. When I think food court in the U.S. I think paper cups and cheap pizza. Here there were ceramic dishes and really good looking food, that was also really expensive. The best part of the entire mall was the fact it had a [tag]KFC[/tag]. That made my entire day. After I left the mall I took time to walk around Dundrum, and several other small towns before making my way back up to Dublin. This time i hopped off the bus in south Dublin and took the time to visit the Royal Hibernian Gallery[thumb:40:c], the Ireland museum of natural history, and the Ireland national gallery. Not the day of hanging out ot the beach I had in mind, but the weather has ben dodgy all day so i decided to play it safe. Walking from the museums I also took time to visit several of the city parks. St. Stephen green was gorgeous but way to over crowded for me. I walked around several square kilometers before i finally decided on a goal. Make it to Conneley Sstation in north Dublin. To decided where I am going next. After about an hour of walking on what was supposed to be a 20 minutes flight i realized why I was getting no where fast, I was talking the “OOOOOHHH pretty, I am going to walk over there” approach. It makes for a really good time, but it makes it hard to get where you are going in a hurry. So I spent another hour walking around looking at churches and stuff until I come across a bus stop heading in the direction I needed. The best part of wandering around aimlessly was the fact i managed to find a store that sold Dr Pepper, the only problem is that it taste very different. Quick piece of trivia, American Dr. Pepper is actually flavored like black licorice, here it is flavored like cherries raspberries, and black currants.[thumb:42:c] Close but not it. A short bus ride alter I am at the bus station. There were so many people in the station it had it’s own pulse, it was like a living being with a bunch of backpackers for cells, the walls were sweating with the anticipation to leave town.

10 minutes later I was on the bus headed for [tag]Rosslare[/tag] harbor.

So normally when it comes to chatting up girls I look for certain signs to be sure they are of age. Normally I look for things like tattoos piercings, or cigarettes. So when I saw this cute redhead sitting on the beach drinking a beer and smoking a cigarette. I assumed she was of age. She lights up another cigarette and start talking about where we are from when she reveals, “college, nah I am still in high school.” Well that theory was just shot to hell. So now i guess I will have to start looking for mini-van keys and sweaters tied around the waist.

As a southerner I am personally insulted by the Southern Fried chicken available In the Tesco market in Dundrum. It was not crunchy at all. I debated going back in showing them my id and telling them to shape up, but I passed the danish made up for it.

Ignore me I’m American

I stepped off the bus in the crisp air of Rosslare at about 10 p.m. on friday night. After walking past several pubs, I struck off for the city center looking for signs of sober life to ask for directions from. Eventually someone staggered by who is coherent enough to give me a shaky gesture and a weak finger pointed towards the youth hostel. Early the next day I met a guy named Sean who hailed from Mass. We hit it off pretty well fairly quickly so together we wandered out and hiked the stretch of cliffs and beach between Rosslare and [tag]St. Helen’s[/tag].
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The panoramic views of the ocean from the cliffs were breath taking unfortunately so was the stench of decomposing crab. To get away from it we took the back roads back to Rosslare. While attempting to point out that people in the south of Ireland seemed a lot more giving and generally nicer, Sean kept being interrupted by people offering us rides back to town.
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We did eventually make it back into Rosslare under our own power. When we did get back there was a dedication ceremony for a memorial park in the center of town starting. It turned out to be a pretty big thing, the national army band was even there. During the course of it I must have met the entire population of Rosslare twice. That was also how I made the night time news in Ireland.
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One of the biggest things I got a kick out of was how much more to the point things are in Ireland. Take for instance the cigarette packs say in big black letters “SMOKING KILLS” nothing more nothing less. The memorial itself actually looks like a plane crashing into rocks with water splashing on it. We and asked Rosslare’s one police officer if he thought that it was a bit morbid. The police officer thought we making light of the situation. [thumb:74:l]

After the ceremony there was a reception, I was going to skip out on it, but someone mentioned a back packers two favorite words “free” and “food.” Even tho I am extremely unsure of what it is I ate, it was an absolute blast. After that we walked the beach and wasted time watching women, it is amazing how much of a day you can blow like that. Later on that night we met Tim from Mississippi. Tim is one of those people who has never met a stranger, he just emits a warm glow that seems to attract people. We voted to do the Irish thing and headed for a pub, the first one we got two was a members only place near the center of town. (i want to point out i keep using phrases like the center of town, Rosslare as a town in less than 1 kilometer wide, it is really a relative term.) The guy who was pissing on the wall said the service was pretty good and we should head on in. Shortly after we tucked into a corner. A local named Finbar comes up and starts buying us rounds and giving us and impromptu lesson on Rosslare and Irish history. He thinks more [tag]Americans[/tag] should get out and see the world. well you heard the man get packing

Take me to!

This was around sunday august 7th and monday august 8th
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I spent a very relaxing saturday night asleep on the beach of Rosslare. I awoke early enough to be stunned by the sunrise over the ocean. Since it was about five in the morning and the only people awake were myself and the poor people already aboard a ferry to England I figured I would wander around town till a few other people rose. Leaving the beach I found bicycle that had a sign on it that said “please take me” so I did. It was in really rough shape, i think every bearing that could have been busted was. I rode it two or three kilometers north of town to look and the buildings. Once done with it i left it on the side of a building and replaced the note on it.
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A bit later Tim, Sean and myself met back up and decided since everything in Rosslare was closed except for the church that we should visit the town of Wexford. Wexford was packed to the gills with tourist. After a hand full of museums and historic sites we started crawling the bookstores and an outdoor market.[thumb:82:l]
The best part of Wexford was the creamery, I spent the next week eating mostly Wexford cheddar and bread, it made me happy.

That night back in Rosslare we met the [tag]Aussie[/tag] duo of Kim and Katrina, we all made fast friends. Once we all got to the beach I watched Tim and Kim play in the sub 50 degree surf. I left them to there antics and called it a night. [thumb:77:l]

Most of the next day was spent sitting on the beach and killing time until the ferry to France arrived. We discovered the origin of brown sauce, and we learned that brown sauce is absolutely awesome even if it does have an odd name. Eventually we did depart for a 18 hour cruise to [tag]Cherbourg[/tag]. The ferry mostly served as a chance to catch up on lost sleep but there were a few high points. I spent some time watching a children’s magic show. There was also a guy with a thick Irish accent singing a mixture of Sinatra and 80’s music. Which was followed by a cabaret show called Normandy nights. basically it was a musical revue of the past 50 years of Irish pop music with some American rock from the 60’s and a few French songs thrown in for good measure. Once that was over my main goal became finding a quiet place to sleep., And I found one to, in the library reading room. That was until it closed and I was kicked out.

While walking the gangway looking for a new place to kill over, I noticed the great and uncomfortable looking lengths people will go thru for sleep. There were people curled up and passed out on almost every flat surface available. Every table, chair, and windowsill I passed by had a body passed out on it. I think the two girls passed out in the ball pit in the toddler play area had the right idea. I eventually pulled up a stretch of floor in the reserved seating section. I am now glad I took Finbar’s advice and didn’t pay 15 euro for a reserved seat.

Taking a shower on a moving boat can be an exciting experience, unfortunately I wasn’t feeling brave enough to shave as well.
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Tomorrow morning France.