Ireland, green as a leprechaun’s ass if a leprechaun’s skin was the shade of emerald moss, yes it really was that green. Ireland was the closest thing to home since I left Texas. So that said, Ireland is the Texas of Europe and Cork would be its Austin (live music everywhere). If only I had more than just three days there I might have missed my plane on purpose and found me a shabby little place to stay in just so I wouldn’t have to leave.
Oh yes, I was suckered into loving the accents. The first night I went out on a pub-crawl with some Americans I met in my hostel. I sat down and talked to this nice boy who was five years my junior, but I let him talk away just so I could here the lovely Ireland accent. Sadly my night ended early as I left the pub-crawl to get some rest for the next day’s adventures.
My short days were filled with meeting people from all over the world and trying my best to stay safe after the whole Paris ordeal. One night waiting on my new friends to arrive I was sitting on a cold wet bench when out of nowhere a man in a bright green thong device resembling the one Borat is known for came and sat down next to me. Not knowing if I should be scared, laugh or run away I greeted him with a “hi” that sounded more like a question. I should have taken a picture but still apprehensive to trust anyone and being alone on a dark street I stood up and started to walk slowly away. I kept thinking to myself this guy has to be cold, he’s practically naked and here I am in my winter duds with my umbrella on my wrist. He started laughing and asked me what the matter was as I noticed his friends a few feet away dressed similar in strange costumes laughing at my reaction. I politely said I don’t feel comfortable sitting next to half naked strangers. We both laughed as he ran to catch up with his friends. Again I should have gotten a picture, as this story would be ten times better with some proof. That or I should have asked him and his friends what party they were attending, that would have been an interesting night. I guess my bravery had shed a few pounds that night.
My new friends who I was meeting up with were these two lovely English girls I had met on a tour to the Blarney Castle earlier that day. They were the sweetest things and had really great taste in music, can’t beat that! On our trip to the Blarney castle we had a little prank pulled on us by the driver of the “Paddy Wagon” the small tour bus we were on. This really was a wagon of sorts as it was the bumpiest and rickety vehicle I have ever sat in. I’m not someone to get motion sickness but there was a few times on the (wagon) bus that I found myself getting green in the face.
It was the end of the day and our tour was almost over. The girls and me went in the small café to grab some hot chocolate to warm us up. We saw some of our fellow Paddy Wagon tourists in the café and looked at our clock to see how much time we had left to grab and go, we had only a few minutes. It didn’t help that the girls couldn’t make up their minds of what they wanted, coffee-tea-cocoa and even worse our waiter was as slow as glaciers melting. We watched as the other tourists left to get back on the bumpy ride as we waited for our drinks. Finally we had warm beverages in our hands and looking at the clock we were only five minutes late as we headed outside to get on the bus. But wait, it wasn’t there where we had just saw it a few minutes ago. I looked at the time to double check our lateness, again only five minutes. There is no way they would have left without us, plus we were the loudest on the bus they would eventually realize the quietness and turn around and come to find us, right? Panic started to slowly creep in as we searched the parking lot frantically going over and over in our head that the possibility of them leaving us behind after only five minutes was ridiculous. After maybe two minutes of panicking we finally see the Paddy Wagon driving our way as we all let out a huge sigh of relief.
What happened was some of the tourists that saw us in the café told the bus driver we were getting drinks to go. As we were running a few minutes behind the driver thought it would be a fun joke to hide the bus from us to make it look like they had left us. Well it worked, it was a small cruel joke but in the end it made our tour that much better. We got on the bus and everyone burst out into laughter and the bus driver mumbled something in his deep Irish accent about running late.
Oh the Irish! Jokes, laughs and great, I mean damn good beer. Don’t get me started on the Guiness in Ireland. Never will Guiness anywhere else taste as good. Ireland was a breath of fresh air. A place where I could finally speak some English, take in some good food and relax and enjoy the friendly atmosphere. Will I go back? You mean when will I go back, not sure but hopefully soon. I had beyond any doubt found a country that I fit in. Thanks Ireland!!!!
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