Off to Norway!

I came to Ireland with the intention to travel with Paris and Spain being at the top of my list. However, I have been busy with Dublin and Ireland and not done the traveling I had hoped. However, after seeing my exam dates, I now have time to plan and travel. I have over 2 weeks between the end of my classes and my first exam so I plan on traveling for at least the first week of this time. Yesterday, I booked my first tickets for the time between my last exam and my flight back to the states. I am going to Norway with my Norwegian roommate from December 13th to December 17th! The best part is I got the tickets for only 8 euro round trip (about $12)! I know it will be cold and dark but I am very excited about going. My question now is, where else will I go?

A case of the Mondays

Sorry for the delay between posts. I have gotten pretty busy with school, especially my studio (more on that in following posts). Also, this was Halloween weekend, a favorite holiday of mine. I dressed as a very convincing and scary vampire (specifically Eric from the HBO show True Blood but it is not too well known here). I had fun dressing up three nights in a row although I was in the small minority dressing up on Thursday and Friday. Halloween night is a pretty big deal here though, I began to hear fireworks start as soon as it got dark (about 5:30 here). The city was full of people dressed up on Saturday and a friend of mine and I ventured out of the City Centre to a huge, impressive club called the Wright Venue which is near the airport north of the city. The club is the finest in Ireland and because of my well-connected new friends, we were able to get into VIP. The club was so large that we all ended up getting split up, but the night was fun regardless.

The purpose of this post, however, is to describe the horrendous process of registering as an immigrant here in Ireland. I was told upon my arrival that I needed to get a number of documents arranged and take them to the Garda (Gaelic for police) Immigration Office. Getting the documents was easy but registering has been a nightmare. Before finally getting registered today, I had been to the office three times and been met with a sign explaining that all the tickets (like numbers at a butcher) for the day had been distributed. The last time I went, I made sure to make it in early. I arrived at 8:45 when the office opened at 8 and I still missed getting a ticket!

Today, I realized why. I recently met a Brazilian girl, Lara, who also had to go to immigration. She told me she was advised to arrive at 7:30 to queue. So I went with her today at 7:30 and found a line that stretched around 3/4 of the block. I thought that the line outside was to enter the office at 8 AM. I came to learn that the line was for the tickets which were given away at the door. So we were forced to wait outside, on one of the coldest and windiest days I have experienced since being here. For an hour and a half!

After getting the ticket (no. 231), I was told to come back at 11:30. Lara was turned away for not having an updated bank statement. We left to run some errands and I returned around 11:30 to find they were only half way to my number! Frustrated, I left to eat lunch at home. I returned around 1:30 and they were still far from calling my number. Fortunately, I was able to get some schoolwork done with my iPod on. My iPod was the saving grace because the office (which I now refer to as the 7th circle of hell) was full of screaming children. After finally getting up to the window, it came time to pay for my registration and I could not find my Irish bank account card! I had left it in the ATM at the bank this morning! I ended up having to use my Chase debit card with a very unfavorable exchange rate. Regardless, I was finally through. Or so I thought. The next step was to wait for them to call my name. So this time, no iPod. It took another HOUR for them to call my name. So after arriving at 7:30 and waiting all day I was finally out of hell at 5 PM. And all I got to show for it is a registration ID card!

The point of this story is to point out the inefficiencies involved in the bureaucratic process. I have witnessed these inefficiencies in my years as an intern for local governments but I was painful aware of these today while waiting in the cold and amongst many other disgruntled immigrants. Is there anyway to have a democracy without these inefficiencies (i.e. "red tape")? I would argue no, definitely not. However, there is always room for improvement. Ireland was hit with a wave of immigration after the onset of Celtic Tiger (their economic surge of the late 90's and early 00's). These people came from all over the world looking for jobs and finding an accommodating job market. All this was in light of the shrinking population and stagnant economy the Irish were used to. It seems like they are still unprepared for the amount of immigrants they are receiving. I mean, having only one immigration office in your country's capital is unacceptable in my opinion. And considering only immigrants from outside of the EU are required to register and get VISAs (a minority of the immigrants) and there are STILL significant problems, I think there should be better services directed towards their surging population.

Parental Visitation (Part 2 of 2)

After seeing a bit of Dublin, my parents wanted to get outside the city and see the famously beautiful Irish countryside. My dad had heard good things about the Ring of Kerry tour along the southwestern coastline. I had also heard good things about this part of the country so I was anxious to join them and my roommate Hakon came with us. We left Dublin on a 3 1/2 hour train ride to Killarney at 8 AM on Sunday.

I can't say much for the train ride since I slept most of the way. We arrived in Killarney around 12 noon and made our way from the train station to the town. Once we arrived at the Tourist Information center where the bus tours leaves, we were very disappointed to learn that all of the 7 hour bus tours of the Ring of Kerry leave at 10:30 AM! I immediately thought that our journey down there was a waste and that I had ruined a day of my parent's vacation! The man at the information center suggested some attractions nearby at the Kerry Lakes including a Victorian mansion and gardens and a castle so we decided to try and make the most of our trip to southern Ireland.

The first thing on our minds was lunch so we walked around the charming little town looking for a restaurant. Looking for a restaurant in a town you know little or nothing about can be a very daunting, stressful experience, especially in Ireland where the prices are so high! We found a nice place with typical Irish food. This usually includes roasted meat, potatoes, vegetables and more potatoes. For example, I ordered Shepherd's Pie which is ground lamb and vegetables covered in mashed potatoes and it came with a full order of fresh fries (called "chips" here). We also enjoyed walking around the town of Killarney which was adorned with green and yellow banners honoring their Gaelic football team's victory in the All-Ireland Final . The town was nice and you could tell that it was quite touristy, although we were there in the off-season. Many of the homes along the main roads out of town were advertised as Bed & Breakfasts. During this offseason, rooms cost as little as 35 euro a night.

After lunch we headed towards Ross Castle, on the shores of one of the many lakes in the area. Although we had been told it was just a 1 1/2 mile walk, it felt like much longer. However, the weather was nice and the walk was green and scenic (see above). We could see mountains off in the distance and when we arrived at the lake, we realized the mountains came right up out of the lakes. The impressive Ross Castle was right on the edge of the lake with boat docks offering boat tours of the lakes up against its shores. This was the Ireland I had hoped my parent's would see (although I myself had not seen it yet).

We decided to start with a tour of the castle which offered frequent tours. The tower part of the castle had been painstakingly restored with attention paid to the historic ways of construction and detail. Our tour guide was very informative and gave many insights into Tower House life in the 15th and 16th century. Careful attention in the castle was paid to defense and many considerations went into its construction. For example, the spiral stairs go counterclockwise to make it more difficult for right-handed swordsmen to fight in the staircase. Also, the stairs are purposely built at different heights to make it difficult for intruders to ascend quickly. I was also struck by how primitive life during this period was. Everyone slept in the same room, the castle was constantly full of hazardous smoke from the fireplaces, they had no sewage treatment system and they even ate off plates made of lead! No wonder the life expectancy was under 40. We all enjoyed the tour and learning about life in a castle which was far from glamorous.

With no warning, we missed the last boat tour (although the signs said there was still one more). So we decided to catch a taxi to the Muckross House and gardens, a Victorian mansion also on the lake. The house was amazingly beautiful and surrounded by gardens. The lake and mountains could be seen off in the distance across the large front yard of the house. I thought the castle was somewhat crowded for a Sunday afternoon in the offseason but Muckross House was even more crowded. There was also a tourist center, large gift shop and cafe on the premises. We were somewhat pressed for time so we decided not to take the tour of the house. We enjoyed walking around the gardens and across the large lawn looking back at the vine covered mansion.
We then took a taxi back into town, asking our taxi driver about a good place to eat. He suggested a pub near the train station. Our animated taxi driver offered us yet another experience telling us about the town and a little about Ireland. He was very much into his Gaelic football which Kerry has been particularly strong at now winning 6 of the last 10 All-Irelands. He was somewhat difficult to understand because he was from Kerry and people from the country have the strongest accents. I have noticed here in Ireland that the intensity of someone's accent can vary greatly and that there are a variety of Irish accents depending on where you are from and whether or not you have lived abroad. People from Dublin have the most mild accents (and I have almost made the terrible mistake of thinking they are from England) while the further out you get, the stronger the accent gets. This amazes me in a country that is so small! Our dinner was delicious, one of the best we had. It was also traditional Irish food but very well done and with amazing desserts! Overall, we had made the best of what could have been a tragic day.

The next day, my parents had decided to rent a car and drive out to the Cliffs of Moher directly west of Dublin on the west coast. I came along as the navigator because I do not have class on Mondays. In retrospect, it would have been in our best interests to get a proper map instead of using the one included in my parent's travel book. The map I used only had main roads and the way the roads are named here is confusing (i.e. N4, N6, M6, R111, etc.). We first got lost about 40 mins. outside of Dublin and decided to try local roads to find our way back. These roads are very narrow often with no shoulder. This combined with the fact that we were driving on the left side of the road made the journey stressful to say the least but we still got a good slice of the Irish countryside. After finding our way back to the toll road (the closest thing to an American interstate, the speed limit was 120 kph!) and getting back on, we decided to get back off and take local roads the entire way instead. This way, we could see the Irish countryside up close.

We all loved this experience passing through towns with beautiful churches and castles, alongside mountains and lakes and the pristine, evergreen rolling hills. We even took a few detours, one to a castle in the middle of the countryside! This castle was quite similar to the one we had seen before although less adamantly restored. Getting lost was a problem, however, because the map we were using only had main roads and as we approached towns along the way, we were presented with road signs like the one below which were very difficult to follow. We almost entered into the Twilight Zone when we reached Innis, a large town near the Cliffs we were so desperately seeking. After driving in circles for nearly 30 mins. we finally stopped and asked directions.

After leaving Innis, the scenery got more and more dramatic. Once we finally reached the highlands at the western edge of the island, I began to feel a sense of relief that we would make it to the cliffs before sunset! We were all nearly speechless driving along the coast because of the views looking out along the water. Old stone walls and green pastures went right up to steep drops to the ocean. We finally made it to the Cliffs of Moher about 40 mins. before sunset, perfect timing to see the cliffs and the sunset (and after the parking attendant had left ;-). I can honestly say that these cliffs were one of the most impressive sights I have ever seen in my life. The cliffs plunge nearly 700 feet (think at 60+ story building, taller than any building in Denver) to a surprisingly peaceful blue ocean. In the distance are the Aran Islands with a population of under 5,000 inhabitants. The cliffs stretch on for what seems like miles although we only walked along about a mile portion of them getting many great photographs and videos along the way. This was one of the few moments in my life where I have felt completely overwhelmed by nature. Although there is a certain feeling of danger involved with the cliffs (there is a large stone wall separating you from the edge which some people stupidly assumed was optional), there was a great feeling of peace looking down at the ocean below you. If I go anywhere outside of Dublin twice while I am here, the Cliffs of Moher would be at the top of my list.

Our trip back from the Cliffs of Moher was much less eventful. We stopped in a small fishing town on the southern side of the Bay of Galway for dinner. We had another great meal, this time seafood. The true experience, however, was walking into a pub in a small town in the tourist offseason at 8 PM on a Monday night and having all the old Irish men at the bar turn and stare at us as we walked in! We took main roads back because it was dark, which proved to be easier said than done because they are littered with confusing roundabouts. However, it only took us about 2 1/2 hours to get back although it had taken us 7 hours to get to the west coast! Despite the stress of getting lost though, we had a truly amazing day with great weather. We saw the Irish countryside firsthand and were truly awestruck at the Cliffs of Moher. Seeing them at sunset was a particularly incredible experience.

The next two days I had class during the day so I saw my parents less. Tuesday night, we went out to see Irish music, going to a few places before stopping at O'Neills. On Wednesday, I only had one class so I met my parents in the afternoon heading down to Bray and Greystones in County Wicklow. Wicklow is the county directly south of Dublin along the Irish Sea. There is a large mountain range inland making it very scenic. The DART (commuter rail) line runs right along the coast, offering some of the best views of the rocky shoreline. I cannot be sure, but I think I saw puffins (like penguins that can fly) on the rocks while riding the train, a first for me. We had a good Italian meal in Greystones although we were sitting next to a very loud, pompous Englishman who inexplicably blurted out how stupid the Irish were in Ireland! Many people in Ireland have strong negative opinions about the British for a variety of different reasons but this was the first time I actually felt the same way. My parents continually told me how much they loved Ireland and how friendly they thought the Irish were and I noticed this also while they were visiting. For such a small country, there is so much to see and do and, for the most part, the Irish are very gracious to tourists who want to see their country. In my opinion, this is how it should be. I love showing people Chicago although I have only lived their for a short period of time and I am always telling people how beautiful Colorado is and suggesting they see it for themselves. Being proud of where you are from is important!

Finally, as we took the train back from Greystones I began to feel homesick. I was sad my parents were leaving because I had a great time while they were visiting. Although the time so far has gone by very quickly, I still have two months left here. I have no doubts I will be able to survive, even flourish, but I will still miss my family and friends.

Parental Visitation (Part 1 of 2)

Please excuse the title of this blog. I wanted something clever and that was all I could come up with!

The first week of October brought my parent's to Dublin on holiday. The trip was a gift to themselves for their 30th wedding anniversary and could not have come at a better time. The first month has flown by and I yet to truly see Dublin through the eyes of a tourist. I have done much exploring in my free time but it is mostly to get accustomed to my new home (at least for 3+ months). Honestly, I have not done enough exploring; it seems there is never enough time to learn and take in all I would want to. When I was in Argentina August 2007, I left Buenos Aires after 1 month feeling like I only experienced a small part of the city, let alone the country. The weekend my parent's arrived, I was ready to see more the country of Ireland than the city and finally get out of my little world of Dublin (although it is a nice little world).

I will admit that when I parents arrived, I was unprepared to be a tour guide. I had asked a few people about short trips outside Dublin and my roommate Tim about restaurants but I was far from having anything set in stone. I had finished a big, time-consuming project the day before (and not a minute too early either) that had taken up most of my week so I hadn't really had time to pick places to go and things to do.

The first day was rainy and I was tired from a night out with some people from my class. My parent's were even more tired after traveling for so long (they landed at 7:30AM). I met them at the hotel and my Dad was asleep in the lobby while they waited for a room. The weather and jet lag meant our best option was something effortless. So we decided to get on one of the many hop-on-hop-off buses and start from there. It is the best way to see the most things in the city quickly (if that makes any sense). I also figured that it would give my parents a better idea of what they might want to take a closer look at. We had dinner at the The Bank, a very nicely done bar/restaurant inside an old bank. They actually had a few of the lockers, pieces and layout of the vault preserved in the basement where the bathrooms were! After that, my parents were exhausted so we called it a day.

The next morning we took a tour of the inside of Christchurch (seen in the picture at the top of the blog). The Church is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) building in the city, started in the 11th century! After that, we visited the Guiness Storehouse after the referral of the woman at Christchurch. Needless to say the Guiness I had there was the best I have ever tasted and the food at the restaurant was not half bad either. The highlight of the storehouse was the Gravity Bar, a new addition to the Storehouse that offers 360 degree views of Dublin city, where a pint is included with the admission ticket. Although it was crowded, you really can see everything from the bar and it made me realize how small of a city it is (OK, so 1 million isn't small but imagine trying to see all of Chicago from one place!)
In the evening, we decided to visit one of the places referred to me by a friend; Howth. Howth is a small peninsula just north of Dublin jutting out in the Irish Sea (see above picture). I had been told that they have great, fresh seafood restaurants in Howth and knowing my parents appreciate seafood I decided this would be a good place for dinner. I convinced my roommate to tag along and venture out of the (central) city for the first time.

Howth was wonderfully scenic and quiet, a nice change from the busy City Centre. We decided not to do the cliff walk and walked along the water in town and pier instead and looked back on the rocky peninsula and town which disappeared into the hills. There seemed to be more boats than homes. Beyond the pier was a few desolate islands, containing only the ruins of a monastery. Although it was extremely windy, the sea was calm and peaceful.

We were a little lost as far as finding a restaurant after deciding not to eat at the most famous of which (Aqua) at the end of the pier because it was VERY pricey. We wondered into an watercolor artist's studio/Howth visitor center and admired the work, mostly of the sea, islands and town. After chatting with him for a while, he recommended a restaurant called The Oar House so off we were.

The restaurant was cozy and quietly crowded when the town itself seemed empty. In my experience, this is a very good sign of a good restaurant. They had a wide variety of fish and preparations of fish and the "Daily Specials" menu caught all of our eyes. We started off with an appetizer sampler consisting of crab cakes, fish cakes, and a soft-shell crab, which was a first for me. For the main course, I had the wing of a manta ray in a buttery garlic sauce. I was told it was a "wild" fish (I thought most fish is wild) so I was expecting it to be very fishy. To my surprise, it was not too fish but quite tasty and tender. It was also a huge piece of fish! Eating around the bones was difficult but I enjoyed a new experience. My parents entree and my roommates entree were both equally satisfying, although I cannot remember what they had. All in all, it was a very full day and we topped it off with a delicious dessert! My roommate and I both went to bed early that night because we planned to accompany my parents at 8 AM on a train to Kilarney, in County Kerry in the south of Ireland the next day.

Pictures from my parent's visit

I have posted some pictures from my parent's visit to Ireland on my WebShots page. Copy and paste the link below to see the pictures!

http://community.webshots.com/user/tyshuebner

Blog and stories to follow.

Tyson

Arthur's Day

Thursday, September 24th, 2009 was a historic day for Dublin and a celebration like the city had never seen. Guiness, the internationally famed Irish Stout turned 250. The story goes, Arthur Guiness founded the Guisness brewing company on this day in 1759. So, officially at 17:59 people around the world would toast his memory and the legacy of Arthur Guiness. The Guiness family is one of the most famous in Dublin and the Guiness Storehouse continues to be one of the city's most popular tourist attraction. Guiness is drank all over the world and the official celebration called for 30+ music acts in Dublin and more in other cities on each continent.

Although there were 30+ venues around the city hosting official events (which were also broadcast on live TV around the world), there were absolutely no tickets to be found a week ahead of time. Guiness had annouced the probable acts far ahead of time and they included many I would have loved to see including Tom Jones, Paolo Nutini, David Gray, The Kooks, Ravorlight, Calvin Harris and otheras. They did not announce which venue would be hosting which act which made any ticket valuable. Although we did not have tickets, my roommate Hakon and I had planned on going out and seeing as many places as possible. The plan was to start in Temple Bar and work our way back towards our house.

As we walked into the City Centre, the streets were alive with activity. Many people had taken off from work early to make it to a 17:59 show or just hit up their favorite pub. The atmosphere in the streets was alive and electric and most pubs were offering specials or hosting some kind of party. By the time we made it to Temple Bar, it was nearing 17:59 so we were anxious to get inside a pub and get a pint of Guiness for the toast. Despite the crowd spilling out of all the doors, we decided on the Quay's Bar in Temple Bar. It was so crowded the inside felt like a oven and it seemed everyone was at the bar trying to get a pint. The dark, milky Guiness was flowing continuosly from each tap as the bartenders desperately tried to accomodate the crowd. As 17:59 approached, the toasting began and lasted for nearly 10 minutes. We got our pints just in time and headed towards the crowd in the street. The crowd was ecstatic, singing songs and dancing in the street and small square outside the bar. There were old and young people, tourists and natives, all together celebrating a single beverage!

After the toasting, a band started playing in the bar. The crowd in the street intensified, however, eventually starting to smash glasses on the ground! A circle formed in the middle as more and more people threw their pint glasses into the street. Soon there was glass everywhere and time for the Garda (Irish police) to take control. When they drove over the glass, through the crowd, a few ridiculously ignorant people threw their glasses at the car! Needless to say they were arrested seconds later.

We waited at the Quay's Bar until the crowd to disperse before leaving to meet some friends outside the Stag's Head. After the craziness had transpired, Temple Bar had calmed down but was still filled with people. A windy and mostly cloudy day ended with clear skys and a nice colorful sunset. We continued along on our way home meeting friends along the way. By midnight, I was exhausted but had had a full day of events. My roommate Tim who has grown up in Dublin has said that he had never seen the cuty the way it was on Arthur's Day. It was truly a grand day to be in Dublin!

Pictures of my house and neighborhood

Hello,
I have posted pictures of my house and neighborhood on my Webshots account. I also added some pictures to my Around Dublin album. Check them out if you are interested...

http://community.webshots.com/user/tyshuebner