Eat, Sleep, Breathe, Travel

Dublin’s best pubs, best park

I know we’re past St. Paddy’s Day, but since EF College Break is in the midst of the preview sale for the 2013 St. Paddy’s Day in Ireland trip, I thought I’d linger on Dublin for a bit.

I just came across an article that offers a helpful breakdown of recommended pubs in Dublin, from the point-of-view of local Dubliners. It suggests the best place to go if you’re interested in seeing live traditional Irish music (The Cobblestone), or if you want a rural Irish vibe (The Welcome Inn), or if you want to meet young people (Peadar Kearney’s), or if you want to go way off the beaten path (Martin B Slattery’s). It also gives advice on tipping, and it tells you how to say cheers. Overall, a handy little guide.

While we’re at it, I also found a good article about Dublin’s Phoenix Park, which is Europe’s largest capital park, five times bigger than Hyde Park in London. Phoenix Park is celebrating its 350th birthday this year (it was established in 1662 as a hunting ground for visiting British royalty).

I love parks, and there’s a lot of cool stuff in this one. For one, there are a lot of deer. So if you like deer, you’ll love Phoenix Park. The park also has remnants of Dublin’s earliest settlements, from 5,500 years ago. Pretty cool. There’s also a large Viking cemetery, and many, many places to curl up on a blanket and take a nap.

Phoenix Park has it all.

Photo: musical photo man via Flickr

St. Patrick's Day is near

As we speak, EF College Break travelers are in Ireland, gearing up for their big St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin. Yes, we all wish we were there too. You can live vicariously through them by checking out the EFCB Tumblr blog. Travelers are posting live every day from the trips.

For those of us stuck at home, I offer five lesser-known facts about St. Patrick himself and the holiday that bears his name. Here we go:

1. Originally, the color associated with St. Patrick was blue, not green.

2. St. Patrick’s Day is held on March 17 because that’s the day St. Patrick died (back in the 5th century).

3. St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t named an official feast day in Ireland until the 17th century. It became an official public holiday in 1903.

4. For some years in the 20th century, a law in Ireland required that pubs and bars stay closed on March 17, in order to curb excessive drinking. The law was repealed in the 1970s. (Good move.)

5. In the mid-1990s, the Irish government started St. Patrick’s Festival, which showcases the creativity, innovation, and general all-around greatness of the Irish culture. It's been growing ever since.

Dublin is where you'll find the world's biggest St. Patrick’s Day festivities (that’s why the EFCB trip is celebrating there). They have parades, music, performances, and plenty of Guinness to go around.

If that sounds fun, you can do it next year.

Photo: LenDog64 via Flickr (CC)

Europe will be buzzing with Euro 2012

Going to Europe this June? If so, get ready to be caught up in Euro 2012 fever. The UEFA European Championship (Euro, for short) happens every four years, and it’s the biggest soccer event in Europe after the World Cup. Obviously soccer is huge in Europe, and the Euro championship pits 16 national teams against each other to compete for the ultimate honor. It’s a huge deal. People go nuts for it.

Euro 2012 kicks off on June 8 and lasts three weeks, with the Final played on July 1. The host countries are Poland and the Ukraine, but the whole continent will be buzzing. Lots of EF College Break trip destinations are competing (Greece, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy, Ireland, France, England), so get ready. It’s a blast watching games, seeing the locals going crazy, feeling the national pride, soaking in the festive atmosphere. And if you’re lucky enough to be in the country that wins the whole thing, well that’ll take the life-long memories to a whole new level.

I’ve experienced big international sporting events while abroad, and there’s nothing quite like it. I was living in Prague during the World Cup, watching tons of games at the beer gardens and pubs around the city. I will never forget being at a beer garden for the semi-final between Italy and Germany, when a table full of Italians sitting next to us went completely bonkers after Italy’s go-ahead goal late in the game. Weirdly, I also remember there was a big spider at the bottom of my beer. (It’s funny the things that stick with you.)

Photo: Radio Nederland Wereldomroep via Flickr (CC)

Still speaking Gaelic in Ireland

One of the more fun parts of traveling is trying (and often failing) to speak the local language. Everyone has stories of being embarrassed in Spain and telling people they’re pregnant (in Spanish, ‘embarazada’ means ‘pregnant’) or being in France and asking for orange juice with no condoms (in French, ‘préservatifs’ means ‘condoms’).

Language gets even harder (and more interesting, in my opinion) when its very existence is hanging on by a thread. Like the Gaelic language in Ireland. Gaelic usage is dwindling big-time. According to estimates, the total number of native Gaelic speakers ranges from just 20,000 to 50,000 people. That said, Irish schoolchildren are still required to learn it, and it’s officially the first language of the Republic of Ireland.

Gaelic still survives in certain pockets of the country. One of the last strongholds is on the Aran Islands off the coast of Galway. In general, time stands still on the Aran Islands. The street signs are all in Gaelic, and many of the locals still speak it as their go-to language. I think that’s pretty cool.

If you’re going on the Ireland trip with EF College Break, you might want to pick up some Gaelic phrases just for kicks. A trip to the Aran Islands could be in your future. Here’s a website with a few phrases to learn, complete with audio clips to help with pronunciation. (Some might be more useful than others.)

Photo: http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/18917612.jpg

Oyster time in Galway

Anyone like oysters?

For those who do, this was a big weekend in Galway, Ireland. It was the annual Galway Oyster Festival (official name Galway International Oyster & Seafood Festival). According to the festival’s website, the event is Ireland’s most internationally recognized food festival and the world's longest running international oyster festival. So it’s a big deal in oyster-loving circles.

The festival involves all kinds of events, some more oyster-related than others. They have a parade through the streets of Galway, dance balls, cooking demonstrations, music concerts, and much more.

The highlight of the festival is the World Oyster Opening Championship. For this time-honored event, countries around the world send their best competitors to fight for championship glory. Contestants go head-to-head shucking 30 oysters as fast as they can, using only a knife and a cloth. Judges pick a winner based on speed, presentation, and lack of oyster blood (among other things).

If, like most of us, you weren’t in Galway this weekend, that’s okay. Galway Bay oysters are famous around the world, and you can enjoy them any time of year. You just need to get to Galway. EF College Break’s Emerald Isle trip comes to mind.

Photo: andy_kyte_uk via Flickr (CC)

Conan the Barbarian at Dublin’s Trinity College?

It’s a tradition at a lot of colleges to pull some pranks every now and then. It looks like they do the same thing in Ireland. Last week at Dublin’s Trinity College, one of the most historic universities in the world, someone got into the school’s website and added Conan the Barbarian to the faculty.

Conan, as you probably know, was this guy. If you're not familiar with this legendary piece of film history, read all about it here.

At Trinity College, the prankster put Conan up as the college's new English lecturer. His bio includes all kinds of references to the movie. Funny for people who know the movie, kind of still funny for people who don't. The university quickly took the fake page down, but not before it went viral in Ireland.

I like the idea of Irish college kids getting up to shenanigans at such a historically rich university. Trinity College is one of the must-see sights of Dublin. It was founded in 1592. Many famous people studied there, including Bram Stoker (he wrote Dracula) and Jonathan Swift (he wrote Gulliver’s Travels). The college's library also holds the famous Book of Kells, an illuminated book written 1,300 years ago by Irish monks.

EF College Break trips to Ireland (like The Emerald Isle) include a visit to Trinity College. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll see Conan the Barbarian on campus.

Photo: Truus, Bob & Jan too! via Flickr (CC)

St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin

It’s St. Patrick’s Day, and I’m in Los Angeles. LA isn’t exactly the center of the Irish universe (I grew up in Boston, which comes closer), but I’m still in the holiday spirit. I’m wearing green pants. The one place I’d really like to be right now, however, is Dublin.

There are EF College Break travelers in Dublin as we speak, celebrating the big day. I'm sure they’re having a great time. And there will be many more EF College Break travelers in Dublin this time next year. You can be one of them.

The Irish have been celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in some form or another for centuries. Saint Patrick himself did his business in the fifth century; in the ninth and tenth centuries the Irish started celebrating a special day in his honor; the Church made it an official feast day in the early 17th century; and in the 20th century the phenomenon swept worldwide as people around the globe realized how fun it was.

No one celebrates St. Patrick’s Day as big as Dublin. In addition to the general party that is Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day, the city hosts an official St. Patrick’s Festival, a multi-day celebration of all things Irish. They have music, dance, comedy, food, films, and plenty of Guinness to go around. This year, Irish writer Roddy Doyle wrote a special short story for the event called “Brilliant”. The story touches on Ireland’s recent economic struggles (but with a happy twist) and has inspired a parade contingent of monsters and giant dogs.

Anyway, I hope you have a fun and safe St. Patrick’s Day, wherever you are. And I hope in 2012 you are in Dublin.

Photo: th.omas via Flickr (CC)

The truth about leprechauns

My Boston Celtics are off to a great start, so I have leprechauns on my mind. Leprechauns, of course, are those familiar mythical figures from Ireland, though the original leprechauns of Irish folklore were a far cry from the little guys we know from sugar cereal commercials and NBA teams.

According to tradition, leprechauns (sometimes called Irish faeries) were cobblers or shoemakers who enjoyed playing practical jokes and hoarding gold in pots (one coin for each year of the leprechaun’s life). Though completely harmless, they were mischievous characters, causing household objects to disappear or move around. They were all short—just a couple inches tall—but their appearance varied depending on where in Ireland they were found. Some wore green, others red. Some had tall hats, others jockey caps.

Today's commercial pop-culture image of the leprechaun is offensive to some in the Irish community, who see it as just a bunch of stereotypes with no connection to the original Irish mythology. I can see that, the whole leprechaun thing has sort of taken on a life of its own. Even so, the image of the leprechaun is still used by many Irish companies, advertisers and politicians.

As for me, I have never seen an actual leprechaun. In fact, I still have yet to make it to Ireland. But I haven’t entirely ruled out the existence of magic, ghosts, and other supernatural phenomena, so if someone wanted to tell me about an encounter with a leprechaun, I’d hear them out. In the meantime, I’ll just keep staring at this webcam view of a field in Tipperary, Ireland, where leprechauns have been known to appear...

Photo: reemer via Flickr (CC)

 

All about oysters in Galway

It’s happening right now. The Galway International Oyster Festival runs from September 22-26. It’s the place to be for oyster lovers.

It all started back in 1954, when a Galway hotel man, eager to keep his business booming past tourist season, decided to hold an oyster festival in September. The people loved it. Every September since, oyster aficionados the world over have come to Galway to honor and enjoy the legendary bivalve.

It sound like a very memorable time. The main event is the oyster opening competition. Contestants go head-to-head shucking 30 oysters as fast as they can, using only a knife and a cloth. Judges pick a winner based on speed, presentation, and lack of oyster blood (among other things). The festival also crowns an annual Oyster Pearl, one lucky lady who presides over the event and remains its figurehead until the following year.

The Oyster Festival is just one of many festivals held in Galway. The city is known as the festival capital of Ireland, if not the world. There are many, many festivals here throughout the year, ranging from the large and prestigious (Galway Arts Festival) to the exciting (Galway Races) to the pony-centric (Festival of the Connemara Pony).

If you’re ever going to be in Galway, or if you’re going on EF College Break’s From Galway to Dublin trip, check the festival schedule. There just might be something for you.

Photo: nznomad via Flickr (CC license)

Puck Fair underway in Ireland

Today is the last day of the Puck Fair, a huge annual 3-day event in County Kerry, Ireland. The Puck Fair involves singing, dancing, drinking, and a very special goat.

This is my kind of fair. It takes place in the small town of Killorglin (pop. 1,539). Every year, from August 10-12, Killorglin is flooded with more than 100,000 visitors. According to Wikipedia, the Puck Fair is the oldest traditional fair in Ireland (whatever that means), and it’s one of the oldest non-religious fairs in the world.

And the guest of honor is a wild goat.

Here’s how it goes down:

A group of Killorglin residents head up into the nearby mountains and catch a wild goat. They bring the goat back to the town, where the anointed Queen of Puck Fair (a local elementary school girl) crowns the goat as King Puck. They put the goat in the cage (seems like sort of an inhumane way to treat King Puck, but who am I to judge), and the party festival begins. There are parades, a horse fair, a cattle fair, music, drinking, eating, and more. It goes on for three days, culminating in a fireworks show on the last night. And, yes, of course they set King Puck free at the end of the fair.

I have never been to Ireland. I plan to go someday. Yes I look forward most to Dublin, and also Galway, and traveling through the scenic green Irish countryside. But someday I also hope to be in old Killorglin for three days in the middle of August, so I can witness for myself what is surely one of the world’s great goat-centered festivals.

Photo: IrishFireside via Flickr (CC license)