where's the craic?

Me!
Last weekend, Nickie and I went to Dublin in what seems to be an endless extravaganza and build-up in what should be a glorious day tomorrow: NICKIE’s BIRTHDAY!!

We were meant to go camping at Brecon Beacons but for all sorts of reasons decided to post-pone that and go to Dublin instead.

It was quite exciting I must say. We left very early on a foggy morning, driving through Clywd, Denbighshire, Flintshire and finally arriving at 7:30 in Holyhead, Anglesey to take the ferry.

That was an exciting thing for me to do, as I’d never been on a ferry like this before.

The first was a high-speed ferry called the Dublin Swift!
And it was VERY FAST!
Took about 90 minutes to cross from Wales to Ireland!

It wasn’t overly comfortable but there was everything we needed on board to pass time for the short journey. I must admit it made me feel a bit ill at times though.

Then came Dublin.

Dublin I must admit was a bit of a disappointment, for me at least.

I don’t enjoy going to the pub and drink so the famous pubs are of very little interest to me.

Architecturally, Nickie and I thought it was a bit boring.

The parks were really nice and there were loads.

But the one thing that struck me is how much of a “city” it is in its feel.

Loads of people just running around, lots of homeless and beggars and not many people smiling. It’s “exactly” the same size as Montreal but seemed to have let go all the charm and personality often associated to the Irish. A few times Nickie asked me if I felt like I was more in a part of Britain or Europe and the answer was without a doubt: this is Britain.

I’d like to say that I’m not into comparisons. But the following will probably prove the contrary.

In Quebec and Wales, the presence of French and Welsh respectively is omnipresent and dominant. Oddly enough, we found quite a few signs that were English only. Also, we didn’t hear any Irish. I can even hear Welsh spoken in Wrexham which is quite multicultural in it’s own ways and is just next to the English borders! The other day, I was warming up m y local Tae Kwon Do lesson and 3 students out of 6 decided to count in Welsh! It thought it was quite funny. Also, the approach here is quite simple. In lots of primary schools, the children are NOT TAUGHT ENGLISH until they are 7 years old. So they go to pre-school, reception up to year 3 learning and speaking Welsh. Even in Morgan Clywd High School, if an ad is to be posted (in this case for Tae Kwon Do lessons) the ad needs to be mainly in Welsh or not be put up at all.

Quebec, Wales and parts of Northern Ireland are all trying to get more independence from the greater government above them. I couldn’t help but wonder whether or not the fact that there was some level of intrusion from another culture was the reason behind the fact that the local cultures I’ve mentioned are all quite upfront in defending it. Which leads to another question: did Ireland lose it’s cultured by winning its independence? A bit like in Scotland where it’s not an easy feat to find someone who can still speak Gaelic!

Anyways, to cut this short, language is the most important aspect of culture and I was quite disappointed to see how “international” Dublin had become.

We then went back on another ferry, which was VERY nice. Very spacious and luxurious looking. And it was so stable! We didn’t even know we were moving! I was very impressed.

My host, Vinnie is setting up a web gallery facility created by our friend Eivind called Passion. so soon, I’ll be posting more pictures of all our recent trips!