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My friend Marion and I
decided to go to Ireland. We planned to cycle on this beautiful island for at least 10
days and agreed to start from Dublin. And if we were really good we would end our cycling
tour in Limmerick.
Anyway, we left for Ireland at the beginning of August 1996. When we arrived in Dublin the
weather was beautiful, the sun was shining and it was about 27 degrees. We were both
looking forward to our journey.
We checked into a lodge called 'Jacob's Inn', it was a new lodge and had only been open
for 6 weeks. It was near to the bus station in Dublin, it was very nice and very cheap. We
shared a room with 8 other girls from different parts of the world.
We arrived there on a Sunday. Everything was closed so we couldn't rent cycles. And the
Monday was a Bank Holiday so everywhere was still closed. "Okay" we thought,
"let's do Dublin, that can't be wrong". We started to walk around the town. The
sun was shining and there were lots of people in the streets.
Monday came and with it the rain. It rained all day, so we took the bus to a small town
called 'Malahaid'. There was a castle there that we wanted to
visit.
When Tuesday came it was raining even more and very reluctantly we decided to hire some
cycles to move away from Dublin. We left Dublin and were aiming for the coastal road to
begin our trip south. It was raining and there was a headwind but we were going as far as
we could no matter what the weather.
We came to Bray. When we had found ourselves a room and were going to get something to
eat, the weather broke and the sun began to shine again.
The morning after the sun was actually shining, at least for a hour or so. It was very
beautiful and it was at that moment that I realised why Ireland is called the 'Emerald
Isle'. I have never seen anywhere so green before, but then again they do have a lot of
rain!
On our 5th day we continued towards a town that is known for it's Viking history,
'Wexford'. It was still raining and there were strong winds, not very pleasant for
cycling. When we arrived at Wexford we decided to leave the bikes. We left them at a store
which belonged to the company we had rented them from. A hour later the sun was shining.
We hitch hiked out of Wexford to the famous town of Waterford, it is said they make the
worlds best crystal.(In Sweden, we say that we make the best, I wonder why......?)
From Waterford we took the bus to Tipperary, you have to go there if you know the song.
What a pretty little town. The only annoying thing was the golf course, what's with golf
anyway???!
From Tipperary we again caught the bus and went to Cahir. Now this
became one of our absolute favourite places. I loved it. After that we went to Rock of Cashel, very beautiful scenery.
After that we decided to go back to Dublin. We stood at the bus stop waiting. A bus came
and just drove past. Then another and another..."what is going on here?" we
thought. Finally 2 buses stopped and we got on one of them, finding it filled with tired
youngsters with terrible hangovers. The explanation: Oasis had done a concert in Cork the
night before.
We arrived back at Dublin and this is something that struck me about the bus drivers. If
you ask them to stop in the middle of nowhere, or somewhere on the highway, they do. You
can ask them to stop anywhere and they are so kind, they do. If it was because they were
tired of the young kids or whether that is usual in Ireland, I don't know, but I was
impressed. In Sweden, it would never happen.
I will go back to Ireland one day and when I do, I will rent a car. |
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