IRELAND

Leaving Cogh, Ireland

WHAT A LOVELY COUNTRY.  It almost made me want to be Irish.  The food was better than I ever expected.  We had a great tour guide who was a history nut. He talked for 8 hours a day while driving the bus.  We learned so much and forgot half of it at least before the next stop.  Loved the trip. Food is not fun in Ireland. It was a starving country for most of its recent history because of invasions and land being taken from them.  Then the great famine.  Just horrible. But we would not have the Irish population in the US if that had not taken place. Just like the lack of food in Italy and the many wars moved people to leave.

Food.  They like Italian and American. Its on every menu. You can't throw a stick without hitting a sign for a hamburger and fries.  Italian restaurants are everywhere along with pizza. So we wanted real Irish food and that is there too.  Irish stew. Skip it. Potatoes at every meal.  Fish and chips.  That is a good choice.  Scones are wonderful and so is the brown bread. Otherwise, go American or Italian.

As for the population? Its the whitest country I have ever been to. I saw very few blacks, Indians and Asians.  They don't even visit.

Spanish students are all over. They like to learn English in Ireland. Think of it. English spoken with an Irish and Spanish accent. Yes, it is hard to imagine.

Well, if you can visit Ireland, do it. You will love it. Bring warm clothing too. And they use the Euro.
Money is easy to count. Much better than the British pound which is used in Northern Ireland and Scotland too. Northern Ireland is a Country belonging to Great Britain in case you didn't know that. They will not accept Euros or dollars. Credit cards usually okay.

I never thought I would be in Belfast. That was a big experience. We were careful and were only there a short time. They do not cater to tourists at all.