Issue #14…
Our Meeting is Fast Approaching!
Most of you have responded in regard to the April 6th gathering of the clan. Thanks! For those of you who have yet to let me know about your attendance and whether you’ll be staying to eat, please do so. Ju
st come to the front door of the Jacksonville Country Club and I’ll have my delightful leprechauns there to guide you to the proper room. (Be nice to the leprechauns…they’ll be traveling with us.)
Another great website to tempt your traveling tastes….
(From one of our fellow travelers, Adelle Burrus)
http://www.e-water.net/viewflash.php?flash=irishblessing_en
(I may have sent this to you in a previous email…No matter, it’s worth a second look.)
Worth a Wee Peek…..
A good all-inclusive site for what’s happening, what’s to see, and what’s to do in Ireland. It’s updated more frequently than most Ireland sites and worth a look:
Discoverireland.com
It has an especially good drop-down menu on the right-hand side, allowing you to search Ireland by county, area, city, then by your individual pursuits. Unlike many of those frustrating websites that are set up then seldom maintained, this one is current…for example, it lists the plays that’ll be at the Abbey Theatre while we’re in Dublin.
Seeking Contributions!
So… Have you read anything good that I might be able to share with our group via this newsletter? Fiction? Travel? Stumbled upon a website that might be of benefit to the rest of us?
Two of you recently told me that you’ve enjoyed McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes. I’m currently reading An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor…a Book-of-the-Month club winner.
Some Miscellany…
Although I’m sure we’ll be reminded by our tour guides, it’s good to plant firmly in your mind that there are TWO Irelands… The Republic of Ireland (in which we’ll be traveling) and Northern Ireland. It may seem all the same to us, but to an Irishman, there’s still a big difference.
The good news: There’s only one Scotland. (But never…NEVER… call an Irishman or a Scot “British.” The spirit of Braveheart is very much alive and well.
(From fellow journeyer, Tammy Winters…I love this one)
Two men were sitting next to each other at a bar.
After a while, one guy looks at the other and says,
"I can't help but
think, from listening to you, that you're from Ireland "
The other guy responds proudly, "Yes, that I am"
The first guy says, "So am I
And where about from Ireland might you be?"
The other guy answers, "I'm from Dublin , I am."
The first guy responds, and so am I "Sure and begora,
And what street did you live on in Dublin ?"
The other guy says,
"A lovely little area it was, I lived on McCleary
Street in the old central part of town."
The first guy says, "Faith & it's a small world, so did I.
So did I. And to what school would you have been going?"
The other guy answers, "Well now, I went to St. Mary's of course."
The first guy gets really excited and says, "And so did I.
Tell me, what year did you graduate?"
The other guy answers,
"Well, now, let's see, I graduated in 1964."
The first guy exclaims, "The Good Lord must be smiling down upon us!
I can hardly believe our good luck at winding up in the same bar tonight.
Can you believe it, I graduated from St. Mary's in 1964 my own self."
About this time, Vicky walks into the bar, sits down, and orders a beer.
Brian, the bartender, walks over to Vicky, shaking his head & mutters,
"It's going to be a long night tonight"
Vicky asks, "Why do you say that, Brian?"
"The O'Connor twins are drunk again."
And I’d Love to Pass Along …
….the joke Anne Wildrick sent me about the fellow running into a Lephrichan on the golf course, but she’d better tell that one privately ... and quietly.
Certainly one of my nicest pre-departure moments so far occurred just a few days ago when college boy and fellow traveler Nick Stephens stopped in for a chat. He was hugely spiffed up with shirt and tie, just back from what we think was a very successful interview for an engineering apprenticeship for the summer.
I asked Nick if he was excited about the trip overseas…He smiled, took a breath, then leaned back in his chair… “Yeah, yeah I am so excited about that.”
I was brief, but it said it all. You’re gonna like this kid…and all the “kids” heading across the Atlantic with us on July 3rd.
According to the Number of Tourist Visits….
Here are the top ten most-visited places in Dublin:
· Trinity College Dublin and The Book of Kells
· Dublinia
Okay, so the Guinness clan beat out the churches by several points…remember: ‘tis Ireland.
And the Top Ten of Edinburgh
(although this is from various tourist sites and don’t reflect an actual count)
--Edinburgh Castle
--The National Gallery of Scotland
--Our Dynamic Earth
--The Palace of Holyroodhouse
--Rosslyn Chapel
--The Royal Yacht Britannia
--Scottish Seabird Center
--Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
--Scotch Whiskey Heritage Center
And..According to the Numbers…
The most visited sites in London:
Nothing can ruin a vacation like losing your valuables. Yep, our groups have been pick-pocketed occasionally, but in general, we’ve done pretty well. Why? Because we’ve traveled PREPARED. (From "Travel Ireland" .. Your chances of being the victim of a pickpocket in the tourist areas of Dublin are 1 in 6.)
Stories come to mind… a lady traveling with us (but not a member of our group) who had her purse taken in Rome and spent the next three days trying to get her papers straightened out (while the rest of the group toured Rome).. She’d put her passport, her plane tickets, her credit cards and all her cash in her purse then slung it over her arm…Duh! It was a mess.
Our little girl from Griggsville who was carrying her purse in a Paris metro (subway) with (again) all her valuables. We caught the thief while he was still in our car, but it was a trauma that followed the girl throughout the entire trip.
We’ll be traveling to the tourist areas and that’s exactly where the pickpockets will be. No, the residents of Dublin and Edinburgh and London are not more evil than we are…we have the same problems in our larger cities.
The key to theft-prevention.. Travel prepared, travel carefully, and don’t travel frightened.
I urge..I beg..I plead with all of you to investigate and then purchase either a pouch that goes under your shirt or under the waistline of your pants. Believe me, these light-fingered-folks can spot you a mile away and they are much better at taking than we are “protecting.” The under-the-clothing pouch is pretty much thief-safe.
Here’s a good website to check out..skip the auto bit and zip down to the pickpocket section:
http://mpdc.dc.gov/mpdc/lib/mpdc/info/safety_pdf/theft_pickpocket_prevention.pdf
From USA Today…
•Act confident. "People who are targeted for street crimes look like victims."
•Keep a spare credit card in your hotel room so you won't be without one in the event of theft or loss.
•Carry a photocopy of relevant information in your passport.
•Use a money belt, and don't carry all your cash in one place.
•Relax. "Wouldn't it be terrible if vacations were ruined because of fear?"
Be aware, and listen to your instincts
Dublin Trivia:
Dublin was originally called Dubh Linn meaning Black Lake. The lake to which the name referred is the oldest known natural treacle lake in Northern Europe and currently forms the centrepiece of the penguin enclosure in Dublin Zoo.
Dublin's oldest traffic light is situated beside the Renault garage in Clontarf. The light, which is still in full working order, was installed in 1893 outside the home of Fergus Mitchell who was the owner of the first car in Ireland.
Dublin's O'Connell Bridge was originally made of rope and could only carry one man and a donkey at a time. It was replaced with a wooden structure in 1801. The current concrete bridge was built in 1863.
There are over 10,000 prostitutes operating in the Dublin area on any given night. Most are women from Galway and Cork who were forced to flee the family farm in their home county.
The average Dubliner earns £33,000 per annum.
There are 2.5 million men, 1 million women and 0.5 million children currently residing in Dublin and its suburbs.
The Temple Bar area is so called because it housed the first Jewish temple built in Ireland. The word 'bar' refers to the refusal of Catholics to allow the Jewish to enter any of the adjoining commercial premises.
The average age of a Dublin male is 33 whilst females average 28 years of age.
In 1761 a family of itinerants from Navan were refused entry to Dublin. The family settled on the outskirts of the city and created the town of Rush. Almost two hundred and fifty years later the entire population of Rush can still trace their roots back to this one family.
Dubliners drink a total of 9,800 pints an hour between the hours of 5.30pm on a Friday and 3.00am the following Monday.
The average 25-year-old Dubliner still lives with his/her parents, preferring to spend their money on fast cars and clothes rather than a mortgage.
Dubliners have a one in six chance of being targeted by a pickpocket whilst in the City Centre.
The converted Ford Transit used for the Pope's visit in 1976 was upholstered using the most expensive carpet ever made in Dublin. The carpet was a silk and Teflon weave and rumoured to have cost over £950.00 per square metre.
The largest cake ever baked in Dublin weighed a whopping 190lb and was made to celebrate the 1988 city millennium. The cake stood untouched in the Mansion House until 1991 when it was thrown out.
A pint of Guinness in Dublin can cost as much as £2.75 or as little as £2.10 depending on where you drink.
Dubliners are more likely to buy a stranger a drink than locals from any other area of the country are.
Dubliners are the least racist people in Ireland except when it comes to the people of Kerry.
The statue in Dublin's O'Connell Street is commonly known as the 'Whore in the Sewer' while the one at the bottom of Grafton Street is best known as the 'Tart with the Cart'.
1 comment:
I did some checking on buying euro's now. I can't see it getting much worse so I passed. Right now they cost about $1.70. I will keep watching but do not exptect much change.
Keith B
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