Jet-lag randoms:
London... much more enjoyable this time around, with no real itinerary. Weather was standard overcast most of the trip.
*Cigs are still the way to go for the folks across the pond.
*got to sit in with the choir at a Sunday service at Westminster which was pretty cool
*Wife wanted to go to Windsor one day so we did a trip over and hung out for most of the day, toured the castle and the town.
*Did a west-end theatre show (Waitress) which was surprisingly better than I expected.
*Went out to see the new Spurs stadium which opens in a couple weeks... those new venues are as state of the art as anything we have on this side of the world... completely over the top.
*Found a bottle of Blantons Gold in a Soho liquor store that I was excited about.
*Stayed in Kensington/Chelsea which is my preferred area because its a bit more quiet, but still only a couple stops on the train to nightlife.
*Late night Chinatown snacks FTW. Ended up in a spot one night and asked about using their restroom... the guy reluctantly finally told me it was downstairs in the basement on the right.... then he grabbed my arm and told me not to go through the door on the left. The door on the left was open a bit and there were 7-8 well-dressed Chinese guys in their playing Mahjong (sp?) and some type of card game with a good bit of money on the table. Was similar to the scene in
Animal House when they saw me standing there. Card dealer came over and just shut the door in my face.
*Ryanair flight over to Ireland was everything you'd expect from a $20 flight.
Ireland...
*Flew into Cork, rented a car and took off towards the west coast. Its not so much the left side driving that is the issue as much as the fact that the roads were apparently last paved in 1986, and are barely wide enough to fit a couple of bikes.
*The scenery on the drive is pretty amazing- we stayed a few nights in Killarney, which I just kind of picked out at random, and turned out to probably be the highlight for me. Cool town, people went out of their way to be friendly. Good pubs, and decent enough food. Sat one night watching races at Cheltenham, while a bookie took bets at the bar.
*Drove the Gap of Dunloe- was a cool experience, though a bit nerve-racking. Headed up to see the Cliffs of Moher- it was absolutely freezing but worth it for the view. Would love to be there on a warmer day to enjoy it more.
*Spent a night in Galway before heading to Dublin for St. Patty's weekend. The night of the 16th being a Saturday seemed like people went harder at it- by the late night hours it looked like zombie-land full of drunks. Carried over into the 17th but the majority appeared to be moving a step slower that day. Dublin was an okay time, but I was ready to get back home at that point. We saw some cool stuff, Guinness tour was a good time- but the city is kind of a dump. Enjoyed the other side of the country a lot more.
*Got to the house a little after midnight last night... had a brief but fairly heated exchange with TSA in Dulles, that wouldnt let me bring a bottle of Irish Whiskey through, that I had purchased at another airport that day. I cordially asked an older lady employee to show me where this policy was written, as other airport security checkpoints didnt bat an eye.
"I ask the questions not you, boy." was the response I got- and apparently it escalated quickly enough that additional security had to come over and after further exchange I was finally told that there were two options- 1. go back and check the bottles in a bag or 2. be detained. So TSA won that battle.