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Luck of the Irish!

Trying to figure out how to sum up Ireland in a few paragraphs… just seems unjust. The last week in Ireland has been hands down one of the best times I’ve had in a long time and by far the best kick off for my trip.

It seems the luck of the Irish has been on my side since I have been here. So far Dublin has been full of sunny crisp blue skies, green lush hillsides, endless beers and dancing until the sun comes up… which clearly means the Summer of Love has officially kicked off.

The Irish are known for their remarkable drinking abilities, and I would have to agree with that. They get started here about 5pm and don’t finish until around 4 or 5am. As a lightweight American I have been having a hard time keeping up. But it hasn’t all just been about drinking; there has been loads of good food and beautiful friendly people. It’s amazing how sometimes you go into a place or country with a preconceived notion about how it will be or how the people will be… and then it turns out soo completely different. I pictured having a few beers with friends in a bar while outside it was cold, drizzling and gray skies. But if anything there has been more sun here then I can handle. I guess since we ‘re so far north, the sun doesn’t go down till around 11:30pm and then comes back up around 5am. It can really mess with you when you’re trying to sleep.

I am learning more and more about how it’s all about the local people showing you around then the place itself. I’m leaving now for London, and I must say I really don’t want to leave. Dublin has now become one of my favorite cities in the world (when it’s sunny) so I know I will be back here again sometime soon.

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Posted by Jimmy under Europe, Photos, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Land of Leprechauns

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over 6 years and 100 plus countries since my first and only visit to Ireland. Back in 2003 I was a much different Jimmy Swift, one without a passport and had never traveled oversees.

My girlfriend at the time came to me one day and said “Hey, there’s cheap flights to Ireland if you want to take a trip?” I didn’t know much about Ireland at the time but thought… hey what the heck it sounds like fun. It didn’t take long for us to figure out why the tickets were soo cheap….. January in Ireland is a freaking god awful time to visit! It pretty much rained the whole time and was freezing arse cold… but we made the most of it and actually had a pretty good time.

This time around it’s going to be much different. Over the years of traveling I have been fortunate enough to meet some pretty cool people from all over the planet. So I will be staying with a band of drunken leprechauns I met in India. This is going to be the prefect kick off to my yearlong trip… it might be a good idea to pack an extra liver.

I have spent the last week in Florida visiting the family and realizing why I left home so long ago and have never looked back. So far the only thing I am missing is my roommates cat meatballer. Here is a picture I took of him on my last day!

Bring on Europe!

Posted by Jimmy under Europe, Thoughts, Travel Tips, Uncategorized, Updates | Comments (0)