Take one last look at Ireland

So, that's it, goodbye to Ireland. Of all the places I've been it's the one I'd most like to spend more time in.
As I said before we actually did make it to beautiful Connemara, but by then it was too dark for pictures. Sorry folks : (
Spent out last day walking around Dublin, what a great city. Goodbye Ireland, you are still missed.
You know they don't have cheddar cheese in Germany, but they do have it in the UK.. It's a real rip-off is all I'm saying. I guess they're too good for cheddar cheese in fancy continental Europe.
Welp, we're back to Germany for more German adventures next time I update. For those following along at home I went from Ireland to Konstanz and from Konstanz to Tuebingen where I am now.
Oh but not for long, tomorrow I am hoping on a train to traveling partner/girlfriend V's hometown in the Ruhr area and from there on to Amsterdam. Maybe blogging will be interrupted again, just warning you.
I am excited about finally showing you the places I've been living, Ireland now seems so long ago, I can barely remember why I took pictures of these things.
...
Ok, I know this one. There's a statue on that bench, it looks like that guy's talking to it. I guess you just had to be there (another good name for this blog). Love you guys, start commenting again or I'm gonna quit.

Happy St. Martin's Day!!!

Never heard of it? Don't be embarrassed, it's only the cutest holiday ever. Kids make paper lanterns and walk around the streets singing songs at night. As for who the hell St. Martin is, all I can piece together is that he gave a piece of his cloak to someone who was cold. Yeah, that's right, not even the whole thing, a piece. I guess it doesn't take much in these times to be a saint.
Ok, so back in blog land we're still in Ireland driving around in this rental car. Next stop? You'll never guess.
Ok, it's a castle. Castle Count: 8
To be honest I have no recollection of what this one was called or why we went there. I guess it was just on the way.
It looks pretty cool though, buried in the forest like that. Most castles tend to be in places of prominence, you know, so they can rule over things. Maybe the king of the jungle lived here (a lion?).

A Long Awaited Return to this Disjointed Narrative

So, yeah, I went to my big counseling conference and I'm happy to say it's over. If you care I think it went pretty well, but I know you don't so I'll just not talk about it.
It's time for a return to what this once-proud blog was all about! What exactly was this blog about again?

Oh, right, this stuff.
Last time we left our hero (me, I'm our hero) he was in Ireland and had just gotten back from Belfast, capital of both Northern Ireland and the Dangerzone.

I don't remember if I told you this at the time or not but I had originally planned to go to a bunch of awesome stuff in Northern Ireland but ended up not being able to because public transportation sucks. Determined to not make the same mistake twice I rented a car for one day and set out to drive all the way across Ireland to Connemara national park.
Being the master of my destiny and drive of a rental car I was free to make all sorts of stops along the way. Since it took so long to get to Connemara the stops ended up being the actual trip anyway, which is always the way it is, isn't it?
First stop! Bridgette's Garden. I heartily recommend this place to anyone going to Ireland, it's just about an hour out of Dublin and it's totally worth it. In addition to a fancy sundial (the largest in the ____)
and a bunch of other cool stuff (I think this was called a faerie fortress or something equally lame)
they had 4 landscaped gardens, each representing one of the Celtic seasons.
In case you didn't know (what? you mean you really don't know the 4 Celtic seasons?) they are Samhain (winter) (if you think you know how to pronounce this you are wrong)
Imbolc (spring)
Beltane (summer)
and who could forget Lughnasanh (fall)?

I love things that have themes even though they don't need them, like gardens.
Overall A++, would meander through again.

I Unknowingly did Something ill-advised

That's a good alternate name for this blog if you think about it. I went to Northern Ireland.
When making this plan I didn't think twice, but aparantly the war thing that they had going on up there was not that long ago.
V was kind of surprised when I expressed my desire to go there, but they had all the coolest sounding tourist attractions. I can't be blamed if I knew absolutely nothing about Irish history, I'm an American and it's my right to be uneducated!
It turned out that transportation there was a little more difficult than I had imagined (another good alternate title). We arrived in Belfast on a bus that was two hours late, only to find that even if it had been on time we wouldn't have been able to go to the places we wanted anyway (Giant's Causeway and Kereck-a-rede bridge if you wanted to know) because those buses only go once a day. If you're going to visit Northern Ireland I can only recommend renting a car.
It turned out to be a pretty good day anyway though, even though they demanded we switch back to Pounds once we crossed the border. Belfast is a nice and modern city with a lot of history, plus we only saw two policeman armed with automatic weapons (the universal sign of war-torn-nes).
We got a bit lost, however, and wound up in kind of a bad neighborhood while trying to find the obligatory castle. We got back ok, but boy was that a lot of walking. Never found it, so no castle count this time. I can hear you frowning.
We even ate at an American chain restaurant, Maggianos, the first in all of Europe apparently. I exagerate only slightly when I say it was the best food I've eaten since I got here.

You'll Never Get ye Hands on me Lucky Cathedral!

St. Patrick's cathedral. Yes, THAT St. Patrick. Maybe this will help...
St. Patrick
Check out those flying buttresses. Those are some hott buttresses (big ups to my highschool history teacher for getting me to remember something like that after all this time).
What is it about Cathedrals is it that fills me with a sense of awe? Maybe it's that they always looks like they're about to crush you.
Not getting to look at the inside of things has been kind of a theme on this trip- I've not been inside any castles and the only way I would have gotten into the Cathedral would have been to actually go to a religious service. No Thank You! Maybe I should start getting up before noon.
Cathedral Count: 4
(I'm sure it's more than this, but I just haven't been keeping track)

Writers, Ireland, and Writers from Ireland

Sure, we all know and love James Joyce, but did you know who else is an Irish writer? This enormous list of people that's who!
Oscar Wilde, William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett, Bram Stocker, Johnathan Swift. Yeah I guess all those books in English had to be written by someone and it sure as hell wasn't an American.
Even more impressive is Ireland actually seems to respect and care about it's writers. There are monuments everywhere and these cool quotes on buildings in midtown Dublin. Even the airport was adorned with literary figures.
This is (a very small piece of) Dublin's Castle. Now that I've been in Europe I know longer understand how cities function without a castle. Where does the king live if there's no castle?
It's a very serious place.
Yes, that's right "ORDER". You officially know not to mess around.
Not too serious back here though, they've painted it festive colors. Yes, they painted a castle. Love this city.
I should note that this is still a functional castle. In other words people still use this as some kind of government building. People have desk jobs here, in this castle.

Oh, and, by the way-
Castle Count - 7
In the spirit of the Irish I've decided to honor the writers I appreciate in an appropriate way (admit it, at the beginning of the sentence you thought this was gonna be another drinking joke). Thus I'm putting a list of other blogs that I enjoy on the right side of my page for you guys to peruse.

I know, I know "But Jesse" you think and say "all my emotiono-blogo-investment is in your wonderful blog you magnificent stallion and nobel prize winner". While this is true it can't hurt to have extra stuff to read on the internet right? Check them out some time. After you read mine.