Wednesday we returned from our trip to Ireland so as I sit here thinking about the past 10 days so many different observations and reflections come flooding into my mind. So, first...
Random observations!
- If folks are walking or driving they are always in a hurry, even on the weekend. But, when they sit down to tea, a meal or an evening pint they savor the time they are with friends and/or family. There is no hurry in a restaurant or pub to order, receive your meal, and especially pay the bill. When you are finished you either need to ask for your check or go to the "till" to pay.
- There is no such thing as "personal space". People are right next to you no matter where you are. I remember the first time we went to Ireland we were sitting in a pub and the lady next to Jon was practically on his lap! Must be where I get my "touch oriented" personality!
- We noticed many shoppes that sell men's suits. Here in the states they would go bankrupt. There must not be any such thing as "business casual".
- As colorful as the Irish are when it comes to decorating their home (thus the colorful doorways of Ireland) they are somewhat conservative in their dress. I noticed 8 years ago that the majority of the women wear black and that is still true. Although then I noticed that you would not have seen many jeans on the women in the city. Not true today-jeans were pretty standard, but with heeled boots, no tennies. We both remarked that the Irish are very classy dressers.
- Men go to barbershops, women go to salons. Not like here where barbershops are just about extinct and men and women both go to the same salons.
- Irish sizes are about 2-3 sizes smaller than ours. My size 8 jeans that I wear here were size 14 there. Doesn't do a lot for the ego!
- 2-3 course dinners are the norm. Salads do not automatically come with your meal unless you order a 2 or 3 course meal.
- The Irish love their sweets and chocolate. We can't hold a stick to their candy, or cookies sections of the local grocery nor their pastries in the many shoppes.
- Afternoon tea- tea and a pastry of some sort. Most Irish do not drink their tea without milk (they call it white tea) or sweetener (white or brown sugar, not artificial). Pitchers of milk are on every table in the restaurants. I definitely inherited this from my Irish grandma!
- We noticed there were tons of people constantly out shopping, eating, walking, having tea. When do they work??
- Some restaurants have separate mens and womens restrooms, others are co-ed (I learned this from a trip to France). So be prepared there may just be a guy washing his hands when you walk into the restroom! Surprised me!
- Music in the pubs doesn't necessarily mean Traditional Irish Music. You have to look for the places that advertise "trad" music.
- City folks are city folks no matter where you live. We found the people to be friendly, but not overly friendly, somewhat different than what we experienced in the country. Maybe in the country they're just glad to see other people!
Yesterday Brett asked me what was our favorite part of the trip. That's a really tough question to answer, but my first response was all the memories that kept flooding back from our past trips with both boys, our trip to Belfast and Howth. As I've thought more about it here are some additional.....
Random Reflections
- We often found ourselves remarking how much Justin and Susie and Brett and Heather would love something, like the seafood chowder at Howth, tea time in the afternoon, the old library at Trinity College, or how proud they would've been when we didn't lose our way the day I forgot our map at the hotel!
- I love learning about different cultures and so it continued to be a real learning experience seeing the difference between the folks of Dublin and Belfast. We truly could tell we were in the UK when we were in Belfast.
- We are both big city folks and although we do enjoy the countryside we were both just thriving on the hustle and bustle of the city and how the sidewalks don't roll up at 7:00 at night.
- I love the family and friend connections that people make with each other in the evening. They don't rush home to cocoon at night after a day at work or school. Families, including children, are out and about in the pubs and restaurants enjoying their time together.
- As we walked about being with the people of Ireland, listening to their expressions, eating the food, and just watching it really became apparent to me how much I experienced so much of this through my grandmother, who was 1/2 Irish and that I really have some of the Irish in me! Sorry, don't think I could go as far as to learn Gaelic, though.
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