On The Hillside
Entries Tagged as 'Galway'
Cliffs Of Moher
We finished up the project a little early so I was released into the wilds of Ireland to do some exploring today.
I caught a tour bus up to the Cliffs Of Moher.
It seemed a gamble with the rain, but I decided to risk it even though there would be no refunds on the tour price.
It did rain on and off the hour and a half it took us to get there, but there was no rain while we visited the cliffs which was great.
I loved the signs:
Wee Irish Birdies
Chaffinch or Bullfinch, not completely sure. They were hanging outside the office window.
Quack
It’s raining. The above picture was taken around 9:45 pm. The sun doesn’t set until 10:00 pm.
Like a duck, I braved the mucky weather and headed forth in search of a pub for a pint and some live music.
It’s easy to see the appeal and charm of an true Irish pub with weather like this. You go from wet, bedraggled and miserable to warm and comfortable in nothing flat.
I almost didn’t recognize it as an Irish pub because there was no bitter, hate-filled, resentment holding, proprietress scowling at the patrons, looking to alienate good people for reasons known only to herself.
Must be a Houston thing…
Irish Tricycle
Click for full size
Note the special rack for carrying a walking cane…
Galway Slang
Craic (pronounced “crack”) is the Gaelic word for “fun”
Actual conversation in the cab from the airport:
Cab Driver: Are you up for a bit of craic?
Me: No, I’m here on business…
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Memorable slang so far:
Craic - Fun
Knackered - Tired
No Panic -No worries/problem
Shite - No good, awful
Dry Shite - Boring person
Deadly - Cool
Destroyed - Drunk
Plonker - Idiot
Where’s the “any” key?
When travelling to Europe a few years back I did not take a computer with me. It was pretty much “catch as catch can” in the various countries, between the odd Internet cafe and the various hotel or B&B provided terminals.
Something I knew, but did not fully consider, was that each country used a unique keyboard layout. This made it somewhat vexing when it came to typing certain characters. I recall struggling to find the key combination for the @ symbol on a French computer with the key symbols worn away from over-use.
If you know how to type without watching your fingers, and you have access to the computer settings then the easiest thing to do is go to the control panel and change the layout to US.
Microsoft offers step by step instructions in KB306560
If you’re a hunt and peck typist or you don’t have the ability to change the keyboard layout you will need to familiarize yourself with the keyboard layout of the country you’re visiting.
There’s a handy guide located at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_layout
US KEYBOARD LAYOUT
UK/IRELAND KEYBOARD LAYOUT
One of the most frustrating differences on UK keyboard is that the quotation marks are on the 2 key while the @ sign takes the place the quotation marks.
Swans
Flocks of wild swans patrol the river and the entrance to the bay. Hundreds of them. The bulk of them hang out near one of the quay walls, drawn to those who throw bread down from on high…
Marching To The Sea
The sun stays up till about 10:00 pm in this part of the world at this time of year. Not that there’s been much of it here lately. It’s rained and been overcast most of the past month or so. Looks like I brought some Texas sunshine with me on this trip because today was spectacular. So spectacular, in fact, that I walked several miles down to the entrance to Galway Bay and back along the River Corrib.
That pretty much wiped me out for the evening. Now I am back in the hotel and just updating this blog and getting ready for some sleep.
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