Tag: Ireland

So, I spent about a month in Ireland now and the last two days in Derry and I am by no means an expert of Irish History but from what I have gathered over the last couple of weeks and especially my time in Derry… I have to admit that I had no idea how interesting and complicated the history of this island is.

Most of the stories I heard make it hard to root for the British in this conflict and I’m having a hard time thinking of facts that could change that. If I had to compare it to something, I’d say that British-Irish relations resemble those of China and Tibet.

Even with all the differences, there are a lot similarities. The Plantation of Ulster for example, how’s that different from what China is doing now, settling Han Chinese in Tibet.

But I digress. I was particularly moved by the accounts of “Bloody Sunday”. It’s one of those things that really make you question humanity. I knew a few things about it but I have to admit that I used to believe some of the British government’s lies about the event. Not anymore. All the victims were innocent, they were murdered. A british government report says so. The end. But years of misinformation and half-truth (lies) don’t go away in a second.

I will probably learn a few more things about this conflict in Belfast but let me just say that it is a conflict that is deeper than religion or nationalism and I hope that we as humans can start to work to overcome conflicts like this everywhere, not just here in Ireland.

I have to admit though, even with BREXIT looming, I think they are going to be fine. There are problems on the horizon, sure, but the Irish will manage it. They will overcome.

Now Entering Free Derry.

I just arrived in Derry, or Londonderry, not sure about that one yet. So it technically/basically means that my time in Ireland is over. There wasn‘t really a border-crossing, I guess that‘s the point at the moment and helped solving most of the issues. I really enjoyed my time in Ireland and I actually don‘t think that Northern Ireland will be that much different.

I plan to do some historic walking tours and explore the city. Letterkenny was nice. I had two decent meals and good some serious amount of writing done.

I‘m quite pleased with my output and I hope to be able to match, maybe even increase my output. I made some good progress with alaska and I think I finally cracked about 80% of it. There are still some details to work out but I have a good feeling about the changes I made and the pages I wrote. I feel that the story and the characters finally take shape and things I had issues with, finally feel good and natural. I even think that I have an ending that works.

I‘ll probably write a longer wrap-up post about my thoughts about Ireland and about my writing progress, I‘m just a bit too tired right now, so you have to wait for that a bit.

I can‘t believe I already reached part 6 of this ongoing series and so far these posts almost write themselves. I don‘t really know why I write them, it‘s not that a lot of people are reading them but it does two things.
1. It‘s a good way to reflect and process my vacation.
2. It gets me typing which in turn makes it easier for me to work on the scripts.

I need these posts to get writing, or better put, to get typing. This is not the same kind of writing as screenplay or other forms of fiction. I‘m just writing what comes to my mind, no outline, no plot-points, just writing down whatever comes to my mind.

I just visited Donegal Castle, one of the main attractions here and my timing was perfect to join a guided tour through the castle. Great tour guide and the more I learn about Irish history the more interesting it gets. It‘s not just about the Troubles and the War of Independence, he mostly talked about the Nine Years War and the Plantation of Ulster. Never heard of those two but the English are kinda dicks.

After I left the Castle it started to rain. That seems to be a recurring thing in Ireland but I have to admit, I don‘t mind the weather too much. I rather take a few raindrops here and there over the heatwave that‘s going on back home.

So I‘m sitting in this nice Tea Room right now and the plan is to get some pages down. I got some feedback on my rewrite of act one and I think it‘s getting there. I‘ll probably go over that first and then it‘s probably a good idea to go over the outline again. So, I think I should do that now….

Donegal Castle

Ballina, I hardly new ya.
Well, there‘s this coffee place I know and there‘s Belleek Castle. Those were nice, the rest of the town, let‘s just say it rained only once while I was in Ballina.

Beleek Castle, Ballina.

Staying in the Castle was good though, very fancy, good dinner. The drive to Sligo was ok as well. I‘m getting the hang of this. 60km is ideal for a day. The drive from Galway to Clifden was a bit much and I think its probably best if I cheat, at least a little, between Bushmills and Belfast.

The last leg of the trip, from Belfast to Ayr should work out. It‘s the last bit and I will be rested after a couple of days in Belfast.

Today I took my bike to Strandhill, the beach associated with Sligo. 8km drive, a bit hilly but nice. The beach was windy but I managed to get my feet wet in the atlantic. Sligo itself is quite nice. I think I could have stayed a bit longer here, most places so far have been manageable in two days, Sligo seems like a place to rest a bit longer but who could have known. Tomorrow it‘s off for Donegal.

But now for something completely different, hats. There are a few things I do on holiday. I try to buy coasters and I buy a hat. On my last few trips I‘ve always bought a hat, as a sort of travel companion and souvenir. It started with a cheap Mickey Mouse hat in Disneyland but it has evolved, I have a couple of good hats, the one from Canada is particularly cool. But on this trip, I decided to leave my bike helmet at home and buy a new one. So my lovely green helmet is my „hat“ for this trip.

Stay tuned.

My feet and the Atlantic, Strandhill.

What was I expecting. 🙂

So I got my first real rainy day in Clifden. I caught a slight bit of rain on my way to Clifden the other day but seems that the weather took a turn for the irish. I‘m sure it will get better but it‘s a good thing I brought some rain-gear but I wouldn‘t have it any other way. I just read about another heatwave back home so I‘m quite happy with a few raindrops.

Clifden was a pretty nice town. Not too much to do there (yeah, I got some writing done), basically there are two roads with shops, pubs and restaurants. Shout-out to EJ Kings, I only had two pints there but that, and please don‘t get me wrong I‘m not trying to be demeaning or superficial, but that pub had the prettiest waitresses I‘ve ever seen. One prettier than the other, seriously I couldn’t tell you who the prettiest was, basically an MC Escher painting, and they were running the place so smoothly, no guy in sight. Don‘t know if they were locals or just there for the season, I‘ll just know I’ll remember that place.

Today was Stage 2 of my cycling adventure, Clifden to Westport, 66km, a nice drive. Caught rain twice and lot‘s of sidewind. But the drive was actually quite nice. Some hills and some meandering roads. I mostly followed the N59, the scenery was beautiful. Some lakes, almost Fjord like and some sheeps. So yeah, pretty much what I was expecting when I decided to cycle though Ireland.

I actually finalized my intinerary and booked all my hotels. The one thing I‘m not sure about is how I‘ll get from Bushmills, I‘m there for the Giants Causeway and not the Distillery, to Belfast. It‘s a 100km drive with ups and downs. I looked into breaking the trip in half but there were no good options. So I might take the bus or train for that leg of the journey, yeah I might do that, I‘m on holiday I can do what I want. I will definitely take my bike on the ferry to Scotland though. Cycle on a ferry, that‘s just so me.

So yeah, fingers crossed for part 4, more about Westport and my journey to Ballina, where I will stay in a castle.

I‘m doing one of my big trips again. I decided to visit Ireland and after the first week I‘d like to share some of my experiences and thoughts about the Emerald Island.

First of all, beautiful country. So far I‘ve been to Dublin and Galway. Today I took a stroll along the coast and I have to admit, coming from a double-landlocked country, the sea has its appeal. It‘s not just the view. It‘s the smell and I love watching the tide change.

Dublin is a vibrant city. So much to do and so little time. I‘m trying to find the balance between doing touristy things, getting inspired and writing – after all this is not just ab leisure trip, I‘m trying to get some writing done. One of my initial goals was to read Ulysses by Joyce on this trip, after realizing how thick that book is, I got the ebook and started with Dubliners, probably a good call.

I visited the Guiness Brewery and the Teeling Distillery, maybe a bit touristy but it was fun. I did a literary pub crawl in Dublin as well, also a fun evening, and I even learned a few things Irish literature.

Galway is very picturesque. There are parts that are overflown with tourists (look who‘s talking, I‘m one of them) but there are also these areas that are off the beaten path. I was lucky to participate in a Galway Craft Brew Tour and our guide not only knew beer she also knew some great venues I would‘ve never found on my own. I‘ve done my fair share of (craft)beer tasting tours and this one was definitely one of the more charming ones. Might have been because of the company, it was just our guide, a lovely kiwi lady and me (my thanks to the group that cancelled last minute) and I‘ll remember it as the „Before Sunrise“ of craft beer tours.

Tomorrow I‘m visiting the Cliffs of Moher, people say great things about them and on Tuesday I start my bike tour. First stop Clifden. Let‘s see how that goes.

As for my writing, I rewrote the first act of Alaska and I‘m about to embark on act two. I have to adjust the outline a bit but I hope to get act two done on my way to Belfast. So, not sure when/if there‘s going to be a part two but stay tuned anyway.

Galway