Tom's FreeBSD blog

Headed into Ciddy Center with Jayme on Thursday for the afternoon as a minor repeat of Monday.  Mostly was just hungry and wanted to eat in town and have something local.  We got dropped off on the quay and made our way around the streets.  Looked down a side street and glanced a sandwich board which said “Food served all day” and decided to head towards it.  It was The Gingerman which we had heard people mention before.  As we sat and looked through the menu I looked around the place.  Was trying to figure out what to drink while I was looking around the bar and noticed most people were having tea, coffee, or soda.  Kind of struck me that no one was having a beer.  Not uncommon at home for people eating lunch out during the week to have a beer with their meal even if it’s during the work day.  Later was told by someone that people don’t typically do that here.  I ordered a tea.  With that I ordered the Irish stew which I knew I had to eventually have since I love lamb and don’t find lamb stew too often at home.  On the subject of food I knew people would ask me if I had Irish stew and I couldn’t say, “No, but do you know what crubeens are?”.  It was served piping hot and quite good.  Later on Pat the owner stepped by to clear our dishes and we started talking to him.  Told him we saw the sandwich board and decided to make our way over here.  He then went into the local bureaucrats who kept threatening him because the board used to be at the end of the block where it was easier to see.  He’s seen other boards in the spot he used to put his so he may put his back there eventually.  Pat’s never been to the US and wish he had gone.  His wife doesn’t like flying too much and a a 5-6 hour plan ride is just beyond her.  Most of their travels have been wherever they can get in about 2-3 hours by plane.  I told him to leave his wife at home but as he’s gotten older he less enthusiastic to fly as well.  He also told me he wouldn’t tell is wife what I had just said.

After we left the Gingerman we strolled around for a short bit more.  We walked into the shop we had been in on Monday and looked for things for people back home.  No one really expects any gifts from me.  I don’t even buy stuff for myself when i go places other than a shot glass to add to my collection.  I don’t need tons of crap, just something to look at and remind me where I’ve been and everything important comes back to me after that.  For that reason I don’t see the point of giving other people crap when I get back.  “Here’s the fridge magnet I got when Tom went to Ireland.”  It ends up being some random junk hanging around their house with no meaning to them.  I did however ask about another O’Meara name placard for my grandmother due to the horrible printing on the one I found but she said they had no more and that particular card was just terrible.  I figured that might mean something to her.  Looked around the rest of the things there and there were tons of Guinness stuff but really I could get any of that back home.  Only difference would be the pint seal on the glasses.  Settled on a crystal mini-tumbler which said “Ireland” on it with the island cut into it.

Jayme and Keith were leaving for Dublin that evening by train and she had to be home soon and pack.  I  was supposed to join them the next day.  She grabbed a cab and I walked around some more doing touristy stuff like seeing the old sites and taking pictures.  Reginald’s Tower was open this time so I went in to see what it was all about.  It formed a corner of the city walls that protected the former Viking settlement and is the oldest standing urban civic structure.  In addition was where Strongbow of the Anglo-Norman invasion force met the daughter of the King of Leinster, Aoife.  Aoife (anglicized as Eva) happens to be a pretty popular name in Waterford because of this story.  As I made my way around I made sure to mind all the “Watch your head” signs as most of the doorways were as high as about my chin.  As I climbed the stairwells in between each floor the height seemed to decrease.  Not too bad when walking upstairs as I just had to hunch forward.  A lot harder walking downstairs as I had to lean backwards to get down.  My hair is styled upwards in the front so I moved slowly and used it like a cat uses it’s whiskers to make sure I wasn’t about to smack my head.  I made it out alive and without leaving blood anywhere.  From there I just walked around and took pictures before grabbing a taxi back.

Later that night I went out to dinner with someone from Waterford.  Emiliano’s is a small Italian restaurant in Waterford and one of its best.  After dinner we spent sometime at the Gingerman.  Pat had just left a half hour before we arrived unfortunately.  Afterwards we went down to Ruby’s for a few drinks.  Another band playing tonight.  Still got a kick out of “Burning Love” being followed by a Kings of Leon song.  Made it to Muldoons across the street after a round and there were a few more people than the night before.  One of the bartenders was the bassist from the band the night before at Ruby’s.  It was their third gig and I wished them luck, and then downed my Jaegerbomb.  Ended up dancing after that for a little bit.  Next we ended up in Harvey’s for a round and stayed until close.

Jayme headed out with Keith’s mom for the day.  Before they left Catherine told me to clean up all the recyclable glass in the house.  I did it.  I spent most of the day writing and watching a little TV.  Mostly just been jotting down notes each day and wanted to form something more readable for this trip.  Went out that evening with Keith’s family for dinner.  His parents Catherine and Michael and his sister and brother-in-law Linda and Ahren.  Sat on the end next to Catherine and across from Ahren.  Good seat.  People don’t wrap the food they don’t finish to take away here it appears.  For that reason food tends to flow down-table towards Ahren when people can’t finish things.  Appetizers are different here.  Back home you usually order large common appetizers for the whole table.  As a guest you usually skip the appetizer page since you don’t want to be rude.  Wasn’t until the last moment that I realized I was supposed to pick a starter in addition to my main course.  Food was wonderful.  Had to ask if the prawns still had heads on them before I ordered them.  The table laughed and assured me my dinner would not be eying me.  Michael also pointed out that I was drinking my Guinness wrong.  I always though a thick head was incorrect and usually buried my lips into the drink to get past it.  However the head is supposed to cut the bitterness of the drink.  Made a mental note of that for future reference.  Made it out to the Uluhru after that for a round with the family.  Really awesome people and enjoyed talking with Ahren a lot.

Keith, Jayme, and I next went to Muldoons in Ciddy Center for drinks.  Kind of dead.  Even for a Wednesday night which is a typical college night along with Monday.  (Though not nearly as crazy as Saturdays are.)  We went across the street to Ruby’s afterward and planned on going upstairs with all the dance music.  I was ready to leave Jayme and Keith to hear the band on the first floor though when I noticed they were playing “All Right Now” by Free.  They played “Go Johnny Go” after that…  And then Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street”?!?!?!  I’ve heard that song a few times over here.  Don’t hear it much at home.  Band was ultimately very good.  Left after their “Sweet Child Of Mine” finale and headed to Hillbillies for a snackbox.  Chicken was far better than the local KFC but still couldn’t match Popeye’s.  Maybe around Roy Roger’s in my friend chicken hierarchy of greatness though it tasked more garlicky than spicy.

Jayme and I hit  wall on Tuesday.  Both of us are still adjusting to the time difference.  You might think it’s from all the drinking but not really.  Guinness doesn’t give you much of a hangover.  It’s one of the positives of being a Guinness drinker in the US.  Even still the ciders and other beers here don’t give you much of a hangover either.  Say what you will about all the drinking I’ve done here but it’s served a very useful purpose in helping me to fall asleep and hasn’t exactly impeded my functioning during the day.  Anyways, we spent the afternoon watching local TV.  I loved Airwolf growing up.  Also, Home And Away becomes kind of addicting.

Later on that night I split of from Jayme and Keith.  Went to Geoff’s in Ciddy Center.  Dark.  Best description I have for it.  By the bar in the front there’s a line of string with reading glasses hanging on it.  The bartender said they just hang all the glasses that get left there on it.  Not sure if people lose their glasses because of the drinking or because they’re impossible to find i n the dark.  Occasionally as I understand it people will ask to borrow a pair from the line if they’ve forgotten their own.  Spent a lovely evening out with a local girl.  Left when they finally kicked us out.

Jayme and I spent Monday walking around Ciddy Center in Waterford.  It’s pretty quaint with many areas that are pedestrian only.  We probably should have asked people what to  do around town as we had no clue where to go or what we were doing.  Waterford is the oldest city in Ireland and Reginald’s Tower is the oldest standing urban civic structure in Ireland so there should be some history.  Then again, I don’t really care if I see things and stand in front of them to have my picture taken.  Everybody does that.  We meandered our way through the streets in and out of shops.  We stepped into a small gift shop but I was not going to buy a bunch of Guinness knick-knacks.  They did however have those family name placards.  The had spelled it “McLoughlin” and noted “McLaughlin” as an alternative.  The lineage sounded like the version I vaguely remember but the crest looked completely different.  They also had an O’Meara card for my grandmother on my dad’s side but the printing was smudged a bit in a few spots so I decided to leave it and see if maybe I ran across one elsewhere.

We left the shop and kept walking the streets.  Eventually we went into one of the malls.  Clothes shopping was a bit of an experience for me.  Found a nice shirt in one of the shops and looked for my size.  I’m about a large or extra-large in the US.  I’m a big guy but fairly skinny.  I decided to grab an extra-large and tried it on figuring “Well, stuff runs smaller here.”  I put the thing on and honestly felt like one of those guys back home wearing a smedium t-shirt.  I felt like if I moved my arms back a bit I’d have some Bruce Banner incident.  A double extra-large would have been more appropriate if they had one.  Again, how are people so small here when they put butter on their bacon?

After leaving the mall Jayme stopped into a store and I hung around on the street.  There were two kids a few doors down playing some music.  They were playing Jim Croce?!?!?  “Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown”.  After that they broke into “The Boxer” from Simon and Garfunkel.  I tossed them two Euros since I like both songs and was quite surprised to hear them.  I kind of wanted to ask them why they were playing American music.  Music that you really don’t hear in the US.  In fact, I’ve heard a lot of good older US music since I’ve been here that I never hear at home.  On the car radio later that night I heard “Roadrunner” from The Modern Lovers (and all its Boston references) and “The Ocean” from the Velvet Underground (which never even made it onto a real VU album) after it.  Later as we walked there was an old man with a small dented amp playing Woodie Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land”.  I wanted to stay and see if he knew the “private property” verse.  That verse and the “relief office” verse give the song a much different meaning than the version I was taught as a kid.  I could barely understand his singing so I figured we might as well meander on.  I know there are different versions in other nations.  Was he singing an Irish version and that’s why I was confused?

By this point we were a little hungry so we stopped into McDonald’s.  Yes, we went to McDonald’s while on vacation across the Atlantic Ocean.  We were those tourists.  However it’s worth mentioning that the Big Tasty with bacon (hey, bacon again) was actually pretty good.  Way better than the Big Mac at home.  It was actually, well, tasty and I’ll even say I liked it better than the burger yesterday in Tramore.

After lunch we made our way down a small street and found BPM Records which we stepped into.  MUCH smaller than the music stores I know back home but actually managed to find some music to buy.  Even with the large stores at home I typically find myself scouring Amazon for anything I really want.  Found a recent Undertones (they hailed from Ulster) CD which I picked up.  No Stiff Little Fingers CDs however.  Also picked up a few other albums.  Punk music, not Irish folk music.

Headed along the quays stepping in and out of places.  Eventually came to the corner with Reginald’s Tower though it was closed.  Across from there in the middle of the street there is a statue of Thomas Francis Meagher who was an American Civil War general.  May seem weird that a statue of an American general is standing in Waterford but he was from Waterford and is most well known for designing the Irish tri-color flag.  The green for the Catholics, the orange for the Protestants, and the white for peace in between.

Headed past there when Jayme and I decided to head into a pub for a drink.  We came across the Green Fiddler which had previously been Paul Flynn’s.  Walked in and everyone turned to look at us.  Four people sitting at the bar, a man and woman at a table and the place still managed to be crowded as the room was slightly bigger than a shoebox.  VH1 Classic was playing the Spice Girls on the corner TV though the bartender switched it to traditional Irish music once he realized Jayme and I were Americans.  He also told the drunken Scotsman to behave himself.  Once everyone found out we were Americans they wanted to talk to us.  They wanted to tell us about Waterford or if they had been to America where they had been. Sinead tried to keep Ivor from chewing our ear off but I enjoyed it.  After we finished our pints we then headed to Jordan’s a few blocks over which Sinead had recommended.  She felt we’d get an even better view of real Waterford in a place like that than we had in a place like T&H a few nights ago.

Stepped into Jordans and it was about twice the size as the Green Fiddler with about the same amount of people.  There were three guys named Brian at the bar drinking and they introduced as to Johnathan at the other end but he was “more interested in his four legged friends” on the TV.  Eventually we met Jason when he emerged from somewhere else in the bar.  He had spent some years living around the US.  He spent some time in Queens and for a time further out on Long Island before moving to San Diego.  I pressed him further about Long Island and found out he lived in the late 80′s / early 90′s in my hometown of Freeport.  He was on the opposite south side of town from me when I was growing up.  This makes the second person with ties to Freeport that I’ve run across here.  (Well, Keith’s roommate’s girlfriend I haven’t actually met but that’s still more people in Waterford from my hometown than I know of in Boston.)  Finally Keith came from work and grabbed us.  Would have kept talking but we had to leave.  Keith later explained that maybe talking with people who were drunk on a Monday afternoon wasn’t the best idea.  I kind of see the point.  I’d usually avoid those people back home but I found everyone very friendly and interesting.  By the way, I had a cider there and liked it but can’t recall the name.  Started with a “C” I believe.  It was pumped instead of poured from a tap.

Later that evening we made our way to Rocket’s in Tramore which had been so busy the day before and I had another traditional Irish meal.  Keith had told me about the ribs.  They’re boiled.  I had also heard about the crubeens.  They’re pigs feat…  Boiled.  The ribs ended up being pretty good with a little  bit of mustard.  The meat reminded me of corned beef actually.  If you took the ribs of the bone, shredded it, and threw it onto some bread with a little bit of mustard it would make a killer sandwich.  The crubeens I found a little tougher to eat.  I was pulling apart the bones searching for the meat but mostly had just skin along with fat and gristle that had an almost jelly like consistency.  Keith finally told me that was what you ate.  Later heard, “Yeah, even we don’t eat that,  You’re pretty brave,” when it comes to crubeens from various people.

After dinner we went to a pub near Keith’s house.  The sign on the door said “members only” which scared us a little bit.  We walked in and a handful of people sat at the bar while there was a large poker game setup across the room.  We later found out the sign was up from the weekend and is there to keep the knackers out and prevent trouble.  Knackers are what we call Irish Travelers in the US.  Had some pints and ended our evening there.

Spent Sunday in Tramore with Keith, Jayme, and Keith’s niece.  Got lunch at a small bar there.  It was Mother’s Day which we hadn’t realized so the first few places we stopped into were packed.  Boiled bacon with mashed potatoes and parsley sauce.  Didn’t really know what to expect but not bad.  I was expecting the bacon to be saltier but none of the bacon I’ve had here has really been very salty.  It was just like boiled ham which I’ve had before.  Had a bite of Jayme’s burger and it was different from what I expected.  Just tasted different and the meat seemed different somehow.   Afterwards we went on down towards the beach for a little bit.  Was kind of cold but there were a handful of people in the water.  Felt sorry for the kid who must’ve lost a bet and was forced to wade out into the freezing water with just his jeans on.  Later on in the day we went to Keith’s parent’s place for dinner.  Chinese food.  Someone told me once before I left, “If you want good Irish food, get Chinese.”  Prawn crackers are pretty awesome by the way.

I’ve been in Waterford, Ireland since the weekend through this coming weekend. I’m over here with my roommate Jayme and her boyfriend Keith who is from Waterford and back for the week for work. I’m functioning as a combination of third wheel / daytime entertainment for my roommate. It’s a role I’m happily embracing.

We left on Friday evening from Boston and arrived in Shannon around 5am. Couldn’t sleep on the plane like I had planned so I was happy I bought Watchmen to read while in the airport. It was then a two hour drive from the airport where I again had planned on sleeping. Instead I spent the entire ride like a dog staring out the car window. This was mostly due to the fact that I was scared. Two-lane highways with walls on either side and tons of rotaries. Wow. (Though it wasn’t until about the sixth rotary when I figured out that’s what they were and it wasn’t just that no one felt like paving straight roads.) Along the way we stopped at a gas station for some coffee which was where I first felt like a stranger. Man in front of me as I waited turned to joke with me and my face just dropped as I realized he spoke English and I had literally no clue what he had just said and wished not to sound impolite. Keith stepped in at that point fortunately. Still think that man must’ve thought I was a tard. Now I realize why I sometimes have to speak slowly to Canadians.

Eventually we made it to Keith’s sister’s house where we met the family and had some breakfast. White pudding… Actually not bad. Still haven’t experienced black pudding however. My favorite is still the breakfast sandwich. All I can picture is Homer telling Bart to butter his bacon. Take some bread, slather butter on it, then throw some bacon on top. Of course it’s pretty awesome but as I noticed later so few fat people and I’m amazed how that is possible when they butter their bacon. (Tried to buy shirts some days later and I’m a large or extra large in the US while a double extra large here. I happen to be reasonably slim in the US and of course don’t butter my bacon.)

We hit our walls after breakfast and made our way to Keith’s place then for a relatively short nap at around 11am. Just four hours since we had to make our way out to the pub for the Ireland vs. Wales rugby match. An Ireland win would clinch the Six Nations tournament as well as be their first grand slam (beating every team) in about sixty years. I spent a little time having Keith explain the game to me during the England vs. Scotland match beforehand at his place and then we made our way off to the pub. Was feeling still a little sleep deprived but maybe eating while we were out would pick me up slightly. Need sleep or food in order to drink. Ended up at T&H Doolan’s in Ciddy Center around 4:30. Back home I once went to my local bar and found it closed only later to find out it was because of a kitchen problem and serving alcohol without being able to serve food would just be irresponsible. (This attitude doesn’t apply in Pennsylvania where I hear even serving peanuts would just encourage you to drink more.) Learned quickly that pubs don’t really serve food. Drinking, tired, and hungry at 4:30pm.

T&H is about the oldest pub in Waterford and the crowd was interesting. Half Irish and the other half Welsh transplants. Interestingly while a little tough at first I found the Welsh the easiest to understand after a short bit. They sounded like my old neighbor. (If you know the story, yeah, THAT neighbor.) Let me first start by saying that the Guinness in Ireland DOES NOT TASTE AND DIFFERENT. The difference is you’ve probably been drinking bad Guinness from lines and taps which haven’t been cleaned enough. It tasted no different than a good Guinness that I’ve had many times in Boston. Granted, I’ve drank a lot of bad Guinness in Boston too. Got into the rugby match after it started. Possibly because of the excitement surrounding me. Possibly because of the drinking, sleep deprivation, and hunger. The bar has about three parts to it. One side is the “tourist” side. A dollar bill with my name and cell phone number may be tacked to the rafters. Next there’s there middle third and then finally the third we were at. I ended up really getting into it. The bulb on the TV kept overheating, typically during tense portions, and I would end up running with everyone to the middle third of the bar to watch the TV on that side. Ireland ultimately one and I celebrated. Things at this point started to get hazy. Keith made sure to give me a piece of paper with his address just in case. Drinking, tired, and hungry at… *shrug*

Spent sometime drinking and talking with various folks. Both Keith’s friends as well as other locals. Eventually we ended up at McLoughlin’s down the road a short bit. Had a shot of whiskey there. Didn’t vomit which is typically a good sign. Unfortunately it convinced me I was invincible at this point. More talking with the various locals. Eventually learned that “Colleen” is both a proper noun and an adjective. Up till that point I just thought half the girls of Waterford had the same name. After sometime there we walked back up the road to Harvey’s. Keith’s friends were there to take care of me at this point. Nearly didn’t make it in but managed to answer the bouncer’s question correctly. “Yes sir, I am still alright to drink.” Went downstairs and was greeted by lots of people, loud music, and flashing lights. Pretty much like every club in Boston I try and avoid. I grabbed a beer and made my way around with the guys. Not a lot made sense to me but I kept going. I think a few times I was told to, “Stand right here,” but I don’t like standing still too much. Especially not on a night out as I wanted to meet new people. This however proved a little tough. People liked my American accent but my ability to hold a conversation was fairly impaired at this point. I think I could still speak fairly coherently as evidenced by the fact that people recognized my American “twang” (Teaxans have twangs, New Yorkers don’t thank you), I just couldn’t think of what to say at all. Eventually I found myself with Keith’s friend Jimmy and two of his lovely friends and we hung out until closing. As we walked out of Harvey’s we made our way back down the block into a sea of people. Entered a fried chicken fast food place called Hillbillies at this point. Finally maybe I could eat… Unfortunately I could not figure out the menu. Where was the #1 or the #5. Maybe a #4 with a Diet Coke? I tried asking the girl I was with how I was supposed to order but just managed to confuse her. I decided to just go outside and skip ordering. (Now I know to just say “snack box”.) As a consolation I did receive an onion ring from my new friend for which I was very grateful. Drinking, tired, and hungry at about 3am.

Ultimately I did end up making my way home. Had perhaps one of the best nights of sleep I’ve ever had. Also had one of the best nights of my life. Not sure how to possibly top such a long night.