Monday, 14 May 2012
IRELAND
Well, we just came back from the Emerald Isle and I have to say the grass is literally greener there. There are areas where it is so unrealistically green that it is magic and I was suitably dressed in green as well like kermit the frog. I love Ireland (the republic), their people are so warm, friendly and with a great sense of humour that is infectious. Anyone who happens to be depressed, go to Ireland; they will restore your will to live. I certainly recommend it as one of the places you must see before you die. If you haven't gone to Ireland you haven't lived a full and happy existence. The pubs have live and cheerful music and there is dance every day. On this working trip we first arrived in Dublin by ferry. We disembarked with our landrover straight into the capital for a few days then we headed south to Cork, afterwards to Ennis a lovely town full of life and then we went north to Donegal where we stayed at the Jackson Hotel. Our room there was a really pleasant surprise, it had a marvellous view of the river from the balcony; the room was lovely with red petals spread over the bed and it even had a massage chair! the bath had a jacouzi too. Really nice. Peter and I must be related to Marco Polo whose voyages over China, Siam and Persia lasted 15 years and were recorded by a writer who was fascinated with his travels.
This book has never been out of print since it was published 800 years ago and Christopher Columbus took it with him when he discovered the American Continent. It has been a great inspiration for all of those who like to travel and see the world.
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15 comments:
Very nice pictures, Maria.
I notice that even in an Irish pub, Peter is only a few feet away from some books!
Interesting that Irish greens are greener. My first thought was whether there was a geological reason, but I won’t think about that, I’ll just accept the magic.
Yes the Irish have a marvellous sense of humour – like the story of the Irish hotel porter who said “Follow me, I’ll be right behind you.”
Most of the time, if someone mentions travel to me one of my first thoughts is “stress” but looking at those pictures and reading your account I can believe that time expands in Ireland.
Perhaps there is a geological reason I don't know.. People say strange things like: "I'm going down from up here". I heard that and could not resist saying there is no other way to go but down, except that the person wasn't Irish. Perhaps the lack of stress you feel in Ireland it has to do with the kindness and warmth of the Irish people which makes everything so much easier, and also, that you arrive there by ferry, so you don't have the stress of airports, where you have to take off your belt, as well as your shoes, your coins, lap-top and in some places like the U.S. they even have German shepherds to smell you and people who frisk you. Crossing the ferry to Ireland Is fun and its not a hassle.
Hi Maria
The Irish seem to have a relaxed happy-go-lucky attitude to life, leaving the future to take care of itself. It’s rather charming. I remember a man who worked in an Irish bank said that a chap came in and opened an account under the name “Bridge” – because he lived near a bridge.
They have produced many humorists – two of the Goons had Irish blood.
I should think they were very interested in Peter’s work, because the Irish love history.
Oh yes, a lot of people know Peter in Ireland because they watch the Heir Hunter's show. Someone recognized him in the ferry and asked him if he was going to be filming in Ireland. Also, people were very happy to help out without being asked to do so. We had a couple who we encountered at a cemetery because a cousin had told them to help Peter out to look for the graves. When we got there, they had already found them so I photographed each one. Only today, one of the distant cousins called to tell him they had the address and phone number of the person he was looking for in Canada in connection with a Holland estate.
Well, the address turned out to be too old and they are no longer there but we asked one of our Canadian contacts to work on it and he has now found the new address. We contacted the heir and he said he was going to sign with us. It is a shame the producers are never here when we beat Fraser & Fraser. The show is airing on T.V. at the moment and Peter and I will be appearing again tomorrow in an earlier Irish case.
Answring to your question yes, the Irish pay homage to all their writers. We travelled in the Jonathan Swift ferry but they also have the Ulisses in honour of James Joyce as well. Right now, there is an exhibition at their National Gallery of Ireland of paintings that describe passages of James Joyce's books and yes, they are unconventional when it comes to addresses. This time, we had to look out for the yellow house with the clothes line in the corner, passed the bridge.
Hi Maria
That's good news that they will sign with you. I loved the address description!
The Irish are a nation of poets, humorists and historians. I hope there is also an Ernest Shackleton ferry or an Ernest Shackleton Road. A great man.
Yes, I prefer the Irish address descriptions becauseI'm not too good with numbers and with such descriptions, you can picture it in your mind, what you are looking for and its easier for me to find the addresses, being Peter's navigator. When we were in Merida 2 years ago; in each corner-house over the roof there is a statue of an elephant whilst in the next corner there is a monkey, in another a dragon and you get the gist, so when you are given directions, they tell you to turn right at the dragon, pass that, left to the dolphin and so forth. NO numbers. Its not only the Irish who have this ingenious system for finding houses.
Yes, indeed, there is an Ernest Shackleton ferry as well.
Hi Maria
In Britain the Post Office, which loses so much mail each year, occasionally displays detective genius and when it does, it makes the papers. Over the years it's managed to correctly deliver the most bewilderingly addressed mail, such as something like "To the bloke with the red car underneath the blue tarpaulin somewhere in Slough."
Very true Robert and it is quite amazing considering that there are so many alleys and so many turns and cul-de-sacs not to mention the countryside, where there are people living in hilly places. When I was leafleting (in the days when I believed in a political party) I had to admire the Post, the way they deliver to every nook and cranny.
A builder told me that his wife wrote a letter to Julie Christie except that she didn't know her full address, only that she lives in our town. The letter must have been delivered to her because she got a reply from Julie. That didn't make it to the newspapers and I'm sure there are a lot of unsung miracles that the Post Office achieves in a regular basis. Perhaps they should have a Post Office Day to commemorate their work.
Yes Maria, I think they should choose a day for Post Office Day – June 30th perhaps? Then the Post Office will celebrate it on August 10th
Every now and again we hear of a postcard being delivered decades too late, e.g. a postcard about the Wall Street crash of 1929 or the Munich Agreement of 1938. I suppose with the volume of mail handled, such quirks are bound to happen.
In the 19th century, poor people had to be very careful to keep the weight of their letters down, so they double wrote. What they did was write on the paper in such a way, that they left the spaces between the words underneath each other so that there were vertical lines of space. Then they would continue the letter on the same piece of paper, by writing in the spaces at right angles to what they’d already written
Oh Yes. Have you recently read about a post-office where improvements in the building were done and when one of the walls was demolished, they found a 1930's post-card which had not yet been delivered? The people who were meant to get it that far back, still live at the same address! so it was a successful delivery. I think its amazing!
In those old days, it was the weight which made the post expensive. In our day and age is not the weight but the size of the boxes. Interesting Robert.
Hi Maria
I hope that the postcard didn't say "OK, OK, no need to declare war, we're withdrawing from Poland.
Yours, Adolf."
It actually read:
'My beloved I will be at the church on the date we agreed'
Yours,
Eva Brown
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Im looking forward to seeing more from you
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