Ireland Part 3

Ireland, Part 3.

There are a number of things I've truly enjoyed while being in England and Ireland - too many to count, really.  I love listening to the various accents - English posh, English cockney, the lilt of the Irish accent, as well as the many accents of other travelers.  It's been really interesting to be in places with people from so many different countries.  I think while we were at our B&B in Killarney, there were people staying there from Israel, Switzerland, Poland, and Canada.  I heard a lot of German, Italian, and Spanish spoken.  And, as I've often heard, almost everybody else in the world speaks multiple languages, while we Americans look at foreign immigrants with disdain if they speak English with their own native accent.  Learning another language is not easy, and I have the utmost respect for people who try.  I appreciate knowing some Spanish, because it helps me pick up bits of Italian and French, though pretty poorly.  Then there's Gaelic, which looks and sounds like nothing I can identify.  Thankfully, almost all Irish folk speak English.

One thing I've missed a great deal is the absence of any sorts of clocks in our hotel rooms.  We're in our 4th hotel in 8 days, and not one of them has had a clock of any kind.  It's a bit disorienting. We wake up, having no clue what time it is, and if we need an alarm to wake up, we generally set our phones as an alarm.  I've wondered why alarm clocks aren't standard issue in the British Isles places of lodging, and I suppose I can only come up with 1 answer.  Time simply isn't the addiction that it is for many of us Americans.  The hotel staff probably figure that we're "on holiday" - what do we have to get up for?  While I still haven't gotten used to having to turn on my Kindle to find out the time in the morning, I have started learning to chill out a little bit.  So what if we wake up a half hour later than yesterday?  As long as we don't have a flight to make, we'll be okay.  So it's been a good exercise in truly relaxing, and letting the time take a backseat to enjoyment and experience.

Don't get me wrong - I'll be very excited to get home.  I miss being at restaurants where you get a glass of water without even asking for one (and conscientious waitstaff who constantly refill your glasses).  I'll be happy to return to "bathrooms" and "restrooms" instead of the somewhat crass-sounding "toilets."  I'll be happy to only have 1 country's currency in my purse, to avoid the embarrassment I had today of trying to pay for something with British pounds, when it required Euros (the currency in most of Europe, and in Ireland).  I know Erik will be happy to return to wider roads, which easily accomodate 2-way traffic, in addition to driving on the right-hand side again.

But I'm so grateful for this experience, both for Erik and me, as well as for our children, for whom this was a whole new experience.  I'm sure I'll have lots more to share.  Thanks for joining us on our Irish journey.  Now it's back to London, then back home again.  I can't wait to have some fresh sweet corn.