Podcast: Ricksteves: Ireland

– If you sit at the bar people assume (they will know) you want to talk but if you sit at the table you want to chat
– There is no such thing as a stranger, just friends we have not yet met
– Go back to the same pub twice
– Pubs are public houses
– No smoking in the pubs now
– Crack (spelt Craic) means Fun – Good Crack = Good Fun
– DARK is the train
– Huge Breakfast… don’t eat lunch… come back for dinner.
– Pub Meals: less expensive than going to a restaurant or hotel
– Belfast to Dublin is very expensive (Do a day trip) its a must!
– Go to the republic of Ireland and the north.
– You can’t say that you have seen Ireland without going up to the north
– Be aware of the Protestant and Catholic “Wars” in the North.
– Problems between British loyalist and Irish Nationalist.
– Don’t wear any football shirts in the pubs it shows whether you are protestant or catholic – like gang shirts
– People speak irish or galic (which literlley means irish speaking) most in the west coast
– The government give money to families who can prove that they speak irish fluently
– People have ‘the gift of the gab’
– Don’t bother going to a museam just talk to a local
– ‘Were you born here? No five miles down the road. Have you live here all your life? Not yet.’
– Music… fiddle… crossroads.
– No children are allowed in the pubs at night.
– Guinness does not travell well… it tastes better in Ireland.
– Ask for a pint of Guinness… women don’t normally drink it.
– Irish whiskey vs scottish whisky (irish is smoother, softer)
– Spelling difference… whiskey (with an e) is Irish only but whisky (without an e) is scottish.