"Ireland: Sponsored by Porter" a Ireland Travel Page by mattreider

Sure, we've all heard the tales about Ireland. A rural country that harkens back to a different age, of pub food and pub life and farming traditions. Of rainy days and rainy nights spent huddled around glasses of whiskey and pints of porter.

Granted, that's legend, but there is some truth to it. Winding, rural roads, unmarked by road lines or road signs, barely a single car width's wide, with stone walls or hedges creating blind turns, with recommended average speeds of 100kph. Roundabouts and Guinness signs on forgotten buildings indicating the 'major' town identified on the map.

Driving through the country, and spending time in the major cities such as Cork, Limerick, Galway, and Dublin show the two sides of Dublin. On one, a rural way of life -- homes identified not by address, but by the names of the family that has lived there for generations, still clinging to the old farming ways, the Irish breakfast, and the pub life. The other, part of the "Celtic Tiger' economy, rapid immigration, cultural immersion, and real estate price escalation taking homes and other purchases out of the hands of most. In the cities, where internationalization and the economy purr along, pub life still exists, but is also being presented to outsiders as more of a facade of fun mostly for the tourists.

Sure, the proprietors of the B&Bs throughout the country are nice.. but mostly in a sweet, inquisitive, nice way -- rarely someone will sit down and practice the art of conversation with the young American couple. When it does happen, it's great, give and take, anecdotes, quotes... I thoroughly enjoyed it. But it was too rare.

A strange mix of Irish and British culture, with the Irish Breakfast being remarkedly similar to that of the British... and a deep knowledge of their history as a British colony. Tea is here, but so is good American coffee... maybe that's because of the tourists. Recent waves of Chinese and Turkish immigrants have moved on from the continent, with good Thai, Chinese, and kabob restaurants moving out of the big cities and into the middle-sized ones.

A general laid-back atmosphere, with nothing really needing to be done anytime soon... conversation and comraderie are more important. A mixture of good Christian values, Celtic folklore, and european liberalism.

Quite a great combination.