The Irish have a couple of quirky habits: They are insistant that you must drink out of the correct cup. That is, if youre drinking a Guiness then you have to have a cup with Guiness written on it. If they dont have it (well, a clean on) they will apologise profusely. When you buy a spirit mixed drink, bourbon and coke, you get the shot in a glass and a mini bottle. Convient if you are sharing, two shots and one bottle, not if youre by yourself. Remember th...

To have crack* is to have a good time, and thats exactly what I did my second night on the tour. The entire tour went to the one place tonight, a little bar/pub/club with a varying age range and no lack of confident Irish men. Like, drunk Irish guy: Hi, where are you going? Toilet. Can I come with? And not taking 'no' for an answer. In ireland they have 'lock in' not 'lock out' like Australia does. So come 2am everyone slowly left the bar/club/pub and dr...

There are two things that Aussie travellers, like myself, will never get over in Ireland. 1. There is no summer, one should not need jeans and jackets in summer. 2. The sun sets at 10.30, and rises at 4am. How can it be so light and yet so cold? We will never get it.

Hostel number 2: Avalon house.ie in Dublin Small room, two bunk beds between us, with a sink in the room! Communal showers and toilets. Shower blocks so small I can hardly turn around. The shower has no hot or cold, just a button. Which runs for about 30 seconds. Flactuates between hot and cold. The internet didnt like me. Wireless through out the hostel that liked to tease my phone by randomly connecting. But it was okay there were 6 communal computers. Pity...

Ireland tour day 1 Blarney Castle and Pa Did you know... Saint Patrick: Isn't Irish, he's Scottish Name wasn't Patrick He isn't actually a saint. There are no snakes on Ireland, thanks to Saint Patrick bannishing them, or the land coming from a glacier, whichever. Blarney Castle has the Blarney Stone, which you kiss and get the gift of the gab. To kiss it, one must climb to the top of the castle through the skinnest, illogically built stairs, hang upside down ...