10 November 2008

Hard Cider & Black Current -- yum!

Our last drink in Ireland


No matter where I go in the States I´ve been unable to find ¨authentic¨ British/Irish pubs that serve Hard Cider with Black Current. (I´m adding the Hard here because it´s required in the U.S. or I get Apple Cider -- the non-alcoholic kind.)

Thus, it is such a joy to be able to walk into any pub, restaurant, or bar and just say - Cider with Black Current please...half pint.

As we were ordering, a man was sitting in the corner nursing his drinks (3 at last count.) I felt bad so....

"Where are you from?"

In a very, very thick, thick, thick Irish accent a response comes from his mouth. "I´m from here, Dublin"

Believe it or not, I had to ask him twice before I got it. It was so loud in the pub and his accent was so thick.

Turns out that he´s only ever traveled from Dublin to the small city where his mother lives. That´s it. It reminds me of some of my friends from the Midwest who never traveled outside of the state.

"What is the United States like?"

Well, that was a hard one. It depends on where you are. When I told him it takes about 9 days to drive across if you sleep at night and stop to pee he was surprised. Can´t blame the man. Ireland is a small island compared to the vastness of the North American continent after all.

He was a nice guy and he seemed really lonely. May the travel bug bite him and may he have the courage to follow it to other places outside his comfort zone. I mean this as a blessing and never as a curse. Raise a pint to ´ya lad.

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