Goodbye Ireland, Hello Singapore

The final leg of my Ireland trip came to a pleasant conclusion as I met my good friend and soon-to-be old roommate Chip in County Kerry Ireland last Wed. I was a little worried whether the four flights getting him from Omaha to the quaint little Kerry airport would work out; much to both of our relief Chip walked out of the terminal and we were on our way. Our first stop was the town of Killarney where we rented bikes and rode around one of the most utterly breathtaking lakes I've ever seen. It would be a shame for me to try to describe it in words; I'll just post the link for the pictures (one folder for me, Chip, and a Slovenian girl named Helena who we met in the hostel who is an awesome photographer). A few of my favorites are below:

Riding bikes with the Swiss girls

Lake around Killarney

Another fun part of Killarney was all the really random people we met in hostels: Sweelai from Switzerland, Helena from Slovenia, Bob from Tasmania, Kevin from California, and Mikey the Brevete Alpine Irishman (ask me or Chip about this guy - got some awesome stories). Hostels may sometimes be dirty, uncomfortable, and lacking privacy but they sure are conducive to meeting some really awesome people.

One small drawback of the hostel life in Killarney was that I took my wet, smelly shoes off and put them in the bathroom to dry one night only to find them gone the next morning. Someone must have really needed shoes badly to take those old pumas. I was a little sad but my grief was short lived when I got to Dublin and bought some sweet Mercury Euro-style kicks - I think they're more stylin' anyway.

After leaving our friends in Killarney, we headed to the long-awaited Dingle Peninsula. Most of our experiences at this special place can be summed up in a couple of "Ode to Ireland" performance videos performed by yours truly and directed by Chip. Please contain your emotions:

After the Dingle Peninsula I parted ways with Chip and headed to Dublin. I was mildly impressed with Dublin - seemed to be more of a big tourist trap/business oriented city with crappy public transport (which was a big problem for a guy with only flip-flops!). I drank some Guiness at the brewery and got lost ten times for a total of like 5 hours. One really great part of Dublin was that I found a Catholic Cathedral ten minutes before mass was to start and they had a special choir there that only visits twice a year; they literally sounded like angels. Pictures from Dublin can be found here.

I flew back to Omaha on Monday and have since been preparing for my even bigger adventure in Singapore. I leave tomorrow at noon and won't be back until mid April! Kinda anxious, kinda sad to leave, but really excited about the adventure ahead!