Ireland

What do I say about Ireland? I liked it a lot - the people are friendly and there's an air of jovial optimism throughout, even in the once-troubled North. I could give a blow by blow description of the tour I went on, but that would miss the point, I think. The tour was more of an immersion in the existing pub culture of Ireland and the ties the country and its people retain to their often turbulent history. I had a good group and it was probably my favourite tour that I've been on so far.

A couple of highlights, though - the magical Aran islands, where I enjoyed the hell out of biking up and down the island. I might have to get hold of a bike when I get home. Being in Derry on July 12th and having the infamous Orange Lodge parade march right past us was pretty crazy - ten (or even five) years ago, going anywhere near the thing would have been suicidal. This year, the riot police were out, but looking bored, and the worst we saw was some young teenagers throwing stones at a couple of buildings. Having spent a bit of time in the region, my personal opinion is that, similarly to Palestine, the Republicans had a just cause, but destroyed my sympathy for then by randomly setting off bombs everywhere.

I'd like to return to Ireland in the future and maybe spend some time in Dublin, but I wasn't sorry when the tour was over - it's hard to keep up that pace for long.