I went last February to Lisbon, in order to rest before driving myself crazy, overwhelmed by my work. The winter time is quite acceptable there, temperature from 10 to the dawn, til' 22 at midday... I'll not say it's the best time to go there (you'd rather go in April, before the summer and tourist hordes). Lisbon's a mix between ancient and modern. You can see in one hand a lot of beggars from Eastern Europe (by the way quite aggressive- they get you running away from the bar tables), people shining shoes for almost nothing and a lot people waiting after their fate (or whatever else) and on the other hand modern headquarters with the people fitting right inside. I cannot counted all the stairs I went through there, my feet still remembered the contact with the paving stones (awful by the way...). So Lisbon is a coloured and multi ethnical city, but except for the beggars you have a great feeling of safety at any time. Wait for the next post...
In my quest of the perfect espresso I take the opportunity of Xmas to upgrad my current equipemnt (a caffetiere) with an espresso machine. The perfect bewerage is done thanks to its 19 bar pump allowing the water to go across the coffee milling and reveal all the strength of its aroma. The foam on the cup can be compared to the one inside the Guiness glass. That foam went through the sugar test with sucess. Can be drank! By the way, it's not a machine with capsules...
Weeks ago, I attended Correspondant spéciale Kompakt night at Rex Club in Paris. I'm not a clubber but I can be seen, sometimes, roaming in that kind of places. That time I took with me my ear plugs and for sure I'll say it was the better action I did. Why? Not just because noise damage your ears, as your parents told you (don't they??) but because you'll enjoy differently and deeply the place.
I got special ear plugs, which are designed for my ears and with a special filter allowing to ear voices but not loudest, treble and bass sounds.
Years ago, while I went to a party in Le Pacha in London, I was destroyed by the sound everywhere in that place. I was like hunted by noise in every place and I was stucked in that looking for any restroom to recover. I remember falling asleep on a couch and a surveillance member team guy shouting at me "No sleep here" as he was fearing any comatose state. I think with my special equipment I would have been definitely out of tiredness!
So the night is young, keep it younger and enjoy the show...
Frankly, the first thing I was asked returning from my short holiday was: how were your drinks there? And by drinks they meant Guiness. That beer, created by Arthur Guiness more than 200 years ago is synonym of Ireland, at the same level with the green colour and the clover. In Dublin, the Guiness factory is the most visited place, day after day mass of tourists are dumped from buses to spent at least 14 € to be granted to visit the plant and enjoy a Guiness pint on the sky of Dublin. Too expensive, having already visited beer factories, I stayed outside and for the same price enjoyed several pints of Guiness. So Guiness is not only a place to visit, but also the cement and the sponsor of most sports there. They pay for the hurling (kind of hockey) and gaelic football as "normal" football as well, rubgy and so many sport events. But a big threat does exist... It is not a new bill against drunk people but a competitor from the USA with a beer hated by purists, Budweiser... I was horrified to see that beer in the hands of almost half the population inside pubs. It costs the same price, tastes definitely not the same but take more and more market shares. Other famous beers I knew for a long time, but tasting definitelt better in Ireland are the Beamish (owned by Heineken) and Kilkenny (owned by Diageo, owner of Guiness as well). I will miss these good draughts...
Dublin, was the last part of my journey in Ireland. I wouldn't stay it was the best part. Not due to the city itself, but due to the expectations I had of Dublin. Great things to see, St Patrick church, Trinity College, St Stephen Green, the Viking Area... and of course Temple Bar. Temple Bar a long street with a very high density of pubs, making all more & more efforts to seize Dublin inhabitants and tourists. By efforts I mean giving gigs of Pop music or Celtic music. The one million people living in Dublin are spread on a very big suburbs, the center of Dublin can be easily roamed without tiredness, just by walks.
Driving South to the Connemara, I was more involved to the Irish specificity. What defines a village there? A church, a fuel deposit including a very small supermarket and a pub!
After crossing mountains and fields crowded with sheeps, I finally reached the Connemara, a name synonym of dreams. The Connemara, located in the county of Galway, have so many things to do and see. Walkers could cross all these areas, having in the same day
Fishers, on the sea or on loughs or on river can fulfill their baskets with salmons, trouts... as walkers can cross all these areas, having in the same day rain, sun and unexpected meetings... and finally workers seeking for the oil of that soil, the peat.
Great time there, but next time I'll go there, I will go trekking, and if possible sleep under the lodge in the middle of nowhere.
Green Week: Ireland trip, part I - Benbulben, my personal Everest
After a long silence, I am back here. Indeed, after months spent working, I took a break lately and went to Ireland. If I wasn't surprise by the left driving policy, I was astonished by the different ways the grass show its colours. Wonderful... I first went to the county of Sligo, 150 km North from the Connemara. There, I got a great welcome wherever you go, but bad, very bad roads, even if they are doing improvements with European funds. In Ireland, first & best thing to do is walking, and by walking I don't mean trekking... Indeed, I climbed, one of the biggest summit of the aera, Benbulben (526 meter high) and I did it with my regular shoes, with just my camera and a bottle of water. I just spent two days in that county, but during that time, I saw mountains, rock shores and sandy beaches with surfers from all over the world.
