Trip to Ireland for the summer: some feedback

We went as a couple on a trip to Ireland this summer. Here are some of the feedback I have about tourism in this country.

Pluses:

- Warm, service oriented people, even if sometimes they talk so fast one misses a few things.

- Beautiful landscapes, quaint towns, numerous B & Bs and sports and leisure activities abound.

- Tons of wonderful cozy coffee shops. The Irish have truly taken to the latte and capuccino thing. Coffee is generally excellent. Nothing like the bitter espresso served in many French cafes. And those rhubarb crumbles, cheesecakes and carrot cakes, yum…

- What’s really pleasurable for someone who knows about tourism in France is the attention to tidyness everywhere, from gardens to bathrooms.

- One also gets the impression of newness here, in terms of construction. Even though the style is still very much traditional, paints look perfect, furniture and carpets are in good shape. No feeling of being in decrepit hotels, B&Bs, or restaurants here.

- Ireland has truly preserved itself from the invasion of store chains, thereby keeping its own unique character and charm. One does not have to suffer strips of reactangular giant stores outside towns here, as they do in France. No huge supermarkets like Carrefour here, no Decathlon’s. An Ikea was just allowed to open, after much pressure from consumers, very recently in the Dublin area.

No sign of The Gap in towns either. Dunne’s and Tesco’s are the only ‘large’ stores one has to suffer, which is quite welcome in fact, as large stores go…

- Openness to technology: internet cafes abound! Now compared to technology-challenged France, this is a welcome suprise. No small town here is without its Internet cafe. There are often more than one in larger towns. They are not geek hangouts like a lot of the ones I’ve seen in France, dark places where teenagers play online games next to you. No, they’re normal, well lit cafes, with computers.. They’re not yet gourmet centers, but maybe that’ll come next!

All hotels we stayed at had wi fi connection for those with laptops.

Minuses:

- The roads!! Those %^&*$ Irish roads. Built for horse carriages or single horses, they haven’t been much changed since a hundred years most likely, especially in the western coastal areas, from the Connemara region to Dingle and Killarney. That’s unfortunate because it takes a little of the pleasure out of touring the various regions. In fact, one stays focused on the narrow road and fastly incoming cars, buses and trucks to prevent run ins. They’re also on the bumpy side a lot of the time.

I took to reading the accounts of accidents in the Irish Times daily…Quite a shame really.

Luckily there are some nice highways, as on the Eastern side, from the south to Dublin, and going from Dublin to the western town of Galway.

- Walking and cycling facilitation :

This is in the same vein as the previous comment about roads. There is very little done to provide walking, cycling or horse riding paths in general. So, except for a few nice exceptions, like the Sky Road near Clifden, and the Killarney National park area further south, you are indicated to go take a nice scenic walk.. along the narrow road used by cars, buses, and autos!

Not very pleasurable indeed, and quite surprising given the touristy nature of Ireland and of the Western areas in particular, and given the amount of land available to create separate roads for pedestrians and cyclists. Seems the sheep and cows have priority treatment here, over the tourists and vacationers.

It’s a very beautiful country. I wish there were more opportunities to explore it on foot, horse or bicycle, and to drive in peace- not rest in peace…

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