Saturday, October 06, 2007

Belfast

Apologies for my lack of updates recently-- it's unusually hard to
find wireless around here.

I got into Belfast after dark at about 7:30- it's a beautiful 3 hour
train ride from Dublin- and walked around the city for about an hour
trying to replicate my sucess in finding a hostel. Eventually, with
help, I found the Linen House hostel, which is the closest hostel to
the city center and supposedly one of the cheapest in Europe.

At 10, I tried to find something to eat. but the only thing open was
mcdonalds. Embarassingly I ate there among about a dozen drunk 15
year olds (are they called chavs in Ireland?). One thing I miss about
the US already: sober 15 year olds. apparently there are none to be
found here.

My knowledge of Ireland is so limited that I only just now figured out
that it is considered the UK, and that they use pounds instead of
euro. Most places look like they will (unhappily) accept euro.

In the hostel, I met a few english speakers from Canada and austrailia
but couldn't convince anyone to go out for a pint. This is becoming
a familiar theme in my travels...

I ended up sleeping in a dorm-style room with a bunch of spaniards.
Now I am planning a walking tour at the nearest cafe.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Wouldn't worry too much about lack of social travelers, I too ran into wet blankets in the hostels whilst in the UK. I found things got more lively as I moved eastward, however I was at the height of summer with college kids all over the place and the world cup in Germany. But my friend that went last September/October said he found lots of lively travelers in Germany and Austria. Another note about the food, don't you find that even McDonald's tastes terrible in UK? Get to France and Germany soon for some night life and some real food my friend.

Gregg said...

Alex, just think: The 15 year olds of today are the leaders of tomorrow!

Anonymous said...

I agree with Kyle-get thee out of there. Perry told me he went for long stretches like you describe. Then he says it was the best experience in his life. Go figure!