Ireland and beyond

Ireland. Memang magical. Aku tak tau kenapa. But it was very much different from all other places that i have been to. The people, the food, the (challenging) weather and yes, the landscape. Sangat mengagumkan. Dublin sbg ibukota juga cantik manakala countryside dia... Fuhhh, breathtaking. 

Ni kt Howth Market, Dublin. Julie (kawan yg buat PhD kt situ, tmpat kitorg crash) p shopping for seafood. Good thing here, Irish (as most westerners) only eat fish meat. So all the kepala ikans they give away for free. Asians ramai shop sini for seafood and take the free kepala ikan. Sedap tuu buat kari kepala ikan salmon b other strange european fishes. Walaupun aku x makan ikan heheh, julie ckp mmg sedap! So just trust her. Hehek. 

Yang ni your typical Irish Pub. Byk gila kat Dublin. Rugi kalo sapa p Ireland kalo x g Irish pub. After all, korang tau tak Guinness Stout tu originate dari Ireland. It becomes such an institution that, Guinness kat sini tu mcm kopi jeh utk kita. And, punya la kaya, Guinness subsidize air utk seluruh Ireland. Powe kan. And yes, try la jugak Irish Coffee. Tp kalo yg originalnya, diorg letak liquor. So becareful when order one. Aku dh habaq ye. Huahua. 

Ni kat athloné, about 2 hrs drive (correct me if im wrong) from Dublin, it's on the west of Ireland kalo x salah, nnti aku confirmkan blk. Yup, blkg tu adalah umah julie. Not many malaysian ada kt sini. Around 5-6 keluarga camtu. The feeling's there mcm korg tgk citer Harry Potter la. Umah pak sedara harry tu, Pivet Drive. Very close community and quiet. Very near ada Athloné Institute of Technology where most foreigners that reside there to study. One thing i noticed, rumah2 kt europe byk pintu sbb they need it to trap heat. Sini kan sejuk, so pintu digunakan utk perangkap haba. Mmg byk pintu pun.

 

Ok, the above pics were taken whilst we were otw to Kylemore (sebut roughly: kill-more) Abbey. A very very beautiful castle down at the countryside. And btw, abbey is similé for castle ye untuk makluman. Ehek. Nak citer lebih, aku pun tatau sbb aku bkn irish (kan!), so bwh ni excerp ttg Istana Kylemore (thanks en wiki):

Kylemore Castle was built as a private home for the family of Mitchell Henry, a wealthy doctor from London whose family was involved in textile manufacturing in Manchester, England. He moved to Ireland when he and his wife Margaret purchased the land around the Abbey. He became a politician, becoming an MP for County Galway from 1871 to 1885. The castle was designed by James Franklin Fuller, aided by Ussher Roberts. Construction first began in 1867, and took one hundred men four years to complete. The castle covered approximately 40,000 square feet (3,700 m²) and had over seventy rooms with a principal wall that was two to three feet thick. The facade measures 142 feet (43 m) in width and is made of granite brought from Dalkey by sea to Letterfrack and from limestone brought fromBallinasloe. There were 33 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 4 sitting rooms, a ballroom, billiard room, library, study, school room, smoking room, gun room and various offices and domestic staff residences for the butler, cook, housekeeper and other servants. Other buildings include a Gothic cathedral and family mausoleum containing the bodies of Margaret Henry, Mitchell Henry and a great grand-nephew.