The Official Off Topic Thread

Cork might be a little uglier than Kensington Market, but it can't be any worse than Detroit or Cleveland. Or New Jersey...or Pittsburgh...

I know refugees, affiliated with Sinn Fein, IRA, and other stuff I didn't want to know about, who came over here with some pretty gruesome scars. They told me how nasty things were 10 and 20 years ago. Like one friend, Siobhan, who was talking about taking me to meet her family, told me that there were parts of Belfast where saying her name could get us killed

It's ok now, right? The Troubles have been more or less put to rest for the last few years?

Or was Obsi just talking about how grey and ancient things look in the UK? Personally, I think that's part of the charm. I've always wanted to tour the UK and stay in one of those quaint remodelled 17thc bed&breakfast places, visit some castles and check out some punk bands. And get me a handmade cableknit sweater and a groovy hat from Scotland with my great grandad's tartan on it.

MacBuddhaBurger wrote:

Obsidian wrote:I didn't take a single picture, I rarely come around to it when I've been drinking, and in my defense I think I spent 300 euros on alcohol alone during that weekend. :­P

Haaaaaa

Easily done in pubs.

But the trip was great, even if Ireland is the ugliest and sh­ittiest country I've seen, like a third world country. The excessive amount of pubs definitely made up for that.

Good.

You're just spoilt in Sweden, and don't realise it.

You should have gone in May. The weather's better, and things look less grey and sh!tty.

Still, hope it was fun.

I took that flight coach from Dublin, so what I saw was Dublin, Cork and a lot of sheep and countryside in between. :­P

My first impression on the airport was from Radisson Blu, which is a pretty nice hotel here in my town. Here it is topnotch and luxurious, the one at Dublin Airport looked like an old run down mental asylum or something. :­D

And then there was like graffiti on every single building, and every building looked as if it was about to fall apart, there's no preserving going on in Ireland. But one can see that it must have been a really nice place like a few hundred years back.

And then all the narrow streets! What's up with that? The motorway looked almost like an one-way lane. Hehe, and the sidewalks in Cork, those couldn't have been measured with any instrument other than the eye, and that being of some cross-eyed person. :­P

Screw it, so many complaints about the place. But like I said, the pubs made up for it all. And the sketchy yet charming Irishmen. :­P

I sat outside of The Pavilion(I think that was the name, beside some Mexican café) for like an hour just laughing at the people coming by. There's no sense of fashion at all in Ireland, it's almost as if they spend hours to come up with as trashy/unique/weird outfits as possible, and then of course the youngsters running around in sweat suits. Hilarious.

By the way, is there some thing about that? Looking poor to not get robbed or something? :­P

-- Wed Nov 21, 2012 9:08 pm --

And the weather was way better than in Sweden, I think I got lucky with that though, hot and sunny. :­P

Aaaaaaaah.....Dublin to Cork by coach explains a lot. You missed all the good bits Obsidian. Never mind. Better luck next time.

As for the Oirish fashion sense......well it's the natural home of grunge dude. You're just behind the times.

That's the problem with swedes......they have to travel to have something to moan about.

Anyway, thank god for the sketchy but charming oirish with a pig under one arm and a leprechaun under the other willing to beat the shyte out of anyone who says otherwise.

And the alcohol was cheaper in Ireland than it is here. And I bought the most in alcohol stores, but I shared it with my hosts and the others at the pre-pub parties to get people into the party spirit. :­P

Xena wrote:Or was Obsi just talking about how grey and ancient things look in the UK? Personally, I think that's part of the charm. I've always wanted to tour the UK and stay in one of those quaint remodelled 17thc bed&breakfast places, visit some castles and check out some punk bands. And get me a handmade cableknit sweater and a groovy hat from Scotland with my great grandad's tartan on it.

That's the thing, where I live they are dead set on preserving old buildings in the city, not building skyscrapers and stuff because it would ruin it all. But then they actually preserve it, remove graffiti instantly for an example. :­P

-- Wed Nov 21, 2012 9:20 pm --

MacBuddhaBurger wrote:Aaaaaaaah.....Dublin to Cork by coach explains a lot. You missed all the good bits Obsidian. Never mind. Better luck next time.

I'm not really into culture and statues and crap like that, when I travel I do it to party.
Had it not been for me having an apartment here I wouldn't want to sell then I might have considered moving there just because the nightlife was so much more fun than here. :­P

Edit: Well, that is because of the culture, but you know what I mean. :­P

Obsidian wrote:
That's the thing, where I live they are dead set on preserving old buildings in the city, not building skyscrapers and stuff because it would ruin it all. But then they actually preserve it, remove graffiti instantly for an example. :­P

Aaaaaah......but some graffiti artists are quite famous. An original Banksy is worth a lot even if it's on a wall. In fact it's usually worth more than the wall, or even the building that it's on.

Anyway in my day Sweden was removing all of it's old buildings. I guess fashions change.

MacBuddhaBurger wrote:Anyway in my day Sweden was removing all of it's old buildings.

I would like that. :­P

Obsidian wrote:

MacBuddhaBurger wrote:Anyway in my day Sweden was removing all of it's old buildings.

I would like that. :­P

The "Old Town" in Stockholm is pretty small compared to the rest of the city. There can't be many old buildings left.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVe1DLjv ... re=related

This is what he was complaining about? I had to check a map to realize the place was in the south. I thought you folks were talking about some bombed-out wreck from The Crying Game or something.

Yeah, the fashions are a little dated, but it's not a good idea to wear your best Armani around that many sheep

I think it's beautiful. Our Newfoundlanders have kept the Irish charm

justonemoreperson wrote:The "Old Town" in Stockholm is pretty small compared to the rest of the city. There can't be many old buildings left.

Yea, Stockholm is different. It's in Uppsala they like to preserve. :­P

http://allastudier.se/media/0/85568439898681/flygbild01.jpg

wooster wrote:Pubs are rotten expensive in Ireland. Haven't been to one since ages.

Where do you buy your spirits then? Because in the stores it was almost the same price as in the pubs, I actually think beer is cheaper in our liquor stores than it is over there.

For an example half a liter 5.2% Staropramen costs 1.95 Eur in the liquor store(although the cheapest 500 ml 5.2% costs 1.04 Eur). But that Staropramen will go for at least 7 Eur at a pub.

Hehe, for some reason Swedes are drunk before they get to the pubs; one of those mysteries without an explanation. :­P