American Here! Very Curious about Ireland! :D

Diddler1977

PGA2020 wrote: »

Thank you tHB! Yes, I could only dream to go to Ireland one day, but for now Im just a curious guy that wants some answers to his questions! Im sure that there are plenty of beautiful places to visit there and would love to hear about them! I hear that the lead producer of Guinness beer is somewhere around there? And also, if you say that most people have been to the US at some point, is it like that in all Europe? We Americans think that Europe is BEAUTIFUL! (From the pictures as least)

The Guinness Hopstore is in Dublin. It is a great tour - after you visit the museum and hear how Guinness is made you get to go up to a bar with a 360 degree view of Dublin and have a pint of Guinness.

There is also the Jameson Distillery which is well worth a visit.

I can't speak for most Europeans but I have been to the US about 10 times.

amdublin

PGA - Here's a good Irish joke to try on your pals:

Q: What did St Patrick say as he drove the snakes out of Ireland?

A: "Are ye all right in the back lads?" [said as you imitate driving with your hands and look behind you]

PGA2020

Hahaha! Ok, thanks! I will try that one! Wow, i can't believe how many times you guys have came over here. How come? Just a vacation or do every single one of you have relatives? Im sure you could find some pretty good beaches on your shores am I right? If I went to Ireland 10 times (which i would love) my friends would be asking me why do I keep going after about the 3rd time?!?!?! LOL

Corruptedmorals

Well Florida would be very popular, and city breaks in New York/Vegas. There's also a 3 month working visa for students, New York, Boston and San Fran would get a lot of those. You'd have a much harder time finding people visiting Texas or the mid-western states, it's all about the areas on the east and west coasts really.

Stooped

I've been to Orlando three times. And jaysus, it's humid there. I also have an uncle who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. And I have like 5 cousins scattered all over America.

Saruman

PGA2020 wrote: »

Hahaha! Ok, thanks! I will try that one! Wow, i can't believe how many times you guys have came over here. How come? Just a vacation or do every single one of you have relatives? Im sure you could find some pretty good beaches on your shores am I right? If I went to Ireland 10 times (which i would love) my friends would be asking me why do I keep going after about the 3rd time?!?!?! LOL

Irish people love to travel, there is only so much of our own country to see and it's a big world.

I have been to the US a lot of times, coming up on 10 perhaps. I was in MI, IL, CO this summer. I will be back for Christmas to AL.
The main reason I get over there so much is family, my wife is from MI and her mom currently lives in AL. Have family in Texas too, though never been (yet).

Find a cheap flight some time and come over. November tends to be cheap.

ProudDUB

PGA2020 wrote: »

Hahaha! Wow, i can't believe how many times you guys have came over here. How come? Just a vacation or do every single one of you have relatives? Im sure you could find some pretty good beaches on your shores am I right? LOL

Basically, it's because our weather is crap. Yes, we have lovely beaches here but as I said, our weather is crap. Have you ever been to Seattle? There you go then. That's us, only without Mt Ranier looming on the horizon. The cold and the damp and the rain can be pretty miserable for 12 months of the year. We do not get a guaranteed 3 months of good summer weather that you guys get. Most Irish people would try to book at least one foreign sun holiday a year. The Med islands/beaches/Spain/Portugal/Greece would be the most popular with Irish vacationers, with Florida probably coming in second.

Yes, most us have family in the US. Why on earth do you think American celebrates St Patricks Day like no other country on earth, including us? Also, America has everything you could wish for if you want a variety of kinds of vacations. It has old historic cities (not as old and historic as Europes but decent enough) tropical beaches galore, ski resorts, big exciting cities such as LA, Chicago, Vegas etc etc. No matter what kind of holiday you want, you can have it without having to leave your own country. Mexico, Hawaii and the Carribeaan are also just on your doorstep. Ireland just doesn't have that kind of variety or good weather, hence our heading off to foreign climes as much as we do.

Ireland is also a very, very expensive country when it comes to consumer goods. The euro isn't as strong against the dollar as it once was, but even so, the deals you can get over there are very, very good compared to here. We LOVE shopping in the US. More than one grown man has walked into the Tommy Hilfiger/Nike/Ralph Lauren etc etc store in the outlet mall in Orlando and burst into tears at clobber (Irish slang for clothes) on sale for $20 that would be $200 in Dublin.

PGA2020

ProudDUB wrote: »

Basically its because our weather is crap. Yes, we have lovely beaches here but as I said, our weather is crap. Have you ever been to Seattle? There you go then. That's us, only without Mt Ranier looming on the horizon. The cold and the damp and the rain can be pretty miserable for 12 months of the year. We do not get a guaranteed 3 months of good summer weather that you guys get. Most Irish people would try to book at least one foreign sun holiday a year. The Med islands/beaches/Spain/Portugal/Greece would be the most popular with Irish vacationers, with Florida probably coming in second.

Yes, most us have family in the US. Why on earth do you think American celebrates St Patricks Day like no other country on earth? Also, America has everything you could wish for if you want a variety of kinds of vacations. It has old historic cities (not as old and historic as Europes but decent enough) tropical beaches galore, ski resorts, big exciting cities such as LA, Chicago, Vegas etc etc. No matter what kind of holiday you want, you can have it without having to leave your own country. Mexico and the Carribeean is also just on your doorstep. Ireland just doen't have that kind of variety or good weather, hence our heading off for foreign climes as much as we do.

Ireland is also a very, very expensive country when it comes to consumer goods. The euro isn't as strong against the euro as it once was, but even so, the deals you can get over there are very, very good compared to here More than one grown man has walked into the Tommy Hilfiger/Nike/Ralph Lauren etc etc store in the outlet mall in Orlando and burst into tears at clobber (Irish slang for clothes) on sale for $20 that would be $200 in Dublin.

Oh wow! Didn't know that!!! So why don't you guys just move here! It sounds a like million-in-one deal for you guys!

Diddler1977

PGA2020 wrote: »

Oh wow! Didn't know that!!! So why don't you guys just move here! It sounds a like million-in-one deal for you guys!

Unfortunately we would need visas to move to your country and your government only issues a limited amount to our country in a lottery.

chris85

Diddler1977 wrote: »

Unfortunately we would need visas to move to your country and your government only issues a limited amount to our country in a lottery.

Also a number of other reasons such as gun crime and serious crimes, poor public health system, exspensive education system. From first hand experience living there before I have found a common trend of a very secular society with serious racial tensions across a broad spectrum of communities.

The above are reasons I would not live there long term but think its an ok place to vacation to.

PGA2020

So, when you guys get over here, how do you drive? Don't u have to get another different licenses to drive?

ProudDUB

PGA2020 wrote: »

So, when you guys get over here, how do you drive? Don't u have to get another different licenses to drive?

If we are moving there to live, then yes we (as well as all other immigrants) would have to do whatever it takes to get a US license before we could buy/drive a car over there. If immigrants are there legally, it is not hard to get a social security number. Once you have that, you can then get your learner permit, you get some lessons, you do the test & you get your license. It's all pretty straightforward really, hardly rocket science. At least it was for me when I moved to the US in 1994.

A US citizen moving over here can drive on his US license for up to a year. Once the year is up, he/she must get themselves an Irish DL if they want to remain on the roads legally. That means that they must jump thru the same hoops that the average Irish person has to go thru to get his/her full drivers DL...theory test, learner permit, lessons, take the test, get the full license.

When it comes to Irish folks going on vacation to the US and hiring a car for their trip, most major car rental companies will honour the drivers license of their country of origin.

mathepac

ProudDUB wrote: »

... When it comes to Irish folks going on vacation to the US and hiring a car for their trip, most major car rental companies will honour the drivers license of their country of origin.

I always bring an International Driving Licence with me just in case.

Interesting co-incidence tonight. Three BBC TV programmes in succession featured your state, the one famous for chicken ranches and Cadillacs.

Richard Hammond was in Fort Bliss (yes a full-on military compound in the desert near El Paso (?) named Bliss). He was driving battle tanks and blowing stuff up. I noticed that the logo and the fort's catch-phrase featured an exclamation mark, "REGULARS BY GOD!" so it seems facetube or whatever is having its impact on the military. What interest God would have in military bowel movements is another issue entirely.

Later, in Top Gear, the same Richard Hammond was at a NASCAR meet as part of a pit-crew and later getting driving lessons from the good ole boy himself, Mr. Kyle Petty. It struck me at the time how much the NASCAR circuit designs are influenced by the famous ten-gallon cowboy hat with the race-track itself representing the folded-in brim and the infield area represented by the crown.

Later an English nurse named Connolly (see we're everywhere) travelled to Mexico to work as a paramedic in a programme called "Toughest Place to be ...". One of her hosts took her back across the border to, you guessed it, the Lone Star State, to show her how guns sold without licences to Mexicans in Texas were travelling apparently unimpeded by law-enforcement to be used in the gang warfare that is killing dozens of Mexican citizens weekly. The pay-back for Texas from these legal gun-sales is that the Mexican cartels keep the dope flowing in the opposite direction with Mexico being the principal source of marijuana for use in the US. It was ironic to see that while there was a huge delay on the Mexico to US border-post searching for drugs and illegal aliens, the flow of traffic was unimpeded on the US to Mexico side. It was strange to see the huge black-and-white sign "SAY NO TO GUNS!" or somesuch on the way into Mexico, complete with exclamation mark.

So there you have it. People and TV programmes from / about Texas are like Dublin buses, none appear for ages and then a whole garage-full arrive together.

On my first autumn (fall) visit to Rhode Island, my partner and our hosts after a morning's kayaking went into a typical New England coffee-shop and ordered brunch. The menu had these things called "biscuits" on so, ever the adventurous one, I ordered them. They turned out to be delicious but were in fact what we call scones. The proprietors and I had a nice little bit of banter about scones vs biscuits and I suggested to them that for variety they put some dried fruit in the next batch they baked. Three years later I called back and they informed me they could hardly keep up with demand once they changed the "biscuits" on the menu to "Irish scones, sweet and savoury". If my partner at the time, a New York born US citizen of Irish parents, and I had been just a little more circumspect we could perhaps now be retired in the States running a chain of coffee-shops / bakeries. C'est la vie as we say here.

Enjoy your stay and y'all come back now.

FreudianSlippers

ProudDUB wrote: »

It has old historic cities (not as old and historic as Europes but decent enough)

I wouldn't say close enough... I mean, even the Phoenix Park is over 100 years older than the USA.

Sundew

PGA2020 wrote: »

And also, if you say that most people have been to the US at some point, is it like that in all Europe? We Americans think that Europe is BEAUTIFUL! (From the pictures as least)

Don't know the exact statistics but many Western Europeans would have travelled to another European country at some point in their lives however I'm not sure about the US. We get a lot of young Spanish students in Dublin during the Summer!
I would imagine that the US is more of a draw for Irish folk as many of us would have a relative there that we know about. I've been there twice and NYC,Boston, New Hampshire and Maine. Hubby has done the California road trip thingy but we also visit mainland Europe too as it's a short flight for most of us Irish. We have the best of both worlds
I recall on my first visit to the US in 97' going into a shop in Boston and the girl working at the till asked me where I was from. She didn't know where Ireland was!!! I was astonished!Might have expected it in Nevada or somewhere but not in Boston :P

loadsofham

Hey PGA

Spent a couple of summers based in Hub City so been all around, Lubbock, Post, Snyder, sweetwater (rattle snake roundup) and Abilene. Its good to have you on the boards, if you have any questions give us a shout

God I miss the sight and smells of the pump jacks and chicken fried steak and gravy but don't miss the crazy woman that brought me there

FreudianSlippers

loadsofham wrote: »

Hey PGA

Spent a couple of summers based in Hub City so been all around, Lubbock, Post, Snyder, sweetwater (rattle snake roundup) and Abilene. Its good to have you on the boards, if you have any questions give us a shout

Good I miss the sight and smells of the pump jacks and chicken fried steak and gravy but don't miss the crazy woman that brought me there

All your exes live in Texas; that's why you hang your hat in Tennessee Dublin.

loadsofham

One of the best movie scenes

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Where the hell are you from anyway, private?
Private Cowboy: Sir, Texas, sir.
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Holy dog sh1t! Texas? Only steers and qu??rs come from Texas, Private Cowboy, and you don't look much like a steer to me, so that kinda narrows it down. Do you suck d?cks?
Private Cowboy: Sir, no, sir!
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Are you a peter puffer?
Private Cowboy: Sir, no, sir!
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: I bet you're the kind of guy who would f?ck a person in the ass and not even have the goddamn common courtesy to give him a reach-around. I'll be watching you!

Mods this post was not meant to be offensive in any shape or form , so if any one is offended I apologies

ibarelycare

PGA2020 wrote: »

Hahaha! Ok, thanks! I will try that one! Wow, i can't believe how many times you guys have came over here. How come? Just a vacation or do every single one of you have relatives? Im sure you could find some pretty good beaches on your shores am I right? If I went to Ireland 10 times (which i would love) my friends would be asking me why do I keep going after about the 3rd time?!?!?! LOL

America is huge and so diverse, you could visit it 10 times and have 10 completely different experiences! Ireland is very small, there's only so much you can do here

How come you're so interested in Ireland? It's sweet

I've been to America once, to NY. I'd love to go to Florida for the parks but what I'd really love to do is hire a car and spend a few weeks just driving around visiting as many different places as possible. I'd definitely like to visit the "bible belt" area and see how crazy some people are I'd also like to visit some of the Man Vs Food restaurants

There are certainly Irish people who are intolerant of Americans but I really like them. By and large they're polite, excitable (:D) and very friendly. Not to mention wonderful for our economy! I was out on Friday night and ended up having to meet someone in Temple Bar (very famous area of Dublin with lots of bars). I usually avoid that area of town as it's so touristy but it wasn't my choice. There were 35,000 Americans in Dublin over the weekend as Navy and Notre Dame were playing and the pub we went to was absolutely packed with them. Ended up having a brilliant night, talked to loads of Americans, they were all great craic

Pawwed Rig

chris85 wrote: »

Also a number of other reasons such as gun crime and serious crimes, poor public health system, exspensive education system. From first hand experience living there before I have found a common trend of a very secular society with serious racial tensions across a broad spectrum of communities.

The above are reasons I would not live there long term but think its an ok place to vacation to.

Lack of work life balance was a big one for me. 10 days holidays a year and expected to work 70 hour weeks ehhh No thanks.
TV in the US is terrible too. The amount of ads makes it unwatchable.

I think Proud Dub is being a bit negative (less than proud so to speak:p). Ireland is not as bad as he makes out and it doesn't rain all the time. Super day today for example.
Texas is great though. Austin is a great city if anyone manages a visit. The barbeque restaurants along with 'Texas Land and Cattle' steaks:)

ProudDUB

FreudianSlippers wrote: »

I wouldn't say close enough... I mean, even the Phoenix Park is over 100 years older than the USA.

I didn't say close enough, I said decent enough. If a person was not a fan of lying on beaches or whizzing down mountain slopes, they could do worse than visit the likes of Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, New Orleans, Savannah & Charleston & take in the sights and history and culture that they have to offer. I have been to all them all, and enjoyed my visits thoroughly even though I was weaned on the thousand year old castles and cathedrals that we Europeans take for granted.

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

I think Proud Dub is being a bit negative (less than proud so to speak). Ireland is not as bad as he makes out and it doesn't rain all the time

I'm not being negative. Just calling it as I see it. Our weather sucks. Why exactly should I be proud of the fact that this year was our coldest and wettest summer on record?

( I did get badly sun burnt in Croke Park yesterday though, and the pain isn't helping my already crappy mood any. After yesterday, I think I'll change my user name to HeartBroken Dub. :(:( )

getz

as a old seadog [limey to you] i have sailed and docked in most american sea ports on both the western and eastern sea boards,even up the great lakes,every american i have met has been so friendly to me,seattle is the city that felt more like home than any other, i do not agree with that saying,america only goes to war to teach americans geography.try and get to ireland ,its the green dot on your map,next to the orange one thats the UK

Marty McFly

ProudDUB wrote: »

Basically, it's because our weather is crap. Yes, we have lovely beaches here but as I said, our weather is crap. Have you ever been to Seattle? There you go then. That's us, only without Mt Ranier looming on the horizon. The cold and the damp and the rain can be pretty miserable for 12 months of the year. We do not get a guaranteed 3 months of good summer weather that you guys get. Most Irish people would try to book at least one foreign sun holiday a year. The Med islands/beaches/Spain/Portugal/Greece would be the most popular with Irish vacationers, with Florida probably coming in second.

Yes, most us have family in the US. Why on earth do you think American celebrates St Patricks Day like no other country on earth, including us? Also, America has everything you could wish for if you want a variety of kinds of vacations. It has old historic cities (not as old and historic as Europes but decent enough) tropical beaches galore, ski resorts, big exciting cities such as LA, Chicago, Vegas etc etc. No matter what kind of holiday you want, you can have it without having to leave your own country. Mexico, Hawaii and the Carribeaan are also just on your doorstep. Ireland just doesn't have that kind of variety or good weather, hence our heading off to foreign climes as much as we do.

Ireland is also a very, very expensive country when it comes to consumer goods. The euro isn't as strong against the dollar as it once was, but even so, the deals you can get over there are very, very good compared to here. We LOVE shopping in the US. More than one grown man has walked into the Tommy Hilfiger/Nike/Ralph Lauren etc etc store in the outlet mall in Orlando and burst into tears at clobber (Irish slang for clothes) on sale for $20 that would be $200 in Dublin.

I know a lot of what you said is true but my god you sound so negative :P.

OP as much as we Irish do like to travel and see other culutures, countrys, and a lot of our younger generations are currently living in Canada or Australia due to the current economy. Majority of the people I know living abroad would come home tomorrow if they were guaranteed a job when they arrived home.

Yes we do have some problems but what country doesnt at the end of the day as much as like to see other countrys id never live anywhere else I was born and raised in Dublin and its were the heart is as the saying goes.

We have a lot of good qualitys, I like the fact Dublin although a city you can walk from one end to the other of our city without need for a bus or subways, we have a country steeped in History and in general were a very proud nation with a culture which is known and celebrated worldwide with St Patricks Day and everywhere you go you will always find an Irish pub which is quite amazing given the size of our country.

Our pride which was seen at Euro 2012 ( a soccer tournament if ya dont know) were when loosing 4-0 to Spain our fans contiuned to sing and support our team earning our fans plaudits from many quarters.

whatnext

srm23 wrote: »

you won't find any oil here ya crafty bollix

I think they know that, they already looked:D

Faith+1

greenpilot wrote: »

We don't need to write Dallas, Texas either....we actually know where cities, states, countries etc are on this planet. Don't mention religion...this is more or less a secular state. Practice driving stick shift, hire a car when you are over here and get out of the city for a day or so. Do buy a round or two in a pub. Don't be loud and crass. It's better to keep your mouth shut and be presumed an idiot than open it and remove all doubt. Spend a day watching European news channels. It will open your mind. Don't mention Israel and absolutely do not mention the US presidential race. Irish people probably know more about it than you....unless you are a Democrat, then its cool.

Lol!

Pawwed Rig

ProudDUB wrote: »

I'm not being negative. Just calling it as I see it. Our weather sucks. Why exactly should I be proud of the fact that this year was our coldest and wettest summer on record?

I like our weather. I wouldn't consider 35 degrees good weather as I prefer not to be sunburnt all the time. I walk to work everyday and honestly I don't use an umbrella very much. Obviously not saying it doesn't rain but I think it is slighly exagerated by most. You live in a country that you don't require (very expensive) air conditioners during summer, there are no animals that will kill you, Police tend to be civilised enough, there are few natural disasters like hurricanes and droughts etc etc. Ireland is not that bad.

ProudDUB wrote: »

(I did get badly sun burnt in Croke Park yesterday though, and the pain isn't helping my already crappy mood any. After yesterday, I think I'll change my user name to HeartBroken Dub. :(:( )

Bit of a disaster alright. I hope Mayo win it this time but as we know they will screw it up again as they always do in the final:D

Diddler1977

What about "Big Rich Texas"? Is this true to your life OP?! ;-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Rich_Texas

PGA2020

Its a bit late right now so I'm about to hit the hay (go to sleep)! I will reply to all of your awesome comments tomorrow afternoon! By the looks of it, I can already tell you guys will fill up my afternoon!


Later!

token101

PGA2020 wrote: »

Howdy everyone!

I just happened to run past this whole website and just found out it was an Ireland based site! Can some people tell me about Dublin and just just everything! I find it very interesting learning about different cities! I'll start first and then maybe we could go back and forth asking questions! Do people in Ireland actually say "Top of the morning to you lad!" I hear it a lot but is it really true?? I live in Dallas, Texas if anyone knows where that is! Or as you guys call it, "The States!" haha

Thanks!

Forget Dublin and come to Cork. Few Dutchies in the gaff, bit of the Slate/Crane Lane and I'll take you to Abrakebabra afterwards for some taco fries.

FreudianSlippers

Literally the funniest part of this thread is that he keeps explaining all the sayings... in different circumstances one could be excused for thinking there was some trolling here.