Irish Weather

I haven't had much to blog about, so rather than bore everyone with "today I woke up, ate, and went to bed", I've left the blogging to those with lives.

I've felt a little hungry for writing, so I thought I'd give it a go today again. We're gearing up for our first major storm of 2010. We got some rain last night and this morning, but right now it's just overcast. The weather man is predicting rain on and off over the week, sometimes heavy with lots of wind. We may get anywhere from 4 to 8 inches in the next few days. That really doesn't sound like a lot, but since we've been in a drought for so long, the ground won't take much of a soaking. That means the potential of flooding. I'm glad we got new rain gutters put on last year.

This weather is making me anxious for our trip in April, even though Ireland is notorious for rain. The picture above was taken in Enis, Ireland. Yes, it was raing on that day too, as you can see from the wet ground. It can make for a pretty soggy and uncomfortable vacation if you're not prepared. If you plan ahead, it can be beautiful though. A hat or umbrella is a must as well as non-slip shoes and a jacket. If the weather is just too miserable, the pubs are warm and welcoming, usually with a live band and plenty of good food.

I was thinking a lot about the food I miss from Ireland. I'd love to bring back some of the garlic chips (fries to us Americans). They're not like the kind you get at the ball park. They're thick cut steak fries with a creamy sauce over them. They're probably about 1,000 calories, but nothing tastes as good. I also miss the Subways over there. (the food place, not the underground). They had a "Sweet Chili Thai chicken" sandwich that was incredible! I've never seen it here. Phil is convinced that their salami is better too. I think that it's because in America, most of our bacon and sausage comes from the belly of the animal,but Ireland uses the leaner back meat. If you want fatty American bacon, you have to ask for "rashers" rather than "bacon."

There are some things that I can't bring myself to eating though. I won't try Black Pudding. It might be good, but the thought of a sausage made out of grains and pig blood sounds discusting! I'm also not fond of colcannon (basically mashed potatoes mixed with cooked cabbage and onions).

Luckily, most parts of Ireland have enough varieties of food, that practically nobody (even us picky people) could go hungry. I always laugh thinking about the times Phil and I ate Mexican food in Limerick, Chinese Food in Belfast (ok, that's actually in Northern Ireland, but still...), and Thai food in Cork. Like everywhere else in the world, there's plenty of McDonald's and Burger Kings too. The funny thing is how different they really can be. Once in Dublin, we had lunch at a McDonald's that brought the food to our table. It felt weird being "served" fast food. In Limerick, the McDonalds there was 3 stories. I've never seen one that huge. Is it really necessary to have a multi-story fast food restaurant?