The Irish love Bruce

Given the title, bet you couldn't guess it was Mike, right?



So, after our last day of driving in Ireland (cross country again, but I was quite adept at this point, even speeding and getting mad at the locals for putzing around), we took a bus through Wexford, which seems to be America's little claim of land on the British Isles. I kid you not, there is a red-white-and-blue decked steakhouse called "Springsteen's" with a big guitar on the sign. Unfortunately, we were on a schedule to the ferry so we couldn't stop in for a greasy, American burger.



Then, on the train down to Paris, we chatted it up the whole way with a great young Irish couple, and the woman's brother is a huge Boss fan (having traveled to the States just to see him play live). Apparently, when Bruce does tours in Ireland, he goes out to one of three pubs that he's come to know the owners of. They always reserve space for him when he schedules a show in Dublin. Then, he normally plays along with the locals in their "sessions" - bascially, nightly jams where local musicians just get together to play for each other, and the whole pub joins in.



We did a little pub tour with some locals when in Dublin, and saw it unaided while in Dingle. The night in Dingle was serious fun, with a little band jamming some Irish tunes (throwing in some Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson) and the locals dancing along. The locals wanted to pull Gena into the dancing, but thankfully for the respect of American dancers abroad, they did not.



Some things I didn't expect while over on the Isles: absolutely zero billboards along the roads. In fact, a fair amount foilage along the roads and highways. This makes the driving experience pretty scenic and makes me wonder why USDOT and ODOT cannot adopt a similar policy. Of course, how could we possibly remember that we were hungry and had to go buy a Big Mac without those roadside billboards?



Also, the beauty of Ireland's rural areas caught me offguard. I was prepared for "green" pastures, but the horizon's are expansive yet almost touchable.



Now that we're in Paris, it's definately more European feeling that we're in a non-English speaking country. A simple thing like ordering food is a somewhat stressful experience. We struggle through it, and despite their claims otherwise nearly everyone we've encountered has spoken almost perfect English. It's incredible really. Thinking of my days as a waiter, I would have been totally lost as to how to help a customer if they didn't know English.



We saw the Eiffel Tower last night - a large, imposing, and impressive structure. As you walk out from under the base, the sky opens up to you and looks so big. It may even be prettier at night. Hopefully we can get the "twinkle" video loaded, and may do a picnic by the Tower for dinner tonight.



I will say this, after having toured Norte Dame, Sainte Chapelle, and Musee D'Orsey today - the Parisians do not do as good a job as interpreting their history for visitors as the English and Irish do. They kind of let the works speak for themselves. Which kind of works...but seems to leave much to the unknown.



We're here tomorrow as well, hopefully will check out the Arc and Louvre.



Oh, one more thing I wasn't expecting: our overnight voyage from Ireland to France (a bonus because we skipped having to pay for a hotel for the night) came with a "Caberet" show. Eeesh. First half was a mash-up of Broadway hits, Barry Manilow, and Dirty Dancing. Yes, you did read that correctly. They even reprised most of their Dirty Dancing songs at the show's finale. The second half was Michael Flately-style Irish step dancing. Strange? Yes. Embarrassing? Yes. Entertaining? I'd say so.



Besides, the overnight cruise gave Gena and I the opportunity to hip ourselves to this reality:

www.youtube.com/watch?vR7yfISlGLNU