On Friday, I had a 12-hour bus tour to see the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare.
We left Dublin at about 7:30 on the roughly 600 km (373 mile) tour to the other side of the island. After three hours we had a short stop in Limerick to see King John's Castle. The 13th century castle sits on the river Shannon as is one of the best preserved Norman castles in Europe.
After another 1.5 hours we finally made it to the cliffs which are one of the most popular tourist destinations in Ireland. The cliffs are gorgeous and it was so nice to see the Atlantic Ocean.
The cliffs rise from 120 meters (390 feet) to a maximum height of 214 meters (702 feet).
The cliffs are mostly shale and sandstone. The river channels that cut through the base of the cliffs show 300 million years of history.
O'Brien's Tower was built as an observation tower in 1835. The tower sits at almost the midpoint of the cliffs, near the highest point, only 8 km (5 miles) away.
The Aran Islands are part of the Gaeltacht where Irish is predominantly spoken.
After lunch in a small village we continued on to vist the Burren. This is one of the largest karst landscapes in Europe. The Burren is home to many goats and donkeys.
Corcomroe Abbey dates back to the 11th century. The ruins stand on an old pagan site.
Our final stop was in Kinvara, a small village on the water where local fishermen were bringing in the day's haul of mussels. Kinvara is home to Dunguaire Castle which was built in the early 16th century.
It was a long day but the tour was very well organized and the driver, Bud, was great. Highly recommended!
Dublin, in Irish known as Baile Átha Cliath, is the capital of Ireland. It sits on the River Liffey and started off as a Viking settlement in the 9th century. It became the island's main city after the Norman invasion in 1169. More than +525,000 people live in Dublin but the greater metro area is home to 1.8 million people, more than ⅓ of the population.
Dublin Castle was built in 1204 on the orders of King John of England. It remained the seat of British rule in Ireland until 1922. Now the complex is home to government offices.
The General Post Office, on O'Connell Street, was the focal point of the 1916 Easter Rising. Here's a Rick Steves video I found on YouTube about it.
Dublin has two cathedrals. Both of which were converted from Catholic to Protestant on the orders of Queen Elizabeth I. Christ Church Cathedral was founded in 1030. It is the oldest building in Dublin and went through massive restoration in the 19th century.
St. Patrick's Cathedral is the largest church in Ireland. It was founded in 1191.
The Ha'penny Bridge is a cast iron footbridge that crosses the River Liffey. It was built in 1816. There used to be a ½ penny toll to cross the bridge. The toll eventually increased to 1½ pence but was dropped back in 1919.
Leinster House was built from 1745 to 1748. Since 1922, it has been home to the Oireachtas which is the national parliament.
The Custom House is an 18th century building on the north bank of the river. Originally used for collecting custom duties it became the headquarters of the local government. In order to disrupt British rule, the IRA burnt it down in 1921 during the Irish War of Independence. Heavy restoration took place in the 1980s and today it houses the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.
Famime was presented to the city in 1997. The bronze sculptures commemorate the Great Irish Famine of 1845 - 1849. During this time, about 1 million people died and another 1 million emigrated, mostly to the USA. The combination reduced the total island's population by about 25%.
The Temple Bar in Temple Bar (district)
Temple Bar isn't a single bar. It is a district south of the river and is home to the city's best nightlife.
In Merrion Square is a statue of Oscar Wilde, the Irish writer and poet. In the early 1890s, he was one of the most popular playwrights in London.
The Molly Malone statue, of the fictitious fishmonger, celebrates Dublin's millennium in 1988.
The Dublin Spire is the Monument of Light. The stainless steel pin, located on O'Connell Street was completed in 2003. The spire is 121.2 meters (398 feet) tall. The top 12 meters (39 feet) lights up at night. It was built during the good times of the Irish economy at a cost of €4 million ($5.56 million).
Trinity College is Ireland's oldest university. It was established in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I as a Protestant institution, modeled after Cambridge and Oxford. Eventually, Catholics and women were allowed to attend. However, the Catholic Church wasn't too keen on young Catholics picking up Protestant values and banned Catholic students from attending. Until 1970, Catholic students who enrolled at the university without special dispensation were excommunicated.
The University library is home to the Book of Kells, which is an illustrated manuscript written by monks around 800 AD. Here's another Rick Steves video about it.
A great way to get your bearings in the city is to take one of the Dublin free walking tours. A local guide takes you around the city for 2.5 - 3 hours. You can normally find a free walking tour in most of Europe's major cities.
Not only do I not live near Ukraine, I don't live in Czechoslovakia either. MSNBC needs to fact check their maps. Czechoslovakia hasn't existed for over 20 years.
In Czech, there are two ways of saying "you". There is the informal ty which is used among family members and close friends. Vy is the more polite, formal "you" used between strangers. Vy is also used as the plural "you" both formally and informally.
French does the same thing with tu and vous.
German has Du and Ihr as the singular informal and plural informal "you" while Sie is the formal version of "you" for both the singular and plural.
Spanish has tú and usted for the singular informal and formal "you". European Spanish uses vosotros as a plural, informal "you", while outside of Spain, ustedes is the plural "you" both formally and informally.
English used to do this a long time ago. We used you as the formal form and for the informal form we used thy, thee, thou, thine, etc. Fortunately we got rid of all of this and the only time students come across this now is when they read Shakespeare.
When you enter a shop in Czechland you are greeted with Dobrý den (the formal 'good morning'). You will never be greeted with ahoj because this is the informal "hi" which is only used among close friends and family.
Using the ty form with a stranger is very rude, especially when speaking to someone older. Using the vy form comes across as very formal, reserved and polite. When in doubt, I find it better to use vy. I would rather be thought of as overly formal than as too familiar.
"Shall we use ty?"
When do you make the switch from vy to ty? It's better for the other person to suggest it. An older person will suggest it to a younger person. A boss will suggest it to employees. A woman will suggest it to a man. In Czech, it's like a rite of passage when someone suggests switching from vykání to tykání.
I use vy when I speak to any of the people in my building. My landlady told me that since she knows in the USA we don't have formal forms of address, we should use the informal ty with each other. At work, I use ty with all of my colleagues, those above and below me, but I switch to vy when asking for a coffee in the canteen.
Northern Ireland sits on 1/6th of the island of Ireland. It's about the size of Belgium; a littler smaller than Connecticut and a little bigger than Maryland. Northern Ireland is one of the four countries which makes up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is home to just over 1.8 million people. Belfast is both the capital and the largest city.
Northern Ireland was established in 1921 when Ireland was split between the 26 counties which would eventually become the Republic of Ireland, and the six (out of nine) Ulster counties which wanted to remain with the UK.
In Northern Ireland there are two primary groups - Protestants and Catholics. Then there are unionists and republicans. Unionists identify themselves as being British and want to maintain the union with the UK. Republicans want to end the union with the UK and see a united Ireland. Most Protestants are unionists and most Catholics are republicans. Then there are the loyalists and nationalists. Loyalists are hardcore, extreme unionists and nationalists are hardcore, extreme republicans.
There was a Protestant majority in Ulster when Northern Ireland was established. There were some very shady laws and the Catholic minority there were discriminated against in employment, housing, voting rights, etc.
In the late 1960s, conflicts broke out between the two communities which led to a period of violence, known as "The Troubles" which lasted for three decades. During this time more than 3,500 people were killed and over 50,000 injured.
The Good Friday Agreement in 1998 paved the way to peace. There is still a good deal of segregation between Protestants and Catholics. Here's a video I found on YouTube which shows how some things have changed.
Northern Irish are UK citizens and travel under British passports. In 1998, the parliament was devolved within the UK. Like Scotland, Northern Ireland issues its own pound (£) sterling banknotes.
Ulster Banner
The British Union Jack is the official flag in Northern Ireland. The Ulster Banner was the flag of Northern Ireland until 1972 and since that time is has no official status. However, it is used heavily by unionists and loyalists. It is used as the "official" flag for Northern Ireland during football matches and other sporting events.
Here's a CNN report on rioting which took place over the British flag.
Today, there is almost an even split between the number of Protestants and the number of Catholics in the country. There is a lower birth rate among Protestants, and Catholics will eventually be the majority. I would not be surprised to see a united Ireland within the next 20 to 30 years.
The Republic of Ireland occupies five-sixths of the island of Ireland. The country is a little bigger than West Virginia and is home to 4.83 million people. Dublin is the country's capital and its largest city.
Ireland was ruled by Britain for over 700 years, during which there were many rebellions and repressions. In 1916, the failed Easter Rising kicked off several years of brutal guerrilla warfare. Following WWI, in 1922, 26 of the island's counties declared independence as the Irish Free State.
Six counties in Ulster province became Northern Ireland and remained part of the United Kingdom. There was a brief civil war and then over the next 20 years, Ireland adopted a new constitution, phased out the duties of the British monarch and in 1948, was declared a republic.
The country is predominantly Catholic and the church has had a major influence on the state. Possessing and using contraceptives was not illegal. However, from 1935 - 1980, it was illegal to sell them or to import them in to the country. It wasn't until 1993 that contraceptives were available to everyone without a prescription. That's way too much church influence for me.
The Gaeltacht where Irish is predominantly spoken
Éire is officially a bilingual country. The first official language is Gaeilge, followed by English, and it is an official EU language. All of the road signs are in both languages. Irish is a mandatory subject in school and proficiency exams are required in order to work in government service. Only about 30ish percent of the population identifies themselves as proficient in Irish. The Gaeltacht are a small number of rural areas where Irish is the primary language.
The Irish alphabet only has 18 letters. There's no J, K, Q, V, W, X, Y, or Z. However, these letters are used for modern loan words, foreign words and is science and technology.
Ireland joined the European Community in 1973, which later became the European Union. Like the UK, Ireland is not a member of Schengen, which means that non-EU citizens need a passport to enter the country.
From 1995 to 2007, when it's economy was referred to as the Celtic Tiger, Ireland became one of the richest countries in the world. Unfortunately, the boom didn't last and 2008's global financial crisis hit hard. By 2010, Ireland had the world's largest budget deficit at 32.4% GDP. The country received an €85 billion ($117.1 billion) bailout from the EU and the IMF. As a condition of the financial rescue package a number of harsh austerity measures were put in to effect. In December 2013, Ireland became the first European bailout country to exit the program.
There was a show of support earlier today, in Brno, for the Maidan protesters in Kyiv. The people there are protesting against the current pro-Russian president and there have been violent clashes with police.
The show of support should not come as a surprise. Obviously, because it is the right thing but also given the huge Ukrainian population in Czechland. At 30%, Ukrainians make up the largest group of registered foreigners in the country. There are more Ukrainians here than Slovaks.
Many people were at náměstí Svobody (Freedom Square), waiving flags and holding candles. There was an Orthodox priest and a video was shown. Everything was in Ukrainian so I didn't understand much.
I know the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag but I hadn't seen the red and blag one before. I found out later that the red and black flag is that of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) which fought a military campaign against the Nazis and later against Soviet forces.
Ukrainians aren't getting support only in Brno. Someone painted the Soviet War Memorial in Sofia again. This time in support of Ukraine.
On Friday, I had a 12-hour bus tour to see the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare. 
After three hours we had a short stop in Limerick to see King John's Castle. The 13th century castle sits on the river Shannon as is one of the best preserved Norman castles in Europe. .jpg)
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The cliffs are mostly shale and sandstone. The river channels that cut through the base of the cliffs show 300 million years of history.
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Czech Koruna Exchange Rate
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