As I wrap-up
this column this week and next, I have a few leftovers worth mentioning that
didn’t make the cut on previous editions, as well as some final observations. It
has been about 150 years since a bulk of this regions first Irish settlor’s
arrived, and in that time many components of our respective cultures have
diverged despite the common origin, as I have described all along. Therefore,
sometimes it comes as a surprise when you find such striking similarities.
Driving
around the countryside we had ample time to scan the Irish radio stations. A
couple of times we stumbled upon some traditional Irish music, but more
frequently the stations were playing American music, including John Denver and
Bob Dylan interspersed between more contemporary artists like Katy Perry and
Miley Cyrus.
There are a
few Irish “country/western” performers, including the young and popular Nathan
Carter, performing a combination of Irish country music and covers of familiar
American Pop and Country tunes like “Fishing in the Dark,” “Delta Dawn,” and
“Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses.” Featuring electric guitar, fiddle, and
accordion, he gives these tunes a modern/Irish spin, but most of his music
might better fit with 90s country music than that heard on American country
radio today.
He also does
a cover of “Wagon Wheel,” a tune originally recorded here by the folk band Old
Crow Medicine Show (OCMS) and recently brought to widespread popularity by
Darius Rucker’s version on country radio. It is equally popular in Ireland as
we heard it played on Radio Kerry at least half a dozen times.
Most
surprising, however, is when the traditional guitar/accordion/spoons trio in a
small town pub transitioned from a rowdy pub song to “Wagon Wheel” late one
evening. Even the 70-year-old man sitting next to me was grinning ear to ear
and singing along to every word between sips from his pint. I found this Irish
obsession with “Wagon Wheel” humorous for a few reasons. First, the entire song
is about a hitchhiking journey from New England to Raleigh, North Carolina, with
lesser-known American destinations in
between. Secondly, the chorus makes little sense and that’s because Bob Dylan
wrote it long ago. The guys from OCMS wrote the verses around it but the simple
lyrics and catchy instrumentation was enough to perk up ears. Most impressively,
this song grew to international fame out of complete obscurity, entirely by
word of mouth from college students across America long before it first received
radio airplay once Rucker cut it. Now even the pub bands and country singers in
Ireland are getting significant mileage out of it.
While
describing the driving experience, I didn’t say much about roundabouts. Because
they are quickly becoming more common in the Midwest, and are likely to
increase in prevalence, I briefly mention them now. To the amateur they seem
silly and confusing—like how you end up taking the long way counter-clockwise around
the circle only to make what would have been a simple left hand turn. But once
you understand how they work and how to properly navigate them, it suddenly
seems silly to waste time constructing traditional signal controlled
intersections, not to mention the time motorists waste waiting at red lights
thereafter.
Getting to
the point to where you understand them, however, can take some practice. I was
honked at three times by my count for improper signaling, lane changing, or other
blunders I still don’t know I made. One can assume that for every honk drivers
politely ignored two or three other incidences in which honking was merited. Regardless,
by the end I no longer broke into a sweat upon seeing one approaching and
suggest we would be wise to continue to take a tip from our European brethren
on this one by incorporating them into more of our roads.
Fuel
for our small diesel cars averaged about €1.50
at the pump. At first glance that seems like a bargain until you consider one
Euro is currently equivalent to $1.33, and more importantly, that fuel is sold
in liters rather than gallons. 3.79 liters in a gallon multiplied by €1.50 multiplied by $1.33 for the exchange rate equals
approximately $7.56 per gallon of diesel.
Travelers
must be careful, as sometimes fuel stations can be few and far between, or even
closed. Driving the motorway back to Dublin I miscalculated the amount of fuel
we would need and eventually realized we weren’t going to make it. We consulted
the GPS for the nearest gas station and I took the next exit. As the directions
continued to lead us down narrower and narrower roads, my skepticism we were
going to find a station at trail’s end widened. Concern grew as I saw the
digital readout continue to tick off the remaining kilometers of fuel left
while we continued to pass cattle and sheep, but little else.
When we did
come to our calculated “destination,” I turned the car around in the driveway
of the small farm we were facing which probably didn’t even have a fuel barrel
and, of course, showed no resemblance of ever serving as a fuel station. Luck
has it that I did eventually find a small country store before we had to thumb
a ride. In this instance, small means one pump, a display cooler that had for
sale fewer items than found in my fridge on an average day, and an old lady
attendant crocheting to pass the time between infrequent afternoon sales.
Finally,
speaking of leftovers, what do you do when you clean out the rental car while
packing your bags for the trip to the airport only to discover there are still
three pints of Guinness and half a bottle of Baily’s Irish Cream left? You
shove them in your already bulging suitcase and hope the FSA agent who randomly
searches your bag doesn’t decide he or she need a drink after work—and with a
job like that, they probably do.
