Quick Question Thread

[ICTJohnboy]

1 minute ago, Bairnardo said:

I have been to Dublin twice and had a great time both albeit with a squad from work and for a Scotland game.

The Temple Bar is what it is, a tourist trap. But you can still have a fantastic time there. Bit of snobbery kicking about here IMO.

I had a golf holiday in Donagal a few years ago. Really enjoyed the pubs, the scenery, etc. Wasn't prohibitively expensive either.

I suppose it's easy to overlook the fact that Dublin is a capital city, Embra ain't always that cheap either, but I guess there's still no real comparison.

[DA Baracus]

4 hours ago, throbber said:

Yeah I liked Belfast and I’m sure I’d like other parts of Ireland and would like to travel about there but I wouldn’t want to spend a second in Dublin if I didn’t need to be there.

I hate to bang on about how expensive it was but there is absolutely no way that a city of Dublin’s calibre should be as expensive as London/New York.

Belfast isn't in Ireland

[Melanius Mullarkey]

Just now, DA Baracus said:

Belfast isn't in Ireland

Yet.

[NJ2]

Belfast isn't in Ireland

Staunch

[GordonD]

1 hour ago, DA Baracus said:

Belfast isn't in Ireland

Big team found

[Hedgecutter]

1 hour ago, DA Baracus said:

Belfast isn't in Ireland

Yes it is*.  'Ireland' is merely the name of the island that Belfast is on/in, hence why the two countries on it are referred to as Northern and the Republic of, although I appreciate that the term 'Ireland' is generally tied to the Republic as nobody's going to say "Republic of Ireland" in general conversation.  Officially changing it all to 'Eire' & 'Failed Statelet' (both on Ireland) would avoid such confusion, and I think that sorting this sooner rather than later should be a much higher priority than any backstop nonsense.

I post this from a country that is made up of over 100 inhabited islands, yet refers to just two of them by calling itself the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland', or more frequently 'Great Britain' (this is one of my stronger PTTGOYN btw), hence confusing islands with countries is understandably a national sport.

 

*I guess by technicality this doesn't apply to your post as Belfast can't really be 'in' an island (well, a giant subterranean complex perhaps), hence you saying "in" means that you refer to a country.  However, your post did specifically challenge throbber's post that simply said "rest of Ireland" which could easily refer to the island, hence I feel that my high-order pedantry is still valid in this case. 

 

[Snobot]

5 hours ago, throbber said:

 

I haven’t heard a good word about Cork either so have no idea why it’s so over priced. Limerick is meant to be a shit hole as well.

 

Limerick is a nice place, I was there a few years ago for a weekend on the booze and looked into the stab city reputation before I went. It apparently had serious problems with feuding organised crime families in suburban sink estates, as does Glasgow to be fair, but the centre by the River Shannon is good. It’s like saying Edinburgh is a shithole because of Muirhouse or Glasgow is a shithole because of Possil.

[Hedgecutter]

4 hours ago, ICTJohnboy said:

Wishing I hadn't booked this now.

Memo to self. Next time you fancy a weekend away, ask P&B first.

Ach, it's a nice enough place tbf and my other half enjoyed it when we were there.  I can't remember very much about it though; whether that's a good or a bad thing you can decide. 

[ICTJohnboy]

17 minutes ago, Hedgecutter said:

Ach, it's a nice enough place tbf and my other half enjoyed it when we were there.  I can't remember very much about it though; whether that's a good or a bad thing you can decide. 

 

I'm sure it will be okay. 

Anywhere's better than Burnley, and Guinness always tastes better in Ireland than it does here.

[Fullerene]

2 hours ago, Hedgecutter said:

Yes it is*.  'Ireland' is merely the name of the island that Belfast is on/in, hence why the two countries on it are referred to as Northern and the Republic of, although I appreciate that the term 'Ireland' is generally tied to the Republic as nobody's going to say "Republic of Ireland" in general conversation.  Officially changing it all to 'Eire' & 'Failed Statelet' (both on Ireland) would avoid such confusion, and I think that sorting this sooner rather than later should be a much higher priority than any backstop nonsense.

I post this from a country that is made up of over 100 inhabited islands, yet refers to just two of them by calling itself the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland', or more frequently 'Great Britain' (this is one of my stronger PTTGOYN btw), hence confusing islands with countries is understandably a national sport.

 

*I guess by technicality this doesn't apply to your post as Belfast can't really be 'in' an island (well, a giant subterranean complex perhaps), hence you saying "in" means that you refer to a country.  However, your post did specifically challenge throbber's post that simply said "rest of Ireland" which could easily refer to the island, hence I feel that my high-order pedantry is still valid in this case. 

 

This reminds me of someone who met an American tourist in Inverness.

"Oh, I use to live in North America too."
"Really.  Where was that?"
"Toronto, Canada."
"Oh Canada isn't in America."

.. and they say the stupid ones don't even have passports!

[Boghead ranter]

4 hours ago, ICTJohnboy said:

 

Memo to self. Next time you fancy a weekend away, ask P&B first.

 

....and end up in Peterhead.

[Fullerene]

2 hours ago, Hedgecutter said:

Yes it is*.  'Ireland' is merely the name of the island that Belfast is on/in, hence why the two countries on it are referred to as Northern and the Republic of, although I appreciate that the term 'Ireland' is generally tied to the Republic as nobody's going to say "Republic of Ireland" in general conversation.  Officially changing it all to 'Eire' & 'Failed Statelet' (both on Ireland) would avoid such confusion, and I think that sorting this sooner rather than later should be a much higher priority than any backstop nonsense.

I post this from a country that is made up of over 100 inhabited islands, yet refers to just two of them by calling itself the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland', or more frequently 'Great Britain' (this is one of my stronger PTTGOYN btw), hence confusing islands with countries is understandably a national sport.

 

*I guess by technicality this doesn't apply to your post as Belfast can't really be 'in' an island (well, a giant subterranean complex perhaps), hence you saying "in" means that you refer to a country.  However, your post did specifically challenge throbber's post that simply said "rest of Ireland" which could easily refer to the island, hence I feel that my high-order pedantry is still valid in this case. 

 

You could also mention that Ireland is part of the British Isles but I would suggest you don't.

[Hedgecutter]

12 minutes ago, ICTJohnboy said:

Guinness always tastes better in Ireland than it does here.

Whilst this is evidently true, I remember having an argument with somebody on here who claimed to work for Diagio and was absolutely adamant that it's a myth that Guinness doesn't travel well.  Despite there being thousands or barmen across Scotland who serve it, it would (supposedly) seem that not one is capable of pouring a pint of it correctly (although granted that there are a few that just pour it straight in).  For me the most obvious thing about it is that the head remains white for a while and is very tasty.  Over here on the other hand, the head turns a brownish colour relatively quickly and is nowhere near as enjoyable.

 

2 minutes ago, Fullerene said:

You could also mention that Ireland is part of the British Isles but I would suggest you don't.

I was indeed thinking of that at the time, but was avoiding a TL;DR

[Fullerene]

7 hours ago, throbber said:

I haven’t heard a good word about Cork either so have no idea why it’s so over priced. Limerick is meant to be a shit hole as well.

 

 

Kinsale is very near Cork and is a nice little place.  (Cork airport is on Kinsale Road).

Also, in my experience, Cork and Kerry get milder weather than the rest of island

[Fullerene]

22 hours ago, ICTJohnboy said:

Mr & Mrs Johnboy are off to Dublin for the weekend thanks to a special offer Ryanair flight from Manchester which is working out at less than £40 return in total.

Anyone got any suggestions for pubs worth a visit? We both love Irish traditional music.

If you don't fancy Dublin, Galway is 2.5 hours away by motorway.  It use to take a lot longer before the motorway was built.

Also, my experience of trains in the Republic was disappointing.  The train went through cuttings for most of the journey and you don't see anything.  The exception is the train from Dublin to Belfast which was much more scenic.

IMO: Dublin seems to have two city centres.  One surrounds O'Connell Street and the other around Grafton Street.

[Hedgecutter]

16 minutes ago, Fullerene said:

This reminds me of someone who met an American tourist in Inverness.

"Oh, I use to live in North America too."
"Really.  Where was that?"
"Toronto, Canada."
"Oh Canada isn't in America."

.. and they say the stupid ones don't even have passports!

On a similar note, I was once in a Hungarian restaurant in Aberdeen (excellent btw, see Goulash) with a United States of Americanian  sitting next to us.  The old boy gave him a Budweiser Budvar (Czech, I know) and the conversation goes like so:

Yank: "I come all the way across the Atlantic from Texas and you give me a Budweiser"

Owner: "This isn't American, this is from Budějovice, in Czech Republic where the name comes from"

Yank: [points to bottle label]  "No, it clearly says Budweiser, this is an American beer"

Owner:  It also says 700 years of brewing tradition.  Where the f*** was America 700 years ago?!

 

[ICTJohnboy]

I can mind being accosted by a yank in Inverness High St a few years ago.

Conversation went something like :

Him : "Say Buddy, where's the American Express office in town?

Me : " Err, I don't think there is one here in Inverness"

Him :  "There must be an American Express Office - there's one in every town"

Me : "Not here there isn't, this isn't America"

Him :  "American Express is all over the world - forget it I'll ask someone else"

 

I often wonder how is search panned out.

[Fullerene]

1 hour ago, ICTJohnboy said:

I can mind being accosted by a yank in Inverness High St a few years ago.

Conversation went something like :

Him : "Say Buddy, where's the American Express office in town?

Me : " Err, I don't think there is one here in Inverness"

Him :  "There must be an American Express Office - there's one in every town"

Me : "Not here there isn't, this isn't America"

Him :  "American Express is all over the world - forget it I'll ask someone else"

 

I often wonder how his search panned out.

You weren't very helpful.

It's right next door to the Rodeo.

[ah-dee]

 

I haven’t heard a good word about Cork either so have no idea why it’s so over priced. Limerick is meant to be a shit hole as well.

never been to limerick. killarney was a dive. loads of tourists and even more teenage neds. it was like finport on still game

 

 

eta - since we are sharing yank stories this happened to me in killarney. was in the large shopping centre over there and suddenly was bursting for a shite. went into the toilets and all the cubicles were being used so had to hover about for a minute when this fat red faced man came out of one. i ducked in after him and notuced that 1) he had tamned the pan and 2) there was a brown leather wallet on top of the toilet roll dispenser. i picked it up and walked out the cubicle hoping to catch him. the fat american p***k came storming back into the toilet and grabbed the wallet out my hand. without saying a word to me he checked the cash was there, it was thick with euros, and as i was saying 'i was just coming to look for you' shot me the dirtiest look and walked back out the toilet.

 

im an honest man and was trying to do the right thing so that look and his demeanour really angered me. plus this all happened whilst i was touching cloth so i was seething by the time i sat down! im actually getting angry just typing this!

[supermik]

10 hours ago, throbber said:

 

I haven’t heard a good word about Cork either so have no idea why it’s so over priced. Limerick is meant to be a shit hole as well.

 

I like Limericks.

There was a young girl from Rabat 
Who had triplets: Nan, Pat, and Tat. 
It was fun in the breeding, 
but hell in the feeding, 
as she found she had no tit for Tat.