Hollie Dickson lessons Ireland taught me

Ireland was overall very welcoming and a beautiful place to visit. It brought many laughs and a countless number of smiles, but above all it taught me some lessons. 

1) If you want french fries you better call them chips or the waitress looks at you funny. 

2) ketchup is a commodity, so for all you ketchup abusers out there like me good luck finding it. Although The Brazen Head (the pub we had our good bye dinner in) does have Heinz ketchup, which takes me to my next point. 

3) Be aware that when you walk into a nice restaurant and sit down to see Heinz ketchup waiting for you on the table it is not wise to assume the waitress knows that you are from Pittsburgh. In my case, the waitress did know we were tourists, but the they put Heinz ketchup on everyone's table even the locals. 

4) I learned that if you are staying in the country side of Ireland suck as Galway or Kinvara that you have until 10:00 pm to get food any where in the town. Moreover, if you are staying in a city like Dublin you only have until 8:00 pm to get a formal dinner. The lesson here is that while you are able to drink way past 10:00 of you plan on getting food you should do it before you start drinking.

5) An important lesson that I learned was that while Americans believe that Iriah people are drunk 24/7 we are wrong. seeing multiple pubs in Ireland had shon me that the Irish do drink but not to get drunk. They might have a class of Guinness but unlike in the States it takes them a while to drink it. 

6) Everyone is very nice in Ireland they always wave and welcome you into their shops even if you don't buy anything.

7) The cliffs of Moher is the most beautiful place. As it is the highest cliffs in all of Europe you get the best view ever. 

8) when in Ireland look both ways before crossing the street.

9) Even if you are really bad at traditional Itosh sports the people here still appreciate your effort. Also, I thought it was really interesting that their professional sports teams do not get paid for playing, their athletes are more like volunteers. 

10) Ireland by far has the cutest baby sheep ever. 

11) Most importantly when traveling abroad aleays make the best of it. Embrace what the country has to offer and plan on making memories that will last a life time. 

P.S. I am off to Scotland in one hour! I hope I look cute in a kilt! 

          sincerely, Hollie Dickson