I do realize that St. Patrick’s Day is over and everyone is moving on to the Spring Equinox (right?) but I felt I should jot down my thoughts on the “Hey let’s show all the travel episodes about Ireland” marathon on Create. Don’t know the Create channel? It’s PBS’s Food Network/HGTV/DIY/Travel Channel mash-up. Otherwise known as my drug of choice. Who doesn’t love a little Ming Tsai in the middle of the day? I can quit anytime I want to…
Back to the Ireland marathon. All the big boys are here: Rick Steves, Rudy Maxa, Burt Wolf. Burt started everything off with visiting the Guinness brewery. Apparently you fill the glass up to the “Guinness” and then let it sit. You’re welcome. Then he featured the Book of Kells which is the four gospels in Latin with beautiful ornate calligraphy and artwork. It is so cherished and delicate that the museum only turns the page once a month. Wait. Burt Wolf didn’t tell me that part. Rudy Maxa did. You see, he also did Dublin. And went to the Guinness brewery. But instead of telling us to let the pint sit, they showed us how to do the shamrock in the foam. So it’s different, OK?
One of the shows had some poor actors reenacting something somewhere. It made me uncomfortable.
Rick didn’t go to Dublin. He went to Waterford and Kerry. Did you know that it takes at least eight years of training to be a Waterford crystal glass cutter? You can thank Rick for that tidbit.
Rick also pimped out his family for this episode. He explained that on this trip his kids are getting a bigger allowance but they are responsible for their internet and “they must keep a journal”. Yeah, he said, “must”. I wonder if those journals contained the words “forced”, “journal” and “not worth the extra money”.
I tease Rick but he really knows his stuff. And how can you not love a travel show with outtakes at the end? Not all of them have them but this one did. One outtake shows Rick tripping over peat and making a Gerry Ford reference. And it was filmed in 2002. God bless him.
And on an unrelated note: I so love the American Airlines ad theme, “Ooooo. Oo Oo. Oo Oo.”
What did I learn from the Ireland travel show marathon? Ireland was never conquered by the Roman Empire. Ireland in the Dark Ages was known as the Age of Saints and Scholars. Ireland has a field hockey kind of sport called hurling. Yeah, I actually learned real stuff. Erin go bragh, y’all.
