Ireland

The literary tradition and folklore related to the iconography of Ireland is one of the noblest figures and characters that qualify the unmistakable fairytale.

Elves, leprechauns, elves, fairies, goblins ... there is something for everyone and always mentioned in a limbo of the border between the legend and the reality to which the Irish people of all generations are linked and influenced a lot.

Rarely, an Irishman, however, there will talk willingly and never will directly referring to the characters of a story but use of the turns of phrase of which the most common are the "Happy People" or "good people". The Irish still believe deep down and in fact do everything to not disturb "others" and let the fairy conduct their lives in that world of magical fantasy parellel.

There are countless testimonies of Irish people who swear to have seen an elf or to have witnessed some of his amazing joke. And you? And 'ever?

I want to recommend some books that I have personally read and that are related in some way to Ireland.

Title: Mr. Fridge
Author: Tony Hawks
Publisher: Feltrinelli
Language: Italian
In short: A bet between friends leads to travel around Tony Hawks hitch-Ireland with a fridge. A fun travel story, but also full of important topics, like love, adventure and friendship.

Title: Last of the Donkey Pilgrims
Author: Kevin O'Hara
Publisher: Forge Books
Language: English
In short: The main character decides to go through the whole ring-of-Ireland with the help of a mule and a cart like the days of the grandparents. This journey led him to discover the Ireland of today, where past and future blend together in a pleasantly wonderful.

Title: McCarthy's Bar
Author: Pete McCarthy
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Language: English
In short: Born in England in Ireland McCarthy back good memories of childhood and wandering from Cork to Donegal, moving aimlessly and without deadlines and obeying one rule: never pass a bar that bears your name without stopping to drink

Title: Dubliners (Dubliners)
Author: James Joyce
Publisher: Feltrinelli
Language: Italian
In short: Dublin, with its antiquated air, the smoky pubs, the cold wind that sweeps the streets, its bizarre inhabitants. A city that, in the eyes and the heart of Joyce's, is somewhat 'the precipitate of all the western cities of this century.

Title: The Secret History of the IRA (A Secret History of the IRA)
Author Ed Moloney
Publisher: Baldini Castoldi
Language: Italian
In short: Written by Irish journalist Ed Moloney, this monumental reconstruction reveals the dramatic story of plots and deadly rivalry between the members of one of the most obscure terrorist groups in Europe.

Title: Angela's Ashes
Author: Frank McCourt
Publisher: Adelphi
Language: Italian
In short: We're in the years between the two wars and troubled events involving a family so poor that can look from below poverty, between a father permanently drunk and shouting against the world, the British and the Protestant and a mother who unceremoniously drags his tribe to survival. .

The atmosphere that we live in a traditional Irish pub is really hard to describe, even if they have at their disposal as in this case, words, sounds and images.

Last night we spent the evening at Mannion's pub in Cifden. In my personal experience I think that the ingredients were all there: traditional music (singer, player cash tablespoons), local fishermen completely drunk, whiskey rivers, rude tourists (I do not really want ... but in this case it was French), choreographed fights, and a burst of Gardi Dirty Old Town sung by anyone inside and outside the premises to restore the cosmic balance in the pub.

I think that for a non-Irish is difficult to understand how the punch pub is still a practice so widespread here. For the headlines but it is necessary to clarify that this is something completely different from what we are used to fight in Italy for example disco. People here go on for tens of minutes to poke fun in a totally playful and terribly fancy "look at that big belly that you could not lift the skirt of your wife!" ... To which one responds "you're so drunk that if you fall pants do not you know it! "... and so on (reminds me so much of the game environment pirate Monkey Island) . At the punch you get just for fun and very difficult to attend to the real evil.

Continue reading ...

Deserves a space all its my kite. It 'a passion that I recently was sent by a dear friend who I will never cease to give thanks. The feeling to have the wind in your hands is something indescribable and the first time I have talked seriously about kites I immediately thought of Ireland: huge beach and gale!

I decided to buy a kite for towing (like those for kite surfing) just to start getting comfortable with the controls. Drive it is very easy and when you feel the adrenalin pull out of the turn is strong. This kite in winds up from the ground up 100Kg so we are on the borderline between mine and his strength. It 'a game of balance

Continue reading ...

This is a framework to which they are particularly fond of that was given to me by ' author