The Concessions

In August of 1996 my sister and I travelled Europe with the infamous "euro-rail pass". This pass, available to anyone under 24 (I believe the rule goes) will allow you to travel most countries of Europe by rail, usually for 1 month. We had originally planned to travel Ireland for 2 weeks and Austria/Switzerland for 2 weeks but we ended up spending almost the entire month in Ireland, usually biking the countryside. I met my Japanese friend Kaori in Paris and after a day walking all around Paris we continued to Ireland. I had arranged to meet my friend Chris Condit in Dublin but on the 13 hour boat going from Cherbourg, France to Rosslare, Ireland my sister and I met two new friends: Michael and Emily. They expressed interest in the idea of biking around the southwestern coast of Ireland and became to of the core members of a little gang later to be called: The Concessions, so called because we always sought out those attractions or those methods of entry which would grant us discounted prices. Our travels in Ireland, as dutifully recorded by Chris Condit in both his journals and pictures, ended up taking us all around the beautiful country of Ireland in about three weeks of travel, around 12 days of which were on bicycle:

Route of Travel in Ireland

Dublin (McDonald's on O'Connel Street) to Powerscourt to Glendalough (by bicycle) to Dublin to Bray (some to Kilkenny and Waterford) to Dublin (member Kaori leaves for France) to eventually remeet in Cork (rented bicycles) to Skibereen to Clonakilty to Schull (seeing the Atlantic from Ireland) to Mizenhead to Bantry (Michael has a flat and he lost a screw and a nut to hold his saddle bag) to Sheepshead Peninsula (where we find the spooky sushi castle "Shiro's) then back to Bantry to Castletownbere to Kenmare (rode all day in the rain, the Concessions share a room and stink it up with wet clothes) through the great Ballaghbeama Gap to Anascul to Tralee (turn in the bikes) to Galway (some bike outside of Galway) to Dublin to reunite with other friends at the Brewery Hostel in Dublin. One last night at The Quays in Temple Bar district, Dublin.

Project Arctic Meatball

After this trip, some members would continue on what was dubbed "Project Arctic Meatball". After many days of pasta and bread, we decided to make the long journey to northern Norway in search of the legendary meatball dish of "Tante Gœrd" The trip would take us on a 3 day train and boat ride straight to northern Norway with no stops along the way for hotels or sightseeing:

Cork to Roscoff (Konrad sees the most beautiful girl he has ever seen working in the ticket counter at the train station) to Morlaix to Paris to Hamburg to Copenhagen (Konrad calls mom: "Mom, we are no longer in Ireland and are coming to Trondheim, please ask tante Gerd to make us the Mormor godmat meatball dish) to Oslo to Trondheim to Bodø (to see the great Maelstrom and go camping in the arctic circle) to Trondheim (ate the delicious meatball dish by dear tante Gerd and stayed the night at her place as well as go hiking in Hegra and Hell) to Oslo to Stavanger (go hiking and river climbing on the fjords to see Kjerag and Troll Forest in Røsendalen).

See the quotes page for a list of humorous and strange quotes that made us laugh along the way, again thanks to Chris Condit. There are so many stories to tell of this trip some of which I hope to collect in the memories page. We stayed the night in hostels and castles, as well as bus shelters, buses, and trains. We saw a host of scenes to remember from old forests, smooth green hills, staggering coastal cliffs, and charming country lanes to smoky Irish bars filled with folk music, impressive cathedrals, monastaries and the ruins of Irish history. This truly was a trip that will never be forgotten. We saw the countryside of Ireland and later Norway like few tourists do - the countryside raw and waiting to be discovered.

I thank my dear friends in particular Chris, Michael, Emily, and Carleen and hope that we may one day find the time to repeat our experiences in another land.