Woah, you did lots. In fact, you've done more than I have and I've lived here most of my life!
I live in Sligo, in the Northwest. It's a nice city/town and has plenty of bars and shops, but I love Galway. It's small yet has everything you need and is full of life. If there were a train route between Sligo and Galway I'd go there for weekends all the time. Sadly there is only a bus route and I get terrible sickness and anxiety on buses. I hate cars too but I at least can pull over in a car and stop for ten minutes to gather myself. Trainz fo l1fe.
We actually had gorgeous weather today. The best of the year so far. Hopefully we'll have a summer as nice as last years'. We had three weeks of 20-25 degrees of sun. I know that's not a lot for many, but for us that's a huge deal. Ireland is without a doubt the most beautiful country I've ever seen... when the sun shines. If we had more consistent weather I think Ireland would be as populated as the UK. Would that be a good thing? No, because it would ruin much of the natural beauty, but it does illustrate the importance of sunshine here. When we get it, our world stops turning for a little while and everyone becomes happy. Then when the rain and cold comes again, we put our heads back into the grind.
I really enjoyed travelling by train while I was there. I had only travelled by train once in Canada and it was great but it is just such an expensive (and slow) way to travel here that trains are mostly used for transport of goods. It does provide you with some amazing scenery though that you can't see otherwise however so I can't knock the train system here entirely. The province I'm originally from doesn't even have trains anymore (not since the early 80s) so I never even rode a train until I was in my early twenties. Plus the trains and buses in Ireland all have wifi!
There was only one scary part about driving a car over there for me and it was the really narrow roads where it is basically one lane but two-way traffic and the speed limit is 80km/hr and you can't see around any bends because of hedges or fences. Didn't mind driving on the other side of the car/road at all otherwise.
We had quite a few nice days weatherwise while we were there. A few days in a row of sunny and between 20-25. Actually got sunburnt pretty badly on the first sunny day. Otherwise it was in the 10 to 15 range and cloudy or raining, which was still fine by me. Ireland still looks pretty darn good even in the rain. Couldn't believe how lush the vegetation is there; felt like I was in a rainforest in some parts. I feel like we got a good approximation of the range of summer weather during our trip. No storms though. The weather wasn't all that different from what I grew up with though.
Maybe I'll post some pics of the trip when I get a chance. My wife took about 2000 so we're still sorting through them even though we've been back for a week as of today.
Pedalboard Temple T34
Pedals DryBell Vibe Machine > EQD Hoof > SGFX If 6 Was 9 > Wilson Rippah wah > SGFX Custom Shop Buffer > SGFX Super Drive Ltd > SGFX Nitro > Dr Scientist BitQuest! > Dr Scientist Reverberator > Digitech JamMan Solo XT
dubhain wrote:I really enjoyed travelling by train while I was there. I had only travelled by train once in Canada and it was great but it is just such an expensive (and slow) way to travel here that trains are mostly used for transport of goods. It does provide you with some amazing scenery though that you can't see otherwise however so I can't knock the train system here entirely. The province I'm originally from doesn't even have trains anymore (not since the early 80s) so I never even rode a train until I was in my early twenties. Plus the trains and buses in Ireland all have wifi!
There was only one scary part about driving a car over there for me and it was the really narrow roads where it is basically one lane but two-way traffic and the speed limit is 80km/hr and you can't see around any bends because of hedges or fences. Didn't mind driving on the other side of the car/road at all otherwise.
We had quite a few nice days weatherwise while we were there. A few days in a row of sunny and between 20-25. Actually got sunburnt pretty badly on the first sunny day. Otherwise it was in the 10 to 15 range and cloudy or raining, which was still fine by me. Ireland still looks pretty darn good even in the rain. Couldn't believe how lush the vegetation is there; felt like I was in a rainforest in some parts. I feel like we got a good approximation of the range of summer weather during our trip. No storms though. The weather wasn't all that different from what I grew up with though.
Maybe I'll post some pics of the trip when I get a chance. My wife took about 2000 so we're still sorting through them even though we've been back for a week as of today.
Trains are only practical for short distances in built up areas. America and Canada are just too big for trains to be a viable option. Obviously there are trains and subways in cities though.
Yeah, driving in Ireland is weird. We have smaller cars and smaller roads, with more holes than a Swiss mountain path. My road is very small and will only fit one car, but they drive down it at 40mph. Very dangerous, for both pedestrians and vehicles. We have a lot of families in my neighbourhood and we're always out walking, so we have to be on high alert all the time. The crazy thing is, most of the drivers speeding are not actually speeding. They're within the limit, it's just a ridiculously fast limit and is highly unsafe for such rural roads. You do get used to it, but at first it's a frightening experience. The same happened to me when I went to Morocco.
It's the colours that make Ireland so beautiful. Everything is indeed very lush and natural in appearance. Most of the areas are never touched apart from cattle and sheep and the odd farmer. With that said, there is a terrible amount of litter here and there are many unkempt areas that ruin the natural beauty. That's going to happen everywhere, but it's always a shame seeing McDonalds rappers everywhere.
Here is a picture I took today on my phone while walking to pick up my sister from school:
I only had like 20 minutes to play (#dadproblems) so the Titans are still all over Olympus and I'm climbing upward fighting hordes of enemies. I just finished the remastered psp games, so I got used to those and was thoroughly unprepared for the graphics, cinematic feel, and number of enemies.
The sense of scale in that game is amazing! You get a real sense that the Titans are just massive. So you haven't faced the first boss yet then?
You're definitely right about Ireland's colours and natural beauty, AngryGoldfish. The untouched-ness of the land in Ireland is definitely appealing.
It was the same thing with us walking on a rural road with some houses/families around, the drivers were driving the speed limit on a one lane road with blind corners/hills. The speed limit should absolutely be lower under those circumstances.
Sorry about going off-topic again, guys.
Pedalboard Temple T34
Pedals DryBell Vibe Machine > EQD Hoof > SGFX If 6 Was 9 > Wilson Rippah wah > SGFX Custom Shop Buffer > SGFX Super Drive Ltd > SGFX Nitro > Dr Scientist BitQuest! > Dr Scientist Reverberator > Digitech JamMan Solo XT
The only God of War I've played was the original back on the PS2, I remember quite liking it. I got a God of War bundle PS3 several months ago and haven't played any of them yet. Which game should I start with? I know I should maybe go back to the first one, but realistically I don't have a ton of gaming time anymore and there's no way I'm plowing through all six(?) of them within the next decade. I'll likely only play two or maybe three tops.
They are all great games but, imo, you should go with 2 and 3 since you've already played the first one. I can't speak to the other GOW games as I haven't played them....yet.
Pedalboard Temple T34
Pedals DryBell Vibe Machine > EQD Hoof > SGFX If 6 Was 9 > Wilson Rippah wah > SGFX Custom Shop Buffer > SGFX Super Drive Ltd > SGFX Nitro > Dr Scientist BitQuest! > Dr Scientist Reverberator > Digitech JamMan Solo XT
The PSP remasters for PS3 are pretty cool - they only take like 6 hours to beat as well, so you can get them done pretty quickly. But yeah - replay 1 if you want, then 2 and 3. Save the others for when/if you have extra gaming time.
dubhain wrote:I really enjoyed travelling by train while I was there. I had only travelled by train once in Canada and it was great but it is just such an expensive (and slow) way to travel here that trains are mostly used for transport of goods. It does provide you with some amazing scenery though that you can't see otherwise however so I can't knock the train system here entirely. The province I'm originally from doesn't even have trains anymore (not since the early 80s) so I never even rode a train until I was in my early twenties. Plus the trains and buses in Ireland all have wifi!
There was only one scary part about driving a car over there for me and it was the really narrow roads where it is basically one lane but two-way traffic and the speed limit is 80km/hr and you can't see around any bends because of hedges or fences. Didn't mind driving on the other side of the car/road at all otherwise.
We had quite a few nice days weatherwise while we were there. A few days in a row of sunny and between 20-25. Actually got sunburnt pretty badly on the first sunny day. Otherwise it was in the 10 to 15 range and cloudy or raining, which was still fine by me. Ireland still looks pretty darn good even in the rain. Couldn't believe how lush the vegetation is there; felt like I was in a rainforest in some parts. I feel like we got a good approximation of the range of summer weather during our trip. No storms though. The weather wasn't all that different from what I grew up with though.
Maybe I'll post some pics of the trip when I get a chance. My wife took about 2000 so we're still sorting through them even though we've been back for a week as of today.
Trains are only practical for short distances in built up areas. America and Canada are just too big for trains to be a viable option. Obviously there are trains and subways in cities though.
Yeah, driving in Ireland is weird. We have smaller cars and smaller roads, with more holes than a Swiss mountain path. My road is very small and will only fit one car, but they drive down it at 40mph. Very dangerous, for both pedestrians and vehicles. We have a lot of families in my neighbourhood and we're always out walking, so we have to be on high alert all the time. The crazy thing is, most of the drivers speeding are not actually speeding. They're within the limit, it's just a ridiculously fast limit and is highly unsafe for such rural roads. You do get used to it, but at first it's a frightening experience. The same happened to me when I went to Morocco.
It's the colours that make Ireland so beautiful. Everything is indeed very lush and natural in appearance. Most of the areas are never touched apart from cattle and sheep and the odd farmer. With that said, there is a terrible amount of litter here and there are many unkempt areas that ruin the natural beauty. That's going to happen everywhere, but it's always a shame seeing McDonalds rappers everywhere.
Here is a picture I took today on my phone while walking to pick up my sister from school:
Ireland - home.jpg
What a cool holiday, Jerrod, sounds awesome! We'd love to go to Ireland too! That pic is lovely, Danny, looks like a really beautiful place.
People drive too fast in the suburbs too, it's so dumb to drive recklessly where people are living and walking, drives me nuts.
t-rey wrote:Started God of War 3 last night. I regret waiting so long to get around to it.
Cool game hey! I liked it, really awesome settings and the huge bosses are so cool.
AngryGoldfish wrote:So what have you folks got in the Steam Summer sale so far? I've bought
Borderlands 2 - €7.49 The Swapper - €2.79 Terraria - €1.99 Elder Scrolls: Skyrim Legendary Edition - €10.19 The Walking Dead Season One - €5.74 Assassin's Creed 3 - €4.99 PAYDAY 2 - €5.59 XCOM Complete - €9.89 The Witcher: Enhanced Edition - €1.59 The Witcher 2 - €3.99 Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon - €3.74 Tiny and Big: Grandpa's Leftover - €1.39 Gunpoint Special Edition - €3.75 Splinter Cell Blacklist Deluxe Edition - €13.59
= €76.72
14 games for the price of one new release like Watch Dogs and one Indie title like FEZ.
Wow what a haul! Those Steam sales are so cool, that's an incredible amount of gaming entertainment right there for a super low price, nicely done! My faves in that list are Witcher 2 and Skyrim, both totally awesome games that you could play for months. Blood Dragon is super cool too, love the style. AC3 is cool too.. same with the Swapper, neat game there.. cool haul of games buddy.
dubhain wrote:Don't forget the early Fallout games in that list. Very tempted to get those.
When I first got into watching Let's Plays on YouTube I watched like 100 hours of Fallout New Vegas, cool game!
t-rey wrote:Impulse bought The Stanley Parable from the Steam sale. Pretty excited to see what it's all about.
AngryGoldfish wrote:I have the Stanley Parade as well. I haven't played it yet though.
So what did you guys think of Stanley? I watched a few playthroughs of it, really neat game, lots of laughs and surprises.. pretty unique too hey..
Cool games I've been watching lately... Shovel Knight! It's a really neat old-school NES style side-scroller/platformer, really well done. I really enjoyed Legend of Dungeon too, not sure if I mentioned it before.. it's a rogue-like dungeon crawler where you start in this tavern and the mission is to go downstairs to the dungeon, get to the bottom, level 26, get the 4 diamonds, then bring them back up to the tavern. Every playthrough is procedurally generated and the graphics and sounds are awesome, pixel-art kinda stuff, loved it.
