Irish tourists abroad

BraziliaNZ

Hi - just looking for people's thoughts and opinions on Irish people who travel. Having returned from South America recently and a couple of years down under, here are some very general observations

1) My first observation is that per capita, we seem to holiday in far flung places FAR more than any other nation. E.g. stayed on a remote island in Fiji and about 30% of the people were Irish. Every hostel in South America has Irish people in them.

2) Tend to be less likely to be travelling alone, although gangs of lads/girls on holiday or working holiday together seemed to be more common in Australia. Usually gang up as many mates as possible and head off.

3) Seem to be friendly to everybody except other Irish people, who they try to snub because they think they're too cool for school or something, or are a bit angry that they're not the only cool paddies in town

4) There are two Irish approaches towards Irish Pubs - a) Again you're too cool for school and you would never be caught dead in one, like what kind of tourist goes all the way to Australia or Buenos Aires to drink in an Irish bar!?!? (see Chinatown in every big city in the world for example, where you always see tonnes of Chinese people, although that's considered cultural!)
and b) Spend every spare minute you can in there getting thrashed drinking Bulmers and listening to the Wolfe Tones

5) If you ever see ANYONE in an Abercrombie and Finches Orange juice hoody or whatever it is outside of USA, it's a girl with a posh Dublin accent. Seriously in Melbourne anyone wearing one of those was Irish, I'd usually follow them until they spoke to make sure.

I try and find a happy medium when it comes to Irish bars but am usually intrigued by them when i'm in some obscure place

Any other observations? Comments?

blow69

Too true.


One thing that doesn't change from country to country is the ability for some of them to make complete tools out of themselves.

Latchy

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Seem to be friendly to everybody except other Irish people, who they try to snub because they think they're too cool for school or something, or are a bit angry that they're not the only cool paddies in town

Yes , I have come across this to

blow69 wrote: »

Too true.


One thing that doesn't change from country to country is the ability for some of them to make complete tools out of themselves.

Yes, another accurate observation .

Berty

How big is your tarring brush?

How long did you follow girls around the streets of Australia pretending to read the writing on their chests? Yeah :rolleyes:

I dont like bumping into Irish people on holidays because

1. They might be wearing the same pennys clothes as me
2. Im on holidays AWAY from Ireland
3. Irish people remind me of home

I was in Singapore airport very late a few weeks back and there were only Asian people as far as the eye could see. I felt happy to be in that unique situation where I was the minority and YES they were all looking at me, sweaty pale faced Irish guy.

I do go into Irish bars but only because I like the western food they serve but never spend the evening in one. There are usually more British people in Irish bars abroad than Irish, possibly because they know they can get a regular pint sized drink there.

I went to an Irish bar in Perth, WA because thats where all the expats met up and the craic was mighty. :pac: The guy sang Galway girl, the place went mental.

I dont "DO" the holiday brochures from the like of Budget Travel, Sunworld etc etc. If I wanted that I would go to Tramore on a Sunny day. (admitedly tarring myself but I have been on those holidays before)

markopantelic

hahaha epic

peanuthead

We're about the only thing spreading faster than swine flu. Irish people are f*cking everywhere. Everywhere.

netwhizkid

The way things are going lol! I'd say we should build a military and take over some place in the sun and have our own colony and move everybody out there:pac: Seriously though, When I am abroad I do tend to avoid the Irish except when in the US and then shur the craic it is 90. McLean Avenue in the Bronx in probably the most Irishy place outside of Ireland.

The weirdest thing is when you get scangers out in the Costas and their thick accents and behaviour certainly make for great ambassadors. I'd hate to think what the average Spaniard thinks of the Paddy. Still we are not as derided as the Brit Lager Stag lout which terrorises the capitals of Eastern Europe every summer.

America is now the place to go as I heard a "group" of 180 lads went to Australia and got no work and then headed to NY and a good few got work. Tourists is a term for a by gone age, we are all now goddamn Emigrants and goodones too thanks to Biffo.

BraziliaNZ

Berty wrote: »

How big is your tarring brush?

Effin' huge

Berty wrote: »

I dont like bumping into Irish people on holidays

I just think that's a stupid attitude, you should be nice to people wherever you are, whoever they are.

I note you have a Munster icon, I forgot to say, from what I can see abroad, if you're not a girl wearing A&F you're a thick culchie in a Munster jersey that's jumped on the band wagon, every Irish c*nt and his uncle seems to be wearing them now!

Fratton Fred

blow69 wrote: »

One thing that doesn't change from country to country is the ability for some of them to make complete tools out of themselves.

I don't think the Irish are unique in that sense, you probably just cringe more when you hear an Irish person being a tool.

netwhizkid wrote: »

The weirdest thing is when you get scangers out in the Costas and their thick accents and behaviour certainly make for great ambassadors. I'd hate to think what the average Spaniard thinks of the Paddy. Still we are not as derided as the Brit Lager Stag lout which terrorises the capitals of Eastern Europe every summer.

To be fair, most people in european capitals will hear someone speaking English and presume they are english, ergo the irish/welsh/scottish scanger out in the costas will be giving england a worse name than they will their own countries. That said, yeah, there are far too many english lager louts embarrassing themselves and their country.

Can you tell the difference between a German scanger and an Austrian one?

BraziliaNZ

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Can you tell the difference between a German scanger and an Austrian one?

I think Hitler was both. But no, I've never met German or Austrian "skangers" abroad, met tonnes of normal ones though, and nerdy ones.

SuperStarHoney

Good thread.

I'll throw my tupence in.

1) In general I think Irish people really like to travel and that's basically why we're f*cking everywhere. I personally think this is a great thing, although I hope it doesn't become because of necessity.

2) All the mammies would be worrying if we were travelling alone........

3) Haven't found this, I would always be polite to my fellow Irish abroad without necessarily wanting to hangout with them.

4) Sometimes Irish pubs are the only pubs if the country doesn't really have a pub culture. I'd usually only go specifically to Irish pubs to watch sport that wouldn't be on in regular bars.

5) Don't really notice what the Irish abroad wear but have noticed they've gotten a lot flasher in recent years.

peanuthead wrote: »

We're about the only thing spreading faster than swine flu. Irish people are f*cking everywhere. Everywhere.

LOL, Hitting the nail on the head there man!!

blow69

Fratton Fred wrote: »

I don't think the Irish are unique in that sense, you probably just cringe more when you hear an Irish person being a tool.

Well when there's three cop cars called because of a brawl between two groups of Irish lads, then of course I would cringe.

Famous45

People who frequent Irish bars while away on holidays or travelling need their heads tested in my opinion, I've done it, but when I look back I think why of why.

You travel to another country to experience their culture, not your own and in saying all this I've yet to go into an Irish pub outside of Ireland that has the same atmosphere as here. There are purely Irish themed yet half the idiots who drink in them think they own the place cause they're Irish - lol.

Sad.

Frequent a pub abroad by all means to catch the match, but to be heading in every night is lunacy. As said I've never found one that has a serious craic like your local, or at the races on every tv screen and johnny behind the bar with the betting slips, it just doesnt happen.

BraziliaNZ

Famous45 wrote: »

You travel to another country to experience their culture, not your own and in saying all this I've yet to go into an Irish pub outside of Ireland that has the same atmosphere as here. There are purely Irish themed yet half the idiots who drink in them think they own the place cause they're Irish - lol.

Sad.

Hang on - if you're in Oz or NZ for a substantial amount of time and you're drinking in Irish bars at the weekends this is sad? Should you be out experiencing their culture, which as far as I could see was eating pies and having barbeques and swearing? Their culture is the same as ours, they're all Brit/Irish anyway, unless you're going to Abo dances around fires or having hungis with Maoris every night.

Kotek Besar

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Their culture is the same as ours, they're all Brit/Irish anyway

Australian culture is most certainly not the same as mine.

..but that's for another thread.

Berty

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Effin' huge



I just think that's a stupid attitude, you should be nice to people wherever you are, whoever they are.

I note you have a Munster icon, I forgot to say, from what I can see abroad, if you're not a girl wearing A&F you're a thick culchie in a Munster jersey that's jumped on the band wagon, every Irish c*nt and his uncle seems to be wearing them now!

Not everybody who supports Munster jumped on the band wagon and not everybody who supports munster is a thick cultchie.

Not everybody who wears Abercrombie & Fitch or a Munster Jersey is a thick Irish Cvnt either. :rolleyes:

watna

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

Hang on - if you're in Oz or NZ for a substantial amount of time and you're drinking in Irish bars at the weekends this is sad? Should you be out experiencing their culture, which as far as I could see was eating pies and having barbeques and swearing? Their culture is the same as ours, they're all Brit/Irish anyway, unless you're going to Abo dances around fires or having hungis with Maoris every night.

Plus Irish bars are the good bars to drink in here. I don't have any Irish friends here - they're all kiwis, but they'll always suggest Irish bars because they have the best atmosphere and food. I was in the" lets avoid Irish bars and do what the locals do brigade", but here the locas drink in Irish bars.

Fratton Fred

I spent three week in Thailand, the last of which was in Sa Kaeo where i was constantly being pointed at for being a "Farrang". It was a really great experience but when i got back to Bangkok, I though all my Christmases had come at once, I spent my last three days in Thailand eating Dublin bay Prawns, chips and drinking Guinness in an Irish pub just off Pat pong.:D

netwhizkid

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

I think Hitler was both. But no, I've never met German or Austrian "skangers" abroad, met tonnes of normal ones though, and nerdy ones.

The closest I ever came to a German Skanger was a German youth wearing a hoodie and holding a skateboard at Ostabahnhof in Munich, I had just arrived and asked him with pidgin german the platform for the S-Bahn and he replied and told me where to go in good English. I did not feel intimidated and I don't think knacker culture exists there, or if so it is quite small. Now Imagine a US tourist asking a scobe this in Dublin! Germany is such a well civilised and modern country, I cringe when I compare Ireland to abroad.

BuffyBot

I'm completely failing to see where this is going. OP, you should consider a blog perhaps.