Non-fiction; Travel/humor. ( )

In the late 1990's the English comedian Tony Hawks (no relation to the skateboarder) did an impressively dumb thing by hitchhiking around Ireland hauling a refrigerator. Luckily for him, the people he encountered in Ireland were overwhelmingly kind to him.

Tony's travelogue manages to paint a very generous picture of the country in spite of his numerous (and generally tongue-in-cheek) complaints about it. Highlights of the trip involve a brief encounter with some of the world's humblest royalty and a conversation with the head matchmaker of Europe's foremost Singles' Festival. ( )

Loved the humor and one-liners. A welcome respite during this quarantine. ( )

Hilarious, with moments when the laughing just bursts out - nevermind the fact that the train is quite packed and I'll look like a lunatic :-D
What stood out for me: very funny descriptions of the surfing episode, and of course the doghouse. ( )

What a tonic this book was for this time of social distancing and stressful outings! I was in Ireland less than a year ago and I really enjoyed reading of Tony Hawks adventures while he hitch-hiked around the Republic of Ireland. He did it in 1997 but I think a person could probably have done it last year and found the Irish people as friendly and helpful as he did then. Life slows down in Ireland; tractors still take to the highway to travel miles with no-one getting upset behind them; sheep stand in the middle of the road and just look at the cars they have stopped for as long as they like; people stop for a long chat while out for a walk. And everyone wants to help you whether you need directions or a recommendation for a place to visit or how to figure out where to park without getting a ticket.

Tony didn't include Northern Ireland in his trip because it was still a dangerous time to go there. He did however end up in Northern Ireland briefly to do a TV interview and the chapter on that is hilarious. We were able to visit Northern Ireland last year and we found no difference between people regardless of which side of the border we were on. ( )