Saturday June 18, 2011
Free day here in Dublin. After having some blessed time to sleep in, most of our group met together to walk to the museum of modern art and then tour the Guinness factory. The museum was great, especially because they were featuring a Frieda Khalo and Diego Rivera exhibit which was really interesting. I took a few minutes for myself before meeting back up with the group and went to the gardens of the museum just to sit and look at them and the sky and to listen to my music. I didn’t need time away because I don’t like the other students though. I love all these people. Before we left for the trip, Dr. Kelly said that we’d all be best friends by the time we got home, and I didn’t really believe him, but it actually is true. I love them all. Once we met back up after the museum, we walked over to tour the Guinness factory (which just seemed so fitting after the amount we’d drunk of it these two weeks). We all met up for dinner and then Charles’ and Drew’s 22nd birthday celebration which lasted well into the night. Like I said before, we’re like family now.
Sunday June 19, 2011
Its our last day of doing stuff for the course and our last day here. We took the train to the little coastal town of Howth and climbed the big hill (which is really more like a small mountain rather than a hill) right on the edge of the land to the point where the Ulysses character, Molly Bloom, remembers her final soliloquy that closes the book. We sat there on the rocks that jutted out over the azure water and crashing waves and listened as Shannon read the final pages of the book as Molly is remembering when she and Leopold came to those hills when he proposed. The scenery here was some of the most beautiful I’ve seen. There were sweeping cliffs covered in heather and coarse greenery that swept down at a steep angle to the cliffs and the waves. Gulls were wheeling around and screeching their heads off; we even saw a seal playing in the water 80 feet down the cliffs. The weather was perfect today too: clear skies, sun alternating with over-casting clouds and a refreshing breeze that didn’t allow any of us to get too sweaty on our little hike. After we traversed the cliffwalk, we chilled at a pub for about an hour waiting for the bus back into Dublin and got tea, hot wings and, of course, pints. We hopped on the bus there in Howth and rode to the outskirts of Dublin to try to find a spot where a certain scene in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, called “The Bird Girl” scene, took place and in which Stephen (the main character) has a life-altering change of mind in a completely silent, spiritually-connected moment with a girl he accidentally comes upon in the water. It turned out to be substantially farther than we’d anticipated and some people had things that really needed to be finished before it became too late so we turned back. We all went out together for dinner at a Japanese restaurant called, awesomely, “Wagamama,” the same place we’d gone the first evening we arrived in Dublin. We had a wonderful time swapping our favorite memories of the trip and with Dr. Kelly quizzing us to identify snatches of the literature we had been studying. There was lots of laughter, teasing and memories flying around. These are my friends.
Monday June 20, 2011
Today is the end and that it unthinkable to me. I can’t believe we are already heading home – this trip has been one of the most fun, memorable things I have ever gotten to experience in my life and I am so grateful to have been given this opportunity. The places that I saw, the people I’ve met, the things I’ve learned, the things I’ve done (from climbing up 5000 year old monuments to discovering an appreciation of beer) and the questions I have been prompted to address while here have forever shaped me, some subtly and others not so subtly. Not only did I learn new things about a people and a culture and a literature that I knew nothing about, I learned new things about myself.
According to my flight map in the seat back in front of me, I have traveled 1565 miles toward home which puts me about half-way there. What a blessing that I both desperately want to stay here in Ireland and go home; to have so much good to multiple places is something I can never take for granted. And I never will.
“I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.”
The Lake Isle of Innisfree; W. B. Yeats
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Ireland days....I don't even know anymore.
Monday June 13, 2011
Today we left the west coast of Ireland and headed for Dublin. On the way, we stopped for a tour at Cruachan Ai, the possible location of Queen Medb and King Allil’s palace. These two figure in the Irish mythology that we studied in “The Tain,” the story about the cattle raid that Medb instigates when she realizes that because her husband possesses a fine bull and she does not, he surpasses her wealth. Medb was a warrior (as indeed were most Irish women) who fought alongside her husband and her own soldiers on the cattle raid. The place of women in Irish society is unlike anything I’ve ever heard about before; they seem remarkably “forward” or liberal, for lack of a better term. The women had all the rights belonging to a man, and she had control over her own lands, servants, family etc. But what impressed me the most was that the Irish had specific laws in place to protect children. They considered any sexual union that resulted in a child being born as a “marriage” in that the child was always considered to have both a father and a mother. By law, there was never a fatherless or motherless child (what we would term an illegitimate birth) in this society and there was always, by law, a caregiver for a child. The protection afforded the child, someone who never asked to be born and should be cared for just by right on being a human being really impressed me; it’s an idea we could learn from in our society.
After finishing inside the museum, we bussed over to some of the actual sights we had talked about. The most interesting by far was the cave considered to be an entrance to the faeries’ world. Six of us crawled down it, no easy task by the way, as it began as a small, muddy steep opening to wriggle through and continued as a rocky, again muddy, and very dark passage into the earth. It opened up to standing height and before about 15 feet down but we didn’t go much farther than 30 feet since it became very muddy and none of us had prepared for a small spelunking adventure.
Our tour guide provided me with a bit of comic relief during the 3+ hours we were at the sight, simply because I could definitely see myself as being just like her. She was obviously incredibly passionate about her job and about the Cruachan Ai site. She kept wandering off the beaten path of the tour’s information into tangent after tangent as things she had said before sparked new information she wanted to tell us. It became the longest tour I have ever been on (and a little exhausting as the wealth of information began to drift together) but I totally understand how she got as carried away as she did. It’s fun to talk about things about which you’re passionate.
We drove to Dublin then where we’ll be for the next week. The first item on the agenda was LAUNDRY as we have all been running out of clothes. I’ve really never appreciated the excitement of actually getting to do laundry. The hot water, that delicious-smelling detergent, the dryer were nothing at all different than normal but after having to wait for it, it was luxurious. It’s the little things in life, really…
Tuesday June 14, 2011
We started today with a trip to Newgrange, a ceremonial burial site that has been dated to 3500 BC. We were lucky enough to have arrived early and were the first tour of the day, and so the customary horde of hundreds, if not thousands, of people were nonexistent. The workmanship, scale, age and mystical “aura” surrounding the monument was astounding. The intricate designs of swirls and interweaving spirals, geometric triangles and zigzags showed the skill of the ancient Irish on a micro level while the vast scale of the monument and the feat of engineering that it was to create it shouts their abilities at the macro level. The mathematical calculations and the creating of passage so that exactly at the winter solstice, the beams of the rising sun would flow directly through the door header, pass up the winding passage way and illuminate the entire inner chamber is staggering. I wish I could be there for that!
After Newgrange, we hopped back in the bus to see Glenn de Lough, which means “Valley of Two Lakes” and was the sight of an early monastic community. The site, like all the other places we’ve been, was beautiful and peaceful. We toured the ruins of the monastery then decided to hike up a trail that led to a view of both lakes. We all stayed together for about the first hour, then when going got rougher, all the girls but Shannon and I turned back to go take a nap. The rest of us climbed on. And on. And on. Although the stairs built up the mountain did remind me of the Never-ending Steps the Frodo and Sam have to climb in Return of the King to get into the backdoor of Mordor, the view, once again, was worth it. As we stood and looked around us at the mountains, we could barely see the top of the Glenn de Lough’s round tower peeking through the trees and were imagining the relief pilgrims journeying to the monastery hundreds of years ago would have felt at finally glimpsing it.
On the way the Glen de Lough, we ALL passed out on the bus. This last week has been exhausting but I had hardly noticed it because it has been so enjoyable. It finally hit this afternoon and we all slept most of the 1 ½ ride between the two sites. It was lovely, to state it mildly.
Wednesday June 15, 2011
Today we took a day trip to the Yeats Tower and the towns of {town name} and {2nd town name}. Joyce lived in the Tower only for a short time, but the opening chapter of his masterpiece book, Ulysses, takes place in a similar tower with characters based off of the guys Joyce was living with at the time. Even though we knew it was Joyce and his friends who had really lived there, it was easy to imagine Stephen Dedalus, not Joyce, and Buck Mulligan instead of Joyce’s good friend. The Tower is one of an old garrison built to defend the Irish coast from Napoleonic attacks but once that threat was no longer eminent, the government began leasing the towers to people very cheaply. It is directly on the coast and right beside a swimming hole and Charlie took the plunge, not once but twice, into the frigid water, reminding us all of an episode in Ulysses where Buck Mulligan does the same thing.
After eating our lunch overlooking the sea, we took a 6 km. hike over a mountain to the next village. The hike was beautiful and not difficult at all. The path ran directly on the side of the cliffs and we could look down and see the aqua blue water crashing on the rocks and the sea birds wheeling around, even though they looked like specs from the height at which we were walking. We finally arrived at the beach on the other side of the mountain and all took off our shoes to cool our feet in the freezing water. This time Drew and Charles, not to be outdone, joined Charlie in another plunge into the surf. They said the water was indeed, as Joyce puts it in Ulysses, of “scrotum tightening” temperature.
While we waited for the train to take us back to the city, we stopped at a pub for drinks, tea, Irish coffee, Pringles, Cokes etc. etc. etc. and then all found a cheap dinner at a vegetarian Indian restaurant back in Dublin.
Thursday June 16, 2011
Today, June 16, is “Bloom Day” here in Dublin, the day the James Joyce’s iconic novel Ulysses takes place. We opened our day with lunch in St. Stephen’s Green, the place Joyce stumbled through drunk one early morning to be taken in by a kindly Jewish man who took care of him and made sure he was ok. This man and this situation became the basis for the character Leopold Bloom in Ulysses. Today, there were people all over the place acting out scenes from Ulysses, dressed up in period costumes and wishing everyone happy Bloom’s Day. It was so cool to see people engaging so completely in a literary tradition that encapsulated for them their cultural heritage.
After lunch, we walked to the National Historic and Archeology museum and spent a few hours there looking at artifacts from all of Ireland’s history from Stone Age up through our modern period. Most interesting by far were the Bog People. Over the last 200-300 years, people have been uncovering humans buried in the bogs while they were harvesting the peat for fuel. Multiple sets of remains have been found not only in Ireland but all over Europe, and they often show signs of intense mutilation before they were buried. Authorities speculate that these people were human sacrifices that were the placed on tribal boundaries as peace offerings to the gods of the land. Sometimes, this practice was used to get rid of rival candidates to the throne, criminals or prisoners of war.
From the museum, we walked to the National Library to see a Yeats exhibit. It was amazing. As soon as you walked in, there was an area set up with recordings of people reading some of Yeats’ most iconic works, accompanied by pictures and the text of the poem. I got stuck there for 15 minutes before I even set foot in the rest of the exhibit! They had original, hand-written manuscripts of his poems like “Easter 1916” and “The Wild Swans at Coole” and “Prayer for my Daughter” which was amazing to see, and there were multiple exhibits about different important parts of his life, like his unrequited love for the actress Maud Gonne, his immersion the cult of the Sacred Rose and involvement with the Irish uprisings. I bought a book of Yeats’ poetry here and have been so enjoying reading it bit by bit in my little bits of free time. After this, our group of students walked to the National Art Gallery which was lovely. We spent about an hour there, spread out in ones and twos, absorbing the paintings. Dinner and going out for some pints rounded up the day.
Friday June 17, 2011
We began our day with a tour of Kilmainham jail, the place where many of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916 were imprisoned and executed. The jail was built in the “reformed” style, meaning that the inmates were given work to do as well as an extremely structured day within the prison walls. Based on the idea that “Idle hands do the Devil’s work,” the prisoners’ work consisted of unbinding the fibers of the massive, tar-coated ropes used on ships. They were separated from each other, ideally in separated cells although over-crowding of the prisons often made that impossible, and they were allowed 1 hour to attend to religious duties and 1 hour for exercise in the prison yards which consisted of walking in circles without making eye contact with other inmates. Children were also imprisoned, usually for stealing food in the midst of the Potato Famine. The reason we went to see the jail was because it was the sight of the execution by firing squad of the leaders of the rebellion. Before this time, most of the Irish considered the revolutionaries who wanted to break British control over Ireland as trouble-makers and did not look on their activities with a sympathetic eye. However, when the British, so summarily and without preamble, killed these men, public opinion rounded to them in anger over the injustice they suffered. In their deaths if not completely seen in their lives, these men spurred on the cause they loved, that of Irish freedom.
From Kilmainham, we walked over to a big museum that housed an exhibit dedicated to the Easter 1916 uprising, the same rebellion I was talking about above. We walked through and saw newspaper clippings, pictures, letters, and other things from the revolutionaries to each other and about public reaction to the uprising. It was here that Gretchen realized that she left her wallet at the supermarket at which we got lunch, so Julie, Charlie and I walked with her to go find it. Luckily, someone had turned it in so in gratitude for walking through the chilly rain with her, she decided to buy us all pints. As we headed back into Dublin on the Luas (an electric tram system), we started chatting with an Irish guy who turned out to be a college student as well. He found out we were heading pub-ward and took us to one of his favorites. We chatted over pints for an hour and then parted ways. Random, but super fun.
Today we left the west coast of Ireland and headed for Dublin. On the way, we stopped for a tour at Cruachan Ai, the possible location of Queen Medb and King Allil’s palace. These two figure in the Irish mythology that we studied in “The Tain,” the story about the cattle raid that Medb instigates when she realizes that because her husband possesses a fine bull and she does not, he surpasses her wealth. Medb was a warrior (as indeed were most Irish women) who fought alongside her husband and her own soldiers on the cattle raid. The place of women in Irish society is unlike anything I’ve ever heard about before; they seem remarkably “forward” or liberal, for lack of a better term. The women had all the rights belonging to a man, and she had control over her own lands, servants, family etc. But what impressed me the most was that the Irish had specific laws in place to protect children. They considered any sexual union that resulted in a child being born as a “marriage” in that the child was always considered to have both a father and a mother. By law, there was never a fatherless or motherless child (what we would term an illegitimate birth) in this society and there was always, by law, a caregiver for a child. The protection afforded the child, someone who never asked to be born and should be cared for just by right on being a human being really impressed me; it’s an idea we could learn from in our society.
After finishing inside the museum, we bussed over to some of the actual sights we had talked about. The most interesting by far was the cave considered to be an entrance to the faeries’ world. Six of us crawled down it, no easy task by the way, as it began as a small, muddy steep opening to wriggle through and continued as a rocky, again muddy, and very dark passage into the earth. It opened up to standing height and before about 15 feet down but we didn’t go much farther than 30 feet since it became very muddy and none of us had prepared for a small spelunking adventure.
Our tour guide provided me with a bit of comic relief during the 3+ hours we were at the sight, simply because I could definitely see myself as being just like her. She was obviously incredibly passionate about her job and about the Cruachan Ai site. She kept wandering off the beaten path of the tour’s information into tangent after tangent as things she had said before sparked new information she wanted to tell us. It became the longest tour I have ever been on (and a little exhausting as the wealth of information began to drift together) but I totally understand how she got as carried away as she did. It’s fun to talk about things about which you’re passionate.
We drove to Dublin then where we’ll be for the next week. The first item on the agenda was LAUNDRY as we have all been running out of clothes. I’ve really never appreciated the excitement of actually getting to do laundry. The hot water, that delicious-smelling detergent, the dryer were nothing at all different than normal but after having to wait for it, it was luxurious. It’s the little things in life, really…
Tuesday June 14, 2011
We started today with a trip to Newgrange, a ceremonial burial site that has been dated to 3500 BC. We were lucky enough to have arrived early and were the first tour of the day, and so the customary horde of hundreds, if not thousands, of people were nonexistent. The workmanship, scale, age and mystical “aura” surrounding the monument was astounding. The intricate designs of swirls and interweaving spirals, geometric triangles and zigzags showed the skill of the ancient Irish on a micro level while the vast scale of the monument and the feat of engineering that it was to create it shouts their abilities at the macro level. The mathematical calculations and the creating of passage so that exactly at the winter solstice, the beams of the rising sun would flow directly through the door header, pass up the winding passage way and illuminate the entire inner chamber is staggering. I wish I could be there for that!
After Newgrange, we hopped back in the bus to see Glenn de Lough, which means “Valley of Two Lakes” and was the sight of an early monastic community. The site, like all the other places we’ve been, was beautiful and peaceful. We toured the ruins of the monastery then decided to hike up a trail that led to a view of both lakes. We all stayed together for about the first hour, then when going got rougher, all the girls but Shannon and I turned back to go take a nap. The rest of us climbed on. And on. And on. Although the stairs built up the mountain did remind me of the Never-ending Steps the Frodo and Sam have to climb in Return of the King to get into the backdoor of Mordor, the view, once again, was worth it. As we stood and looked around us at the mountains, we could barely see the top of the Glenn de Lough’s round tower peeking through the trees and were imagining the relief pilgrims journeying to the monastery hundreds of years ago would have felt at finally glimpsing it.
On the way the Glen de Lough, we ALL passed out on the bus. This last week has been exhausting but I had hardly noticed it because it has been so enjoyable. It finally hit this afternoon and we all slept most of the 1 ½ ride between the two sites. It was lovely, to state it mildly.
Wednesday June 15, 2011
Today we took a day trip to the Yeats Tower and the towns of {town name} and {2nd town name}. Joyce lived in the Tower only for a short time, but the opening chapter of his masterpiece book, Ulysses, takes place in a similar tower with characters based off of the guys Joyce was living with at the time. Even though we knew it was Joyce and his friends who had really lived there, it was easy to imagine Stephen Dedalus, not Joyce, and Buck Mulligan instead of Joyce’s good friend. The Tower is one of an old garrison built to defend the Irish coast from Napoleonic attacks but once that threat was no longer eminent, the government began leasing the towers to people very cheaply. It is directly on the coast and right beside a swimming hole and Charlie took the plunge, not once but twice, into the frigid water, reminding us all of an episode in Ulysses where Buck Mulligan does the same thing.
After eating our lunch overlooking the sea, we took a 6 km. hike over a mountain to the next village. The hike was beautiful and not difficult at all. The path ran directly on the side of the cliffs and we could look down and see the aqua blue water crashing on the rocks and the sea birds wheeling around, even though they looked like specs from the height at which we were walking. We finally arrived at the beach on the other side of the mountain and all took off our shoes to cool our feet in the freezing water. This time Drew and Charles, not to be outdone, joined Charlie in another plunge into the surf. They said the water was indeed, as Joyce puts it in Ulysses, of “scrotum tightening” temperature.
While we waited for the train to take us back to the city, we stopped at a pub for drinks, tea, Irish coffee, Pringles, Cokes etc. etc. etc. and then all found a cheap dinner at a vegetarian Indian restaurant back in Dublin.
Thursday June 16, 2011
Today, June 16, is “Bloom Day” here in Dublin, the day the James Joyce’s iconic novel Ulysses takes place. We opened our day with lunch in St. Stephen’s Green, the place Joyce stumbled through drunk one early morning to be taken in by a kindly Jewish man who took care of him and made sure he was ok. This man and this situation became the basis for the character Leopold Bloom in Ulysses. Today, there were people all over the place acting out scenes from Ulysses, dressed up in period costumes and wishing everyone happy Bloom’s Day. It was so cool to see people engaging so completely in a literary tradition that encapsulated for them their cultural heritage.
After lunch, we walked to the National Historic and Archeology museum and spent a few hours there looking at artifacts from all of Ireland’s history from Stone Age up through our modern period. Most interesting by far were the Bog People. Over the last 200-300 years, people have been uncovering humans buried in the bogs while they were harvesting the peat for fuel. Multiple sets of remains have been found not only in Ireland but all over Europe, and they often show signs of intense mutilation before they were buried. Authorities speculate that these people were human sacrifices that were the placed on tribal boundaries as peace offerings to the gods of the land. Sometimes, this practice was used to get rid of rival candidates to the throne, criminals or prisoners of war.
From the museum, we walked to the National Library to see a Yeats exhibit. It was amazing. As soon as you walked in, there was an area set up with recordings of people reading some of Yeats’ most iconic works, accompanied by pictures and the text of the poem. I got stuck there for 15 minutes before I even set foot in the rest of the exhibit! They had original, hand-written manuscripts of his poems like “Easter 1916” and “The Wild Swans at Coole” and “Prayer for my Daughter” which was amazing to see, and there were multiple exhibits about different important parts of his life, like his unrequited love for the actress Maud Gonne, his immersion the cult of the Sacred Rose and involvement with the Irish uprisings. I bought a book of Yeats’ poetry here and have been so enjoying reading it bit by bit in my little bits of free time. After this, our group of students walked to the National Art Gallery which was lovely. We spent about an hour there, spread out in ones and twos, absorbing the paintings. Dinner and going out for some pints rounded up the day.
Friday June 17, 2011
We began our day with a tour of Kilmainham jail, the place where many of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916 were imprisoned and executed. The jail was built in the “reformed” style, meaning that the inmates were given work to do as well as an extremely structured day within the prison walls. Based on the idea that “Idle hands do the Devil’s work,” the prisoners’ work consisted of unbinding the fibers of the massive, tar-coated ropes used on ships. They were separated from each other, ideally in separated cells although over-crowding of the prisons often made that impossible, and they were allowed 1 hour to attend to religious duties and 1 hour for exercise in the prison yards which consisted of walking in circles without making eye contact with other inmates. Children were also imprisoned, usually for stealing food in the midst of the Potato Famine. The reason we went to see the jail was because it was the sight of the execution by firing squad of the leaders of the rebellion. Before this time, most of the Irish considered the revolutionaries who wanted to break British control over Ireland as trouble-makers and did not look on their activities with a sympathetic eye. However, when the British, so summarily and without preamble, killed these men, public opinion rounded to them in anger over the injustice they suffered. In their deaths if not completely seen in their lives, these men spurred on the cause they loved, that of Irish freedom.
From Kilmainham, we walked over to a big museum that housed an exhibit dedicated to the Easter 1916 uprising, the same rebellion I was talking about above. We walked through and saw newspaper clippings, pictures, letters, and other things from the revolutionaries to each other and about public reaction to the uprising. It was here that Gretchen realized that she left her wallet at the supermarket at which we got lunch, so Julie, Charlie and I walked with her to go find it. Luckily, someone had turned it in so in gratitude for walking through the chilly rain with her, she decided to buy us all pints. As we headed back into Dublin on the Luas (an electric tram system), we started chatting with an Irish guy who turned out to be a college student as well. He found out we were heading pub-ward and took us to one of his favorites. We chatted over pints for an hour and then parted ways. Random, but super fun.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Ireland days 5, 6 & 7
Friday June 10, 2011
Today started out with a trip to Athenry Castle, a Norman fort build in the middle of Ireland for the invading force to repel attacks from the native Irish. It was in a beautiful setting in the middle of the small town that grew up around it and with a small river beside it. The castle is indicative of the force of imposed rule that has been upon Ireland for so much of its history. After this we drove for about 1 ½ hours heading to Sligo and on the way stopped at the ruined monastery, Clonmacnoise. Situated on the Shannon river, Clonmacnoise used to be the crossroads of Ireland because it was placed at the intersection of all the major trade and travel routes through the country. It grew eventually into a rich and flourishing town and spiritual center but that very prosperity was ultimately its downfall. The town and monastery were sacked upwards of thirty times in its history, with the final time completely stripping it of all but the stones that made up its walls. Today, it is a spiritual sight, a pilgrimage destination and a place of great peace. There is an undercurrent of deep stillness here in Ireland where even though cars are going by or sheep are bleating or boats are cruising by on the river, if you listen just below the surface you will be infused by a peace that is all-consuming. I imagine it is how the world should be, how it was 1000 years ago when our ancestors walked the hills and plains and beaches and forests of the world. The rush of the city and stench of pollution are at least suppressed out here in Ireland’s countryside even if it still exists and for a time you can forget what’s happening in the world and remember instead how things were. Maybe that’s why I love it so much here. Maybe that’s why I feel like I’ve come home in a way. Because this is how our home, my home should be.
Saturday June 11, 2011
Today was exhausting and exhilarating. We started out the day with a trip to Carrowmore, a Neolithic burial site situated in a basin of land in between mountain ranges. Most of these ranges are topped by their own monument and can be seen in a beautiful panoramic arch from Carrowmore. We heard a really interesting tour about the different monuments and their history and their importance to the Irish people. These graves are important to the studies that we have been doing because these passages not only were seen as portals into the world of the fairies (Tuatha de Dannan) but they are also concrete ties binding the Irish to their cultural heritage.
After finishing our tour of Carrowmore, we drove a part ways up the mountain on which Queen Maev’s cairn is built and then hiked the entire way up (around 1500 feet) on loose pebbles, rock slabs, grass and moss. It wasn’t an easy climb, but the view from the peak once surmounted was so worth it. The mountain is situated right on the coast and for an 180 degree arch in front of you is the Atlantic and behind you is the grand panorama of the other monument-topped mountains. It was so spectacular. From the peak, our two surfers of the group, Charles and Charlie, spied the waves at the coastal town of Strandhill near the base of the mountain, so they, Gillian, Julie, Drew and I all decided to go on a spur-of-the-moment adventure. We hiked down the mountain, through multiple peoples’ pastures, tore through blackberry bushes and hopped mud spots for an hour until we finally had to ask someone to let us through their last pasture so we could get to the road. After finding out that since the surf was so dangerous that swimming had been outlawed and surfing could only be done with a instructor in the water and they couldn’t just rent boards and wetsuits, the boys ended up meeting an instructor who understood what they wanted and graciously offered to just loan them some of his personal gear. They surfed for about an hour (which was really cool to watch) then we all went to have a few beers and some dinner at a pub overlooking the sea while we waited for the bus back to Sligo. All together, it was an amazing day of heights and beauty and surprises and hikes and slips and laughs and sea water. Perfect.
Sunday June 12, 2011
After our miles long hikes yesterday, today was spent mostly in the bus riding from site to site, which was a nice rest. We first stopped at Parke’s Castle, a castle home on Lough Gill. The most interesting thing to me there was a small sauna/steam room cut into the rock where the peasants used to heat stones and pour water over them to fill the room with steam and then after a few hours they would get out and take a plunge in the chilly lake in an effort to cure the ailments. From the castle we stopped off on another part of Lough Gill where the lake isle of Innisfree, made famous by Yeats’ poem of the same name, can be seen. We all stood there and looked at it while Julie read the passage aloud:
The Lake Isle of Innisfree
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree.
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glad.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
From there, we stopped at a holy well of which there are over a thousand in Ireland. There was a beautiful sort of shrine set up around the well and as it is a Catholic place, the stations of the cross are also set up around for people wanted to pray. Next came the grave of Yeats in the graveyard of a church in the shadow of the mountain Ben Bulben (another of the mountains associated with the mythological past of Ireland in which Yeats was deeply entwined). Our last stop was Glencare waterfall, associated in the mythology with the snatching away of children by the fairies to bring them into the fairy realm. Even though its been raining allllllll day today and it has been really chilly, it was a day full of beautiful sights and indescribable vistas.
Today started out with a trip to Athenry Castle, a Norman fort build in the middle of Ireland for the invading force to repel attacks from the native Irish. It was in a beautiful setting in the middle of the small town that grew up around it and with a small river beside it. The castle is indicative of the force of imposed rule that has been upon Ireland for so much of its history. After this we drove for about 1 ½ hours heading to Sligo and on the way stopped at the ruined monastery, Clonmacnoise. Situated on the Shannon river, Clonmacnoise used to be the crossroads of Ireland because it was placed at the intersection of all the major trade and travel routes through the country. It grew eventually into a rich and flourishing town and spiritual center but that very prosperity was ultimately its downfall. The town and monastery were sacked upwards of thirty times in its history, with the final time completely stripping it of all but the stones that made up its walls. Today, it is a spiritual sight, a pilgrimage destination and a place of great peace. There is an undercurrent of deep stillness here in Ireland where even though cars are going by or sheep are bleating or boats are cruising by on the river, if you listen just below the surface you will be infused by a peace that is all-consuming. I imagine it is how the world should be, how it was 1000 years ago when our ancestors walked the hills and plains and beaches and forests of the world. The rush of the city and stench of pollution are at least suppressed out here in Ireland’s countryside even if it still exists and for a time you can forget what’s happening in the world and remember instead how things were. Maybe that’s why I love it so much here. Maybe that’s why I feel like I’ve come home in a way. Because this is how our home, my home should be.
Saturday June 11, 2011
Today was exhausting and exhilarating. We started out the day with a trip to Carrowmore, a Neolithic burial site situated in a basin of land in between mountain ranges. Most of these ranges are topped by their own monument and can be seen in a beautiful panoramic arch from Carrowmore. We heard a really interesting tour about the different monuments and their history and their importance to the Irish people. These graves are important to the studies that we have been doing because these passages not only were seen as portals into the world of the fairies (Tuatha de Dannan) but they are also concrete ties binding the Irish to their cultural heritage.
After finishing our tour of Carrowmore, we drove a part ways up the mountain on which Queen Maev’s cairn is built and then hiked the entire way up (around 1500 feet) on loose pebbles, rock slabs, grass and moss. It wasn’t an easy climb, but the view from the peak once surmounted was so worth it. The mountain is situated right on the coast and for an 180 degree arch in front of you is the Atlantic and behind you is the grand panorama of the other monument-topped mountains. It was so spectacular. From the peak, our two surfers of the group, Charles and Charlie, spied the waves at the coastal town of Strandhill near the base of the mountain, so they, Gillian, Julie, Drew and I all decided to go on a spur-of-the-moment adventure. We hiked down the mountain, through multiple peoples’ pastures, tore through blackberry bushes and hopped mud spots for an hour until we finally had to ask someone to let us through their last pasture so we could get to the road. After finding out that since the surf was so dangerous that swimming had been outlawed and surfing could only be done with a instructor in the water and they couldn’t just rent boards and wetsuits, the boys ended up meeting an instructor who understood what they wanted and graciously offered to just loan them some of his personal gear. They surfed for about an hour (which was really cool to watch) then we all went to have a few beers and some dinner at a pub overlooking the sea while we waited for the bus back to Sligo. All together, it was an amazing day of heights and beauty and surprises and hikes and slips and laughs and sea water. Perfect.
Sunday June 12, 2011
After our miles long hikes yesterday, today was spent mostly in the bus riding from site to site, which was a nice rest. We first stopped at Parke’s Castle, a castle home on Lough Gill. The most interesting thing to me there was a small sauna/steam room cut into the rock where the peasants used to heat stones and pour water over them to fill the room with steam and then after a few hours they would get out and take a plunge in the chilly lake in an effort to cure the ailments. From the castle we stopped off on another part of Lough Gill where the lake isle of Innisfree, made famous by Yeats’ poem of the same name, can be seen. We all stood there and looked at it while Julie read the passage aloud:
The Lake Isle of Innisfree
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree.
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glad.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
From there, we stopped at a holy well of which there are over a thousand in Ireland. There was a beautiful sort of shrine set up around the well and as it is a Catholic place, the stations of the cross are also set up around for people wanted to pray. Next came the grave of Yeats in the graveyard of a church in the shadow of the mountain Ben Bulben (another of the mountains associated with the mythological past of Ireland in which Yeats was deeply entwined). Our last stop was Glencare waterfall, associated in the mythology with the snatching away of children by the fairies to bring them into the fairy realm. Even though its been raining allllllll day today and it has been really chilly, it was a day full of beautiful sights and indescribable vistas.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Ireland days 3 & 4
Tuesday June 7, 2011
We spent last night in Doolin, a quiet little town near that has become a tourist stop because of its perfect proximity to multiple natural or historical sights. It doesn’t feel touristy at all, unlike some “quaint” towns. We spent the day walking around the city and I bought a wool beret, or a “knitty”, as I found out it is called this morning. You can see it in my pictures as it figures prominently in all of them since it probably not be coming off my head for the next two weeks.
The evening was particularly lovely. We all stopped in at O’Conners pub (which was the pub that tourists generally do not frequent) where it was music night. It was packed with people, parents and toddlers, young people, older people, everybody, all with a glass of beer (often Guinness) in hand. There was a small section in the center of the pub directly in front of the bar where a small group of musicians (a harpist, a flautist, a banjo player, and a harpist) were sitting around a table filled with half-finished drinks and different musical apparatus, playing with all their might. Everyone was milling around getting their food and drinks but were all still listening and engaging with the music and the players. It was a lovely evening. I myself had my first full glass on Guinness (albeit, a pretty small one) which turned out to be my dinner, since I forgot about ordering food until I got back to my hotel. In my defense, it is a pretty filling beer.
The hot shower and queen size bed were pure heaven. So far, our hotels are fabulous. I’m writing this from Galway where we arrived around 4 o’clock this afternoon.
After we left Doolin, we drove to a cairn, which is a common-burial ground, in were placed cremated remains of multiple people which were then topped with a mound of rocks. This one, in the middle of the flat and rocky Burren, was special because it was topped with a Dolmen, which means “passage,” hence these types of structures are called Passage Tombs. These tombs are so old that they figure in Celtic mythology as the portals into the underground world of the Tuatha de Dannan, the fairy race, where they lived after the humans defeated them and drove them out of Ireland.
From there, we drove to Coole Park, the estate of Lady Gregory who was an influential figure in the Celtic Revival. She translated and compiled manuscripts of the Irish myths, most famous Gods and Fighting Men which chronicles the life of Finn and the Finians (the Fenian Cycle of the mythology). Yeats as another important writer for the Revival spent much of his time at Coole Park along with other great revival-minded people. There is a huge tree in the garden-grounds of the estate called the “Autograph Tree” where Yeats and other writers carved their initials. The trunk itself has to be gated-around now to keep people from carving their own graffiti on it, which I think is a shame, but beneath the massive, spreading bows is like a small, greenish-purple cave. So tranquil and peaceful.
After Coole, we bussed on the Galway where we’ll be for the next 3 days. It took us about drove about an hour and we arrived at our hotel in the midafternoon. The hotel, again, is lovely. And we have free Wi-fi which I always look on as a super luxury. Our driver, Nigel, recommended to me a pub to get fish and chips for dinner so after settling in, we all headed to the city center (literally 200 yards for our hotel) and set to walking. There is a long stretch of pedestrianized street, called The Keys, I believe, filled with shops and street performers and pubs. After finding our dinner spot and eating, we stopped at a pub and got a round of Guinnesses and listened to the musicians inside. After about 30 minutes there and waiting out a rainstorm we found a really great street band, who ironically turned out to be from Portland, OR, and after listening to their street show, we followed them to the next pub at which they were performing. We stayed there til nine listening then hopped over to a pub closer to our hotel for open-mic night where Charles performed an awesome set for everyone. Since it doesn’t get dark here until like 10:00pm, it throws the body’s time table off so its really easy to stay up super late and feel fine. I left the pub and walked the 200 feet to our hotel around midnight and shower, blogged a bit, was able to catch Nick on skype and didn’t fall asleep til around 2:00 am. The next morning was rough, needless to say.
Wednesday June 8, 2011
This morning we headed to the Aran Islands via ferry. The crossing tok about 40 minutes and was great. Charles, Drew and I along with Dr. Kelly and Maggie stayed on the open top of the ferry in the cold wind and the spray. It really was great/invigorating/freezing/the right way you should ride a ferry in Ireland. The water is startlingly cerulean-blue and clear. I did not expect it at all, but it is stunning. Once we got to Innismore (the largest of the three Aran islands) we walked up the harbor-side road and met our tourbus that would take us around the island. Our delightfully witty driver told us about the island and its history and inhabitants while we wended our way up to Dunn Angus (which I will get to in a minute). Innismore has about 900 inhabitants, about 860 of whom were born on the island (our driver among them). The main industries are fishing and tourism, with farming being sort of a hobby now. The land is all subdivided into small, dry-walled fields that contain mostly cows who simply feed off the grass that grows naturally. The people on the island use no pesticides or hormones on their animals or their gardens so everything produced is 100% organic. They can keep their smalls gardens growing and their cattle in the fields year-round because they never get frost or snow even in the winter because of certain weather currents, although they will get winds strong enough to knock you off your feet.
We arrived at Dunn Angus which has been supposed to be a fort on the cliffs of the island, but is now thought to have been used more for religious services. Honestly, it would have been pretty idiotic for any invaders to have even tried to attack this place, as you can see from the pictures that I will try to post on the blog, if I can.
I have seen many beautiful places in my life, but I can honestly say that Innismore has topped them all. Once we trekked the 20-minute climb to the fort, we were met with the most breath-taking scenery I have ever seen in my entire life. The 3-walled fort made of drystone walling is in a vast semicircular pattern, the end of which is not another wall, but instead is it open to the sea. The walls are built directly up to the edge of the cliff with the entire side of the structure that is facing the sea open, protected from invaders or encouraging to spiritual worship by the 300 meter cliffs that fall away below to the crashing surf. I have never seen a more staggering, awe-inspiring place in my life. The entire inside of the fort is carpeted in grass, not stone like in other places I’ve been, and it gives the place an air of grandeur, serenity and peace.
After we eat lunch inside Dunn Angus, we trekked back down the mountain and Julie and I stopped for tea again. The Earl Grey was not a strong as I like it, but the cute, flowered tea service it was served in more than made up for it. After Drew finally caved and bought is awesome Aran wool weater, we got back on the bus for a drive to a ruined monastery right on the coast of the island. On the island, families will all be buried in a single burial plot with all the names recorded on the headstone above them. This graveyard was full of such plots, but a more beautiful place for the peoples of the Arans to have worshiped or to be buried could be be found anywhere. I have never seen a place like this. The water all around the island is the clear, aqua blue of the harbor and the waves lashed up by the fierce wind whips the water into whitecaps you can see for miles. The effect in so peaceful.
After this we returned to the little city center and shopped around in the woolen shop there. Three more people bought hats so that before long, we will have an entirely newly-hatted people. Pictures to follow, I am sure. Another stop of tea and a hour or so wait for the ferry finished our day on Innismore. On the ferry ride home, however, we had a surprise ending when the Irish Coast Guard made an unexpected appearance to practice depositing a rescuer on a moving vessel. We all watched and cheered him on while he waved proudly back as he was hoisted up and down. Quite impressive.
And that was the end of today’s events. We all have decided to split pizza tonight and hang out and eat in Julie’s and my room to save ourselves some money. Tomorrow is a free day here in Galway so we have no set schedule. This has been my favorite day so far, hands down, and my favorite place. And its only day three!
We spent last night in Doolin, a quiet little town near that has become a tourist stop because of its perfect proximity to multiple natural or historical sights. It doesn’t feel touristy at all, unlike some “quaint” towns. We spent the day walking around the city and I bought a wool beret, or a “knitty”, as I found out it is called this morning. You can see it in my pictures as it figures prominently in all of them since it probably not be coming off my head for the next two weeks.
The evening was particularly lovely. We all stopped in at O’Conners pub (which was the pub that tourists generally do not frequent) where it was music night. It was packed with people, parents and toddlers, young people, older people, everybody, all with a glass of beer (often Guinness) in hand. There was a small section in the center of the pub directly in front of the bar where a small group of musicians (a harpist, a flautist, a banjo player, and a harpist) were sitting around a table filled with half-finished drinks and different musical apparatus, playing with all their might. Everyone was milling around getting their food and drinks but were all still listening and engaging with the music and the players. It was a lovely evening. I myself had my first full glass on Guinness (albeit, a pretty small one) which turned out to be my dinner, since I forgot about ordering food until I got back to my hotel. In my defense, it is a pretty filling beer.
The hot shower and queen size bed were pure heaven. So far, our hotels are fabulous. I’m writing this from Galway where we arrived around 4 o’clock this afternoon.
After we left Doolin, we drove to a cairn, which is a common-burial ground, in were placed cremated remains of multiple people which were then topped with a mound of rocks. This one, in the middle of the flat and rocky Burren, was special because it was topped with a Dolmen, which means “passage,” hence these types of structures are called Passage Tombs. These tombs are so old that they figure in Celtic mythology as the portals into the underground world of the Tuatha de Dannan, the fairy race, where they lived after the humans defeated them and drove them out of Ireland.
From there, we drove to Coole Park, the estate of Lady Gregory who was an influential figure in the Celtic Revival. She translated and compiled manuscripts of the Irish myths, most famous Gods and Fighting Men which chronicles the life of Finn and the Finians (the Fenian Cycle of the mythology). Yeats as another important writer for the Revival spent much of his time at Coole Park along with other great revival-minded people. There is a huge tree in the garden-grounds of the estate called the “Autograph Tree” where Yeats and other writers carved their initials. The trunk itself has to be gated-around now to keep people from carving their own graffiti on it, which I think is a shame, but beneath the massive, spreading bows is like a small, greenish-purple cave. So tranquil and peaceful.
After Coole, we bussed on the Galway where we’ll be for the next 3 days. It took us about drove about an hour and we arrived at our hotel in the midafternoon. The hotel, again, is lovely. And we have free Wi-fi which I always look on as a super luxury. Our driver, Nigel, recommended to me a pub to get fish and chips for dinner so after settling in, we all headed to the city center (literally 200 yards for our hotel) and set to walking. There is a long stretch of pedestrianized street, called The Keys, I believe, filled with shops and street performers and pubs. After finding our dinner spot and eating, we stopped at a pub and got a round of Guinnesses and listened to the musicians inside. After about 30 minutes there and waiting out a rainstorm we found a really great street band, who ironically turned out to be from Portland, OR, and after listening to their street show, we followed them to the next pub at which they were performing. We stayed there til nine listening then hopped over to a pub closer to our hotel for open-mic night where Charles performed an awesome set for everyone. Since it doesn’t get dark here until like 10:00pm, it throws the body’s time table off so its really easy to stay up super late and feel fine. I left the pub and walked the 200 feet to our hotel around midnight and shower, blogged a bit, was able to catch Nick on skype and didn’t fall asleep til around 2:00 am. The next morning was rough, needless to say.
Wednesday June 8, 2011
This morning we headed to the Aran Islands via ferry. The crossing tok about 40 minutes and was great. Charles, Drew and I along with Dr. Kelly and Maggie stayed on the open top of the ferry in the cold wind and the spray. It really was great/invigorating/freezing/the right way you should ride a ferry in Ireland. The water is startlingly cerulean-blue and clear. I did not expect it at all, but it is stunning. Once we got to Innismore (the largest of the three Aran islands) we walked up the harbor-side road and met our tourbus that would take us around the island. Our delightfully witty driver told us about the island and its history and inhabitants while we wended our way up to Dunn Angus (which I will get to in a minute). Innismore has about 900 inhabitants, about 860 of whom were born on the island (our driver among them). The main industries are fishing and tourism, with farming being sort of a hobby now. The land is all subdivided into small, dry-walled fields that contain mostly cows who simply feed off the grass that grows naturally. The people on the island use no pesticides or hormones on their animals or their gardens so everything produced is 100% organic. They can keep their smalls gardens growing and their cattle in the fields year-round because they never get frost or snow even in the winter because of certain weather currents, although they will get winds strong enough to knock you off your feet.
We arrived at Dunn Angus which has been supposed to be a fort on the cliffs of the island, but is now thought to have been used more for religious services. Honestly, it would have been pretty idiotic for any invaders to have even tried to attack this place, as you can see from the pictures that I will try to post on the blog, if I can.
I have seen many beautiful places in my life, but I can honestly say that Innismore has topped them all. Once we trekked the 20-minute climb to the fort, we were met with the most breath-taking scenery I have ever seen in my entire life. The 3-walled fort made of drystone walling is in a vast semicircular pattern, the end of which is not another wall, but instead is it open to the sea. The walls are built directly up to the edge of the cliff with the entire side of the structure that is facing the sea open, protected from invaders or encouraging to spiritual worship by the 300 meter cliffs that fall away below to the crashing surf. I have never seen a more staggering, awe-inspiring place in my life. The entire inside of the fort is carpeted in grass, not stone like in other places I’ve been, and it gives the place an air of grandeur, serenity and peace.
After we eat lunch inside Dunn Angus, we trekked back down the mountain and Julie and I stopped for tea again. The Earl Grey was not a strong as I like it, but the cute, flowered tea service it was served in more than made up for it. After Drew finally caved and bought is awesome Aran wool weater, we got back on the bus for a drive to a ruined monastery right on the coast of the island. On the island, families will all be buried in a single burial plot with all the names recorded on the headstone above them. This graveyard was full of such plots, but a more beautiful place for the peoples of the Arans to have worshiped or to be buried could be be found anywhere. I have never seen a place like this. The water all around the island is the clear, aqua blue of the harbor and the waves lashed up by the fierce wind whips the water into whitecaps you can see for miles. The effect in so peaceful.
After this we returned to the little city center and shopped around in the woolen shop there. Three more people bought hats so that before long, we will have an entirely newly-hatted people. Pictures to follow, I am sure. Another stop of tea and a hour or so wait for the ferry finished our day on Innismore. On the ferry ride home, however, we had a surprise ending when the Irish Coast Guard made an unexpected appearance to practice depositing a rescuer on a moving vessel. We all watched and cheered him on while he waved proudly back as he was hoisted up and down. Quite impressive.
And that was the end of today’s events. We all have decided to split pizza tonight and hang out and eat in Julie’s and my room to save ourselves some money. Tomorrow is a free day here in Galway so we have no set schedule. This has been my favorite day so far, hands down, and my favorite place. And its only day three!
Monday, June 6, 2011
Post 1: Arrival, Cilffs of Moher and the Burren
Sunday June 5, 2011
This group is fabulous! After meeting up (all on time, by the way) at Charleston airport, we sat at our gate and chatted for the two hours before our departure. We left on time for Newark and arrived there in perfect time for our 5-hour layover. We all went straight off to find lunch, since our previous flight had not even given us pretzels along with our “beverage service.” I tell ya, airplane food really is going downhill. After eating, Maggie, Drew, Charles and Charlie decided it would be either incredibly ironic or awesomely fitting to spend some time at the “authentic” Irish pub close to our gate. We had pints (except for me, of course. I had a Jack & Coke) and sat there for the next 2 hours, chatting about James Joyce and other such literature-enthusiast things, until the rest of the group drifted in and we finally meandered down to our gate. After another hour or so of waiting, we found out our plane had “a slight mechanical problem” which thankfully only delayed us 30 minutes or so.
The plane is rather smaller than I really like for such long flights with only 3 seats on either side of the central isle but it could’ve definitely been worse – like the 2-seat-by-1-seat-er we had from Charleston to Newark. I shall indeed count my blessings.
I’ve been trying to keep a migraine under wraps since we landed in Newark but I seem to be fighting a losing battle, so I will rely on my Tylenol PM and the next 7 hours of (hopefully!) sleeping to knock it out. I do not relish the idea of arriving in Ireland feeling crappy!
I think dinner has arrived! I’m off to eat and pop my sleep-maker.
Monday, June 06, 2011
Well, the sleep-maker did not work its magic. I dozed fitfully for only about an hour before we arrived in Shannon around 7:20 am so I am rather...out of it. We all got through customs smoothly and met our bus driver-slash-tour guide extraordinaire for the next 8 days, Nigel. We hoped into our private bus (which is big enough for us to all have our own row; an incredible luxury after the 7 hours in the squashy plane), and we off to the Cliffs of Moher on the west coast of Ireland. These stunning basalt and sandstone cliffs soar over 600 feet into the air from the sea. They were featured in both the Princess Bride movie as the “Cliffs of Insanity” and (we think) in Harry Potter 6 as the cave where Voldemort has hidden the locket horcrux (and yes, we realize that knowing that definitely designates us as dorks). The cliffs were spectacular. I kept thinking that it was so sad that so many people would never see them in their lives, and how incredibly fortunate I am. It’s easy to imagine Cuhulain and the Tuatha de Danaan who figure so prominently in Irish myth standing in this same place, seeing the same rugged, sweeping, majestic beauty that I am. After the cliffs, we bussed to a place called the Burren, coming from the Irish word meaning “rocky place” (or something pretty darn close to that). It’s a rugged deposit of limestone that used to make up the seafloor when the oceans were much higher. It’s a lonely, wild place with striated deposits of rock jutting out of the ground and going right up to the present-day shore line, where it plunges down cliffs again (though not as far a plunge as Moher). At this point, Nigel took us all to a real Irish pub called “The Irish Arms” since we were all starved by this time. We had a fabulous time there enjoying soup, bangers and mash, fish and chips and, of course, Guinness.
Now, back at our lovely hotel (with free wireless!) we are all struggling to stay awake until at least 7 o’clock to get on the right time schedule. I think the boys gave in a took a nap so they can go out tonight, but I really don’t think that will be on my agenda. For tonight at least…
P.S. If I figure out how to post pictures to the blog, I will, but if I can’t, refer to my facebook page for pics of each day’s adventures.
P.S.S I do apologize for this rather boring post. My brain is still reallllly foggy. I do hope to safely say that the quality will go up from here on out :)
This group is fabulous! After meeting up (all on time, by the way) at Charleston airport, we sat at our gate and chatted for the two hours before our departure. We left on time for Newark and arrived there in perfect time for our 5-hour layover. We all went straight off to find lunch, since our previous flight had not even given us pretzels along with our “beverage service.” I tell ya, airplane food really is going downhill. After eating, Maggie, Drew, Charles and Charlie decided it would be either incredibly ironic or awesomely fitting to spend some time at the “authentic” Irish pub close to our gate. We had pints (except for me, of course. I had a Jack & Coke) and sat there for the next 2 hours, chatting about James Joyce and other such literature-enthusiast things, until the rest of the group drifted in and we finally meandered down to our gate. After another hour or so of waiting, we found out our plane had “a slight mechanical problem” which thankfully only delayed us 30 minutes or so.
The plane is rather smaller than I really like for such long flights with only 3 seats on either side of the central isle but it could’ve definitely been worse – like the 2-seat-by-1-seat-er we had from Charleston to Newark. I shall indeed count my blessings.
I’ve been trying to keep a migraine under wraps since we landed in Newark but I seem to be fighting a losing battle, so I will rely on my Tylenol PM and the next 7 hours of (hopefully!) sleeping to knock it out. I do not relish the idea of arriving in Ireland feeling crappy!
I think dinner has arrived! I’m off to eat and pop my sleep-maker.
Monday, June 06, 2011
Well, the sleep-maker did not work its magic. I dozed fitfully for only about an hour before we arrived in Shannon around 7:20 am so I am rather...out of it. We all got through customs smoothly and met our bus driver-slash-tour guide extraordinaire for the next 8 days, Nigel. We hoped into our private bus (which is big enough for us to all have our own row; an incredible luxury after the 7 hours in the squashy plane), and we off to the Cliffs of Moher on the west coast of Ireland. These stunning basalt and sandstone cliffs soar over 600 feet into the air from the sea. They were featured in both the Princess Bride movie as the “Cliffs of Insanity” and (we think) in Harry Potter 6 as the cave where Voldemort has hidden the locket horcrux (and yes, we realize that knowing that definitely designates us as dorks). The cliffs were spectacular. I kept thinking that it was so sad that so many people would never see them in their lives, and how incredibly fortunate I am. It’s easy to imagine Cuhulain and the Tuatha de Danaan who figure so prominently in Irish myth standing in this same place, seeing the same rugged, sweeping, majestic beauty that I am. After the cliffs, we bussed to a place called the Burren, coming from the Irish word meaning “rocky place” (or something pretty darn close to that). It’s a rugged deposit of limestone that used to make up the seafloor when the oceans were much higher. It’s a lonely, wild place with striated deposits of rock jutting out of the ground and going right up to the present-day shore line, where it plunges down cliffs again (though not as far a plunge as Moher). At this point, Nigel took us all to a real Irish pub called “The Irish Arms” since we were all starved by this time. We had a fabulous time there enjoying soup, bangers and mash, fish and chips and, of course, Guinness.
Now, back at our lovely hotel (with free wireless!) we are all struggling to stay awake until at least 7 o’clock to get on the right time schedule. I think the boys gave in a took a nap so they can go out tonight, but I really don’t think that will be on my agenda. For tonight at least…
P.S. If I figure out how to post pictures to the blog, I will, but if I can’t, refer to my facebook page for pics of each day’s adventures.
P.S.S I do apologize for this rather boring post. My brain is still reallllly foggy. I do hope to safely say that the quality will go up from here on out :)
Saturday, June 4, 2011
A New Trip!
Charleston, SC 11:00 pm
Rebecca is back in full force! It is quite shameful that I have not blogged anything in almost 2 years. I am ashamed.
Luckily, I new international trip has jumpstarted me again. I am heading to Ireland, bright and early tomorrow morning for 2 weeks of roaming up hill and down dale studying mythology and the Celtic Revival. It should be amazing, and as I have a compulsive need to record things when I travel (generally because my introverted nature processes things better this way), you will have a change to follow us along.
Hop on board. I'm off to cross the pond...
Rebecca is back in full force! It is quite shameful that I have not blogged anything in almost 2 years. I am ashamed.
Luckily, I new international trip has jumpstarted me again. I am heading to Ireland, bright and early tomorrow morning for 2 weeks of roaming up hill and down dale studying mythology and the Celtic Revival. It should be amazing, and as I have a compulsive need to record things when I travel (generally because my introverted nature processes things better this way), you will have a change to follow us along.
Hop on board. I'm off to cross the pond...
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