Days 6 through 11:
Trains, planes, and automobiles....If I had only been able to hop on a boat, I would have covered all forms of travel last Monday. I walked from YHA London Central (now you can look it up by name if you're ever staying in London) to the Oxford Circus Tube station, where I took the Underground to King's Cross. I then departed on a train from next door St. Pancras (pan-cris....I'm sorry, but I did keep saying Pancreas to myself) to Luton, where I got on a shuttle to the airport. I took a short flight from there over to Shannon, where I got on a bus to Limerick. In Limerick, I switched to another bus to get to Killarney, where Terry and Lynne met me and drove me to their home, 45 minutes away.
I officially figured it out - Terry and Lynne are my second cousins, once removed. They would be my mom's second cousins, and my grandpa's first cousins, once removed (aka, Terry's father is my grandfather's cousin). There we go. : ) They run a bed and breakfast, and they're also amazing artists.
They are very sweet and friendly people - I enjoyed staying with them very much, and felt at home right away. I also made friends with Misty, their border collie, who is an incredibly sweet little dog. She followed me about a lot, and I felt very honored with her trust. Took her for a few walks up the road. The roads here are so narrow - they look about fit for one car, but they're all meant for two. And up here, they're not the concrete we're used to in America, but a mix of that and stone. I felt like a true Irish lass, wandering down the road with "my" dog, singing all the Celtic songs I could think of (hey, no one was around!). : ) When I ran out of those, I started making up a song just for her, too.
Tuesday, I confess I slept in some. Then I went with Lynne into Kenmare, the local town a couple miles away, and wandered around the shops beneath an umbrella, as the rain poured down.
National slogan? : )
Kenmare - I love all the brightly colored buildings in the towns of Ireland.
On Wednesday, we went to St. Mary's Cathedral, Ross Castle, and Muckross House.
St. Mary's was beautiful. The cathedrals in Ireland are different from those in England - they're, I don't know, less polished. They're not quite as smooth and shiny. The rough-edged rocks, the architecture....it seems more nature-based, more wild. Come to think of it, Ireland itself seems to have more of a wild sort of beauty. When people think of beautiful landscapes, even when thinking of the "wilder" ones, like mountains, I think there's often an expectation of serenity and peacefulness. Ireland's scenery is serene (scenery is serene....say that ten times fast), but it's a different serene - it's a serene with fire lurking beneath, ready to burst out. It's completely untamed, undomesticated. And that actually appeals to me more. Maybe none of this made sense....but it reminded me of what I read in Christianity and the Celts (thanks for the lovely birthday gift, Marie!) about early conceptions of the Celts, as fierce and wild. Even the women were greatly feared. The landscape matches. It's a passionate landscape. You can't look at it and say "oh, how lovely," and then move on. It grabs you, draws you in. It gives you that epic feeling, like Braveheart. For all the polished beauty of much of the world, even in the wildernesses, this draws me the most, I think - it's so organic, so wild, so natural....the landscape, the architecture upon it....yeah. Anyways. I'm probably making no sense. I'll move on.
One of the side chapels.
There's a crucifix suspended there above the altar.
Dr. Walford should be so proud of me for remembering the different types of European cathedral floor plans and the names of all the parts.... : )
Ross Castle, unfortunately, was closed to visitors, because of a school tour. But we did step inside the first floor, so I can say I entered my first Irish castle. Same comparison as above - for all the gleaming beauty of the palaces of England, these rough-hewn stones seemed to hold something more for me.
View from the outside, on a rainy day.
Muckross House was interesting - an old manor from the 1800s (Queen Victoria once visited here, when Ireland was under English rule). It's set in the Co. Kerry National Park, I believe; a beautiful landscape outside.
Random tidbit - the oldest woman in (recent-ish, not ancient) history was Lady Catherine something or other; her picture was in Muckross House. How did she die, you ask? Age? Disease? No - she fell out of a cherry tree. Truth. I think if I were to live to be that old, that's how I'd like to go, too....maybe not that specific way, but something a bit unconventional. Maybe a little wilder, like a duel. There we go. I'll be the dueling (whatever-the-prefix-for-fourteen-is)-genarian. Perfect.
Approaching the House - no pics allowed inside. That's Terry and Lynne ahead of me.
Later that night, Lynne, Misty, and I took a walk, where I saw perhaps the most beautiful sight (at the time - another one came, too!) I'd ever seen in my life. Coming back down the slope, I saw shafts of sunlight breaking through the clouds and illuminating a beautiful, green landscape, dotted with jagged rocks. Ach, it was wonderful. Words can't do it justice. It was beautiful. (The following pictures are actually from the next afternoon - didn't have my camera that night. So, no more setting sun glow, but still gorgeous. And pics don't do it justice. So, just go there, okay?)
Every now and then, breaks in the trees along the road allowed spectacular views.
I'm in freakin' Ireland! Yay!
The long and winding road....there's Misty, by the side. And yes, this is a two lane road.
I really like all the jagged boulders everywhere.
If above reminds me of Braveheart, I'm getting a Middle Earth vibe here....
Another view from near the top....
More folks arrived that night - Terry's two brothers, Martin and Paddy, Paddy's wife, Rita, and a friend of theirs, Chris. They all live in England. I had a really lovely time with all of them.
On Thursday, I took Misty for a walk, and went into Kenmare. I sat in the city square and did some writing, had a hot chocolate, and wandered about, looking in the shop windows.
Lots of gates and fences like this here.
More Kenmare wandering - and I liked this picture. Did a sketch of it for fun.
A lot of ancient stone walls around, and newer ones, too - they still make them.
Pretty green!
Streets of Kenmare.
Central park square.
Typical church, with the Celtic cross - lovely.
Friday, Lynne, Rita, Martin and I drove up to Bantry and then through Healy Pass in the Ring of Baera. More than once I've looked about at the wild untamed beauty of these hills and had this inexplicable desire to paint my face and yell "Freedom!" And then I remind myself that that was Scotland....however, Lynne informed me that the Pass has been used for many movies....including Braveheart. Whaddaya know....
Rita, Martin, Lynne.
The bay by Bantry.
The following are all from Healy Pass, passing from Co. Cork into Co. Kerry. "Freedom!"
I didn't know anything could surpass that beautiful aforementioned view from the walk with Lynne and Misty, but Healy Pass....I think it did. It appealed to that vision of wild beauty I wrote of earlier.
That night, we went to a pub down in Kenmare. Felt like a true Irishperson. : ) They had some great live music going on, and the place full with young and old (I think 18's the drinking age, but someone told me yesterday that it may be 16 - anyways, there's no restrictions on entering most traditional pubs; there were small children dancing Irish jigs near the musicians.)
Martin and Chris.
Lynne and Terry.
Rita and Paddy.
One of the bands.
Saturday was my last full day. It was pouring rain (Ireland has fickle weather, I've learned - dumping rain one minute, sun shining the next), and I stayed indoors for a bit, sketching a picture. Then I went into town with Paddy, Rita, Martin, and Chris. Chris and I wandered into a few book shops - my absolute weakness. I didn't intend to buy anything - I can get books in America, after all! - but I did get Jane Austen's Emma, to carry about as I did with P&P in England, and James Joyce's Dubliners, as I knew that I would need that for one of my Galway courses, and it was offered at a good price. Then I started flipping through a book about the Beatles and their place in the cultural revolution, and got hooked. It was also, surprisingly enough, cheaper than it would've been in the States. So there's a bit more recreational reading. Anyways. Did that, had tea inside a local hotel, and then headed back. Had a lovely dinner that night, and then sat around, talking.
Ladies of the house - me (trying to reach Misty), Lynne, Rita.
Random note - I really like tea now. I suppose I should've given it a fairer chance in the U.S., considering where I usually got it from, and that there was usually no milk, sugar, etc. to add. Anyways. I really like it....which is a good thing to like here! Some milk and two sugars is perfection. : )
Day 12:
I said farewell to everyone at the B&B - they'd all been so lovely, and I really enjoyed staying there - and made the five hour bus journey to Galway, and then hopped a taxi to the apartments we're staying in. I had no intentions of taking a taxi at any time, thinking it as possibly a waste of money with all the public transportation available, as well as my own two feet, but I had no idea where I was going, and had failed to get a map before coming, so I hailed a cab and simply told him the name of the street and complex, and he got me there quickly (and cheaply). : )
It's a three-story townhouse-ish thing - the first floor is a kitchen/living room, the second floor is two bedrooms and a bathroom, and the third is the same. There are four of us, each with our own little room - Caitlyn and I on the second floor, and Joe and Greg on the third.
Did some grocery shopping....we do all our own meals - no meal plan. And I discovered that Aldi's is here, only a few blocks away! Sadly, that's not where I went tonight, so I probably paid too much, but oh, well. Next time.
Some of us went out to a couple pubs, which was fun. (Oh, and Croak List #28 is now accomplished.) Good to get to know others in the group some - I think we're going to have a great time.
Day 13:
Took a walking tour of campus and the center of Galway with Monica, the liaison between CEA and the University. Got tea and scones in the early afternoon, then had a few hours off before dinner. Dinner was nice - CEA paid for it, and we were all together. Afterwards, time for some more pubbing. Half a dozen of us went to Monroe's, where we saw some others from the group. We stayed for a few hours, talking, getting drinks, and waiting for the promised live music. Had a grand time - I like everyone I've met here in the program; many lovely people. Stayed a bit for that, then left. Not very traditional Irish, lol - started off with Willie Nelson. We wandered, looking for another place, while the rain came down. Then we decided to go ahead and come back to the apartments for the night, soaked and freezing. And here I am, in dry clothes once again, ready to go make tea. Woo!
Inside St. Nicholas' - where you can light prayer candles. Going to do that inside each church I enter while here.
Very reverent atmosphere.
The canal. Looks a little Middle Earthy to me.... : )
The city center of Galway approaching.
Where James Joyce lived.
The oldest medieval church in Ireland - Columbus once attended services here.
Monica and some of our group.
For my environmentalist friends. ; )
The middle of Galway - the shops near Eyre Square.
Looking for adventure....
Monroe's.
Monroe's again.
Classic Ireland - a thatched roof in the middle of a downtown street.
A few Ireland notes:
It's really fascinating talking politics over here. Ireland was recently the only nation in the EU to vote no on the Lisbon Treaty, which required unanimity for passage. It was also the only nation to put it as a referendum to the people, and that's where it was voted down. While EU commissioners are wanting a re-vote or to find some way around it, the peoples of many other nations are applauding Ireland - they wanted the right to vote on it themselves. Even P.M. Brown, over in England, is standing up for Ireland - what's done is done, he said, and the nation has spoken. Leave it be. I did hear a humorous comment on TV from an Irish rep on this, though. At a large meeting of EU representatives, several from England were wearing shirts supporting Ireland. She stood up and made a sarcastic comment on how the present situation irks her - if only England had been this concerned about Ireland's political happiness in the past! Brings me back to what Lynne was saying about the whole Treaty issue - the country spent 800 years under English rule, finally got out of it, formed a democracy, kept it for about 70 or 80 years, and now wants to throw it away voluntarily? What? I've been hearing the EU being compared to an empire here....folks aren't too happy with intrusions upon sovereignty. The posters around Galway are interesting...."Say no to stag and fox-hunting cruelties; say no to Lisbon." "Say yes to fighting crime and keeping our cities safe - say yes to Lisbon." Etc., etc. And I think half of them don't even apply to the treaty....hmmm. Political propaganda, anyone?
It's also fascinating talking American politics with European folks. : )
For all my "Irish pride," I never found myself as distinctly Irish, really. How can I, when I've lived in Americana my whole life? However, it was kinda funny....every now and then, something pops up that makes me go hey, I am an Irish lass, after all. Lynne made a few comments about the Irish folk in general, you know, like "the Irish people are...." and I would just laugh inside, thinking of some comment a roommate or someone had made about a personality quirk, and how it was the same thing!
Anyways....
Cheers!
1 comment:
King's Cross! That makes me think of Hannah and her London tube voice.
I'm glad you're having such a wonderful time!
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