Me, Meghan, Caitlyn, and Alli at Monroe's, on Day 20. (stolen from Facebook)
Day 24: It's our Dingle Peninsula weekend getaway! Getting up for another session of Irish History on this Friday morn, then on to the five hour bus ride, broken up by a stop at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. Those were pretty sweet. Oh, and if I decided I wanted to take on a castle, I would have a major advantage as a lefty. Why? All the spiraling staircases in the towers rotate in a direction so that the person coming down can wield a sword easily on the right and those coming up can't - you have more swinging room on the wall side than the central spiral. I would be an exception, though. : ) Aye! Avast! So, yes, the castle was very cool. And then the Folk Park was so cute - thatched houses, flower patches, women making fresh bread (and pretty much the best scones in the world at the tea room)....the homes reminded me of hobbit holes, but above ground. Very Shire-esque.
In the lord of the castle's whatchamacallit room....reception hall? Basically, where he received folks, as he sat on his carved wooden throne behind a 24 feet long table, with his personal secretary at his side. Those antlers belong to a prehistoric deer, long extinct (the antlers are occasionally found in bogs), and the tapestry dates back to the 1200s.
The throne.
One of the side rooms.
More tapestries and antlers, and a sweet old clock.
If the Bodkin Roundabout wasn't going to kill me....these stairs were. You couldn't pass other people - you had to duck into tiny alcoves if someone was coming the opposite direction. And they were very steep, with not much to keep you falling towards the middle, except that long metal pole to rotate your hand around as you went....(and see what I meant about the rightly/lefty thing?)
Flying the colors.
View from the North Solar tower (I believe).
The whole shebang....Bunratty Castle.
If it was only built into the side of a hill....
The Virgin and Christ.
Just liked this picture....
Then it was on to Dingle. We got there and settled in at the hostel, which turned out to be more like a bed and breakfast, really. Shared a room with Sam and Annie (who just happens to be from the Chicago 'burbs, going to school in Ohio - yay for at least one person I can see from CEA on occasion after we get back!). My ears were acting up (pressure/balance issues that have been going on), so I stayed at the hostel while the rest took off to find some live music and a good pub. After a couple hours, everything was much closer to normal, so I went and joined them. And it's kinda cool to be in towns small enough where you can just wander and find exactly who you're looking for in about twenty minutes, without knowing where they are! Anyways, the music at that pub was fantastic - wish I could get a recording. I really like the traditional pubs here, though not as much when they cater too much to tourists (yes, I know I am one, and yes, I know they need to make a living! but I like it when there's a lot of people, but it's not jam-packed, and there's a lot of locals of all ages there).
Listening to sweet music at the Dingle Pub. (stolen from Facebook)
Day 25: This officially marks the passing of the halfway mark on my European adventure. Today was a long tour of many freakin' sweet things around the Dingle Peninsula. Yes, I use the word freakin' a lot on here. This is me expressing my excitement. : ) And I like the word Dingle, too.
Back to my London formatting of numbering sightseeing destinations....
1) Beehive huts. These are early Christian round huts, made out of stone, and date back about a millennium, if I remember correctly. Pretty sweet....and a lovely view, too. (Actually, the hills below are where they filmed part of Far and Away....and the setting for Ryan's Daughter is nearby.) If I could put one of those little thatched houses from the folk park on this hill with the stone huts, looking out at the ocean and baking bread and walking the fields....ach. It'd be lovely. Was I born in the wrong century?
Three pretty views from the top (plenty of sheep wandering these hills....oh, and this happens to be the Far and Away spot, I'm told):
This thing is about a thousands years old, and still standing....that's over twice as long as it's been since Europeans started to settle the "New World," and we condemn buildings on a regular basis. Yeah.
This is where I'm building my little thatched cottage....right here. : )
So, what exactly was the height differential between women then and women now?
2) Coumeenoole Beach. I could've stayed here all day. Yes, there are sunny beaches in Ireland! Granted, the water is a bit chilly....no worse than the Pac' Northwest, though. I didn't go in, but only because we had just 20 minutes there, and then several more hours on the bus and touring. The water was so pretty, though - a lovely blue-green. And big waves. They have surfing in Ireland - honestly, I'd love to do it. Maybe in Galway, before I head out.
My gosh, isn't that gorgeous?
And again....
And again....more of that "wild beauty" I so enjoy here.
"We need a family picture!" as Caitlyn said. : ) Caitlyn, Meghan and I, at Coumeenoole Beach. (stolen from Facebook)
Yes, there are beaches in Ireland....and apparently, I felt the need for sunglasses to celebrate (hey, blue eyes=light sensitive!). (stolen from Facebook)
There's little caves and such in these rocks....why did they only gives us 20 minutes here?! So sweet here! Walked barefoot in the sand, waded in the edge of the water....
Hi.
Coolness. (I just keeping using adjectives denoting awesomeness, don't I? Well....what else is there to say?!)
See the lovely foamy-green color of the sea? Uh, I guess that's what they call "seafoam" in decor, eh?
Walking along....(stolen from Facebook)
3) Blasket Island Cultural Centre. Blasket Island was abandoned in the 1950s, when its population dwindled down to about 20. It retained its Gaelic-speaking ways to the end, and produced several noteworthy Gaelic authors.
Doesn't that almost look real....like he's actually moving? The water running down the way they carved him gives a bit of that effect....
Sam, examining the cool wood-based artwork.
4) Gallarus Oratory. The "best preserved unmortared Early Christian Church," as our little weekend itinerary put it. I can't recall how old it is....but pretty far back there! And, again, still standing!
If there's no mortar, what's holding it up? Tension? Like those churches we learned about in Art Survey, with the domes?
Pretty small inside....wonder how many people they brought in for services?
Tiny little window....they must have often needed candles to see well enough in here.
Have to duck to get inside this one, too....
5) Kilmarkedar. Pronounced kil-muh-kay-thar. This church dates from the 12th century, and has graves going back that far. Apparently, the ground raises over time, as they keep reusing the same spots over and over again....kind of disturbing, walking across the grass, with jagged, unmarked rocks marking spots where the dead have lain for centuries....
This part of the cemetery has been used more recently. Over here, they'll keep using the graveyards as long as possible - you can have ranges of hundreds of years in one place.
Interesting steps, ja? There's actually a reason they're like that - it was (still is, I suppose) a way to stop wild animals from coming up and digging up the graves and....yeah. You get the idea.
The church, with a statue of the Virgin before it. People still come and lay flowers and rosaries on her.
Know what I said about the ground rising? That cross in front is three times as long as it looks - two-thirds of it is now underground.
The older part of the graveyards....tombs above ground, and then the smaller jagged rocks scattered about.
The Alphabet Stone - has, well, the Latin alphabet on it.
Standing in the rain....picking out a few CEA folks, out of the 100some students there. (stolen from Facebook)
He's watching you....
Check out the pillar action going on there....and that's another large tomb lying there (from the early 1800s, as I recall).
The front door....step down, step up.
Check out the perfectly symmetrical detail....
The other side of that door....looks pretty different, ja?
We spent most of the day getting on and off this bus.... (stolen from Facebook)
After these events, we shopped on the streets along the harbour in Dingle and grabbed dinner at a pub. 'Twas a lovely evening.
Caitlyn and Meghan.
Caitlyn, Joe, and Sam, chilling at O'Flaherty's. (Liked the Dingle Pub a lot better, gotta admit....didn't stay here too long.)
Annie and I (she lives near Wheaton, too, when she's not off at college - how sweet is that?).
Downtown Dingle (okay, Dingle is just fun to say....)
The Dingle harbour - our hostel/B&B was right near the water, too....could see it out our window.
Day 26: I do not like long bus trips with inner ear problems. Beyond that....well, that was most of the day, lol. Okay, not really. Only five hours of it. Got up, had breakfast, packed up, did some history reading (I actually really enjoy our textbook - so fascinating). Stopped halfway through the trip at a visitor's centre in Adare - basically a place to grab lunch and check out a few little shops. Bought some gifts, and also a claddagh ring - I'd been wanting to get one of those. Random fact: did you know there's four different ways to wear those, depending on your relationship status (single, heart taken, engaged, married)? Anyways. Then it was back to the flats for a chill evening....started to study for the two assessments coming up on Tuesday.
Day 27: So, I guess they're making up for the fact that we only had, what, two or three history sessions last week? There's plenty of them now! Well, only two today, but there's also two tomorrow, and one or two on each of the other days this week, plus my other class and our first exams (assessments, as they're called) tomorrow - 3 hours, 2 tests.
So, class, break that was filled with studying, class, class....and all of a sudden, it was 5:30. Time for dinner and studying....except my studying motivation was kind of at zero. I think I have this mental thing about not wanting to start until it's dark out, and in a northern country like Ireland, that's just problematic. Anyways.
Day 28: Two back to back history sessions, a break for a couple hours, and then the tests. I think I did all right. My hand and wrist were killing me at the end of the three hours of solid essay writing....but yep. Think it went well. Got done at six, then it was dinner time, and then some research. Ha, do the last couple days sound lame? Studying? Research? Well, as we've all had to remind ourselves over the last couple days, with the tests and upcoming papers....we are here on study abroad, after all.
Cheers!
And a p.s., as regards future travel plans: no more Paris. I really want to see Paris....but there are several parts of Ireland I haven't had time to see during my program, and I really want a few days to travel on my own here - particularly to explore my heritage. I can go to the city my great-great-grandfather lived in before emigrating in 1885, check out the Knock Shrine, and see the family castle up in Donegal. I can also climb Croagh Patrick on the way (too bad the "official" annual pilgrimage is two days after I'll be there!). Paris will be on my next European journey (which WILL happen!). : ) Oh, and I'm going to see Allison in Oxford, with the Wheaton-in-England crew. Sweetness!
Some random notes on Ireland:
Inquring about a pub: "Good crack in there?"
"There's great crack in Galway."
"Had some good crack tonight."
And so on and so forth.
Note of explanation: crack is craic, which is Gaelic for fun. Makes for amusing conversations, though....
This weekend is "Eleventh Night" up in Belfast. I heard about this from multiple sources in a short period of time. I and a few others had been considering going there on Friday and coming back Saturday, before the Aran Islands trip. Then Joe mentioned that there would be some big parade by the Orangemen going on. Right, so if I go, don't wear green or orange (even if I do have my own opinion). Then in Dingle, Caitlyn, Joe, and a few others met an IRA member in a pub. They talked about going to Belfast, and he was very enthusiastic about it, until they said this weekend. He strongly discouraged them going, saying things got a little crazy around July 11 and 12. Right. Still not entirely sure what's going on.
Then I go to history class this week, and the professor, who's from Belfast, is talking about the war between William of Orange and James II, the king he's supplanting. The battles actually took place on Irish soil, not English. When James reached Derry/Londonderry (depends on if you're Catholic/Republican or Protestant/Loyalist on what you'll call it), the city leader came out to negotiate. The townspeople weren't amenable to that, however, and a mob of young apprentice boys came and slammed the gates behind the fellow, saying they wouldn't negotiate. So, the siege lasted for over 100 days, and the people starved. To this day, those boys are commemorated by proud Protestants in Northern Ireland. The Orangemen, named for William of Orange, march, and on "Eleventh Night," the night of July 11, they build bonfires, and at midnight, breaking in July 12 (though the siege actually began on July 1), they light them and burn effigies of the Pope. Charming. So, this is what my professor told us. He said that most Catholics up there actually leave the country on this weekend, and come down south - you'll hear a lot of northern accents in Cork, Kerry, etc.
Then he told us about his own boyhood experiences, growing up in a Catholic neighborhood. He's pretty young, by the way - this is very recent history. And it was so intriguing to hear, and so, honestly, unimaginable. I've never seen tanks roll down my street, let alone have it be a common thing. While there are "bad" neighborhoods in the U.S., I've never not ventured into one because of its religion. (If anyone wants to hear more about what he had to say, and/or about the IRA fellow's conversation, let me know.)
So, back to "Eleventh Night." I was doing reading for my society class, where I stumbled across reference to a major riot, where the British troops had to come in to stop the shootings and protect the Catholic ghettoes. You guessed it - July 12....and for about a month after it.
So, my trip to Belfast? Well, I'd already decided I couldn't because of time constraints. But then there was this, and to be honest, while part of it cemented the decision not to go, part of me really wanted to. Call it the political science or history major in me. Call it professional interest as I work on the religion and politics book with Dr. Black. Call it the desires of an Irish girl who comes from a blended Catholic/Protestant family. It's there. But I'm not doing it. People do actually get into a decent amount of trouble up there, and it's not hard to offend folks, either, when it comes to religion/politics, and things you wouldn't think went along with it. Like rugby. Joe mentioned Northern Ireland's rugby team to the IRA guy, and he was just incensed. Why? Rugby is a Protestant sport up there, as is cricket, because it's English in origin. The Catholics play Gaelic football and hurling. Things like that, that you just don't think about.
Okay, I need to sign off now, and I mean it!
Take care! Cheers!
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