Oh Lisdoonvarna!

Going westward to county Clare showed me a whole other side to Ireland. It was alot more laid back and had that old traditional Irish feel. The town we stayed in , Lisdoonvarna, had very little to see and only had about a streets worth of shops and restaurants. But come September, that place is full of people for the annual Matchmaking Festival where singles come to find their one true love. So if your looking for love and are of an average age of 54, this could be the place for you.

Saturday, we made our way to the Aran Islands and went to Inis Mor Island, which is the "big island" of the Aran Islands. After a hour and a half boat ride across the sea, we made it to the land. There were plenty of attractions to see on the island like stone forts, light houses, churches,and shoppes that sell the famous wool sweats. Now, we had a choice to either take a travel bus to each stop or brave the elements on a bike. The bike was was my top choice. How great would it feel to ride along the shore of the Aran Islands on a bike. So a group of us, took on the challenge and headed out to the old stone fort.. It actually turned out to quite the production. First, half the group split off on a different route, leaving Dan, Liz, Melissa and me on our own. Then, while we stopped to make sure we were headed in the right direction, a bird swooped down and decided to leave a present on Dan's shoulder. He stood there in complete discussed over the event and slowly began to take off his jacket to clean it off. Once we were on the road again we started to make great time as we road up and down the hills, gazing over the land of cows and horses. Next thing we know, Melissa had lost her sweater at some point on the ride so her and Dan turn back to find it. At this point we were all getting kind of tired and our time was starting to dwindle down. It was such a great feeling when we finally made it to the fort. We parked our bikes and with careful stepping started to climb to the top of the ruins. The fort was still in decent condition and stood on the edge of the cliffs. The wind was blowing so hard that I literally had to get on my hands and knees to crawl to the edge. The best part was looking down into the crashing water against the rocks. It had to be one of the coolest things I've ever looked at especially because it kind of scared me.





After spending sometime looking out on the ocean, we headed back into town to catch the ferry home. The ride was great but we had to go really fast because we only had about twenty minutes to get back across the island. Once we were about half way back a few of us started to get phone calls from the other group, Lindsay, Joe and Ray, that Joe's bike chain broke and they would have to walk the rest of the way back. As soon as we got back we tried to send them out a car to pick them up but luckily someone had already done so. So we were all back and ready to head back when someone realized that Ray never came back. He had apparently left Joe and Lindsay to ride back for help. At this point the sky was even getting dark and it looked like rain. Everyone was getting really worried and the ferry to take everyone back to shore was almost ready to leave. We would have to leave without him, so the group got on the ferry and waited for departure when all of a sudden we heard someone yell "We found Ray". Out of breath he climbed aboard the boat and sat down. He had made it just in time. When we got back, we ordered tones of Chinese food and lots of conversation. It really ended the day off nicely.

Volcanoes: they're a pain in the ash

So the last 48 hours have been pretty interesting. It all started on Wednesday, April 14th when me, Liz, and Dan headed for the bus stop to catch our afternoon bus to Dublin. We were all really excited for the next day when we would be heading off to Munich, Germany, where we would be staying with one of Liz and Dans' friends Katja. We kept talking about all the places we wanted to see, do, and eat. Once we arrived in Dublin, Dan navigated us to our hostel called Abraham. Once inside we were greeted with a big smile from the man at the desk as he proceed to check us in. We would be staying in a four person room, so us three and a roommate. The rooms were actually really nice, containing two bunk beds and a decent size bathroom. After settling in, we headed out for a night on the town. Our first stop was the Bad Ass Cafe, mostly because we really liked that name and Liz found us each a coupon for a free Guinness with any meal. The trip was starting off great, a free drink, a night in Dublin and then a weekend in Munich. After a while we made our way to a couple other places, first IFI, the place I really wanted to go back to if i had a chance. We stayed there for a while and got dessert. After some time, we headed for Dan's favorite place, Pravda, a pub with a Russian communist theme. Yea, sounds a little funky, but is was actually a really nice place,where the walls were covered in murals and movie posters. We decided to end our night at a decent time since we had to wake up early the next morning, but before we did we stopped off at Rick's, a burger place with the best garlic and cheese chips ever. They tasted so good but made our breath pretty vial. So after we scarfed those down, we headed back to the hostel and went to bed.

The next morning we were up by 6:30 packing up our bags and heading to the bus station to catch a bus to the airport. We were still pretty tired but ready for a day of travel. Inside the airport was a mad house. There were people everywhere and the lines went on forever. At the time this nothing really occurred to me, I just thought it was a busy travel day. We finally reached our line and started to check in when we kept hearing announcement that all UK flights were being cancelled or restricted. We all looked at each other and said, thank god were not going to the UK. Once inside we sat down at a cafe for a quick bite to eat. The TV in front of us was showing breaking news of a volcanic eruption in Iceland. We started to figure that this was why all UK flight would be cancelled. At this moment we hoped that nothing would happen to our flight. As we made our way down our gate, we heard that the flight to Berlin was being cancelled, not a good sign. As Liz and I checked out the departure screen, Dan went to see what was going on with the flights for the rest of the day. According to the screen the flight was still on, but we noticed as Dan was walking back that he looked a little disappointed. He said that all the flights for that day would be canceled and maybe even the next day as well. After the bad news we kind of just sat around for a while, not really knowing what to do. Our disappointment was obvious, but we thought we should attempt to get a flight for the next day. So we headed back to Dublin city to find an internet cafe. We walked around O'Connel street for a while until we finally found a place to get on a computer. Unfortunitly, all was booked up so we reluctently came back to Dungarvan. A lot of people from are group had travel arangments for that weekend that had to be cancelled. On the plus side we got to go to the Food Fest and rest up for the week.

Update April 19, 2010:
The volcano, Eyjafjallajökull, that erupted in Iceland is still active and all flights in and out of the UK are cancelled. Since April 14th, over 81,000 flight have been cancelled. The ash that the volcano is producing has the ability to stop the plane's engine by melting and congeal to it's turbines. These ash clouds now stretch from Masco to parts of Canada. Everyday that this ban contiutes, the International Air Transport Association losses close to 300 million dollars. Restricted flights are expected to start soon, but nothing yet is final.

Ireland Has Stolen My Heart.

Another beautiful day in Ireland was beginning. I had come home from another day in the park when received a invite to go hiking. So Lindsay, Eoin, Joe, and I headed out to climb one of the Irish hills only about 10 minutes away for The Park. When I first decide to go, I didn't realized I'd actually be climbing a mountain. We started off on our adventure making our way up the rugged pathway, stumbling over boulders and panting as we struggled to make it up the steep soil. We probably reached about half way up when I turned around to see the most beautiful view of Ireland I've ever seen. The hills went on forever as well as the green grass and trees. It felt so surreal. I loved the feeling of being in the middle of something so natural and untampered with. As I turned back around I saw how much further we had before we reached the tip top of the mountain. It was going to be a challenge but I couldn't stop there. The higher we went the more vertical the rocks would get. At one point I stopped and sat on a rock to catch my breath and when I glanced over I saw two sheep just grazing on the mountain. First, I was amazed that they could climb that high. Then I thought to myself, if sheep can making it up a mountain like this, so can I. I pushed through the rest of the way and made it to the highest rock. As I looked down, I couldn't believe how far we had climbed. We walked along the mountain top, climbing up on big boulders and enjoying the scenic view. The picutes we took were pretty amazing especially the ones where we pretended to fell of the side of the mountain. So classic. In the middle of two of the hills was a lake that apparently was formed by glacier movements. It sat there so still and reflected the clouds as they moved slowly by. We then proceeded to throw rocks down the side of the mountain trying to make a splash in the lake but none of us succeeded. It was apparently alot further away then we thought. After along time of gazing and jumping around from rock to rock we started to make our way down the mountain, which was actually much harded then I anticipated. We finally reached the bottom when the sun was beginning to set and the sky began to have a pinkish hue. When we turned around to look back up at the hills just one more time, I couldn't believe how high we were. I felt so uplifted and accomplished that I was able to conquer something so scary and massive. The day ended perfectly with a yummy dinner and great company.





"The world is too much with us; late and soon"

the world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given out heartsaway, a sorded boon!
The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everhting, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.- Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in the creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleacant lea,
have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

Before today, I felt somewhat out of touch with nature. At home sometimes I feel all I see is man made ojbects or enhancments, nothing is natural any more. People spend more time sitting inside googling the world instead of going out there and really enbracing it. How can people treat such a beautiful thing like such crap? It was really great to climb and breath in the fresh air of the mountains on such a beautiful day. I can see why Wordsworth was so pissed in his poem. It's hard to see such great things being abused and underappreciated.

Walk like a Parisian

On our last day of the trip we had the option to go to Versaille or spend that day as you please. Although Versaille sounded like it would be really amazing, I was really in the mood to have a laid back day pursuing the streets of the city. The first place I wanted to go back to was Montmartre, which is located on a hill in the north of Paris and by far my favorite place in Paris. I think it was one of the most colorful and unique areas of the entire city that I had seen. It was full a crafty shops, cozy cafes, and a square where tones of artiest came to create art and sell their art work on the street.

I was really enthralled with all the paintings that I had to buy a few. A lot of them seemed to depict similar scenes in Paris but it was neat to see how each artist captured it differently. Some were very abstract where is would take a while to figure out where it was painted and other were very simple straightforward pictures mostly of the Eiffel Tower. One of the works I bought was of an alley way with different shops and the Montmartre Basilica in the background. The artist explained to me how she used spray paint the paper to give color to the background. Mine has touches of gold, orange and turquoise on it. Then she would go in with a black pen and sketch the scene. I liked the simpleness of it and gave me a good memory of the area.

Also, that day we spent time in the Salvidor Dali museum. He had such an inventive kind of bizarre style like no other artist I really know and from what I hear he was a pretty strange guys as well. The museum was small but it was nice to walk around in with out a crowd like the big places. There were a lot of sketches of his hanging throughout the room, some of them with specific themes and others just random depictions. I think that sketches tell a lot about an artist because it shows their experimental side since usually they are just practices for something bigger.


The rest of the day was spent pretty much shopping, strolling the city, and eating banana and nutella crepes. The people here really know how to do it right. Sometimes you just got to stop, relax, and observe the world from a small cafe in Paris.

Say La Vee

So were off to Paris for spring break! what could be better. The week was spent seeing sites, art, eating creeps, and walking my feet to death. The city was absolutely amazing and had such a different feel to it than Ireland. The first thing we did when we got there was gaze at the Eiffel Tower and take about 50 pictures from every angle possible. Really though, I was really impressed with how intriguing the tower was. I never thought I would get so wound up about it. Some people decided to stand in line to get to the top, but I decided to save that for another day and take a look around the city a bit more. I felt everywhere I looked there was something of importance, whether it be a statue, building, monument, whatever. There was just so much to look at and take in.

My favorite night of the Paris trip had to be when the group went out to dinner for a traditional French meal. We were given a three course dinner plus never ending wine and bread. Half way into eating, a man with a guitar and another with a accordion started playing for the restaurant and getting us to sing along a bit. After a few glasses of wine, the room became a bit more rowdy. Everyone was having a great time dancing around with each other. At one point, the guitar man made me get up and have a dance with him. It was silly but after, everyone got really into it and got out of their seats to join in. The best was when Dr. Hosey Dr. McGurk and Fergual took over and started busting out their moves. It was a brilliant night and I don't think anybody wanted to leave. On the subway back to the hotel, Dr. Hosey thankfully changed our meeting time in the morning an hour later just to give us some extra rest time. My feet really appreciated it.

Of course all the art museum were amazing. It was really cool to see real paintings done by artist's like Picasso, Monet, and Renoir. The Louvre was obviously incredible. It was amazing to me to actually see with my own eyes real pieces of artwork that everyone knows like the Venus and Mona Lisa. It was really interesting to me, after a while, to see such a switch of style between all the museums. It went from Renaissance pieces to Impressionism, Surrealism on in to Modern art. I really enjoy the Impressionist artist. The work wasn't so straight forward, I felt it had more character and feeling behind it. The modern art museum, The Pompidou, was really wacky. I've seen modern art before but the stuff they had here was really outrageous, mostly in a good way. One of the rooms had projected videos on every wall of a woman doing kind of uncomfortable things to look at, like rolling around naked, holding a headless chicken, and one of her covering herself in water and paper. It was very odd but for some reason I wasn't very bothered by it. Then there was stuff like sculptures made out of random objects to create one whole piece of work. There was this one was of a woman made of different toys, cloth materials and yarn. Every other art gallery we went to that day was so boring compared to this place. It really was shocking,which I think was the point, but things like that stick with you longer and make you think more compared with some other art.

We had beautful weather while we were in Paris, where it was nice enough I could just wear short sleeves during the day. One of the days we even ate out on this huge lawn just in front of Hotel des Invalides, where Napolean's tomb is. I felt like a true Parisain. Later that night, a group of us decided to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower since it was such a beautiful night. When we go there, the line really wasn't too long, probably only took about an hour. When we reached the first level the sun was just about to go down which I think was the best time of the day to see the city. We got to see everything in the light but also at night when all the city lights began to glow. The view made everything look so intreging. The best part was when we were in the tower when it started to sparkle. Corny as it is, it put a smile on my face.

The trip was totally successful. I feel like I got to see all the big things in Paris that I ever wanted to see and more. I think by the end of it, we all gained a good grasp of the city and I know plently of us that would love to go back. As mush as I enjoy the trip, I was really excited to get back home to Dungarvan.

Peace

Today started out just right. With the first look out my window in the morning, I knew it was going to be a great day. The sky was bluer than ever and the sun illuminated the clouds. I started off with a good breakfast followed by some relaxation before our first day of class of British Literature. The class started at 10:30 so after I had the whole day a head of me. I decided to take a strole threw town and make my way over to this little park that over looks the bay. So I packed up my sketch book and pencil as well as a copy of Yeats's Early Poems and headed out. When I reached the spot, the sun was high up in the sky shining down onto the water making ever ripple glimmer as it moved by. I found a bench, sat down and started sketching the boats on the bay and just some other buildings in the background. Everything was so peaceful as I set there trying to capture the scenery with my pencil. This was nearly impossible. After some time, I decided to head over to the other park closer to the middle of town. I found a nice spot under a tree next to one of the bridges and I began to read some of Yeats's poetry. I have a hard time sometimes interpreting literature but just being out in the open Irish air made it much more enjoyable. His first set of poems seemed to start off quite unhappy. There was obviously a lot of sorrow and burnded on those whom Yeats was writing about. I also seemed to sense a man verses nature theme. As I flipped through the book, I came to a section about the rose. I really enjoyed the first poem of the series titled, To The Rose upon the Rood of Time. I felt it captured the ancient Irish tradition of telling stories and their pride.