I was going to start this post with an apology for taking so long to write... but eh. I don't feel like apologizing. paha. SO. Here, without further interruption, is an account of our first and only full day in London.
That Friday morning, Kate and I started the very good habit of waking up at 7 o'clock. Of course, we didn't end up leaving our room for quite a while - we both have the rather bad habit of being slow movers before we've had our coffee. Sometime around 8, we headed upstairs to the dining hall (our room was downstairs from the ground-floor, but we weren't in a basement or anything because we still had a window. Not sure how that worked.). I'd read reviews online about the hotel, which said that the place was nice enough, but the breakfast was to die for. They weren't kidding. Kate and I still dream about that breakfast buffet - and we were lucky enough to have it for TWO mornings. :D We were out the hotel door well before 9 o'clock, and it was only a ten minute walk (or so) to the tube station at Stonebridge Park. About 30 minutes and a few tube lines later, we exited a train at Westminster Station and headed toward the stairs that led to the street. We were talking about something - I forget what, but it was probably a few self-congratulatory comments about how successfully we'd navigated the underground. We reached the top of the stairs, and we both stopped instantly. Because there, right across the street from us, were the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in all its tall, golden glory. We got out of the way of foot-traffic and stood next to a pillar, staring up at the clock-face for about five minutes without saying a word. Earlier that morning while I was waiting for Kate to wake up, I'd been going over the schedule and the best routes for getting from point to point... but at that moment, when we were actually THERE in the heart of London, I realized that it didn't matter where we went or where we didn't get to go. Because whatever we saw would be pretty darn magic.
We walked across the Thames, taking our time because there was so much to look at. The Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the Eye of London, a few really cool-looking hotels, fabulous statues, and beautiful bridges are all just THERE and it's hard to know where to look. When we crossed Westminster Bridge and walked along the Thames to get a proper view of all of it, and then we crossed back over Lambeth Bridge to go back and see Westminster Abbey up-close. That was probably the most expensive thing we did during our whole trip - seeing the abbey, that is - but it was so worth it. It was also the only place where I really lamented not having a tour guide. Because there's SO MUCH THERE, but no amount of sign-reading will do the history justice. It was amazing, though, to see the graves of all the kings and queens I've read about in history and seen Shakespearean plays about. Truly incredible. Also, in the main chapel area behind the seating, there are the graves of many incredible people - Chaucer, Lewis Carroll, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters (all buried together), Neville Chamberlain (ehh), Winston Churchill (okay, we actually didn't find him - but he's THERE, somewhere), Darwin (also there, but also not found by us), Charles Dickens (I found him), Handel, Henry James, Kipling, Longfellow, Dr. Livingstone (I presume), Shakespeare (AHHHHGGG, we didn't find him either!), Oscar Wilde, and T.E. Lawrence (also not found, though not for lack of trying) - just to name a few. A lot of them have shrines that are in the walls or in the wings of the church, but many are just slabs on the ground with names written across them. But in the heavy foot-traffic areas, the names are so worn down that a lot of them are illegible, which is really sad. I wonder if someday they'll put some sort of covering on the floor to preserve them - like glass casing or something. Weird. We were there for 2 hours, but we could have stayed for so much longer. One of the things that I thought was really neat was how much the people at the abbey emphasize the fact that it is, above all, a place of worship. On the hour, someone comes onto the speakers and asks everyone to stand still in silence and bow their heads. They say a prayer over the speakers and however many hundreds of people that are in the church are suddenly praying together. They probably have a few prayers that they repeat on a cycle throughout the day, but the one that was said when Kate and I were there couldn't have been more perfect. It was a prayer for the people that we love, wherever they are in the world - for their protection and comfort. Afterward, an announcement was made about a special prayer service in St. Edward's Chapel (in the heart of the Abbey) and it was open to whoever wanted to go. So we went along to that, with about fifteen or twenty others. After that, we walked around the interior of the church one more time and then - rather regretfully - headed back out to the gray and windy world outside.
There was a slight break in the rain as we walked from Westminster Abbey to the Imperial War Museum, so we stopped in a chapel courtyard near the river to have our lunch (the remains of our bagels, ham and cheese - all sliced with our teaspoons, of course). By the time we finished, the sky was rumbling with thunder - but it didn't start raining for a while yet. We found the Imperial War Museum when the sky was at its darkest gray, and hung out in the front yard for awhile. We didn't go inside, because we were short on time and cash - but Kate wanted to see the piece of the Berlin Wall that is out in front of the museum, and it was worth the pilgrimage. That particular section of the wall is about a 3'x7', and it's covered with a graffiti image of a screaming face with the words "CHANGE YOUR LIFE" written across it. While I walked around the exterior of the museum and examined the huge long-guns and bomb shells in the yard, Kate stood in front of the wall, just staring at it. I'm glad she saw it - I can remember, probably close to ten years ago, how obsessed she was with the Berlin Wall and its art. I think that was what got her into art in the first place - the idea of an oppressed people finding a voice through imagery.
Just after that - or maybe it was just before? - we went to a cathedral along Southwark Street, believing it to be Southwark Cathedral. I'd never heard of it, but Kate wanted to find it because apparently it has beautiful windows and it was where Shakespeare reportedly worshiped. We found a church - and we went in, and spent quite a while walking around inside of it. Although, this is slightly embarrassing - I literally just now discovered that the church we went to wasn't Southwark Cathedral. I have no idea what it was - just some random church, I guess. But I don't think I'll tell that to Kate... I think it would make her sad that we were wrong. It doesn't really matter, though - it wasn't a spectacular church, but it was a nice stop and we got to hear a choir practicing. So that's alright. Just... slightly embarrassing. paha.
HA! Okay, I just discovered that it was Christchurch of Southwark that we saw. Just thought I'd clear that up...
After our stop at the church, it wasn't far to the banks of the Thames. I was looking for the Globe Theater because I knew it was close - what I wasn't expecting to see, however, was the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral across the river. St. Paul's. Oh my goodness. It kind of cast a spell on everything about that day - I'm not sure if that's because of the sheer beauty of the church, or the history of it, or its close association with Mary Poppins... but I loved it. Anyway - before we crossed over to that, we waved hello to the Tate Modern and the GLOBE THEATER. I'm rather thankful, first of all, that we didn't go to the Tate - I like art and all, but modern art isn't really my favorite thing... and if we'd gone in there, I'd never have been able to pull Kate out. Thankfully they were featuring some heinous artist that she hates, so she wasn't particularly moved to go in. (It was Damien Somebody - that guy who made the crystal skull.) Then I saw it - Shakespeare's Globe. Which is nothing like a globe at all - but still. I was so happy to see it. I can't imagine spending an evening out at that theater in its heyday - seeing one of the tragedies, or maybe one of the romances with somebody you love, and then walking along the river afterwards for hours to talk about it. I wonder how many people actually did that...
We crossed over the Millennium Bridge - the one that gets all twisted and broken during the opening scene of one of the Harry Potter movies - and approached St. Paul's. You can see the dome straight ahead of you as you cross the bridge. OH! And you know what else you can see, down the river to your right? The Tower Bridge. It's incredible. We ambled down to St. Paul's and spent an appropriate amount of time staring at it with ridiculous grins on our faces. I think I might have been humming "Feed the Birds" half the time - or maybe I was just thinking about it. I'm not sure. We wanted to walk to the Tower Bridge from there, but we strayed from the river and ended up going in the wrong direction. By that time it started raining really hard... and we weren't clever enough to have an umbrella with us that day. (Or really, any given day of that whole week.) But it didn't really matter that much - we were already wet. We just got a bit more... soaked, is all. Anyway, eventually we wound our way back to the river and began the trek in the correct direction. I had no idea about how the city was laid out before I saw it - GoogleMaps can only offer you so much information - so I was completely surprised when we came to the Tower of London on our way to the Tower Bridge. Well, actually, first we hit London Bridge - which, despite all of its fame, is not really that ornate or interesting. In fact, I don't think I would have noticed anything special about it if it didn't say "LONDON BRIDGE" in big white letters along the side. Kate was more taken with the sign below that, which said something about Fishmonger's Street or Market or Wharf or something. Anyway, London Bridge looked pretty sturdy and didn't seem like it would fall down anytime terribly soon - just in case you were worried. So - the Tower of London. The Tower of London is actually more like a compound of several very small towers. I'd be interested in reading more about the history of that place... I know that a lot of famous people were kept there as prisoners, but I'm not sure how or when or why. We didn't pay to go inside, because that is also outrageously expensive... but we were able to walk around the exterior of the buildings, to a certain extent, and that was cool. On the opposite side of the Tower(s) of London, there are a few small park benches that face the river and the Tower Bridge - which stands, crossing the Thames, just downstream from the Tower. We sat on one of these benches in the rain, staring out at the Bridge, for about a half hour. It wasn't raining too hard, but thunder was rumbling rather incessantly and I saw lightening a few times. Which made us think that perhaps crossing a structure made mostly of metal wasn't a good idea at the moment. So we stayed put, and I'm so glad we did. I memorized the placement of everything I could see - or at least I tried. Even now, it feels close enough to my memory that I can just imagine myself there when I close my eyes. Maybe it'll stay that way, even months or years from now. Sometimes I can still imagine that I'm standing on Charles Bridge in Prague, and I haven't seen it for almost a year.
Anyway, it wasn't even dinner-time by that point, which I think is pretty incredible. There I was, a few days earlier, worried that we wouldn't be able to see everything we'd planned to see - and we had the whole evening before us. Unfortunately, we were both also wanting to cut our feet off because they were hurting so badly. We also hadn't made plans for dinner, and London is an incredibly expensive city to buy anything in... so we decided to wait to have dinner until we got back to our hotel. For the time remaining, however, we hopped on a train bound for Tottenham Court Road Station, and eventually (we were a bit directionally challenged that day) found the British Museum. Of all the places we went that day, that was definitely the most rushed - but you know what, we were exhausted and it's kind of an overwhelming place anyway. We enjoyed what we saw in two hours, but by the time we left the museum, our feet were pretty much ready to fall off. After three or four line changes, we arrived back at Stonebridge Park Station and we survived the ten minute walk back to our hotel. Before going inside, though, we stopped at the next-door Tesco to buy more provisions. I forget what we did for dinner... but I think it's a safe guess to say that we had bagel sandwiches and two more Stella's.
Kate fell asleep soon after 9 o'clock, and I took a shower. It took almost 6 minutes for the water to gain any heat. I honestly don't remember much after that... I must have lost consciousness as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Saturday, May 12, 2012
April 19th
Hello! First of all, I'm sorry that I was a lousy writer this week. And by "lousy" I mean basically nonexistent. It took me a few days of queasiness and sleep deprivation to figure out my land and time-zone, and then somehow life just got really busy. The nice thing about that is that I've been keeping active and seeing a lot of my friends. The not so nice thing is that I haven't had a chance to sit down and WRITE. Which is why, on this lovely Saturday evening, I sit in an easy chair with a bowl of pasta and my laptop on the table before me - ready to begin the update.
This first post is a bit of a cheat, really, because I actually wrote this journal entry on our first night in London. So all I'm doing right now is copying my words from page to screen. I will add in the details where I see fit, however, and then rely on my memory for the days which followed that Thursday.
This first post is a bit of a cheat, really, because I actually wrote this journal entry on our first night in London. So all I'm doing right now is copying my words from page to screen. I will add in the details where I see fit, however, and then rely on my memory for the days which followed that Thursday.
8:55 PM
We made it! Against all odds. I'm sitting next to Kate on our hotel bed (not sure why we booked one double bed instead of two twins?). She is lying rather peacefully, snoring loudly and occasionally sleep-talking about corners. Apparently she didn't sleep last night because she was so worried about us not finding each other today at Heathrow. Which very nearly happened, and which is a tragic novel in itself that I will get to in a moment.
I woke this morning just before my alarm clock went off at 5:30. I was wide-awake immediately, but was still surprised at how pitch-black it was outside. I finished packing and getting ready (and, by the way, I left my adapter and converter in the wall in my room in Dublin... soooo now my appliances are useless. Including my camera, if it dies!), enjoyed breakfast and a cup of tea, and was out the door at 6:45. I walked to the bus stop in Dalkey to catch the air-coach to DUB, and it was such a nice walk. The temperature was just around freezing at that point, but the sun was just coming up over the houses down the street and I was walking towards it the whole way. I was at the stop by 7, on the bus a few minutes later, and then I settled in for the hour drive. I can't remember much about the airport - it feels like ages ago. I do remember that I had a window seat in the very last row of the cabin, next to a nice old British couple who tried to give me tips on how to get from Terminal 1 (where we were landing) to Terminal 5 (where Kate was). The woman seemed to think my mission a brave and impossible one, because as she said, "We tried to get from 1 to 5 last year and got hopelessly lost for hours!" Great. I remember, too, that I was fighting sleep the whole time - and that it was so cloudy and gray outside that I couldn't see anything except during take-off and landing. About the time that the British couple was making me feel a bit panicky about the airport, we landed. I found the Underground easily enough and got to Terminal 5, thinking that the worst was over. Ha.
Suffice it to say, culture differences will be our downfall. Kate and I had arranged that we'd meet at her gate, which is a safe place to find people in American airports. The trouble was, in Europe, you CAN'T meet people at their gates without a boarding pass of your own. Come to think of it, I should have known that after my hectic and harrowing adventures at the Dublin Airport... but I forgot. So Kate, true to our bargain, hung around Gate 17 for an hour while I prayed that she'd find out that she HAD to come out for me to find her. We both apparently spoke to every airport employee in the country. If only ONE person had contacted a fellow employee on the opposite side of the gate, or if they had compared notes in some way, we would have found each other just fine - but nobody thought of that. I knew that Kate would wait at her gate until I found her, because that's what she had promised to do... so I resigned myself to the fact that my first day or two or three in England may very well be spent waiting in the airport for my sister to give up and come out. Anyway - it's all too terrible and stressful and depressing to recall. The main thing is that almost three hours after Kate's plane landed, she came out the gate marked "International Arrivals", where I'd been looking for her in every group that passed by. I ducked under the fence and ran to her. We hugged, we cried, we laughed... we were a whole movie scene all on our own, only better - because our happiness was real.
Even now I can't believe she's here. It's so odd and out of place - and even though, so far, London has been a series of wrong turns, sore feet and cloud-bursts, her presence makes me feel like I am home.
We took the Tube from Heathrow to the city, and took a bus further in. We got off too early, though, and spent the next hour wandering the streets of Northern London in the pouring rain. That, however, is another tragic saga that doesn't need telling. But eventually we found our hotel, and we let our clothes dry for an hour or two while we recuperated in our room. Then we walked to the corner Tesco (I do love that handy place) and bought a bag of plain bagels, a block of white cheddar, ham, and two bottles of Stella Artois - tonight's dinner and tomorrow's lunch. We are so ingenious, by the way. The only instruments for dining we had in our room were two cups, two saucers, and two little teaspoons - so we used the spoons to slice our cheese and bagels. It was lovely, eating our humble (but creative and well-earned) dinner on a bed in a London hotel on a rainy afternoon.
Tomorrow we've got big plans and a crazy itinerary. Hopefully we'll get to see it all... but right now, I'm content to sit here next to one of my very favorite people on earth as she dreams of turning corners.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Begin
See, there's a sun in the sky,
And a moon that will take us til morning.
When are you gonna stand?
Stop and begin this moment.
Hey, let go.
Let go.
Well my friends, this is it. May 2nd is arriving in a half hour, and I will be leaving Dublin at 10. Kate and I said goodbye to Carole and the boys tonight, because we'll be catching our bus long before they wake up. Ray is taking us to the station, so there's one goodbye to go. I've gotten better at leaving, but I'm still horrible at goodbyes. I wish that for once I could say how thankful I am to someone without having to leave a note that I feel says it better. Oh well. I think they know.
Today was a pretty great last day. Kate and I had been thinking of going back into Dublin city, but there was a steady driving rain that lasted ALL day... plus, yesterday was a pretty great and appropriately Dublin-y farewell to the city, we both felt. So we decided to make today a crazy nature day, and spent all afternoon wandering around in the pouring rain. It took me hours to thaw. First we walked up Killiney Hill - which was also an appropriate farewell thing to do, since that's where I went on my first whole day in Ireland. The air was so white and wet that you could barely make out the port, but the hill took on its own charm and beauty in the rain. I think that's one of the really amazing things about Irish landscapes - they're so versatile. Any weather, any season - it's always different, but it's always incredible. And I like that it's different; It makes it impossible to compare something from day to day. There's no point in drawing comparisons between things that are of equal beauty. Anyway, so we went up the hill and ran around for awhile, and then we walked back to the Speers' house to add some more layers to our wet and cold little selves. That done, we walked to the DART station and hopped on a train bound for Blackrock - the station just above the bay where the tide draws back all the way in the afternoons. Every time I go into Dublin, I see a few people waking out on the sand in that bay, and I've always wanted to go - but I never thought ahead enough to buy another ticket. Today, however, Kate and I made it our singular goal to get out there - so we did. We got off the train, crossed the tracks and hopped a wall, and sat on some cement steps overlooking the bay for awhile. We'd bought a coffee cake on the way over, and we demolished it between the two of us there. We then took off running along the wet sand of the empty bay, and stayed for a good long time. It was completely freezing cold and windy down there, but it was beautiful. See? Incomparable.
After we'd had our fill of wet sand, rising tides, and many starfish in puddles, we hopped back on the train and rode it into the village of Dalkey. There we picked up an apple pie from a bakery, and went into a florist shop to create a bouquet for Carole. I'm not exactly sure what the flowers were called that we picked, but it ended up looking GORGEOUS. I know we got some white carnations, and 3 orange gerbera daisies... but we also put some lovely yellow flowers in there, and I'm not sure if they were some kind of small tulip or what, but they were beautiful. The florist arranged them all into one bouquet, complete with a yellow ribbon, and the final product was probably the most cheerful thing I've ever seen. I wish I'd gotten a picture. Actually, I amend the statement: I think that Kate and me, walking down the streets of Dalkey with an apple pie and a spring bouquet is the most cheerful thing. Carole was by the door when we walked up the driveway, so she opened it up for us, and you should have seen your face when we handed her the bouquet and Kate said, "Happy Tuesday."
After a shower, I spent the rest of the afternoon packing - a job which I've only just finished. We had dinner all together, followed by our pie, and then we sat around discussing every subject under the sun. I'm going to miss the dinner conversations in this house. We said goodbye to the boys and they went to bed, and then the 4 of us watched CSI, as is custom on Tuesday nights. And then we said goodbye to Carole... which was much harder than I thought it would be. I finished packing, and even though I'm not really tired anymore (you should've seen me this afternoon, though - I almost fell asleep on the DART), I'm going to try to force myself to get some sleep. Kate's already been out for an hour. What an old lady she's become. Sheesh, I had to think of the jet-lag she'll be suffering from next week... she only just got used to THIS time zone!
I'm waking up in 6 hours. Eesh. It'll be a long day tomorrow, but a good one. Good, because I'll be sitting between a window and one of my favorite people on the planet.
And I'm coming home.
California, I'm coming home!
And a moon that will take us til morning.
When are you gonna stand?
Stop and begin this moment.
Hey, let go.
Let go.
Well my friends, this is it. May 2nd is arriving in a half hour, and I will be leaving Dublin at 10. Kate and I said goodbye to Carole and the boys tonight, because we'll be catching our bus long before they wake up. Ray is taking us to the station, so there's one goodbye to go. I've gotten better at leaving, but I'm still horrible at goodbyes. I wish that for once I could say how thankful I am to someone without having to leave a note that I feel says it better. Oh well. I think they know.
Today was a pretty great last day. Kate and I had been thinking of going back into Dublin city, but there was a steady driving rain that lasted ALL day... plus, yesterday was a pretty great and appropriately Dublin-y farewell to the city, we both felt. So we decided to make today a crazy nature day, and spent all afternoon wandering around in the pouring rain. It took me hours to thaw. First we walked up Killiney Hill - which was also an appropriate farewell thing to do, since that's where I went on my first whole day in Ireland. The air was so white and wet that you could barely make out the port, but the hill took on its own charm and beauty in the rain. I think that's one of the really amazing things about Irish landscapes - they're so versatile. Any weather, any season - it's always different, but it's always incredible. And I like that it's different; It makes it impossible to compare something from day to day. There's no point in drawing comparisons between things that are of equal beauty. Anyway, so we went up the hill and ran around for awhile, and then we walked back to the Speers' house to add some more layers to our wet and cold little selves. That done, we walked to the DART station and hopped on a train bound for Blackrock - the station just above the bay where the tide draws back all the way in the afternoons. Every time I go into Dublin, I see a few people waking out on the sand in that bay, and I've always wanted to go - but I never thought ahead enough to buy another ticket. Today, however, Kate and I made it our singular goal to get out there - so we did. We got off the train, crossed the tracks and hopped a wall, and sat on some cement steps overlooking the bay for awhile. We'd bought a coffee cake on the way over, and we demolished it between the two of us there. We then took off running along the wet sand of the empty bay, and stayed for a good long time. It was completely freezing cold and windy down there, but it was beautiful. See? Incomparable.
After we'd had our fill of wet sand, rising tides, and many starfish in puddles, we hopped back on the train and rode it into the village of Dalkey. There we picked up an apple pie from a bakery, and went into a florist shop to create a bouquet for Carole. I'm not exactly sure what the flowers were called that we picked, but it ended up looking GORGEOUS. I know we got some white carnations, and 3 orange gerbera daisies... but we also put some lovely yellow flowers in there, and I'm not sure if they were some kind of small tulip or what, but they were beautiful. The florist arranged them all into one bouquet, complete with a yellow ribbon, and the final product was probably the most cheerful thing I've ever seen. I wish I'd gotten a picture. Actually, I amend the statement: I think that Kate and me, walking down the streets of Dalkey with an apple pie and a spring bouquet is the most cheerful thing. Carole was by the door when we walked up the driveway, so she opened it up for us, and you should have seen your face when we handed her the bouquet and Kate said, "Happy Tuesday."
After a shower, I spent the rest of the afternoon packing - a job which I've only just finished. We had dinner all together, followed by our pie, and then we sat around discussing every subject under the sun. I'm going to miss the dinner conversations in this house. We said goodbye to the boys and they went to bed, and then the 4 of us watched CSI, as is custom on Tuesday nights. And then we said goodbye to Carole... which was much harder than I thought it would be. I finished packing, and even though I'm not really tired anymore (you should've seen me this afternoon, though - I almost fell asleep on the DART), I'm going to try to force myself to get some sleep. Kate's already been out for an hour. What an old lady she's become. Sheesh, I had to think of the jet-lag she'll be suffering from next week... she only just got used to THIS time zone!
I'm waking up in 6 hours. Eesh. It'll be a long day tomorrow, but a good one. Good, because I'll be sitting between a window and one of my favorite people on the planet.
And I'm coming home.
California, I'm coming home!
Monday, April 30, 2012
"There is no fear, just nonsense."
Laid back, pleasant day-wise, it would be hard to beat today.
Today I got to show Kate all of my favorite things about Dublin - the things which hundreds of Dubliners walk by every day without much to-do, but which still make my heart pound nearly audibly. Poor Kate - I kept pointing things out, and giving her as many interesting facts as I knew about them, and then telling her about my previous experiences there... when really, I think Kate (if she's anything like me, which I know she is) just wanted to see for herself. But I couldn't help it. This whole time, I've been wandering around on my own, completely overwhelmed by the beauty and sheer awesomeness of the things around me, with no one to elbow and say "Look!" to. So many times I've just wanted to stop walking in the middle of the road, point and just yell, "LOOK AT THIS." Because I feel like nobody really does. But I don't do that... because I don't want to be hit by a car, or put in an asylum, or anything like that. So instead, I annoy Kate with thousands of little facts and memories. She was very good about it, though.
In all, we spent about 13 hours out today. As I write, I am in bed, stretching out my very sore legs. Kate is already snoring next to me.
We started out in Merrion Square Park, because I wanted to show her Oscar Wilde. We then went to the National Gallery, Dublin Castle and the gardens, (The Chester Beatty Library was closed... sad), Christchurch Cathedral, St. Patrick's Cathedral (not inside... I think we're saving that for tomorrow), and Trinity College. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go back a second time - because my first time was so glorious that I was afraid I'd be a little underwhelmed a second time. It was a bit too crowded today for my liking, and the sky was so dull that the Old Library just wasn't quite the same. But still. What a majestic place. I really do think that the Old Library at Trinity College is one of my favorite places on earth.
We then meandered up O'Connell Street, searching for a non-crowded pub where we could enjoy our first official pub meal. O'Connell Street yielded no results, so we went back down south and walked along the river until we entered Temple Bar. It was my first time back in that block since my first day in Dublin - I got lost that day and couldn't get OUT of the area, so I've since avoided it. (Also, side note. I am incredibly proud of myself today - I navigated us all around the city, even the unfamiliar parts, without getting us lost once!) We finally happened upon a place called "Auld Dubliners", which we thought looked promising. I think that was one of my favorite dining experiences ever. It was a nicely sized place, a bit dimly lighted, with a few tables on a platform in the back. The first thing I noticed as we made our way to a small table was that Simon and Garfunkel's "Homeward Bound" was playing on the radio. A fellow came up and asked if we were looking for food or a drink, and we told him both. We each ended up with the day's special: beans, fish and chips with a pint of Harp. Shortly after our meal was served, a local fellow took to the microphone with his guitar and treated us to popular Irish and American songs (ranging from old Celtic tunes to "Wild Rover" (aghhhhh) to "I Want to Hold Your Hand" to "Folsem Prison Blues"). We were there for quite a while, just enjoying our food and pints and the general atmosphere of the Auld Dubliners.
As we were gathering up our things to go, two fellows approached our table and asked if they could sit. By then the pub was beginning to fill up a bit, and our table had extra chairs, so we obliged them - mostly because we knew we were leaving in a few minutes. But oh my goodness. Most hilarious few minutes ever. They were Norwegians, here in Dublin for a three day "pub crawl". Apparently they had been at it today since noon, and had been to six or seven pubs in that time. One of them, a shorter round fellow, was extreeeeemely sloshed - he pulled out a map of the city to show me where all the pubs they'd been to were, and he could barely hold it straight. After discovering that we are Americans, they asked what we were in Dublin for. I told them that we had time off from school so we just wanted to do some traveling. Drunk-Norwegian gasped and said, in a very slurred, halting way: "But! For Americans! Isn't that extremely... expensive and... unUSUAL?!" We assured him that it was, wished them luck on the rest of their pub crawling, and I told them to help themselves to our table. As we left the area, Drunk-Norwegian began to sing "And it's no... nay... neverrrr...." in self-consolation. Kate and I headed out and walked along the river for an hour, snickering to ourselves and speaking with Norwegian accents when we felt like it.
We spent an hour or so just walking along the Liffey, and around 7 we made our way to the Abbey Theater. We had incredibly good seats - five rows from the stage, dead center! - and the play was incredibly enjoyable. Also rather scandalous at times - so we've told Ray and Carole not to take the boys to it, for sure. But we had a grand old time. I'm really glad Kate went with me... those sorts of things are much more fun when you've got somebody you love with you. It was an incredibly Irish, modern take on Alice in Wonderland - and it made me happy to get a lot of the Irish culture jokes that I knew Kate didn't get. Not to rub it in or anything... it's just that I've been around the culture here much longer. She enjoyed it a ton, though - it was incredibly well done, and a good time was had all around. Except by our legs, which were a bit angry at sitting still for that long after walking so much for the rest of the day.
The play was over by 10:30, and we made our way through a few sketchy streets to the DART station. Kate almost fell asleep on the train home, but we covered the last part of the journey quickly and arrived back a bit after 11. We drank a few glasses of water each and went straight to bed. Which brings us up to date - which also reminds me that my eyes are closing. SO. I'm going to go to bed, wake up at 8 tomorrow, and enjoy my last full day in Ireland. Last full day. How incredibly strange.
Goodnight. :)
Today I got to show Kate all of my favorite things about Dublin - the things which hundreds of Dubliners walk by every day without much to-do, but which still make my heart pound nearly audibly. Poor Kate - I kept pointing things out, and giving her as many interesting facts as I knew about them, and then telling her about my previous experiences there... when really, I think Kate (if she's anything like me, which I know she is) just wanted to see for herself. But I couldn't help it. This whole time, I've been wandering around on my own, completely overwhelmed by the beauty and sheer awesomeness of the things around me, with no one to elbow and say "Look!" to. So many times I've just wanted to stop walking in the middle of the road, point and just yell, "LOOK AT THIS." Because I feel like nobody really does. But I don't do that... because I don't want to be hit by a car, or put in an asylum, or anything like that. So instead, I annoy Kate with thousands of little facts and memories. She was very good about it, though.
In all, we spent about 13 hours out today. As I write, I am in bed, stretching out my very sore legs. Kate is already snoring next to me.
We started out in Merrion Square Park, because I wanted to show her Oscar Wilde. We then went to the National Gallery, Dublin Castle and the gardens, (The Chester Beatty Library was closed... sad), Christchurch Cathedral, St. Patrick's Cathedral (not inside... I think we're saving that for tomorrow), and Trinity College. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go back a second time - because my first time was so glorious that I was afraid I'd be a little underwhelmed a second time. It was a bit too crowded today for my liking, and the sky was so dull that the Old Library just wasn't quite the same. But still. What a majestic place. I really do think that the Old Library at Trinity College is one of my favorite places on earth.
We then meandered up O'Connell Street, searching for a non-crowded pub where we could enjoy our first official pub meal. O'Connell Street yielded no results, so we went back down south and walked along the river until we entered Temple Bar. It was my first time back in that block since my first day in Dublin - I got lost that day and couldn't get OUT of the area, so I've since avoided it. (Also, side note. I am incredibly proud of myself today - I navigated us all around the city, even the unfamiliar parts, without getting us lost once!) We finally happened upon a place called "Auld Dubliners", which we thought looked promising. I think that was one of my favorite dining experiences ever. It was a nicely sized place, a bit dimly lighted, with a few tables on a platform in the back. The first thing I noticed as we made our way to a small table was that Simon and Garfunkel's "Homeward Bound" was playing on the radio. A fellow came up and asked if we were looking for food or a drink, and we told him both. We each ended up with the day's special: beans, fish and chips with a pint of Harp. Shortly after our meal was served, a local fellow took to the microphone with his guitar and treated us to popular Irish and American songs (ranging from old Celtic tunes to "Wild Rover" (aghhhhh) to "I Want to Hold Your Hand" to "Folsem Prison Blues"). We were there for quite a while, just enjoying our food and pints and the general atmosphere of the Auld Dubliners.
As we were gathering up our things to go, two fellows approached our table and asked if they could sit. By then the pub was beginning to fill up a bit, and our table had extra chairs, so we obliged them - mostly because we knew we were leaving in a few minutes. But oh my goodness. Most hilarious few minutes ever. They were Norwegians, here in Dublin for a three day "pub crawl". Apparently they had been at it today since noon, and had been to six or seven pubs in that time. One of them, a shorter round fellow, was extreeeeemely sloshed - he pulled out a map of the city to show me where all the pubs they'd been to were, and he could barely hold it straight. After discovering that we are Americans, they asked what we were in Dublin for. I told them that we had time off from school so we just wanted to do some traveling. Drunk-Norwegian gasped and said, in a very slurred, halting way: "But! For Americans! Isn't that extremely... expensive and... unUSUAL?!" We assured him that it was, wished them luck on the rest of their pub crawling, and I told them to help themselves to our table. As we left the area, Drunk-Norwegian began to sing "And it's no... nay... neverrrr...." in self-consolation. Kate and I headed out and walked along the river for an hour, snickering to ourselves and speaking with Norwegian accents when we felt like it.
We spent an hour or so just walking along the Liffey, and around 7 we made our way to the Abbey Theater. We had incredibly good seats - five rows from the stage, dead center! - and the play was incredibly enjoyable. Also rather scandalous at times - so we've told Ray and Carole not to take the boys to it, for sure. But we had a grand old time. I'm really glad Kate went with me... those sorts of things are much more fun when you've got somebody you love with you. It was an incredibly Irish, modern take on Alice in Wonderland - and it made me happy to get a lot of the Irish culture jokes that I knew Kate didn't get. Not to rub it in or anything... it's just that I've been around the culture here much longer. She enjoyed it a ton, though - it was incredibly well done, and a good time was had all around. Except by our legs, which were a bit angry at sitting still for that long after walking so much for the rest of the day.
The play was over by 10:30, and we made our way through a few sketchy streets to the DART station. Kate almost fell asleep on the train home, but we covered the last part of the journey quickly and arrived back a bit after 11. We drank a few glasses of water each and went straight to bed. Which brings us up to date - which also reminds me that my eyes are closing. SO. I'm going to go to bed, wake up at 8 tomorrow, and enjoy my last full day in Ireland. Last full day. How incredibly strange.
Goodnight. :)
Sunday, April 29, 2012
It's all Blarney to me.
Well my goodness. Hello! I have to say, blogging is kind of a daunting task right now because I have an incredible amount to say, but not much time or energy to say it with. I've come to terms with the fact that I will have to write about England and France when I get home to California. There's too much going on every day to spend time reminiscing about days previous. I know that means that much of the interest will be gone, readers-at-home-wise, because I'll be back and you can ask me in person by then. But this blog has been for me more than anyone, if I'm being honest, because writing is how I process and organize my jumbled thoughts and memories. So the stories of last week will be here, eventually, for those of you who are interested in reading them. I'd just rather focus on Ireland while I'm here for the next three days.
Three days! I can't believe that. The thought of going home is just really strange now. It's not a bad strange, as in "I'm not ready to go back yet"... but it's also not a "I'm so happy to call this adventure over!"-strange, either. It's just a sort of surreal awareness that whatever I was looking for when I set out on this trip hasn't been found yet - but maybe I've gotten closer.
Maybe that's even a more mature way of looking at this whole traveling thing. After past travels, I've always hit a sort of post-adventure depression upon returning home, because I felt like everything would just go back to boring old normalcy. But really, if you stay anywhere long enough, you'll lose the rose-colored glasses and you'll have to deal with things that may not be as fun or carefree. It's odd that I had to live in Europe for two months to realize that it really doesn't matter where you are - even though beautiful scenery is a nice plus. It really only matters what you're doing. Which means, it's not California that has an un-rosy, boring normalcy. That's what I allowed it to become. So even if I haven't quite discovered the secret to being completely content in one place, I suppose I'm slowly figuring out the way to get there.
I guess that's a fairly good lesson to come away with.
Anyway. Let's see... today was a nice laid back day. It was my last Sunday at Adelaide Road Presbyterian, which is a pity. I've really enjoyed being at that church - the people there are so nice! It was fun getting to show Kate off - I mean, introduce her - to all the people I've met over the past two months. We really are much better as a pair, I think. Kate and Amelia both. I feel more like myself when I'm with either of them than when I'm on my own - which is a bit sad, really... but there it is. I've missed feeling like my whole self these weeks, and it's been great to be "complete" again since Kate and I found each other in London. (Heathrow - AGH. But that's another story.) After church we had "wraps" for lunch, and then Ray dropped me and Kate off at the harbor in Dun Laoghaire (after we made a run to the store for some batteries). It's been freezing cold and terribly windy here this week, and today has been the worst yet - which, of course, meant that Kate and I had to go and lurk about the seashore. The air was completely drenched with ocean spray and sea foam, as the waves hit parts of the rocks and pavement that I've never even seen get wet. At one point we were standing near the railing of the footpath, just talking, and a huge wave came up, crashed on the rocks next to us, and completely drenched Kate's back and my side. The fact that it hit the side of my face actually has been kind of concerning me this evening - the whole rest of the time that we were out, my ear was numb and throbbing. So I'm really praying that I don't get an ear infection or pneumonia or anything... but yeah. I should be fine. It was good for a laugh, at any rate, and it makes my point that the weather here has been pretty crazy. Sheesh! Nature! What a crazy world. The more I look at how the world works, the more I'm in awe of how majestic and beautiful and terribly violent nature really is. It's so cool! And it's hard to remember that, in sunny California where the temperature only varies about 20 degrees... but still. What a fascinating place our planet is.
So I showed Kate the sights of Dun Laoghaire and the (usually tranquil) beach where I've often gone to read or eat raisin bread and watch the sailboats. We then waked back to Dalkey, and I showed her the village... and then we headed back home for dinner, a few cups of tea, and some TV with the family.
I'm going to move back in time a bit now, and write about Blarney. After Kate and I got back from Paris on Thursday, we spent the night in Dalkey and then caught a 10:00 bus from Dublin to Cork the following morning. The bus ride took 4 hours and 45 minutes, but we drove through some incredible parts of the country (and saw 3 or 4 castles, including the Rock of Cashel - which is AMAZING, and we saw it up close!). Kate and I both had our ipods and so we listened to music and stared out the windows the whole time, and pinched each other on the arm when we felt too happy to keep to ourselves. We got into Cork at almost 3, and suddenly had the terrifying realization that we had no idea how to get to our B&B in Blarney. I knew the name of it... and I knew there was a bus from Cork to Blarney that we could hop on. But past that... we were a bit lost. So we hopped on the bus and rode a half hour - and I was praying all the way that I'd be able to find it, because I felt really stupid for not planning better. Then, lo and behold, on a country rode just outside of town, I saw a sign pointing towards an expanse of field that said "Lanesville B&B". A minute before, someone had hit the "stop" button and the driver pulled over shortly after. Kate hadn't seen the sign, but she believed me and we hopped off the bus. As the bus pulled away, it hit me that if I was wrong about the sign, then Kate and I had just lost our ride... but we walked back toward the sign and hoped for the best. Long story short, I was right - and we followed the signs for about a mile through the back country roads (including some cow pastures and school yards) until we reached a nice little house with an envelope bearing Kate's name taped to the door. Thus armed with our key and a warm little welcome note, we made our way up to our room (which had a beautiful view of the countryside and some cows, which excited Kate very much). Also, shortly after the owner arrived and showed us around and gave us some tips (and bus schedules). Aside moment for an advertisement: if you ever go to Blarney, stay at the Lanesville B&B. It was a lovely, clean little place, a close enough distance to Blarney Castle (less than a mile out of the "town"), the home-cooked breakfast was FANTASTIC and the family that runs the place is lovely. Also, Bryan (the owner) drove us into town twice, which was really nice. I think even the fact that our room had two beds instead of one (apparently I steal the blankets... but Kate hits.) was enough to make us love the place.
So after we checked in, like I said, Bryan dropped us off in town so that we could get some dinner. On the way down, he gave us a nice little speech about the different restaurants in town (there are 4, not counting all the pubs) and who was serving what kind of fish, and so on. Kate and I listened politely, exited the car, and headed into a supermarket where we bought a loaf of bread, some fresh ham, white cheddar, an apple pie, and a few Guinness'. We then sat on a big old tree stump in the village park and ate our dinner, while a pack of nearby crows hunted for worms. Kate was feeling incredibly poetic after our long day, and gave me a shpeel about how Oswald (the biggest crow, and the mangiest, in my opinion) was doing "just what he was made to do". Well, Oswald the Mangy Crow could have his worms - more power to him. I, however, was doing exactly what I was made to do, and fortunately my sandwich, pie and Guinness was doing the same.
Shortly after dinner, we realized that we'd made a terrible mistake. Upon our arrival, y'see, Bryan had told us that their credit-card machine wasn't working yet, so we'd have to pay in cash. Only, neither of us had that much cash, so we'd meant to bring a credit card down to town when he dropped us off. Well, guess what two people hadn't brought their credit cards? So, after we finished dinner, we walked the 3/4's mile back to the B&B, got my card, walked BACK the 3/4's mile to town, asked everyone and their mother where to find an ATM machine, and finally found one on a wall near a bar called Christy's after stopping in four different places and getting stopped by a man in a jeep who asked if we knew where the Parish Priest lived. Fortunately, though, the bad weather was on the East side of the island this whole time, so our 3 or 4 mile jaunt that evening existed in the warming light of the setting late-spring sun and the fresh smell of good dirt and grassy fields. Also, whenever I get tired of walking and start to think about my aching feet or back... I just smile and think, instead, about how good I'll feel in a bathing suit this summer. :)
So that was Friday. On Saturday, we woke at 7:30, got ready for the day and went down to breakfast at 8. I love European hotels/B&B's that serve breakfast. Maybe it's just the fact that someone else is providing food for you - or maybe the food here really is just magic. In either case, it's enough to make your day seem bright from the get-go. Two full plates and six cups of coffee (between the two of us) later, we re-packed our possessions into our one bag and Bryan dropped us at the door of Blarney Castle.
What a fantastic place! We spent almost 4 hours wandering around there. And because it was early on a Saturday morning, and not quite tourist season yet, we were the first people into the gates - which meant, that we were also the first people that 28th day of April to kiss the famed Blarney Stone. The light was still gorgeous across the wild landscape of the parks surrounding the castle, which made it really easy to believe that some sort of magic did (or does) exist in that spot. I don't mean that in a cheesy way, at least not as cheesy as it sounds... but when you're in places like that, with so much beauty and history around you, it's hard not to feel like there's more to a landscape than meets the eye. We didn't rush past any of it, by any means, but we did make our way to the top of the Castle as reasonably quickly as we could - I was having a hard enough time convincing Kate that it was okay to kiss a rock that thousands of other people have kissed, and I knew I'd lose her interest if we had to wait in a long line to do it. After ascending some treacherously narrow and winding stairs, we found ourselves standing on the walk around the castle walls, open to the air and far above the trees and creeks around us. Two men - the older one kneeling next to a hole in the floor and the younger one standing near a camera and tripod - were the only people up there before us. We approached them cautiously and I urged Kate forward, before she could think to back out of it. You should see the picture I got of her, laying on her back, head and torso upside-down through the opening in the castle's wall... one hand clutching the bar (the one you're supposed to hold), and the other hand holding onto the old man's arm for dear life. hahaha. It was a fantastic thing to witness. Kate was in and out of there in about .2 seconds, so then it was my turn. It's actually slightly alarming, once you're upside down, sliding down the rubber mat, with only a sheer drop and a few metal bars to keep you from becoming a permanent part of the landscape. For a brief second I was worried that I'd kiss the wrong stone, but a few inches later I found a rock that looked different than any of the others - and I planted one on it. When I pulled myself up, the old man (the one who holds your stomach while you're down there, apparently...) made some comment to the other fellow about how I kissed the rock like I loved it. Or something like that. I didn't quite hear him, so I think I just looked really confused, and he told me, "Ah, ye can't take life too seriously! Y'know!" And with my new-found eloquence, I told him, "I don't think I'm taking it too seriously... I just kissed a rock!"
Well. After that, we explored the castle for a bit, and then wandered off to explore the grounds. You only ever hear about the Stone - you never hear about the gorgeous gardens, or the lake, or the horses (one of which bit Kate.. hahahahhaaha. I mean, I'm a good, caring sister. Really.), or the electric fences (which ALSO got the better of Kate... slightly tied in to the horse incident, really), or the nearby gorgeous Victorian house that people still live in, or the big ancient towers that you can climb on and enjoy your last bit of apple pie and Guinness from, or the many other "lucky" landmarks aside from the Stone. There's a Dolman that you can walk underneath, to get in touch with your more magical-side, and there is also a rather treacherous staircase next to a waterfall called the Wishing Steps. Apparently if you can ascend and descend the stairs with your eyes closed without falling to your death or decapitating yourself on a certain low-hanging stone in the passageway at the top, and if you can concentrate on a wish throughout the whole process, your wish will come true. I'm not going to tell what I wished for, because that would be cheating - sort of like opening my eyes at the top to make sure my head stayed on my neck. But we'll see if I'm an accomplished writer in 50 years, and then maybe I'll tell you what I wished for. :)
Well shoot. This is long. I know more things happened, but I should wind it up because I promised to skype Mom soon. At 1:00, Kate and I caught a bus from Blarney to Cork, where we ate our lunch near the river and then wandered around the streets for awhile... when it started raining, we found a 200 year old Cathedral to go into (St. Finn Barre's. Not the most amazing Cathedral I've seen by far, but it was cool). At 4, we caught our bus to Dublin. The way to Cork was much more pleasant than the way back, we'll just say... namely due to a bus driver who played terrible music on the radio the whole time, with which our ipods couldn't compete. We got off at O'Connell Street, splurged and got some combo's from Burger King (I know, I know... but desperate times call for desperate measures. We needed those french fries.) and I showed Kate the sights while we headed toward the DART station, Dalkey-bound. We got in, had some coffee with Ray and Carole, and came back up to our room. Kate crashed around 11, but I was up for another few hours - too tired to write anything good, but not exhausted enough for sleep. Which will not be the case tonight! I plan on sleeping incredibly soundly, whether or not I steal the blankets or have to deal with Kate's sleep-violence.
Tomorrow will be fantastic. We're spending the day in Dublin, and going to the theater in the evening. Tuesday is coming up - my last evening of Carole's cooking. Sad that that's all I can think about, isn't it? paha. Anyway. Wednesday is coming soon. Crazy. You know, I'm glad. This has been an incredible journey - but I'm ready to have incredible journeys in the States, too.
Goodnight, folks. Have a good afternoon, California.
Three days! I can't believe that. The thought of going home is just really strange now. It's not a bad strange, as in "I'm not ready to go back yet"... but it's also not a "I'm so happy to call this adventure over!"-strange, either. It's just a sort of surreal awareness that whatever I was looking for when I set out on this trip hasn't been found yet - but maybe I've gotten closer.
Maybe that's even a more mature way of looking at this whole traveling thing. After past travels, I've always hit a sort of post-adventure depression upon returning home, because I felt like everything would just go back to boring old normalcy. But really, if you stay anywhere long enough, you'll lose the rose-colored glasses and you'll have to deal with things that may not be as fun or carefree. It's odd that I had to live in Europe for two months to realize that it really doesn't matter where you are - even though beautiful scenery is a nice plus. It really only matters what you're doing. Which means, it's not California that has an un-rosy, boring normalcy. That's what I allowed it to become. So even if I haven't quite discovered the secret to being completely content in one place, I suppose I'm slowly figuring out the way to get there.
I guess that's a fairly good lesson to come away with.
Anyway. Let's see... today was a nice laid back day. It was my last Sunday at Adelaide Road Presbyterian, which is a pity. I've really enjoyed being at that church - the people there are so nice! It was fun getting to show Kate off - I mean, introduce her - to all the people I've met over the past two months. We really are much better as a pair, I think. Kate and Amelia both. I feel more like myself when I'm with either of them than when I'm on my own - which is a bit sad, really... but there it is. I've missed feeling like my whole self these weeks, and it's been great to be "complete" again since Kate and I found each other in London. (Heathrow - AGH. But that's another story.) After church we had "wraps" for lunch, and then Ray dropped me and Kate off at the harbor in Dun Laoghaire (after we made a run to the store for some batteries). It's been freezing cold and terribly windy here this week, and today has been the worst yet - which, of course, meant that Kate and I had to go and lurk about the seashore. The air was completely drenched with ocean spray and sea foam, as the waves hit parts of the rocks and pavement that I've never even seen get wet. At one point we were standing near the railing of the footpath, just talking, and a huge wave came up, crashed on the rocks next to us, and completely drenched Kate's back and my side. The fact that it hit the side of my face actually has been kind of concerning me this evening - the whole rest of the time that we were out, my ear was numb and throbbing. So I'm really praying that I don't get an ear infection or pneumonia or anything... but yeah. I should be fine. It was good for a laugh, at any rate, and it makes my point that the weather here has been pretty crazy. Sheesh! Nature! What a crazy world. The more I look at how the world works, the more I'm in awe of how majestic and beautiful and terribly violent nature really is. It's so cool! And it's hard to remember that, in sunny California where the temperature only varies about 20 degrees... but still. What a fascinating place our planet is.
So I showed Kate the sights of Dun Laoghaire and the (usually tranquil) beach where I've often gone to read or eat raisin bread and watch the sailboats. We then waked back to Dalkey, and I showed her the village... and then we headed back home for dinner, a few cups of tea, and some TV with the family.
I'm going to move back in time a bit now, and write about Blarney. After Kate and I got back from Paris on Thursday, we spent the night in Dalkey and then caught a 10:00 bus from Dublin to Cork the following morning. The bus ride took 4 hours and 45 minutes, but we drove through some incredible parts of the country (and saw 3 or 4 castles, including the Rock of Cashel - which is AMAZING, and we saw it up close!). Kate and I both had our ipods and so we listened to music and stared out the windows the whole time, and pinched each other on the arm when we felt too happy to keep to ourselves. We got into Cork at almost 3, and suddenly had the terrifying realization that we had no idea how to get to our B&B in Blarney. I knew the name of it... and I knew there was a bus from Cork to Blarney that we could hop on. But past that... we were a bit lost. So we hopped on the bus and rode a half hour - and I was praying all the way that I'd be able to find it, because I felt really stupid for not planning better. Then, lo and behold, on a country rode just outside of town, I saw a sign pointing towards an expanse of field that said "Lanesville B&B". A minute before, someone had hit the "stop" button and the driver pulled over shortly after. Kate hadn't seen the sign, but she believed me and we hopped off the bus. As the bus pulled away, it hit me that if I was wrong about the sign, then Kate and I had just lost our ride... but we walked back toward the sign and hoped for the best. Long story short, I was right - and we followed the signs for about a mile through the back country roads (including some cow pastures and school yards) until we reached a nice little house with an envelope bearing Kate's name taped to the door. Thus armed with our key and a warm little welcome note, we made our way up to our room (which had a beautiful view of the countryside and some cows, which excited Kate very much). Also, shortly after the owner arrived and showed us around and gave us some tips (and bus schedules). Aside moment for an advertisement: if you ever go to Blarney, stay at the Lanesville B&B. It was a lovely, clean little place, a close enough distance to Blarney Castle (less than a mile out of the "town"), the home-cooked breakfast was FANTASTIC and the family that runs the place is lovely. Also, Bryan (the owner) drove us into town twice, which was really nice. I think even the fact that our room had two beds instead of one (apparently I steal the blankets... but Kate hits.) was enough to make us love the place.
So after we checked in, like I said, Bryan dropped us off in town so that we could get some dinner. On the way down, he gave us a nice little speech about the different restaurants in town (there are 4, not counting all the pubs) and who was serving what kind of fish, and so on. Kate and I listened politely, exited the car, and headed into a supermarket where we bought a loaf of bread, some fresh ham, white cheddar, an apple pie, and a few Guinness'. We then sat on a big old tree stump in the village park and ate our dinner, while a pack of nearby crows hunted for worms. Kate was feeling incredibly poetic after our long day, and gave me a shpeel about how Oswald (the biggest crow, and the mangiest, in my opinion) was doing "just what he was made to do". Well, Oswald the Mangy Crow could have his worms - more power to him. I, however, was doing exactly what I was made to do, and fortunately my sandwich, pie and Guinness was doing the same.
Shortly after dinner, we realized that we'd made a terrible mistake. Upon our arrival, y'see, Bryan had told us that their credit-card machine wasn't working yet, so we'd have to pay in cash. Only, neither of us had that much cash, so we'd meant to bring a credit card down to town when he dropped us off. Well, guess what two people hadn't brought their credit cards? So, after we finished dinner, we walked the 3/4's mile back to the B&B, got my card, walked BACK the 3/4's mile to town, asked everyone and their mother where to find an ATM machine, and finally found one on a wall near a bar called Christy's after stopping in four different places and getting stopped by a man in a jeep who asked if we knew where the Parish Priest lived. Fortunately, though, the bad weather was on the East side of the island this whole time, so our 3 or 4 mile jaunt that evening existed in the warming light of the setting late-spring sun and the fresh smell of good dirt and grassy fields. Also, whenever I get tired of walking and start to think about my aching feet or back... I just smile and think, instead, about how good I'll feel in a bathing suit this summer. :)
So that was Friday. On Saturday, we woke at 7:30, got ready for the day and went down to breakfast at 8. I love European hotels/B&B's that serve breakfast. Maybe it's just the fact that someone else is providing food for you - or maybe the food here really is just magic. In either case, it's enough to make your day seem bright from the get-go. Two full plates and six cups of coffee (between the two of us) later, we re-packed our possessions into our one bag and Bryan dropped us at the door of Blarney Castle.
What a fantastic place! We spent almost 4 hours wandering around there. And because it was early on a Saturday morning, and not quite tourist season yet, we were the first people into the gates - which meant, that we were also the first people that 28th day of April to kiss the famed Blarney Stone. The light was still gorgeous across the wild landscape of the parks surrounding the castle, which made it really easy to believe that some sort of magic did (or does) exist in that spot. I don't mean that in a cheesy way, at least not as cheesy as it sounds... but when you're in places like that, with so much beauty and history around you, it's hard not to feel like there's more to a landscape than meets the eye. We didn't rush past any of it, by any means, but we did make our way to the top of the Castle as reasonably quickly as we could - I was having a hard enough time convincing Kate that it was okay to kiss a rock that thousands of other people have kissed, and I knew I'd lose her interest if we had to wait in a long line to do it. After ascending some treacherously narrow and winding stairs, we found ourselves standing on the walk around the castle walls, open to the air and far above the trees and creeks around us. Two men - the older one kneeling next to a hole in the floor and the younger one standing near a camera and tripod - were the only people up there before us. We approached them cautiously and I urged Kate forward, before she could think to back out of it. You should see the picture I got of her, laying on her back, head and torso upside-down through the opening in the castle's wall... one hand clutching the bar (the one you're supposed to hold), and the other hand holding onto the old man's arm for dear life. hahaha. It was a fantastic thing to witness. Kate was in and out of there in about .2 seconds, so then it was my turn. It's actually slightly alarming, once you're upside down, sliding down the rubber mat, with only a sheer drop and a few metal bars to keep you from becoming a permanent part of the landscape. For a brief second I was worried that I'd kiss the wrong stone, but a few inches later I found a rock that looked different than any of the others - and I planted one on it. When I pulled myself up, the old man (the one who holds your stomach while you're down there, apparently...) made some comment to the other fellow about how I kissed the rock like I loved it. Or something like that. I didn't quite hear him, so I think I just looked really confused, and he told me, "Ah, ye can't take life too seriously! Y'know!" And with my new-found eloquence, I told him, "I don't think I'm taking it too seriously... I just kissed a rock!"
Well. After that, we explored the castle for a bit, and then wandered off to explore the grounds. You only ever hear about the Stone - you never hear about the gorgeous gardens, or the lake, or the horses (one of which bit Kate.. hahahahhaaha. I mean, I'm a good, caring sister. Really.), or the electric fences (which ALSO got the better of Kate... slightly tied in to the horse incident, really), or the nearby gorgeous Victorian house that people still live in, or the big ancient towers that you can climb on and enjoy your last bit of apple pie and Guinness from, or the many other "lucky" landmarks aside from the Stone. There's a Dolman that you can walk underneath, to get in touch with your more magical-side, and there is also a rather treacherous staircase next to a waterfall called the Wishing Steps. Apparently if you can ascend and descend the stairs with your eyes closed without falling to your death or decapitating yourself on a certain low-hanging stone in the passageway at the top, and if you can concentrate on a wish throughout the whole process, your wish will come true. I'm not going to tell what I wished for, because that would be cheating - sort of like opening my eyes at the top to make sure my head stayed on my neck. But we'll see if I'm an accomplished writer in 50 years, and then maybe I'll tell you what I wished for. :)
Well shoot. This is long. I know more things happened, but I should wind it up because I promised to skype Mom soon. At 1:00, Kate and I caught a bus from Blarney to Cork, where we ate our lunch near the river and then wandered around the streets for awhile... when it started raining, we found a 200 year old Cathedral to go into (St. Finn Barre's. Not the most amazing Cathedral I've seen by far, but it was cool). At 4, we caught our bus to Dublin. The way to Cork was much more pleasant than the way back, we'll just say... namely due to a bus driver who played terrible music on the radio the whole time, with which our ipods couldn't compete. We got off at O'Connell Street, splurged and got some combo's from Burger King (I know, I know... but desperate times call for desperate measures. We needed those french fries.) and I showed Kate the sights while we headed toward the DART station, Dalkey-bound. We got in, had some coffee with Ray and Carole, and came back up to our room. Kate crashed around 11, but I was up for another few hours - too tired to write anything good, but not exhausted enough for sleep. Which will not be the case tonight! I plan on sleeping incredibly soundly, whether or not I steal the blankets or have to deal with Kate's sleep-violence.
Tomorrow will be fantastic. We're spending the day in Dublin, and going to the theater in the evening. Tuesday is coming up - my last evening of Carole's cooking. Sad that that's all I can think about, isn't it? paha. Anyway. Wednesday is coming soon. Crazy. You know, I'm glad. This has been an incredible journey - but I'm ready to have incredible journeys in the States, too.
Goodnight, folks. Have a good afternoon, California.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Standing Solo in the Sun
We're back! In Dublin, that is. I wish I could write an appropriate update, but that may have to wait until I'm back on California soil... or at least, until after this Saturday. Still far too much to see and to do before we head home on Wednesday, but I will do my best to be regular in writing after this weekend. The main thing I wanted to pass along is that Kate and I are safe and sound in Dalkey tonight, and that we had an incredible time in London, Dover and Paris. Multiply incredible by amazing and ten, and you'll have an idea of our week.
We're heading out in the morning for Blarney, but we'll be back in Dalkey again on Saturday night - here to stay until we fly home for good. Or at least, for the summer.
I'll write more in a few days, then. I'm dead tired for now, even though it's only 10:30. What glorious days there are. I hope that you are having a glorious day too, in whatever corner of our beautiful world you find yourself in.
Goodnight, and talk to you soon.
We're heading out in the morning for Blarney, but we'll be back in Dalkey again on Saturday night - here to stay until we fly home for good. Or at least, for the summer.
I'll write more in a few days, then. I'm dead tired for now, even though it's only 10:30. What glorious days there are. I hope that you are having a glorious day too, in whatever corner of our beautiful world you find yourself in.
Goodnight, and talk to you soon.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
I will call you up and say, "Ain't this life a riot?" And you will understand, you will understand.
Shoot darn. I feel like tonight is one of those nights that I'd write a really long blog, but alas, it is almost 10 and I wake up at 5... and probably won't be getting much sleep for the rest of the week. And I will need my wits about me tomorrow at Heathrow when I have to track down my sister. Which reminds me, if you could please pray that I find her alright at the airport, that would be really nice - because we don't have a backup plan.
Anyway. I will say that today's tour at Newgrange was really fantastic. It was even sunshiney most of the time!!! Which was incredible, because rain has been forecasted all week. It did rain quite a bit between sites, but while we were out walking about on hilltops and monuments, it was perfect. It's funny how God blesses us with those funny little things that don't really matter, like weather. Whiiiiich is convicting to think about right now, because I've been really stressing about the Heathrow thing tonight. But I guess if God can give me a sunshiney day for a tiny little tour, He can help me find my sister at one of the busiest airports in the world.
We visited The Hill of Tara and the passage tomb at Newgrange, which was incredible. When I come back, I'll have to write a full on update of that. Although, I'm not sure how much blogging I'm going to be able to do from here on out... Kate and I will be away from computers until next Thursday night. We spend one night back here, and then head out the next morning for Blarney. (We couldn't be in Ireland without going to Blarney Castle. Come on.) We'll be back to Dublin on that Saturday night, and we'll be here until we fly home on the following Wednesday. So we'll see how the blogging goes. But I'll make sure and write sufficient histories of our adventures when I get back to California, at the very least.
Topics to cover (eventually) about today:
-How I forgot to mention the kindly security guard at the National Gallery on Monday, who told me that I looked happy. And how I responded that I was happy to be with art, and he laughed.
-How I really don't need to tell that story anymore, because I just did.
-How I almost missed my tour bus because the DART train had a faulty track this morning.
-How there was a lousy group of French teenage students on our tour bus today, who were incredibly loud and rude and almost got kicked off the bus.
-How I'm trying not to be racist.
-How I'm really not racist, because I fell in love with the Asian couple and their baby who sat in front of me. And how the baby kept looking back at me over the seat and smiling and cracking up at the faces I'd make.
-How I'm pretty much magic with children. (And humble.)
-How I slipped and full-on fell on the top of the Hill of Tara because it had just started raining... and how ridiculous that looked.
-How incredible Newgrange is, and how amazing the demonstration of the light that enters the tomb on the Winter Solstice was, once we were inside.
-How I have been almost adopted by numerous old couples on this trip, including a couple of elderly Americans today who stood by my side while I informed the guy at the gate of Newgrange that I didn't have a ticket because my tour-guide hadn't given me one. I'm pretty sure they would have fought him for me, if they'd had to.
-How I talked to an Australian lady who is married to a judge, and how I asked her on accident if there were areas of Australia where they "grew wine". I was tired, alright?
-How I got dropped off in Dublin under a light drizzle, and how I bought a glorious cup of coffee to enjoy while I walked to the train station, and rode the train home.
-How I'm inspired to learn how to ride a bicycle this summer. There's a bay that the train goes by, and in the afternoon the water draws back so far that people go for walks on what is (in the morning) the ocean-floor. Today I saw a couple riding around on the wet sand on their bikes, and it got me thinking.
-How excited I am to see Kate, and how tired I am, and how lousy 5 AM is but how worth it it is going to be.
And how I really don't need to talk about any of that anymore - because next time I write, I'll have new stories to tell. And how nice that is.
Goodnight, folks. Be back in a week!
Anyway. I will say that today's tour at Newgrange was really fantastic. It was even sunshiney most of the time!!! Which was incredible, because rain has been forecasted all week. It did rain quite a bit between sites, but while we were out walking about on hilltops and monuments, it was perfect. It's funny how God blesses us with those funny little things that don't really matter, like weather. Whiiiiich is convicting to think about right now, because I've been really stressing about the Heathrow thing tonight. But I guess if God can give me a sunshiney day for a tiny little tour, He can help me find my sister at one of the busiest airports in the world.
We visited The Hill of Tara and the passage tomb at Newgrange, which was incredible. When I come back, I'll have to write a full on update of that. Although, I'm not sure how much blogging I'm going to be able to do from here on out... Kate and I will be away from computers until next Thursday night. We spend one night back here, and then head out the next morning for Blarney. (We couldn't be in Ireland without going to Blarney Castle. Come on.) We'll be back to Dublin on that Saturday night, and we'll be here until we fly home on the following Wednesday. So we'll see how the blogging goes. But I'll make sure and write sufficient histories of our adventures when I get back to California, at the very least.
Topics to cover (eventually) about today:
-How I forgot to mention the kindly security guard at the National Gallery on Monday, who told me that I looked happy. And how I responded that I was happy to be with art, and he laughed.
-How I really don't need to tell that story anymore, because I just did.
-How I almost missed my tour bus because the DART train had a faulty track this morning.
-How there was a lousy group of French teenage students on our tour bus today, who were incredibly loud and rude and almost got kicked off the bus.
-How I'm trying not to be racist.
-How I'm really not racist, because I fell in love with the Asian couple and their baby who sat in front of me. And how the baby kept looking back at me over the seat and smiling and cracking up at the faces I'd make.
-How I'm pretty much magic with children. (And humble.)
-How I slipped and full-on fell on the top of the Hill of Tara because it had just started raining... and how ridiculous that looked.
-How incredible Newgrange is, and how amazing the demonstration of the light that enters the tomb on the Winter Solstice was, once we were inside.
-How I have been almost adopted by numerous old couples on this trip, including a couple of elderly Americans today who stood by my side while I informed the guy at the gate of Newgrange that I didn't have a ticket because my tour-guide hadn't given me one. I'm pretty sure they would have fought him for me, if they'd had to.
-How I talked to an Australian lady who is married to a judge, and how I asked her on accident if there were areas of Australia where they "grew wine". I was tired, alright?
-How I got dropped off in Dublin under a light drizzle, and how I bought a glorious cup of coffee to enjoy while I walked to the train station, and rode the train home.
-How I'm inspired to learn how to ride a bicycle this summer. There's a bay that the train goes by, and in the afternoon the water draws back so far that people go for walks on what is (in the morning) the ocean-floor. Today I saw a couple riding around on the wet sand on their bikes, and it got me thinking.
-How excited I am to see Kate, and how tired I am, and how lousy 5 AM is but how worth it it is going to be.
And how I really don't need to talk about any of that anymore - because next time I write, I'll have new stories to tell. And how nice that is.
Goodnight, folks. Be back in a week!
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