I love Galway. I really do. It's more like a big town than a city, and very very pedestrian-friendly. We dealt with our mid-vacation exhaustion by taking today pretty easy, but still managed to see the whole city, do some shopping, visit a pub, take 130 pictures or so, and meet some incredibly entertaining locals.
This morning was for the history, as we went to the Galway museum and visited the various other sites of interest around the city. This included a couple of churches, such as the one in which Columbus is purported to have prayed before setting sail for America. Mostly, though, we wandered, in and out of shops, around pedestrian malls and streets, and into used booksellers. In the West End, we found a bookshop that not only sold us each three books for 10 EUR, but also contained a couple of locals who could confirm the Irish interest in American country music. This was good, as we had been wondering; more than one restaurant we have visited has had country music playing, and we were definitely Confused. One of the men also mentioned that the weather we've been enjoying on the whole (sunny and beautiful) is not normal, and we shouldn't expect it again if we come back next year. I think we're just good-weather totems, at least for vacations (albeit not for graduations).
The afternoon was spent drinking tea, window-shopping, and reading; I picked up some sci-fi, Irish mythology, and Irish history to keep myself busy (yes, I brought books, but somehow they haven't been matching my mood...). This was fitting: as we applied sunscreen this morning, it was, of course, raining, and so reading-in-coffee-shops was a better plan than spending-much-time-outside.
We had a pasta dinner along the primary pedestrian street. 6.90 EUR each for giant pasta plates! Best deal in the city, as far as I can tell. Galway has been hella cheap, actually, as we followed up cheap pasta with a free chamber choir concert at St. Nicholas's church (this adds to the free beer and bar snacks and free wandering and free museum...). Although St. Nicholas is now considered the patron saint of children (Santa Claus), he was once largely thought of as the patron saint of sailors, which is why seaside towns like Galway are rife with Churches of St. Nicholas. The music was lovely, in any case, and a good, wholesome way to spend the evening.
But it was not the best part of the evening
No, the best part of the evening, by far, was afterwards, at Richardson's, a pub off Eyre Sq (where our hostel is located, roughly). I cannot recommend the pub thing in Ireland enough. Pubs in Ireland are large, with plentiful seating and good lighting and appropriate noise levels, and most have some sort of live music almost every night. Pubs in Ireland are just places where strangers hang out and talk and make friends, and have a drink or two at totally reasonable prices, and eat some food if hungry, but not if not, really, whatever suits you, and the locals, usually oldish drunk Irish guys, are both the friendliest and the funniest of the bunch. This pub was no exception.
Richarson's was quite empty when we got there, around 9 pm, but with promises of live music to come, we settled in with some pints and hung out. At this point, Sarle, a regular, passed our table on his way to the men's room. He saw us, and started making conversation. Just friendly stuff, how are you, where are you from, what do you do, etc. He was obviously far beyond his first beer: "I'm sorry, I'm just pissed. In fact, I've been pissed since......what's today?" "Wednesday." "...1976!" "1976?! That's a long time..." "No kidding!"
By his account, his goddaughter has been staying with him, with a friend. They're both 14, and have scared him out of the house.
It only got better. Sarle's friend Tom came by too, both with pints, and really, I can't convey this in a blog post, but it was hilarious. The Irish have a concept they call craic, pronounced crack, which means good times and laughter and fun, and that was all anyone was after, so the conversation was just funny and goofy. The music started, a guy with a guitar, and Tom, Sarle, and I ended up swaying in a row and singing along (most especially, but not exclusively, to the song "It's a long long way from here to Clare"). Emily is sad she has no photographic evidence of this, but I think it's one of those things we'll just have to remember. Neither Sarle nor Tom was trying to pick us up (unlike our friend in Cong), and in fact, a running joke was the comfort zone of space that Sarle and I left between each other on the bench so as to avoid making anyone uncomfortable. He did, however, see fit to give us a compliment or two. I am evidently a very handsome woman, and Emily is also fairly easy on the eyes, but as she is but a child, at 21, we aren't to tell anyone he said so.
We took our leave not too late, as we have a busy day planned tomorrow, but it was really an incredibly funny evening all around.
Also, I had too much Guinness and now must go lie down without posting pictures. I'm sorry! Tomorrow we're off to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren, so hopefully I'll make it up to you then.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
a lazy couple of days in Galway
The epic-ness of our adventures have finally caught up with us! Claire is sleepy, and my sinuses have decided to hate me, but thanks to coffee and sudafed (respectively), we have not let that interfere with our fun. I may, however, completely lose my voice before we get back to the states!
Last night we had a delicious dinner of chocolaty crepes (we had had a late lunch), and then headed to a pub that was playing "trad"-traditional Irish music. We met some nice Professors from Hofstra University and their students and enjoyed chatting with them about all sorts of things for a couple of hours. We then returned to the hostel, at which point I, voiceless and tired, fell right into bed (while Claire updated you with lots of picture).
This morning I decided that I wasn't going to live to see the end of our Irish adventures if I didn't do something about my sinuses, and Claire had some misfortune with instant coffee at breakfast, so we started our morning with a trip to the pharmacy (there's one like every 100 feet in Galway- I don't know why or what you could possibly need that many pharmacies for) and the coffee shop. We wandered down to the river and sat for a bit (where Claire had more misfortunes with coffee- this time involving spilling...she was sort of having a rough start), and we watched the HUGE number of swans that live in the river parade around. Once my advil had kicked in and Claire had finished her coffee, we made our way into the Galway museum. It's a cool history museum and I learned a lot of Irish history! Did you know that Hitler once asked Galway to move their annual horse races so that he would be able to attend? Ireland responded by setting tank traps and spikes all around Galway and not moving their races ;-). Claire and I worked on figuring out when Ireland was fighting with Britain and when they were fighting against Britain, and we learned how much the Irish really loved JFK. We also saw lots of traditional boats and some very interesting political cartoons and old army advertisements.
We then checked out a cathedral built in the 1960's that manages to be just a beautiful as the ones built in the 1800's- the stained glass was amazing! We also found a great used-book shop, where I bought a lovely picture book about a horse made of sand, a book of silly children's poems, and a beatifully illustrated book of traditional leprechaun stories. I think the leprechaun stories will serve me well when St Patrick's day rolls around this year! And it was all only 10EUR! Claire bought some books too (sci fi and irish history), and we got into a conversation with one of the locals about country music in the states, and how the weather has been unseasonably nice recently (we apparently should not expect the same weather if we come back next year, but we contended that we must have brought the nice weather with us)!
We then grabbed lunch at a Chinese food restaurant after Claire declared that if she ate one more sandwich she would kill herself, and briefly headed back to the hostel to drop off our new books. The weather this afternoon has been dreary and drizzly (of course, I wore sunscreen today, so naturally it's raining), so-like true Galway locals- we've spent most of our afternoon popping in and out of stores and stopping at multiple cafes for a pot of tea and to read for a bit. It's been very relaxing. We also stopped by a very old church where Columbus supposedly prayed before setting sail. We're planning to go back to the church tonight for a concert of traditional music by a British girls' choir. I also think we may try and find dinner tonight that is not just chocolaty crepes ;-), and we'll probably end the evening with a drink at a pub (of course).
We have just three more full days in Ireland (sad, but we must eventually get back to work, and we're both broke enough as is), but they should be three great days! Tomorrow we're off to the Cliffs of Moher- the top tourist attraction in Ireland, and we're spending the night at the one really nice hotel of our adventure where we are supposedly getting a great dinner and breakfast!
Hugs to everyone,
Emily
Last night we had a delicious dinner of chocolaty crepes (we had had a late lunch), and then headed to a pub that was playing "trad"-traditional Irish music. We met some nice Professors from Hofstra University and their students and enjoyed chatting with them about all sorts of things for a couple of hours. We then returned to the hostel, at which point I, voiceless and tired, fell right into bed (while Claire updated you with lots of picture).
This morning I decided that I wasn't going to live to see the end of our Irish adventures if I didn't do something about my sinuses, and Claire had some misfortune with instant coffee at breakfast, so we started our morning with a trip to the pharmacy (there's one like every 100 feet in Galway- I don't know why or what you could possibly need that many pharmacies for) and the coffee shop. We wandered down to the river and sat for a bit (where Claire had more misfortunes with coffee- this time involving spilling...she was sort of having a rough start), and we watched the HUGE number of swans that live in the river parade around. Once my advil had kicked in and Claire had finished her coffee, we made our way into the Galway museum. It's a cool history museum and I learned a lot of Irish history! Did you know that Hitler once asked Galway to move their annual horse races so that he would be able to attend? Ireland responded by setting tank traps and spikes all around Galway and not moving their races ;-). Claire and I worked on figuring out when Ireland was fighting with Britain and when they were fighting against Britain, and we learned how much the Irish really loved JFK. We also saw lots of traditional boats and some very interesting political cartoons and old army advertisements.
We then checked out a cathedral built in the 1960's that manages to be just a beautiful as the ones built in the 1800's- the stained glass was amazing! We also found a great used-book shop, where I bought a lovely picture book about a horse made of sand, a book of silly children's poems, and a beatifully illustrated book of traditional leprechaun stories. I think the leprechaun stories will serve me well when St Patrick's day rolls around this year! And it was all only 10EUR! Claire bought some books too (sci fi and irish history), and we got into a conversation with one of the locals about country music in the states, and how the weather has been unseasonably nice recently (we apparently should not expect the same weather if we come back next year, but we contended that we must have brought the nice weather with us)!
We then grabbed lunch at a Chinese food restaurant after Claire declared that if she ate one more sandwich she would kill herself, and briefly headed back to the hostel to drop off our new books. The weather this afternoon has been dreary and drizzly (of course, I wore sunscreen today, so naturally it's raining), so-like true Galway locals- we've spent most of our afternoon popping in and out of stores and stopping at multiple cafes for a pot of tea and to read for a bit. It's been very relaxing. We also stopped by a very old church where Columbus supposedly prayed before setting sail. We're planning to go back to the church tonight for a concert of traditional music by a British girls' choir. I also think we may try and find dinner tonight that is not just chocolaty crepes ;-), and we'll probably end the evening with a drink at a pub (of course).
We have just three more full days in Ireland (sad, but we must eventually get back to work, and we're both broke enough as is), but they should be three great days! Tomorrow we're off to the Cliffs of Moher- the top tourist attraction in Ireland, and we're spending the night at the one really nice hotel of our adventure where we are supposedly getting a great dinner and breakfast!
Hugs to everyone,
Emily
Claire Blogs Days 5 and 6: Getting Lost on One of Three Roads, Johnny Can Sing, and Free Beer
The internet was spared our ramblings yesterday because our hostel on the Aran Islands charges 2.50 EUR per half hour of internet access, which is highway robbery, and I don't negotiate with highway robbers.
Yesterday morning, after more fresh-baked scones for breakfast, we bid farewell to our new friends at the Old Monastery Hostel (human and animal) and drove to the pier at Rosseaval to catch the 1 pm ferry to Inishmoor, the largest of the Aran Islands. Because we were early, we did not get lost, and in fact arrived almost 2 hours ahead of the boat. We thus sat in the only bar:
...where the fishermen were enjoying their pints of Guinness (...at 11:15 am) and speaking Irish with one another. We shared a pot of tea and enjoyed the ambiance, and I obsessed very slightly about the weather, which was bad. It wasn't raining hard, just consistently, and given that our stated plan was to go to an island with very little on it but ruins, and to get to those ruins via bicycle, it was making me a bit antsy. But, though it rained at breakfast, and all the way to Rosseaval, and all through tea, and on the boat:
...it stopped more or less exactly as we pulled into Kilronan, on Inishmoor. In point of fact, we had absolutely glorious weather on Inishmoor, sunny, with some puffy clouds, a light breeze, not too hot, a little chilly in the evening. Perfect!
We probably walked way more than we had to - dragged our luggage the 3 km to our hostel, and then walked back to Kilronan to rent bicycles. Oh well. We had the best room in the Mainistir hostel - a (very squeaky) canopy bed with a really gorgeous view of the sea:
(that's the view between my feet, from bed)
Inishmoor is spectacular. I'm only sad we didn't stay longer. Emily (sensibly) pointed out that it's kind of inevitable that I will feel this way about every place we only stay one night, but I think it's especially true of the Aran Islands. We didn't see half of the ruins, despite biking for 5 hours. I'm not really complaining, I'm just saying that it was so, so lovely. Related: biking around the Aran Islands is excellent, and I highly recommend it. Biking there has given me fantasies about coming back to Ireland and biking through the south.
Inishmoor is a strange place that has been inhabited for thousands of years, and is thus criss-crossed by thousands of kilometers of stone walls:
Oddly, though, there isn't much livestock, with the notable exception of a particular horse sticking his head over a wall between his pasture and the road around a blind curve, who whinnied more or less exactly as he came into my view, effectively scaring the living hell out of me.
We saw a ton of memorable scenery; for brevity's sake, I will present you only a Thatched Cottage:
and Celtic crosses:
We went to Dun Aengus, the primary tourist attraction on the island, a Bronze Age stone circle fort right on the edge of the cliff:
The only fence involved in this whole operation was the one keeping the cows from wandering into the fort. Note: there was no such fence to keep the tourists from wandering off the 91m cliff, around which the fort is built.
At one point on the way back, we ditched the bikes to walk to the cliffs, where we could climb down closer to the water. We ended up in an area that was much like a playground, for me; I could have spent all day there, climbing up and down the rocks. Well, with the exception of the high-tide parts of the day:
We unfortunately missed the seals at the seal colony, as they evidently fish during that portion of the day; we did see a large number of trumpeter swans, however. Instead, to get back to the hostel, we hiked up the steepest hill I have ever seen, came up at the top...and were totally unsure which way to turn. We had to ask a passer-by for directions, and she actually, and legitimately, laughed at us. Yes, folks, we're Ivy League graduates who got lost on an island with infinite visibility and three roads. I will distract you from how ludicrous this is with a pretty picture I took at the time:
We had a delicious dinner at the hotel, which is where we first met Johnny. Johnny is an (Aran) Islander, in his 70s, and the dominant first impression he left was that he belched loudly through dinner. We will return to Johnny in a moment.
After dinner, we walked to the nearest pub (with the sun setting behind us), where three guys, locals, played music. I ran into Johnny at the bar. He recognized me from dinner, and introduced both himself and his equally-old friend Paddy, who told me about the time in his youth he spent touring the Eastern seaboard of the US, picking up girls. He went all over: Richmond, NY, Boston, Philadelphia, Orlando...no luck in Richmond or Orlando, apparently, but when I said "Well I'm sorry you had no luck in all that...", he said "Oh don't worry, I had plenty of luck along the way."
The guys jamming were actually, 100% talented. Honestly, they were fantastic. A lot of covers, but well-chosen, some local stuff, some new stuff. But the best part of the night was when they called for Johnny. "Johnny? Johnny?! We know you're here, Johnny..." Johnny joined them up at the front, and they handed Johnny a guitar....and Johnny was amazing. Not just like, oh, I'm on vacation, I've had a few beers, it's fun to watch old local Irishmen jam good, but seriously, no lies, awesome. They had to turn down the volume on his guitar because he played so hard:
Johnny's on the left. People danced.
Sadly, the Aran Islands are experiencing a very severe drought, necessitating the shutting off of water between 8 pm and 8 am. I contributed to this cause by not showering and instead falling into bed. A little drunk.
We left this morning (after a friendly hostel breakfast; I like hostels because you can actually meet random people and talk to them. It's funny to me how surprised people seem to be that Em and I are actually travelling together and are not about to kill each other. I think a lot of people have sister animosity in their lives). We had an entirely uneventful ride to Galway; I'm getting good at this left-hand thing. Our hostel here is significantly nicer than I expected, decorated with art and murals, brightly painted, and the only obvious difference between our room and a proper hotel room is the need to share a bathroom. It's also supremely-well located.
We took it quite easy this afternoon, as we're staying two nights, and we're both a little beat. We did, however, get to take in a local hurling event at a bar not a block from our hostel. A sports channel was interviewing (and broadcasting the interview live) several past greats of the sport of hurling on their opinion on the upcoming All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championships. It seems that Kilkenny is highly favored to win over Galway. I have since read about hurling on wikipedia; it didn't help much. But anyway, it was very interesting, and we got both free Guiness and free bar snacks just for showing up.
We ended the night at a bar known for its trad [-itional Irish music] sessions, and enjoyed the music with a drink or two. We met a large group of Hofstra students + professors in Galway on summer session, with whom we had a number of interesting conversations. They too have noticed how friendly the Irish are to Americans, and how much they seem to just like the USA. It's an interesting change; not that I've met many openly hostile people in my life, but the Irish are not only super-friendly in general, they're specifically very positive about the US. Obama helps, of course, but this isn't just "Oh, you guys are great now that you've elected a guy who isn't an asshat", it's more general than that, and it's nice.
Before that, though, we grabbed a quick bite at a crepe place down the road. I leave you with photographic evidence:
Yesterday morning, after more fresh-baked scones for breakfast, we bid farewell to our new friends at the Old Monastery Hostel (human and animal) and drove to the pier at Rosseaval to catch the 1 pm ferry to Inishmoor, the largest of the Aran Islands. Because we were early, we did not get lost, and in fact arrived almost 2 hours ahead of the boat. We thus sat in the only bar:
...where the fishermen were enjoying their pints of Guinness (...at 11:15 am) and speaking Irish with one another. We shared a pot of tea and enjoyed the ambiance, and I obsessed very slightly about the weather, which was bad. It wasn't raining hard, just consistently, and given that our stated plan was to go to an island with very little on it but ruins, and to get to those ruins via bicycle, it was making me a bit antsy. But, though it rained at breakfast, and all the way to Rosseaval, and all through tea, and on the boat:
...it stopped more or less exactly as we pulled into Kilronan, on Inishmoor. In point of fact, we had absolutely glorious weather on Inishmoor, sunny, with some puffy clouds, a light breeze, not too hot, a little chilly in the evening. Perfect!We probably walked way more than we had to - dragged our luggage the 3 km to our hostel, and then walked back to Kilronan to rent bicycles. Oh well. We had the best room in the Mainistir hostel - a (very squeaky) canopy bed with a really gorgeous view of the sea:
(that's the view between my feet, from bed)Inishmoor is spectacular. I'm only sad we didn't stay longer. Emily (sensibly) pointed out that it's kind of inevitable that I will feel this way about every place we only stay one night, but I think it's especially true of the Aran Islands. We didn't see half of the ruins, despite biking for 5 hours. I'm not really complaining, I'm just saying that it was so, so lovely. Related: biking around the Aran Islands is excellent, and I highly recommend it. Biking there has given me fantasies about coming back to Ireland and biking through the south.
Inishmoor is a strange place that has been inhabited for thousands of years, and is thus criss-crossed by thousands of kilometers of stone walls:
Oddly, though, there isn't much livestock, with the notable exception of a particular horse sticking his head over a wall between his pasture and the road around a blind curve, who whinnied more or less exactly as he came into my view, effectively scaring the living hell out of me.We saw a ton of memorable scenery; for brevity's sake, I will present you only a Thatched Cottage:
and Celtic crosses:
We went to Dun Aengus, the primary tourist attraction on the island, a Bronze Age stone circle fort right on the edge of the cliff:
The only fence involved in this whole operation was the one keeping the cows from wandering into the fort. Note: there was no such fence to keep the tourists from wandering off the 91m cliff, around which the fort is built.At one point on the way back, we ditched the bikes to walk to the cliffs, where we could climb down closer to the water. We ended up in an area that was much like a playground, for me; I could have spent all day there, climbing up and down the rocks. Well, with the exception of the high-tide parts of the day:
We unfortunately missed the seals at the seal colony, as they evidently fish during that portion of the day; we did see a large number of trumpeter swans, however. Instead, to get back to the hostel, we hiked up the steepest hill I have ever seen, came up at the top...and were totally unsure which way to turn. We had to ask a passer-by for directions, and she actually, and legitimately, laughed at us. Yes, folks, we're Ivy League graduates who got lost on an island with infinite visibility and three roads. I will distract you from how ludicrous this is with a pretty picture I took at the time:
We had a delicious dinner at the hotel, which is where we first met Johnny. Johnny is an (Aran) Islander, in his 70s, and the dominant first impression he left was that he belched loudly through dinner. We will return to Johnny in a moment.After dinner, we walked to the nearest pub (with the sun setting behind us), where three guys, locals, played music. I ran into Johnny at the bar. He recognized me from dinner, and introduced both himself and his equally-old friend Paddy, who told me about the time in his youth he spent touring the Eastern seaboard of the US, picking up girls. He went all over: Richmond, NY, Boston, Philadelphia, Orlando...no luck in Richmond or Orlando, apparently, but when I said "Well I'm sorry you had no luck in all that...", he said "Oh don't worry, I had plenty of luck along the way."
The guys jamming were actually, 100% talented. Honestly, they were fantastic. A lot of covers, but well-chosen, some local stuff, some new stuff. But the best part of the night was when they called for Johnny. "Johnny? Johnny?! We know you're here, Johnny..." Johnny joined them up at the front, and they handed Johnny a guitar....and Johnny was amazing. Not just like, oh, I'm on vacation, I've had a few beers, it's fun to watch old local Irishmen jam good, but seriously, no lies, awesome. They had to turn down the volume on his guitar because he played so hard:
Johnny's on the left. People danced.Sadly, the Aran Islands are experiencing a very severe drought, necessitating the shutting off of water between 8 pm and 8 am. I contributed to this cause by not showering and instead falling into bed. A little drunk.
We left this morning (after a friendly hostel breakfast; I like hostels because you can actually meet random people and talk to them. It's funny to me how surprised people seem to be that Em and I are actually travelling together and are not about to kill each other. I think a lot of people have sister animosity in their lives). We had an entirely uneventful ride to Galway; I'm getting good at this left-hand thing. Our hostel here is significantly nicer than I expected, decorated with art and murals, brightly painted, and the only obvious difference between our room and a proper hotel room is the need to share a bathroom. It's also supremely-well located.
We took it quite easy this afternoon, as we're staying two nights, and we're both a little beat. We did, however, get to take in a local hurling event at a bar not a block from our hostel. A sports channel was interviewing (and broadcasting the interview live) several past greats of the sport of hurling on their opinion on the upcoming All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championships. It seems that Kilkenny is highly favored to win over Galway. I have since read about hurling on wikipedia; it didn't help much. But anyway, it was very interesting, and we got both free Guiness and free bar snacks just for showing up.
We ended the night at a bar known for its trad [-itional Irish music] sessions, and enjoyed the music with a drink or two. We met a large group of Hofstra students + professors in Galway on summer session, with whom we had a number of interesting conversations. They too have noticed how friendly the Irish are to Americans, and how much they seem to just like the USA. It's an interesting change; not that I've met many openly hostile people in my life, but the Irish are not only super-friendly in general, they're specifically very positive about the US. Obama helps, of course, but this isn't just "Oh, you guys are great now that you've elected a guy who isn't an asshat", it's more general than that, and it's nice.
Before that, though, we grabbed a quick bite at a crepe place down the road. I leave you with photographic evidence:
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
In which Ireland buys me a beer simply because they love a sport no one else has heard of...
We haven't been in touch for a while, because we would have had to pay for internet while we were on the Aran Islands, and who does that! We left the Old Monastery Hostel (sadly, because it meant leaving the puppy and the fresh baked bread at breakfast), and headed to the sea port to the Aran Islands. We were very early, and it was very rainy, so we sat in a pub and drank tea for like 2 hours. Finally, we headed out on a ferry ride of about an hour, during which I realized the true meaning of a sub-climate- though it was raining in Ireland, it was nice a sunny on the Island!
When we reached the island (the largest of the 3 Aran Islands) we stopped for lunch because we were sooooo hungry, then we headed up a steep hill with all of our luggage to our hostel. The hostel was great, and the view from our room over the sea was AMAZING, but it was quite a hike from the pier. Once we'd checked in, we headed back down to the pier to rent bicycles. We rented bicycles and headed out to see a super old stone fort on the edge of a massive cliff. Though it involved many encounters with livestock and quite a cardiovascular workout (and avoiding hitting the dog who was following us), we made it to the fort- which was very cool, and yes, indeed, super old. We then tried (repeatedly) to find the "worm hole", but we didn't really know what a worm hole was, so instead we found very cool rocky beaches with waves that would hit the cliffs and splash up in your face. The only problem was at this point my legs were so tired from biking that I was having a hard time climbing the rocks! After the cool rock beaches (which may or may not have been the "worm hole") we tried to head back by a different road and ended up hiking our bikes up the steepest hill EVER! I can't remember the last time I was that tired or thirsty! But...the countryside was amazing, and nothing like I've ever seen before- lots and lots and lots and lots of stone walls forming square farm plots, many of which are unused, all surrounded by rocky beaches and the beautiful turquoise sea.
Luckily, the hill ended about 200 feet from our hostel (yay!), and we went in for a dinner described by our guide book as "the best deal on the island", which was quite good, and had lots of veggies, which I think at this point we needed. We relaxed for a bit after dinner, and then we headed out to a local pub where a local band was playing. They were GREAT, and we ended up staying WAY later than intended because they were so good. Have I mentioned that I really like Bulmers Irish cider? Well, I do. We got back and fell intro bed exhausted (which was for the better, because the island has a water shortage, so you can't shower between 8pm and 8am anyway).
Today we've taken it pretty easy. Though my mind has finally acclimated to being here, my body is sort of giving out on me. My allergies are getting worse (but I bought Zyrtec today, which here is by a different brand and spelled Zirtec), and I am a bit sunburned and sore. You ask yourself, "who gets sunburned in Ireland?" Well, I do, and I am, but today I finally gave in and bought sunscreen!
We had a nice breakfast this morning at the hostel and met some other travelers. Then, we hiked back to the pier with our bikes and our bags (this was quite an impressive feat!). We did some window shopping of the lovely Aran wool, and then caught our ferry back to the mainland. At that point, we drove about an hour to Galway, where we are now staying at a lovely (and very brightly painted!) hostel. We checked in and got lunch, then we took a bit of a break. Around 5:30, we walked around the area; this is a great city, with lots of street performers! We then managed to end up at an event supporting the senior championships of Irish Hurling (a strange sport somewhere between lacrosse, field hockey, and handball) that will be occurring on Sunday (in which Galway is playing). This event at a pub near our hostel was where they were broadcasting from for a Q&A with famous hurling greats! It was cool and funny and we each got a free Guinness and lots of greasy bar snacks! It was lots of fun!
We are now chilling for a bit, and then we are going to head out to find a light dinner and some "trad" (traditional Irish pub music) around 9.
Alright, I'm sure I've missed something, but until next time...
Cheers!
-Emily
When we reached the island (the largest of the 3 Aran Islands) we stopped for lunch because we were sooooo hungry, then we headed up a steep hill with all of our luggage to our hostel. The hostel was great, and the view from our room over the sea was AMAZING, but it was quite a hike from the pier. Once we'd checked in, we headed back down to the pier to rent bicycles. We rented bicycles and headed out to see a super old stone fort on the edge of a massive cliff. Though it involved many encounters with livestock and quite a cardiovascular workout (and avoiding hitting the dog who was following us), we made it to the fort- which was very cool, and yes, indeed, super old. We then tried (repeatedly) to find the "worm hole", but we didn't really know what a worm hole was, so instead we found very cool rocky beaches with waves that would hit the cliffs and splash up in your face. The only problem was at this point my legs were so tired from biking that I was having a hard time climbing the rocks! After the cool rock beaches (which may or may not have been the "worm hole") we tried to head back by a different road and ended up hiking our bikes up the steepest hill EVER! I can't remember the last time I was that tired or thirsty! But...the countryside was amazing, and nothing like I've ever seen before- lots and lots and lots and lots of stone walls forming square farm plots, many of which are unused, all surrounded by rocky beaches and the beautiful turquoise sea.
Luckily, the hill ended about 200 feet from our hostel (yay!), and we went in for a dinner described by our guide book as "the best deal on the island", which was quite good, and had lots of veggies, which I think at this point we needed. We relaxed for a bit after dinner, and then we headed out to a local pub where a local band was playing. They were GREAT, and we ended up staying WAY later than intended because they were so good. Have I mentioned that I really like Bulmers Irish cider? Well, I do. We got back and fell intro bed exhausted (which was for the better, because the island has a water shortage, so you can't shower between 8pm and 8am anyway).
Today we've taken it pretty easy. Though my mind has finally acclimated to being here, my body is sort of giving out on me. My allergies are getting worse (but I bought Zyrtec today, which here is by a different brand and spelled Zirtec), and I am a bit sunburned and sore. You ask yourself, "who gets sunburned in Ireland?" Well, I do, and I am, but today I finally gave in and bought sunscreen!
We had a nice breakfast this morning at the hostel and met some other travelers. Then, we hiked back to the pier with our bikes and our bags (this was quite an impressive feat!). We did some window shopping of the lovely Aran wool, and then caught our ferry back to the mainland. At that point, we drove about an hour to Galway, where we are now staying at a lovely (and very brightly painted!) hostel. We checked in and got lunch, then we took a bit of a break. Around 5:30, we walked around the area; this is a great city, with lots of street performers! We then managed to end up at an event supporting the senior championships of Irish Hurling (a strange sport somewhere between lacrosse, field hockey, and handball) that will be occurring on Sunday (in which Galway is playing). This event at a pub near our hostel was where they were broadcasting from for a Q&A with famous hurling greats! It was cool and funny and we each got a free Guinness and lots of greasy bar snacks! It was lots of fun!
We are now chilling for a bit, and then we are going to head out to find a light dinner and some "trad" (traditional Irish pub music) around 9.
Alright, I'm sure I've missed something, but until next time...
Cheers!
-Emily
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Bonus Picture Blog Post: Old Monastery Hostel Edition
Edit: somehow I posted this while signed in as Emily and I don't know how to fix it. --Claire
We've mentioned more than once the epic awesomeness of our current hostel. I thought I'd bonus-update the blog tonight with a little picture tour! This is the Old Monastery Hostel:
(note the broken-down piano to the left of the main entrance).
A little grim, yes, though the little tent to the right is actually the path you take when you first walk up, and it is full of win:
(all of the chairs are labeled).
I don't have any photos of the puppy, sadly, though Emily does. Instead, I give you kittens:
This is the view from our room, down the front hallway:
Our room actually has two sets of bunk beds, though we have it all to ourselves; this is one set, the other is to the left:
Next to the bed is a fireplace full of seashells, over which there is a mirror:
(there are many books, all over the place.)
To the right of our room is another set of rooms, plus the stairway downstairs to the breakfast room:
I don't have a photo of the breakfast room, but as the building is set on a hill, the breakfast room has large windows overlooking the backyard, and you can hear the creek in the back. The puppy came up to the window as we were eating this morning and stuck her head in.
To the left of our room is the hall past the sitting room/kitchen, to the bathroom and some other dorms:
I am writing this post from the sitting room; there is a fireplace and some couches, and a large wooden table, from which this photo is taken:
And the bathroom! The bathroom! The bathroom is the best part. Everyone shares the one, though I think there's an extra downstairs. I've never used it, because who can resist this:
Just inside:
There's a fireplace burning a peat fire right next to that bookcase, in front of the couch. Imagine classical Gaelic music playing, since it is. To the right, the showers and the toilets:
So you want to shower, you go to the purple door on the left, for example (the blue doors work too, and they're all the same). You open it, and (I warn you it looks grody in the picture, but it's just stone, and it's clean):
...and then, you look up:
Yeah, exactly. It's amazing.
We've mentioned more than once the epic awesomeness of our current hostel. I thought I'd bonus-update the blog tonight with a little picture tour! This is the Old Monastery Hostel:
(note the broken-down piano to the left of the main entrance).A little grim, yes, though the little tent to the right is actually the path you take when you first walk up, and it is full of win:
(all of the chairs are labeled).I don't have any photos of the puppy, sadly, though Emily does. Instead, I give you kittens:
This is the view from our room, down the front hallway:
Our room actually has two sets of bunk beds, though we have it all to ourselves; this is one set, the other is to the left:
Next to the bed is a fireplace full of seashells, over which there is a mirror:
(there are many books, all over the place.)To the right of our room is another set of rooms, plus the stairway downstairs to the breakfast room:
I don't have a photo of the breakfast room, but as the building is set on a hill, the breakfast room has large windows overlooking the backyard, and you can hear the creek in the back. The puppy came up to the window as we were eating this morning and stuck her head in.To the left of our room is the hall past the sitting room/kitchen, to the bathroom and some other dorms:
I am writing this post from the sitting room; there is a fireplace and some couches, and a large wooden table, from which this photo is taken:
And the bathroom! The bathroom! The bathroom is the best part. Everyone shares the one, though I think there's an extra downstairs. I've never used it, because who can resist this:
Just inside:
There's a fireplace burning a peat fire right next to that bookcase, in front of the couch. Imagine classical Gaelic music playing, since it is. To the right, the showers and the toilets:
So you want to shower, you go to the purple door on the left, for example (the blue doors work too, and they're all the same). You open it, and (I warn you it looks grody in the picture, but it's just stone, and it's clean):
...and then, you look up:
Yeah, exactly. It's amazing.
Claire Blogs Day 4: We Are Too Polite For Our Own Good
Breakfast this morning was fresh-baked scones, porridge, coffee, oranges. I sort of wish we could live here forever. I took photos of the bathroom because it otherwise defies explanation. Let's just say it involves a fireplace, blue Christmas lights, and a disco ball.
I love that it's apparently baby-animal season here in Ireland. Maybe the Irish tourism board just breeds them year-round, but we've seen baby ponies, baby horses, baby donkeys, baby cows, baby sheep, baby cats, baby dogs...
Today, after church (it was...fast), we did the Proper Tourist thing and went to Kylemore Abbey:
We toured the Victorian Gardens with a large number of middle-aged German tourists, and I took the opportunity to take a number of cheesy macro-mode flower pictures. I think I liked the gothic church best, however; it was like a miniature cathedral.
We skipped a boat tour because the weather was crazy windy, and then rainy, and then sunny, and then windy, and then rainy. And then sunny. You get the idea. It's been making for dramatic pictures, at least. Instead, we drove to Clifden, a slightly larger town a couple dozen kilometers from Letterfrack. It's super adorable.
I wanted to go to Clifden to check out the ruins of Clifden Castle, which was built in the 17th or 18th centuries. As I said: "We came to Ireland to stomp around in ruined castles!" (Emily: "I thought we came to Ireland because it was cheap."). This took much longer than intended, because of this sign:
That sign does not, in fact, refer to the road next to which it is posted, or if it does, it doesn't mean it. So we wandered around lost for a while before figuring it out. The castle was totally worth the trek, though. We climbed in through a not-totally-blocked-off door:
We crept around the ruins, taking pictures and disturbing the birds. The ruins come complete with black birds circling ominously overhead and making a racket; we got a number of pretty excellent pictures:
Though this one may be my favorite (click to enlarge, a directive that actually applies to all photos, come to think of it):
The castle ruin was right next to a cow field:
The following conversation actually took place:
Claire: "That one must be the bull, it's the one without milk."
Emily: "It's also the one with the huge testicles."
After that, back to Clifden, where I had, I AM NOT KIDDING, the best mussels of my entire life:
That was all dinner was: the biggest bowl of mussels you have ever seen, and they were glorious. They melted in one's mouth.
Now we're back at the hostel, hanging out with other hostelers, getting involved in their dramas. It's fun.
Tomorrow: the Aran Islands!
I love that it's apparently baby-animal season here in Ireland. Maybe the Irish tourism board just breeds them year-round, but we've seen baby ponies, baby horses, baby donkeys, baby cows, baby sheep, baby cats, baby dogs...
Today, after church (it was...fast), we did the Proper Tourist thing and went to Kylemore Abbey:
We toured the Victorian Gardens with a large number of middle-aged German tourists, and I took the opportunity to take a number of cheesy macro-mode flower pictures. I think I liked the gothic church best, however; it was like a miniature cathedral.We skipped a boat tour because the weather was crazy windy, and then rainy, and then sunny, and then windy, and then rainy. And then sunny. You get the idea. It's been making for dramatic pictures, at least. Instead, we drove to Clifden, a slightly larger town a couple dozen kilometers from Letterfrack. It's super adorable.
I wanted to go to Clifden to check out the ruins of Clifden Castle, which was built in the 17th or 18th centuries. As I said: "We came to Ireland to stomp around in ruined castles!" (Emily: "I thought we came to Ireland because it was cheap."). This took much longer than intended, because of this sign:
That sign does not, in fact, refer to the road next to which it is posted, or if it does, it doesn't mean it. So we wandered around lost for a while before figuring it out. The castle was totally worth the trek, though. We climbed in through a not-totally-blocked-off door:
We crept around the ruins, taking pictures and disturbing the birds. The ruins come complete with black birds circling ominously overhead and making a racket; we got a number of pretty excellent pictures:
Though this one may be my favorite (click to enlarge, a directive that actually applies to all photos, come to think of it):
The castle ruin was right next to a cow field:
The following conversation actually took place:Claire: "That one must be the bull, it's the one without milk."
Emily: "It's also the one with the huge testicles."
After that, back to Clifden, where I had, I AM NOT KIDDING, the best mussels of my entire life:
That was all dinner was: the biggest bowl of mussels you have ever seen, and they were glorious. They melted in one's mouth.Now we're back at the hostel, hanging out with other hostelers, getting involved in their dramas. It's fun.
Tomorrow: the Aran Islands!
Day 4: In which we trespass through some more sheep fields
Well, last night after I updated we headed out for dinner at a pub in this tiny town with a girl from New Zealand. The pub fed us soooo muuuuuch fooooood. Claire had beef stew that came in a bottomless bowl, and I had a giant and delicious cheeseburger. Then, we headed to the bar across the street to watch the America vs. Ghana world cup game. I had a bulmers irish cider (way yummier than Guiness ;-)), and we stayed through the rest of the game (and overtime). The Irish were mostly rooting for America, but the French were definitely rooting for Ghana. We met and sat with two Archeology PhD students studying Ireland over the summer who were great. Just as things started to get really bad for the Americans, one of the Irishmen magically materialized an American flag that he draped over the shoulders of the Archeology students. We got great pictures of all of us looking sad while holding the flag after we lost. It was a great time considering that we lost!
We slept well, and then had a delicious breakfast at the hostel of irish brown bread and soda bread and porridge and tea. It was great. They have puppies, kittens, and yummy breakfast here; I could move in. We rushed out to get to church (which is luckily almost attached to the hostel) where we sat through the actual fastest mass I have EVER heard. Seriously, Sunday Mass, with music- it was over in 30 minutes. They are not kidding around here in Ireland. The prayers were said so fast that I couldn't even keep up (and I know all the words!). It may have been because the priest has to say mass at 2 other parishes in the area in the same morning (or perhaps the Irish are just very speedy at praying). Either way, it was fun and I'm glad we made it to a proper Irish Catholic Mass.
We then considered going for a boat ride, but it was too windy (we considered again later, but that time it was too rainy), but it's totally fine, because tomorrow we need to take a ferry! The weather overall today was very Ireland- blustery with intermittent rain. BUT...we did not let the weather stop us, and we headed out to Kylemore Abby (probably misspelled). It's this beautiful old mansion/castle that was bought by benedictine nuns and turned into an Abby/girls' school. We saw the Abby, the church, and the very cool Victorian walled gardens. It was all beautiful and on a very picturesque lake. Castles in Ireland are awesome, because they're just like the castles we would draw as kids- apparently those really exist! We also had lunch and some amazing ice cream at the tea room in the gardens.
After the Abby, we decided to try and find an old ruined castle in a neighboring town. This would have been easy if we'd just followed the directions that the guide book gave, but we instead misinterpreted a no-trespassing sign, walked way to far, and then tried to climb through a sheep field (and failed) to get there. Also, this all happened during intermittent rain! Then we walked back to the original entrance, walked a while in a different wrong direction, and finally we asked someone who said she thought it was not trespassing to take the road (we eventually decided that the sign referred to the field). We got to the ruined castle, which was beautiful, and had a great view of a bay, which appeared to have a salmon farm in it. There were lots of cows (penned up) and sheep (not at all penned up) around the castle, and we also got lots of pictures of donkeys, horses, and ponies during our 2.5 hour (should have been 1 hour) hike. I think this is all part of Claire's plan to completely exhaust me while making it look like an accident ;-).
By the time we got back to town we were a little damp and STARVING, so we stopped for dinner at a rather nice seafood restaurant, and now we are back at the hostel (playing with the puppy and kittens of course)!
Tomorrow, we head offshore to spend a night on an island, so it remains to be seen if we'll actually have internet tomorrow.
Cheers!
-Emily
We slept well, and then had a delicious breakfast at the hostel of irish brown bread and soda bread and porridge and tea. It was great. They have puppies, kittens, and yummy breakfast here; I could move in. We rushed out to get to church (which is luckily almost attached to the hostel) where we sat through the actual fastest mass I have EVER heard. Seriously, Sunday Mass, with music- it was over in 30 minutes. They are not kidding around here in Ireland. The prayers were said so fast that I couldn't even keep up (and I know all the words!). It may have been because the priest has to say mass at 2 other parishes in the area in the same morning (or perhaps the Irish are just very speedy at praying). Either way, it was fun and I'm glad we made it to a proper Irish Catholic Mass.
We then considered going for a boat ride, but it was too windy (we considered again later, but that time it was too rainy), but it's totally fine, because tomorrow we need to take a ferry! The weather overall today was very Ireland- blustery with intermittent rain. BUT...we did not let the weather stop us, and we headed out to Kylemore Abby (probably misspelled). It's this beautiful old mansion/castle that was bought by benedictine nuns and turned into an Abby/girls' school. We saw the Abby, the church, and the very cool Victorian walled gardens. It was all beautiful and on a very picturesque lake. Castles in Ireland are awesome, because they're just like the castles we would draw as kids- apparently those really exist! We also had lunch and some amazing ice cream at the tea room in the gardens.
After the Abby, we decided to try and find an old ruined castle in a neighboring town. This would have been easy if we'd just followed the directions that the guide book gave, but we instead misinterpreted a no-trespassing sign, walked way to far, and then tried to climb through a sheep field (and failed) to get there. Also, this all happened during intermittent rain! Then we walked back to the original entrance, walked a while in a different wrong direction, and finally we asked someone who said she thought it was not trespassing to take the road (we eventually decided that the sign referred to the field). We got to the ruined castle, which was beautiful, and had a great view of a bay, which appeared to have a salmon farm in it. There were lots of cows (penned up) and sheep (not at all penned up) around the castle, and we also got lots of pictures of donkeys, horses, and ponies during our 2.5 hour (should have been 1 hour) hike. I think this is all part of Claire's plan to completely exhaust me while making it look like an accident ;-).
By the time we got back to town we were a little damp and STARVING, so we stopped for dinner at a rather nice seafood restaurant, and now we are back at the hostel (playing with the puppy and kittens of course)!
Tomorrow, we head offshore to spend a night on an island, so it remains to be seen if we'll actually have internet tomorrow.
Cheers!
-Emily
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Claire Blogs Day 3: We Get Lost in a Gaeltacht
...and I learn what a bellwether* is.
First things first, we got the hostel shower to spit out hot water this morning, which was awesome. And we had a full fry for breakfast, with, as the owner of the hostel put it, "Coffee for the Americans!" Apparently Bill Clinton was known to have been useless at the peace talks before his coffee. Also awesome. And then we hit the road.
So, you say, the easiest drive of the vacation so far was this morning, right? Must have been all peaches and cream, right? Wrong. Took a left at a Y-intersection in Clonbur, drove for a half hour, came out at the right side of the Y. In Clonbur. In my defense, the signs were all in Gaelic.
We are staying at quite possibly the coolest hostel ever opened by man. It's in an old monastery, with giant windows, but all the walls and doors are painted wild colors, and it's full of very random...stuff. Animal skulls, random pictures painted by former guests, a very broken-down piano, a less-broken down organ, fast free wifi everywhere (including my bed), a really painfully adorable puppy, and 3 kittens.. Tomorrow morning there promises to be scones and porridge for breakfast. We're staying two nights, and I'm pleased as punch. It's also full of interesting people; the first one we met was a certified California hippie.
W started by hiking up Diamond Hill. This is Diamond Hill:
Misnamed, but beautiful. We're both either sunburned or windburned now, though. I'll go with windburned, since getting sunburned in Ireland is a little embarrassing. Here is a picture to prove that we made it to the top:
6.7 kilometers, and straight up for the up part, I'll have you know. I'm worried my quads are going to feel like jello tomorrow.
Dinner was at a restaurant downtown with seriously the biggest portions I've ever seen in my life, and then to the pub across the street to watch US-Ghana. We met a couple other Americans there, along with the New Zealand girl with whom we had dinner; they're all at our hostel. The Americans are PhD students in Archaeology; evidently they come to Ireland every summer to excavate. Cool job, huh? It's sad about the game, but watching Emily (the girlscout) and Jerry (the owner of the pub, maybe?) argue about how to properly fold a US flag (he had lent us his US flag, which he had had his brother in Boston send to him after 9/11) was pretty awesome.
It's 10:50 pm, and it's not dark out yet. Ah, the North. Bed now, though. I promised Emily I'd go to mass tomorrow morning, after all.
*A bellwether is a sheep in a herd that all the other sheep follow, and we don't know why, and, importantly, the bellwether does not know that he is the bellwether. This is bad because if the bellwether is stupid and walks off a cliff, all the other sheep do too. Emily taught me that. This is a sheep, of which there were many today, most up on the side of the mountain (in a "How did they get there?" kind of way):
First things first, we got the hostel shower to spit out hot water this morning, which was awesome. And we had a full fry for breakfast, with, as the owner of the hostel put it, "Coffee for the Americans!" Apparently Bill Clinton was known to have been useless at the peace talks before his coffee. Also awesome. And then we hit the road.
So, you say, the easiest drive of the vacation so far was this morning, right? Must have been all peaches and cream, right? Wrong. Took a left at a Y-intersection in Clonbur, drove for a half hour, came out at the right side of the Y. In Clonbur. In my defense, the signs were all in Gaelic.
We are staying at quite possibly the coolest hostel ever opened by man. It's in an old monastery, with giant windows, but all the walls and doors are painted wild colors, and it's full of very random...stuff. Animal skulls, random pictures painted by former guests, a very broken-down piano, a less-broken down organ, fast free wifi everywhere (including my bed), a really painfully adorable puppy, and 3 kittens.. Tomorrow morning there promises to be scones and porridge for breakfast. We're staying two nights, and I'm pleased as punch. It's also full of interesting people; the first one we met was a certified California hippie.
W started by hiking up Diamond Hill. This is Diamond Hill:
Misnamed, but beautiful. We're both either sunburned or windburned now, though. I'll go with windburned, since getting sunburned in Ireland is a little embarrassing. Here is a picture to prove that we made it to the top:
6.7 kilometers, and straight up for the up part, I'll have you know. I'm worried my quads are going to feel like jello tomorrow.
Dinner was at a restaurant downtown with seriously the biggest portions I've ever seen in my life, and then to the pub across the street to watch US-Ghana. We met a couple other Americans there, along with the New Zealand girl with whom we had dinner; they're all at our hostel. The Americans are PhD students in Archaeology; evidently they come to Ireland every summer to excavate. Cool job, huh? It's sad about the game, but watching Emily (the girlscout) and Jerry (the owner of the pub, maybe?) argue about how to properly fold a US flag (he had lent us his US flag, which he had had his brother in Boston send to him after 9/11) was pretty awesome.
It's 10:50 pm, and it's not dark out yet. Ah, the North. Bed now, though. I promised Emily I'd go to mass tomorrow morning, after all.
*A bellwether is a sheep in a herd that all the other sheep follow, and we don't know why, and, importantly, the bellwether does not know that he is the bellwether. This is bad because if the bellwether is stupid and walks off a cliff, all the other sheep do too. Emily taught me that. This is a sheep, of which there were many today, most up on the side of the mountain (in a "How did they get there?" kind of way):
Day 3: I which we discover that what the Irish mean by "hill" is "really big mountain"
Greetings from the middle of nowhere! We are in Letterfrak today, a lovely tiny town near the bogs and the Atlantic Ocean.
I did finally get a really good night's sleep last night; it was wonderful and has raised my spirits immeasurably. We started our morning with a "full Irish breakfast" back at the Cong Hostel, which involved more meat than I think I've ever seen on one plate. Then we headed out of Cong. We did finally get a really good map, but we still managed to make a full circle almost back to Cong! Luckily, it wasn't a very long drive, and we made it to Letterfrak after lots of lovely Irish countryside. I would like to pause here to mention Irish driving. The Irish are a wonderful, friendly bunch of people, but watching them drive at 100km/hour on windy, narrow back roads makes me actually nauseous! the stone walls are soooo close to the sides of the roads and everyone drives sooooo fast.
That being said, the countryside was beautiful, and we saw lots of sheep! We made it to Letterfrak (a town so small it has one intersection) by mid-day, at which point we checked into our very cool hostel. This place is decorated all crazy, has a make-shift bar on the patio at night, and has a cat, a puppy, and three kittens (I think i could move in). The puppy is the cutest, sweetest little thing ever, and she's good therapy as we miss Sebastian.
After checking in, we picked up some lunch from the local grocery store and headed out for a hike through the bogs (like swamps, but with more peat), which are apparently very endangered. We planned to hike up Diamond Hill...let me just say that the Irish have severely misnamed this place- it is definitely a mountain, and a large one at that! For those of you who have hiked Mousilauke, it's about as steep, but quite a bit shorter (2.5 hours round trip). Hiking here is interesting, because there are NO trees, so the views are great the entire time. The other thing with no trees and being near an ocean is that the wind is vicious! I think small children or dogs could actually get blown off the mountain! We made it to the top and took lots of pictures! We also met a middle aged couple at the top who reappeared at our hostel to look around just a couple of minutes ago! Along the way there were sheep, ponies, and lots of bog. It was very cool and well worth the killer hike. We got a nice cup of tea when we got back down to the bottom, and then headed back to the hostel to play with the puppy some more.
We're hoping to catch dinner and the US vs Ghana game at a pub tonight, and then we'll probably take it easy and hang around the (very awesome) hostel.
Cheers,
Emily
I did finally get a really good night's sleep last night; it was wonderful and has raised my spirits immeasurably. We started our morning with a "full Irish breakfast" back at the Cong Hostel, which involved more meat than I think I've ever seen on one plate. Then we headed out of Cong. We did finally get a really good map, but we still managed to make a full circle almost back to Cong! Luckily, it wasn't a very long drive, and we made it to Letterfrak after lots of lovely Irish countryside. I would like to pause here to mention Irish driving. The Irish are a wonderful, friendly bunch of people, but watching them drive at 100km/hour on windy, narrow back roads makes me actually nauseous! the stone walls are soooo close to the sides of the roads and everyone drives sooooo fast.
That being said, the countryside was beautiful, and we saw lots of sheep! We made it to Letterfrak (a town so small it has one intersection) by mid-day, at which point we checked into our very cool hostel. This place is decorated all crazy, has a make-shift bar on the patio at night, and has a cat, a puppy, and three kittens (I think i could move in). The puppy is the cutest, sweetest little thing ever, and she's good therapy as we miss Sebastian.
After checking in, we picked up some lunch from the local grocery store and headed out for a hike through the bogs (like swamps, but with more peat), which are apparently very endangered. We planned to hike up Diamond Hill...let me just say that the Irish have severely misnamed this place- it is definitely a mountain, and a large one at that! For those of you who have hiked Mousilauke, it's about as steep, but quite a bit shorter (2.5 hours round trip). Hiking here is interesting, because there are NO trees, so the views are great the entire time. The other thing with no trees and being near an ocean is that the wind is vicious! I think small children or dogs could actually get blown off the mountain! We made it to the top and took lots of pictures! We also met a middle aged couple at the top who reappeared at our hostel to look around just a couple of minutes ago! Along the way there were sheep, ponies, and lots of bog. It was very cool and well worth the killer hike. We got a nice cup of tea when we got back down to the bottom, and then headed back to the hostel to play with the puppy some more.
We're hoping to catch dinner and the US vs Ghana game at a pub tonight, and then we'll probably take it easy and hang around the (very awesome) hostel.
Cheers,
Emily
Friday, June 25, 2010
Claire Blogs Day 2: An Old Man Gives Me His Number
Driving to Cong was remarkably easy. I think we found the one good highway in Ireland, a so-called "motorway". It got easier when we figured out that "junction" means "exit." The other roads are terribly narrow, which freaks Emily out, but I think I'm I'm doing OK. One of the women running the counter at a gas station at which we stopped sympathized with how hard it is to drive in Dublin, which made me feel much much better. I suspect that the Irish, though hugely friendly, just aren't good at giving directions. Despite that, we did not get lost.
I only ended up on the wrong side of the road once or twice and only on very quiet streets. Emily and I did have a really funny moment getting out of dinner and walking to the car, where we both walked to the wrong side (well, the correct side for an American car), each opened our doors, stared inside for a confused moment, and then looked at each other, like, wait, where's the steering wheel? And then we switched sides.
We found Ashford Castle and its surrounding gardens; pretended to be staying at Ashford Castle to walk around the ground floor a bit (dang. That is all.); watched falconry lessons; explored in a ruined Abbey; found prehistoric stone circles (in the middle of a cow field); spelunked (well, I spelunked, Emily watched me spelunk. You know the Irish call it "pot-holing?" LOVE); hiked around A LOT, found another cave. I maintain it was a grotto. Emily disagrees. We also found confusingly located very very very old abandoned cars.
We had an excellent conversation with a local guy fishing on the river Cong, who commented that it was really nice to hear American accents around again, as apparently tourism has been down with the dollar. I said something like "Yeah, this Euro downturn is probably bad for you, but it's kind of great for us..." We then talked about the Euro, and politics, and Irish culture in America, and "the 6 counties to the North", and various other things. Funnily, Emily and I had seen an ad on a bus yesterday for vacations in Philadelphia, of all places, and said to one another, "Who the heck goes on vacation to Philadelphia?!" Well, this guy has, and he seemed to have learned a lot about the Articles of Confederation. He described the problem with the Euro zone thusly: "You know, you can't get 'half-married'."
Dinner was at one of the two pubs in town, where an INCREDIBLY INTOXICATED guy, older than my father (mentioned not because my father is old, but to indicate how unlikely I am to call him), took a liking to me and insisted on giving me his number. It was kind of hysterical. More hysterical was the 85-year-old man named Paddy sitting at the bar who repeatedly ordered Bacardi rum on ice and then very stealthily snuck a diet coke out of his pocket and poured some into his drink. This struck us as both HILARIOUS and a little backwards. I stealthily snuck a picture.
Em and I probably overlap a lot in the blogging, but whatever.
Bed time! I can't seem to convince the hostel shower to spit out hot water, which is sad face, but the hostel is quiet and we have our own bathroom all for 20 euros per person per night, which is definitely happy face.
Tidbit: the city of Cong is where the John Wayne film The Quiet Man was filmed. I know this because it's mentioned in pretty much every building in town.
I only ended up on the wrong side of the road once or twice and only on very quiet streets. Emily and I did have a really funny moment getting out of dinner and walking to the car, where we both walked to the wrong side (well, the correct side for an American car), each opened our doors, stared inside for a confused moment, and then looked at each other, like, wait, where's the steering wheel? And then we switched sides.
We found Ashford Castle and its surrounding gardens; pretended to be staying at Ashford Castle to walk around the ground floor a bit (dang. That is all.); watched falconry lessons; explored in a ruined Abbey; found prehistoric stone circles (in the middle of a cow field); spelunked (well, I spelunked, Emily watched me spelunk. You know the Irish call it "pot-holing?" LOVE); hiked around A LOT, found another cave. I maintain it was a grotto. Emily disagrees. We also found confusingly located very very very old abandoned cars.
We had an excellent conversation with a local guy fishing on the river Cong, who commented that it was really nice to hear American accents around again, as apparently tourism has been down with the dollar. I said something like "Yeah, this Euro downturn is probably bad for you, but it's kind of great for us..." We then talked about the Euro, and politics, and Irish culture in America, and "the 6 counties to the North", and various other things. Funnily, Emily and I had seen an ad on a bus yesterday for vacations in Philadelphia, of all places, and said to one another, "Who the heck goes on vacation to Philadelphia?!" Well, this guy has, and he seemed to have learned a lot about the Articles of Confederation. He described the problem with the Euro zone thusly: "You know, you can't get 'half-married'."
Dinner was at one of the two pubs in town, where an INCREDIBLY INTOXICATED guy, older than my father (mentioned not because my father is old, but to indicate how unlikely I am to call him), took a liking to me and insisted on giving me his number. It was kind of hysterical. More hysterical was the 85-year-old man named Paddy sitting at the bar who repeatedly ordered Bacardi rum on ice and then very stealthily snuck a diet coke out of his pocket and poured some into his drink. This struck us as both HILARIOUS and a little backwards. I stealthily snuck a picture.
Em and I probably overlap a lot in the blogging, but whatever.
Bed time! I can't seem to convince the hostel shower to spit out hot water, which is sad face, but the hostel is quiet and we have our own bathroom all for 20 euros per person per night, which is definitely happy face.
Tidbit: the city of Cong is where the John Wayne film The Quiet Man was filmed. I know this because it's mentioned in pretty much every building in town.
Day 2: They're fairies; they could have moved it!
Hello all!
Well, I didn't sleep much last night. Somehow, despite exhaustion, the jet lag still got me and I tossed and turned until late. But still, we got up early and we headed out of Dublin and across the country to Cong. It took 3 hours, and google maps was very little help, but thanks to a map, we did get here!
It's beautiful here, and we've had a very long day! We got in around lunch time, and had a lovely lunch in a strange little cafe that was playing country music! Then we headed out hiking. We saw the ruins of an old monastery, and then an absolutely beautiful castle! The castle was amazing- like everything every little girl has ever dreamed of, and there were also beautiful gardens, a wonderful lake, and a school of falconry. Yes, really- a school of falconry. We followed a falcon lesson around for a bit; it was very cool! We spent quite a while at the castle (it was so worth it). Then we tried to walk back to the hostel, but we got a bit turned around and walked the really long way. After we rested up a bit, we went and saw some ancient stone circles, which were in the middle of a cow grazing field. In order to get to this well-marked tourist attraction, you had to walk into the stone walls and past the cows! Cows are very, very big.
Then we tried to find a giant, old tomb...but the directions were hazy, so we just ended up wandering the woods for a bit. Next, we went to visit a cave. I find caves creepy, but Claire loves them, and we got cool pictures! Finally, we went searching for a fairy "grotto", which I maintain that we never found, but Claire thinks we did (I think we found another cave). I think the fairies must have moved their home just to confuse the tourists ;-).
On the way back to town we discussed European politics on a bridge with a jolly fisherman. He was very friendly and fun to talk to. We then went for dinner in a pub, where we had a rather unsolicited and LONG conversation with a drunk old irishman, who was definitely hitting on Claire! At that same pub, I had my very first Guinness, and I witnessed an old man order multiple bacardis and slip (very stealthily) his own diet coke from a bottle into his pocket into it. It was very funny! I had a lovely dinner of seafood chowder and bread, and now, it is late and we are back at the hostel.
A very good day overall! Hopefully I will sleep well tonight (keep your fingers crossed), and we'll have a great day tomorrow too!
Hugs,
Emily
Well, I didn't sleep much last night. Somehow, despite exhaustion, the jet lag still got me and I tossed and turned until late. But still, we got up early and we headed out of Dublin and across the country to Cong. It took 3 hours, and google maps was very little help, but thanks to a map, we did get here!
It's beautiful here, and we've had a very long day! We got in around lunch time, and had a lovely lunch in a strange little cafe that was playing country music! Then we headed out hiking. We saw the ruins of an old monastery, and then an absolutely beautiful castle! The castle was amazing- like everything every little girl has ever dreamed of, and there were also beautiful gardens, a wonderful lake, and a school of falconry. Yes, really- a school of falconry. We followed a falcon lesson around for a bit; it was very cool! We spent quite a while at the castle (it was so worth it). Then we tried to walk back to the hostel, but we got a bit turned around and walked the really long way. After we rested up a bit, we went and saw some ancient stone circles, which were in the middle of a cow grazing field. In order to get to this well-marked tourist attraction, you had to walk into the stone walls and past the cows! Cows are very, very big.
Then we tried to find a giant, old tomb...but the directions were hazy, so we just ended up wandering the woods for a bit. Next, we went to visit a cave. I find caves creepy, but Claire loves them, and we got cool pictures! Finally, we went searching for a fairy "grotto", which I maintain that we never found, but Claire thinks we did (I think we found another cave). I think the fairies must have moved their home just to confuse the tourists ;-).
On the way back to town we discussed European politics on a bridge with a jolly fisherman. He was very friendly and fun to talk to. We then went for dinner in a pub, where we had a rather unsolicited and LONG conversation with a drunk old irishman, who was definitely hitting on Claire! At that same pub, I had my very first Guinness, and I witnessed an old man order multiple bacardis and slip (very stealthily) his own diet coke from a bottle into his pocket into it. It was very funny! I had a lovely dinner of seafood chowder and bread, and now, it is late and we are back at the hostel.
A very good day overall! Hopefully I will sleep well tonight (keep your fingers crossed), and we'll have a great day tomorrow too!
Hugs,
Emily
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Day 1: Dublin (Emily)
Alright, unlike Claire, I am not verbose when exhausted, so this will be brief. We almost missed out connecting flight in Zurich, but we didn't, and even our luggage made it (we had packed all carry-ons, but who knew the weight limit was 8kilos)! Getting to the hostel was a little bit more adventurous than I think Claire or I would have preferred (not the good kind of adventure), but we did eventually get here, and then there was time to clean ourselves up, revel in the fact that we had internet, and get some lunch. We had a lovely lunch at a sandwich shop, and then we started to wander. There was lots of wandering, but eventually, we ended up at Trinity College, where we took a tour and saw the Books of Kells (which, as the tour guide would like you all to know, is actually a manuscript and not really a book). The tour guide had a very endearing accent, and was quite funny! The Book of Kells was definitely made cooler by the tour guide's very comprehensie introduction to it. Then we went and saw a nice castle and all sorts of things in Christ Church cathedral. We started to wander back to the hostel (we had gone a long way!), and we stopped for fish and chips for dinner.
Dublin's a great city; very cute, and everything's in walking distance! That being said, I am super excited to head out into the middle of nowhere tomorrow (you guys know how I love the middle of nowhere)! I think my highlight of today was the tour at Trinity College. BUT...we are EXHAUSTED (neither one of us really slept more than 3 hours last night), so we are looking forward to sleep. On a sad note, we are mourning the loss of our first dog ever, who we will miss more than he would ever know.
We'll try to keep you posted. Sorry I don't have more to say- too tired!
-Emily
Dublin's a great city; very cute, and everything's in walking distance! That being said, I am super excited to head out into the middle of nowhere tomorrow (you guys know how I love the middle of nowhere)! I think my highlight of today was the tour at Trinity College. BUT...we are EXHAUSTED (neither one of us really slept more than 3 hours last night), so we are looking forward to sleep. On a sad note, we are mourning the loss of our first dog ever, who we will miss more than he would ever know.
We'll try to keep you posted. Sorry I don't have more to say- too tired!
-Emily
Claire Blogs Day 1: "This is Not a Good Start"
Upon boarding our plane at JFK, after we convinced the recalcitrant woman sitting next to Emily to trade seats with me (I had a bulkhead! Her hesitation was inexplicable. I think she only moved because she thought it was sweet that we wanted to sit together. "You know, most sisters spend their lives trying to get *away* from each other…"), the captain got on the mic to tell us we were going to be delayed by as much as 1.5 hours.
At this point, Emily started poking me repeatedly in the nose.
I said, "This is not a good start."
It went down before it went back up, but after an inauspicious beginning, today has turned out quite well, if I do say so myself.
The flight to Zurich itself was fine, though I never sleep very much at all on planes. The delay ended up being 30 minutes, which made our connection - tight even if we had been on time - a bit tough. Regardless, with much rushing and gnashing of teeth, we made it to Dublin fine.
The Irish don't have a gregarious reputation for nothing. Even the immigration officers are outrageously friendly.
The Hertz desk offered the next hurdle, which was not so much a hurdle as it was an expense - for some reason, despite my explicit request otherwise, we had been assigned a SmartCar, and I had to say "Oh hells no" and upgrade us to a Yaris ("the shittiest grown-up car money can buy!"). We have named it Milo. The man at the desk asked repeatedly if the manual transmission was going to be a problem, and I repeatedly reassured him that no, it was not, but driving on the left-hand side of the road most certainly was. And then I caved and got some insurance because I'm worried about the left-hand thing.
And then we got lost.
In Dublin, I mean, we got lost in Dublin, with me driving somewhat sleepily and haphazardly, given the road switching thing. I'll admit it's not as bad as I imagined it would be, but it is stressful enough to navigate a strange foreign city (WITHOUT STREET SIGNS, SERIOUSLY, DUBLIN) without having to be literally bass-ackwards about it.
Cut to the end, hysterics avoided, property damage kept to a (very slightly > 0) minimum, we found the Dublin International Youth Hostel, to the North of the city center, with its own parking included, housed in an old church/monastery/Catholic school, and staffed by seriously the nicest people on the planet. We upgraded from a dorm to a twin bedroom because I just couldn't handle the thought of sharing with strangers on so little sleep (I reassured the guy at the front desk that I'm not really antisocial, I'm just really tired, and he was gracious enough to sympathize), and moved our things to our very very small room with bunk beds and a sink and those Hostel comforters that I think are the same the world over, seriously.
At this point, with all that adventure behind us, it was…1:30 pm. No joke.
We vowed to stay up until at least 8 pm (spoiler: we're totally going to make it!), so we set out into the city.
Much like Cambridge, MA, Dublin turns out to be ridiculous to navigate vehicularly, but totally excellent on foot. We found lunch (soup and sandwiches!); some strange and inexplicable store fronts (including, notably, a business called "Beer and Optic Monitoring Systems"...what?!); Trinity College and the Book of Kells, which is totally worth seeing, and which we accompanied with the little College tour with a very cute tour guide with a very cute accent named Stephen, who recounted the very funny story of how he met Chief Justice John Roberts.
But wait, there's more! We found the Dublin Castle, but didn't go in; Christ Church Cathedral, where we did go in, and which contained, in its crypt, the Greatest Public Restroom Ever Built:
(I'd add more pictures in general but the wifi can't really handle it).
We walked back through Temple Bar, found some fish and chips for dinner, and finally hoofed it back to the hostel. And now we are exhausted. Actually, we were exhausted about 4 hours ago, but at least now we're exhausted and it's 8 so we can soon go to bed without feeling bad about ourselves. The sun has come out, and we are sitting out in the courtyard, where a Spanish guy and a French guy are trying to communicate/smoking cigarettes, and a number of guests (all of whom are French, with the exception of the Spaniard, oddly) are prepping for the pub crawl, watching soccer, eating dinner, and generally hanging out. It's very convivial, and the temperature is great. Inside the restaurant, the group of people watching the world cup have vuvuzelas, and HOLY MOTHER OF GOD VUVUZELAS ARE LOUD.
Tomorrow, we drive to Cong, pop 300, on the shores of Lough Corrib. I'm holding out futile hope that driving in the country will suck less than driving in Dublin. I'm pretty sure that there's no way it could suck more, at least.
At this point, Emily started poking me repeatedly in the nose.
I said, "This is not a good start."
It went down before it went back up, but after an inauspicious beginning, today has turned out quite well, if I do say so myself.
The flight to Zurich itself was fine, though I never sleep very much at all on planes. The delay ended up being 30 minutes, which made our connection - tight even if we had been on time - a bit tough. Regardless, with much rushing and gnashing of teeth, we made it to Dublin fine.
The Irish don't have a gregarious reputation for nothing. Even the immigration officers are outrageously friendly.
The Hertz desk offered the next hurdle, which was not so much a hurdle as it was an expense - for some reason, despite my explicit request otherwise, we had been assigned a SmartCar, and I had to say "Oh hells no" and upgrade us to a Yaris ("the shittiest grown-up car money can buy!"). We have named it Milo. The man at the desk asked repeatedly if the manual transmission was going to be a problem, and I repeatedly reassured him that no, it was not, but driving on the left-hand side of the road most certainly was. And then I caved and got some insurance because I'm worried about the left-hand thing.
And then we got lost.
In Dublin, I mean, we got lost in Dublin, with me driving somewhat sleepily and haphazardly, given the road switching thing. I'll admit it's not as bad as I imagined it would be, but it is stressful enough to navigate a strange foreign city (WITHOUT STREET SIGNS, SERIOUSLY, DUBLIN) without having to be literally bass-ackwards about it.
Cut to the end, hysterics avoided, property damage kept to a (very slightly > 0) minimum, we found the Dublin International Youth Hostel, to the North of the city center, with its own parking included, housed in an old church/monastery/Catholic school, and staffed by seriously the nicest people on the planet. We upgraded from a dorm to a twin bedroom because I just couldn't handle the thought of sharing with strangers on so little sleep (I reassured the guy at the front desk that I'm not really antisocial, I'm just really tired, and he was gracious enough to sympathize), and moved our things to our very very small room with bunk beds and a sink and those Hostel comforters that I think are the same the world over, seriously.
At this point, with all that adventure behind us, it was…1:30 pm. No joke.
We vowed to stay up until at least 8 pm (spoiler: we're totally going to make it!), so we set out into the city.
Much like Cambridge, MA, Dublin turns out to be ridiculous to navigate vehicularly, but totally excellent on foot. We found lunch (soup and sandwiches!); some strange and inexplicable store fronts (including, notably, a business called "Beer and Optic Monitoring Systems"...what?!); Trinity College and the Book of Kells, which is totally worth seeing, and which we accompanied with the little College tour with a very cute tour guide with a very cute accent named Stephen, who recounted the very funny story of how he met Chief Justice John Roberts.
But wait, there's more! We found the Dublin Castle, but didn't go in; Christ Church Cathedral, where we did go in, and which contained, in its crypt, the Greatest Public Restroom Ever Built:
(I'd add more pictures in general but the wifi can't really handle it).
We walked back through Temple Bar, found some fish and chips for dinner, and finally hoofed it back to the hostel. And now we are exhausted. Actually, we were exhausted about 4 hours ago, but at least now we're exhausted and it's 8 so we can soon go to bed without feeling bad about ourselves. The sun has come out, and we are sitting out in the courtyard, where a Spanish guy and a French guy are trying to communicate/smoking cigarettes, and a number of guests (all of whom are French, with the exception of the Spaniard, oddly) are prepping for the pub crawl, watching soccer, eating dinner, and generally hanging out. It's very convivial, and the temperature is great. Inside the restaurant, the group of people watching the world cup have vuvuzelas, and HOLY MOTHER OF GOD VUVUZELAS ARE LOUD.
Tomorrow, we drive to Cong, pop 300, on the shores of Lough Corrib. I'm holding out futile hope that driving in the country will suck less than driving in Dublin. I'm pretty sure that there's no way it could suck more, at least.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Exercises in pointless inefficiency.
We just engaged in the sort of bizarre exercise in pointless inefficiency that one can only see at major international airports.
Sadly, we had to check our bags. We were well within the size limit, but 3-4 kilos over the (very strict, imho) weight limit. Oh well.
The gate agent handed us our boarding passes and sent us to a Very Long Line to drop off our bags at machine # 3. A Very. Long. Line. Seriously.
As we advanced (slowly), we could observe some of the machinations taking place at the front. One man would take a bag out of a very large pile at the head of the machine. The bag would pass through the machine. An elderly gentleman would watch the bag pass through the machine. The bag would come out the other side. The elderly gentleman would get up from his chair, walk to the bag, place a sticker on the bag, pick up the bag, put the bag on a belt another five feet away, walk back to his chair. Rinse, repeat.
We waited for maybe 25 minutes, no joke, watching this existential ballet, when an official woman of some sort came around and asked which flight we were on. She determined that we met the special cutoff for "boarding soon." She led us to the front of the line, took our bags from us, added them to the giant pile, and waved us along.
Huh?
Anyway, were here now, we have neck pillows, water, etc, and I'm about to take my dramamine. The adventure begins!
Sadly, we had to check our bags. We were well within the size limit, but 3-4 kilos over the (very strict, imho) weight limit. Oh well.
The gate agent handed us our boarding passes and sent us to a Very Long Line to drop off our bags at machine # 3. A Very. Long. Line. Seriously.
As we advanced (slowly), we could observe some of the machinations taking place at the front. One man would take a bag out of a very large pile at the head of the machine. The bag would pass through the machine. An elderly gentleman would watch the bag pass through the machine. The bag would come out the other side. The elderly gentleman would get up from his chair, walk to the bag, place a sticker on the bag, pick up the bag, put the bag on a belt another five feet away, walk back to his chair. Rinse, repeat.
We waited for maybe 25 minutes, no joke, watching this existential ballet, when an official woman of some sort came around and asked which flight we were on. She determined that we met the special cutoff for "boarding soon." She led us to the front of the line, took our bags from us, added them to the giant pile, and waved us along.
Huh?
Anyway, were here now, we have neck pillows, water, etc, and I'm about to take my dramamine. The adventure begins!
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