Sunday, September 30, 2012
Cool Enya Connection!
Today was only a 62 km driving day. My body likes this much better. I visited Glenveagh National Park and Castle (woot! Another castle! Though this one only dates from 1870).
There was a lovely 7 km "hike" up the valley, more of a walk with some moderate uphill, but gorgeous mountain views. Roundtrip was 14 km, then a little 2 km loop for a scenic outlook and I decided to return to the car park by foot as well, although I took a bus up as I wasn't sure how timing would work for everything, but really, it was quite perfect!! Overall I got in 20 km of walking through a fabulous Irish National Park AND a guided castle tour with some strolling around the gorgeous gardens.
Later I got to explore a bit of Poison Glen, a beautiful, serene valley and even heard and saw a deer about 200 feet away. Very cool!
But what is this about Enya, you are wondering :) well for dinner tonight I got to eat dinner in a restaurant that her dad owns and I got to chat with her brother for about 30 minutes. So friendly!! Did you know that Enya comes from a 9 child family?? And if you've ever heard of a group called Clannard, they are all her family members as well, siblings and uncles. I thought that was awesome! I used to love Enya in high school and still have her cd's and find her music beautiful and soothing. Hooray!
Stage 2 Complete but Shoddy Internet
Well arrived in County Donegal!!!! After 262 km in the car, really really well arrived! I love love love LOVE the GPS system I got with the car. My first time using a GPS system and I'm a fan! The extra 5 euros a day is absolutely worth it considering how easy it's making getting from point A to point B : priceless.
Just in case my Internet connection gets cut off, I will attempt to keep this brief, so Saturday September 29th consisted of New Grange, a passage chamber that dates from around 3200 BC. It is incredibly impressive. Stunning. Monasterboice followed, with 3 high crosses - very cool as well, but hard to beat the awe-inspiring New Grange. I'd wanted to see the high crosses since a museum exhibit I'd been to at the National Museum of Ireland and it was fun getting to see the original crosses.
The drive to Donegal was amazing! So many glorious green rolling hills with sheep grazing.... it was very Irish and picturesque. Once arrived well into the heart of Donegal though, the scenery changed dramatically with rugged mountains and a predominance of brown shrubs with some residual pockets of heather still blooming purple. There were also random clumps of evergreen trees....harvesting for Xmas season???? I'm not sure, but it definitely looks unnatural.
I arrived around 5:45 pm (way ahead of my goal to beat sunset at 7:30) and am finding that my greatest challenge on all of these various stages of my trip will be deciding what I do and don't have time for. I want to see EVERYTHING but do realize that is simply not possible, so now comes the hard part of cutting stuff out.
Even though the scenery is all beautiful to drive through, I would so much rather be biking through it! I passed a group of cyclists, and may just have drooled a little. :) My back also feels worse today than it has for a while, I can feel it sitting in the car,it's this funky bucket seat setting and I can't find a lever to change that setting. I'm a bit concerned considering how much time I'll be spending in the car over the next week. :/
Finally (Internet is holding out, woohoo!!) I would have actually gotten this post up when I got here last night, but I wasn't feeling too hot and laid down just for a little bit to try to calm the body down and ended up sleeping for the whole night!! 6:30 pm to 7 am! What? I don't feel like I've been sleep deprived but apparently needed that 12 hours.
Now (feeling very refreshed) to decide what to do with today!!
Friday, September 28, 2012
Survived First Day of Rental Car!!!
BOOOOOOOO. Just as a heads up, this format doesn't recognize my paragraphs so I apologize for the massive paragraph this has become. Any suggestions on how to get the paragraphs to show up in the final version???
Anyhow, on to the fun part.....
I feel like such a grown up!!! I have now experienced (successfully!!!!) Driving on the left side of the road!!! Very proud. :-) Today's grand total : a very moderate 102 km to start.
Today marks the first of 9 days that I have with a rental car to explore as much of the West Coast of Ireland as possible. I am officially between farms and have full days free for adventure! Very exciting!
I felt SO anxious pulling away from the rental car place but by the end of the day, was feeling much more confident. The hardest habit for me to break is looking for the rear view mirror up to the right. I keep glancing where the mirror would be in an American car only to find the frame of the car and redirect to the left. Shifting with my left hand is odd but manageable and driving on the left is actually much easier than I expected. Most challenging is turning out of parking lots.
Besides the adventures of driving there were also three awesome exploratory stops..
Trim Castle (parts of Braveheart were filmed here, and now I want to watch that movie again!) claims to be the largest castle in Ireland. Very cool. (I am looking forward to racking up a serious list of castles on this Irish castle quest). I toured the keep and learned that they used to smear human excrement on the walls and put a bowl of excrement out by the door for visitors to inspect as a mark of wealth. The darker the stool, the richer the diet. Talk about in your face!
Next was Bective Abbey, which is gorgeous despite falling into ruins.
Finally Hill of Tara. I walked around the undulating grounds for about an hour (really want to see it from the air -the postcards look so cool! You should look at an aerial view online) and was able to witness a fantastic sunset from the top of the hill. So magical and serene!! And such a perfect day! I haven't seen a sunset that nice in weeks, score on the timing of that one!
Had a delicious sea bass for dinner and wrote some postcards (some of this may sound familiar to you). :)
My plan was to catch some local craic (music, haha!) At a pub but as I was leaving dinner, a family signalled me over and invited me to join them and we ended up talking until 11 pm. They even bought me am Irish coffee, it was so nice!
I was planning on just doing a quick catch up but now it's been almost am hour (typing takes waaaaaaaaaaaaay too long on the kindle fire) so now I'm off to get ready for tomorrow!! To the West Coast!!!
Elmurst Farm!!
Frank and Azu have been such amazing hosts! I could not have asked for a better first WWOOF experience (we'll see what happens after this!! They've set the bar a wee bit high for all upcoming hosts). I can't believe 3 weeks have already gone by, but before I go, here is a glimpse at the farm . . .
The cottage! Over 250 years old.
One of the polytunnels and purple beans (the kind that turn green when you cook them, I love them!)
Said purple beans on the stalk.
And all collected, ready for the next stage of their lives . . ..
Being delicious! =) YUM! Do you see the size of those things? Some of them were longer than my face!
More beans longer than my face! This is a runner bean. Also scrumptious. SO good just raw or just steamed. The flavor of the veggies here, just by themselves, is phenomenal.
One of the first meals I cooked here : steamed runner and purple beans, potatoes, and rainbow chard with garlic and balsamic. All of the veggies from the garden . . . it's like heaven for me - a huge walk-in fridge or plot of land to go pick vegetables to cook with or simply go eat as is. Happiness!!!!
Today I go pick up a rental car (a wee bit nervous about driving on the left side of the road, and a stick shift no less! I'm trying to wrap my mind around shifting with my left hand rather than the habitual right hand. Apparently the pedals are still the same and the gears still in the same position as well - shall be very interesting).
The next phase of this grand adventure involves 9 days of West Coast exploration. . . Cliffs of Moher, (and of Kilkee, which a local recommended as well), Connemara, Inishmore, Galway, Dingle, Kerry, Kilarney, Skellig Michael, Donegal. . .
I'm super excited, but also distinctly aware that I may be spending a lot of my time exploring in the sense of just trying to figure out where I am going on what I've heard are terribly marked rural Irish roads. I've also been told that asking Irish people for directions can be incredibly unhelpful as the Irish, as a rule, don't like to say no. So instead of admitting that they don't know how to give you directions, they'll just make something up. =) I'm keeping my fingers crossed they will have a GPS available, but apparently they don't reserve them, it's simply first come, first served day of. Here's hoping!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
The Great Sugarloaf Hike
AAAAAHHHH!!! All of the pictures that I'd uploaded earlier are not coming up now. Freaking out just a little bit. This is why you don't see pictures on my blog often. It is a royal pain in my ass. Grrrrr!!!
Well, I am going to publish this anyways, but now I can't give you descriptions of each picture because I can't tell which ones they are. I just see a little red X in the upper left hand corner where the picture box should be. (anyone have a suggestion or an idea how to fix this lovely mishap?)
SOOOOOOO . . . . in a nutshell, I took a bus out to a little town called Kilmacanogue to start my Great Sugarloaf Mountain Hike and it is by far the most frustrating hiking experience I have ever had. It took me ages (literally four failed attempts) to find a viable trail. Each time I turned back, after deciding that this couldn't possibly be the trail I had been told about, I would try to find somebody else to ask where to go, but there were no people on the trails. My entire hike on the north side of the mountail was totally isolated, which would have been lovely if I could have found a viable trail.
At one point I ended up coming across a wide gravel path (thinking "Aha! here is a well marked path!" only to realize it was a sort of dirt bike path and quickly veered the WRONG direction, away from the beautiful summit I could see that kept taunting me). When I got to this point, I wasn't sure I'd recognize the little "trail" I'd come from, so I built a little cairn.
Basically, after 3 hours (for a wee little hike that should only have taken about 75 minutes) and many many expletives, I finally reached the top. I felt like a super star!! There are many victory poses from the top of the mountain. =) I was seriously, so proud, there are not enough words! So happy I didn't give up! The views were spectacular.
Once I got to the top, I could see the "short" trail I had heard about on the internet, and it was quite amusing seeing how direct that path way . . . very well marked, and literally a straight shot from the parking lot on the south side of the mountain to the summit (only 500 some meters, but still a beautiful view of the Wicklow Mountains and Irish Sea).
So that is my tale, and hopefully these pictures will work! Can you let me know if you see pictures??
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
2 Day Update; One Rest, One Work, Both FUN!
Monday, September 10th.
Officially one week in Ireland, and official first day of true Irish weather! I went on a free walking tour at 11 am and what started as a light mist, toyed with scattered light rain for about an hour and finally became a solid heavy rainfall. The tour lasted until 2:30 pm and by the end we were all drenched (good way to test the new raincoat . . . conclusion = decent, but not as extraordinary as I'd hoped!).
The tour was absolutely fantastic! I ended up tipping the guide because he was THAT good; I definitely felt like his tour was worth money. He is getting his master's in history at Trinity College and gave us so much fascinating information about Dublin and the history of Ireland . . . I was in awe. I am incredibly envious of his retention rate and probably only remember about 20% of everything he told us in three and a half hours, but have a much a deeper understanding and appreciation of Ireland and its history. Thanks, Michael!
The other really fun part of the tour is that I met an Italian guy named Matteo at the very beginning, and we ended up spending the whole day together. He is getting his masters in agriculture, so we talked a lot about WWOOFing and his thesis and how he makes his homemade tomato sauce =) YUM!!
After the tour was over, a group of about 10 of us went to a pub for a hot lunch (my second Guiness & Beef Stew, but a completely different experience. Very fun, and both very delicious), and at 3:30 pm I decided to do the 4 pm Jameson Distillery Tour. At this point, all original plans for my day were askew anyways. I had packed a lunch to eat and planned on picnicking (definitely got too used to the nice weather) then doing the Guinness Tour, and finally hitting the Kilmainhem Jail. However, being wet and cold, the prospect of eating a packed lunch outside was unappealing, as was the jail visit, as their website warns that when the temps are low outside, they will be low inside and one should dress appropriately. SO! Nix the first plans and go drink some whiskey!!
Turns out the 4 pm tour was booked, but were able to sign up for the 4:40 pm tour and while waiting, went and played on this really weird but fun electronic game at an outdoor playground. I think it was called iplay and it tells you what action to execute (spin, stomp, push, etc. . . .) and you have to do so as quickly as possible. Very entertaining.
On the Jameson tour we learned all about the process that they use to make their whiskey. Super interesting! Did you know it is triple distilled?! And THAT is what gives it the smooth finish. =) I even got to be a taste tester and compare Jameson, Jack Daniels, and Scotch whiskey and it was a really cool experience. Still can't say I like whiskey, but I was actually able to tell the difference between the three, which is huge for me, as I usually classify all hard liquors into one similar category of "too strong."
After the tour, I hit Temple Bar and watched some live music while Matteo took care of some stuff at his hostel, and we met back up after I had my packed lunch as a dinner under an awning. I am cell phone-less while I am in Ireland and Scotland, and it makes meeting people quite challenging, but so far, so good. =) We hit a new pub for me and I had my first Guiness in Ireland, accompanied by more live Irish music. I absolutely love how easy it is to find live music in pubs here - it is EVERYWHERE!
I took the bus home around 9:30 pm and am feeling like such the Dublin bus pro! I don't even have to ask the bus driver to let me know when we get to the stop I need anymore. Watch out. I also bought a 'leap card' so I feel like a local. I am very excited by all of this. But maybe even more excited by my first ful day of work on the farm . . . .
Tuesday, September 11th.
We don't start until 9 am!!!!!! REALLY?! One perk to waking up at 4:30 am for years as a personal trainer is that anything after 6 am feels like sleeping in. =) I took advantage this morning and slept in until 8 am as I read until far too late last night.
My day started with 2 hours of picking raspberries. YES!! So fun! I love that picking raspberries is my work for right now. Good thing I had brushed my teeth right beforehand or I would have been much more tempted to eat some . . . they are so beautiful and plump and unaltered . . . they make me happy.
I was ready to go for the next task, when we stopped to take tea and visit with a house guest. It's so laid back here. It's incredible, and I love it; I find it to be a very good change of pace. After tea, I sowed seeds for lettuce, which was great fun! My first time sowing seeds!!! It was also extremely entertaining to watch the fickle Irish weather. I was in a polytunnel, so safe from the ever-changing times, but the weather kept undulating from spectacularly sunny to drizzle to downpour, within minutes at times. It was hilarious. I don't think I've ever seen the weather change so many times within a two hour period.
There was a scrumptious lunch break in the midst of the sowing of seeds, and after lunch I was joined by an extra set of hands. This extra set of hands belongs to a man who lives in Dublin and comes to help on the farm on Tuesday afternoons. It is so incredibly cool to meet other people involved in the WWOOFing community. We sowed hundreds of lettuce seeds of various types and I'm very much looking forward to watching them sprout and perhaps even getting to plant them . . . I didn't ask how long it will take before they are ready to plant; a question for tomorrow.
The rest of the work day was fulfilled by picking purple beans and transferring cabbage plants from their little pots into the ground - my first planting experience! So many firsts, and I'm anxious for many more. It's such satisfying and exciting work, knowing that what I'm doing is going to feed us and many other people. I'm a big fan of participating in the production of organic, quality vegetables.
Quite appropriately, we just started watching a British documentary called Food Unwrapped and it is incredibly disturbing, fascinating, and educational. The episode we watched was on canned grapefruit and probiotics. I highly recommend it.
I am absolutely loving my time on this farm. We've had some spectacular meals and very interesting and fun conversations. Frank and Azu are incredibly welcoming and warm hosts (although Frank 'locked' me in the walk-in fridge today because he thought he was playing the joke on Azu. Quite hilarious really: I was looking for chard for dinner tonight and all of a sudden the door closes and the light goes off and my immediate first thought is that he didn't realize somebody was in the fridge, and 'oh my god, am I going to be locked in the fridge all night???!!!' but no reason for panic as you can open the door from inside as well - phew! When he realized it was me and not Azu we both enjoyed a healthy little laugh fest).
I do have pictures I want to post that capture some of the adventures and experiences from the last few days, but for now I am off to bed. My goal is set for tomorrow!
Officially one week in Ireland, and official first day of true Irish weather! I went on a free walking tour at 11 am and what started as a light mist, toyed with scattered light rain for about an hour and finally became a solid heavy rainfall. The tour lasted until 2:30 pm and by the end we were all drenched (good way to test the new raincoat . . . conclusion = decent, but not as extraordinary as I'd hoped!).
The tour was absolutely fantastic! I ended up tipping the guide because he was THAT good; I definitely felt like his tour was worth money. He is getting his master's in history at Trinity College and gave us so much fascinating information about Dublin and the history of Ireland . . . I was in awe. I am incredibly envious of his retention rate and probably only remember about 20% of everything he told us in three and a half hours, but have a much a deeper understanding and appreciation of Ireland and its history. Thanks, Michael!
The other really fun part of the tour is that I met an Italian guy named Matteo at the very beginning, and we ended up spending the whole day together. He is getting his masters in agriculture, so we talked a lot about WWOOFing and his thesis and how he makes his homemade tomato sauce =) YUM!!
After the tour was over, a group of about 10 of us went to a pub for a hot lunch (my second Guiness & Beef Stew, but a completely different experience. Very fun, and both very delicious), and at 3:30 pm I decided to do the 4 pm Jameson Distillery Tour. At this point, all original plans for my day were askew anyways. I had packed a lunch to eat and planned on picnicking (definitely got too used to the nice weather) then doing the Guinness Tour, and finally hitting the Kilmainhem Jail. However, being wet and cold, the prospect of eating a packed lunch outside was unappealing, as was the jail visit, as their website warns that when the temps are low outside, they will be low inside and one should dress appropriately. SO! Nix the first plans and go drink some whiskey!!
Turns out the 4 pm tour was booked, but were able to sign up for the 4:40 pm tour and while waiting, went and played on this really weird but fun electronic game at an outdoor playground. I think it was called iplay and it tells you what action to execute (spin, stomp, push, etc. . . .) and you have to do so as quickly as possible. Very entertaining.
On the Jameson tour we learned all about the process that they use to make their whiskey. Super interesting! Did you know it is triple distilled?! And THAT is what gives it the smooth finish. =) I even got to be a taste tester and compare Jameson, Jack Daniels, and Scotch whiskey and it was a really cool experience. Still can't say I like whiskey, but I was actually able to tell the difference between the three, which is huge for me, as I usually classify all hard liquors into one similar category of "too strong."
After the tour, I hit Temple Bar and watched some live music while Matteo took care of some stuff at his hostel, and we met back up after I had my packed lunch as a dinner under an awning. I am cell phone-less while I am in Ireland and Scotland, and it makes meeting people quite challenging, but so far, so good. =) We hit a new pub for me and I had my first Guiness in Ireland, accompanied by more live Irish music. I absolutely love how easy it is to find live music in pubs here - it is EVERYWHERE!
I took the bus home around 9:30 pm and am feeling like such the Dublin bus pro! I don't even have to ask the bus driver to let me know when we get to the stop I need anymore. Watch out. I also bought a 'leap card' so I feel like a local. I am very excited by all of this. But maybe even more excited by my first ful day of work on the farm . . . .
Tuesday, September 11th.
We don't start until 9 am!!!!!! REALLY?! One perk to waking up at 4:30 am for years as a personal trainer is that anything after 6 am feels like sleeping in. =) I took advantage this morning and slept in until 8 am as I read until far too late last night.
My day started with 2 hours of picking raspberries. YES!! So fun! I love that picking raspberries is my work for right now. Good thing I had brushed my teeth right beforehand or I would have been much more tempted to eat some . . . they are so beautiful and plump and unaltered . . . they make me happy.
I was ready to go for the next task, when we stopped to take tea and visit with a house guest. It's so laid back here. It's incredible, and I love it; I find it to be a very good change of pace. After tea, I sowed seeds for lettuce, which was great fun! My first time sowing seeds!!! It was also extremely entertaining to watch the fickle Irish weather. I was in a polytunnel, so safe from the ever-changing times, but the weather kept undulating from spectacularly sunny to drizzle to downpour, within minutes at times. It was hilarious. I don't think I've ever seen the weather change so many times within a two hour period.
There was a scrumptious lunch break in the midst of the sowing of seeds, and after lunch I was joined by an extra set of hands. This extra set of hands belongs to a man who lives in Dublin and comes to help on the farm on Tuesday afternoons. It is so incredibly cool to meet other people involved in the WWOOFing community. We sowed hundreds of lettuce seeds of various types and I'm very much looking forward to watching them sprout and perhaps even getting to plant them . . . I didn't ask how long it will take before they are ready to plant; a question for tomorrow.
The rest of the work day was fulfilled by picking purple beans and transferring cabbage plants from their little pots into the ground - my first planting experience! So many firsts, and I'm anxious for many more. It's such satisfying and exciting work, knowing that what I'm doing is going to feed us and many other people. I'm a big fan of participating in the production of organic, quality vegetables.
Quite appropriately, we just started watching a British documentary called Food Unwrapped and it is incredibly disturbing, fascinating, and educational. The episode we watched was on canned grapefruit and probiotics. I highly recommend it.
I am absolutely loving my time on this farm. We've had some spectacular meals and very interesting and fun conversations. Frank and Azu are incredibly welcoming and warm hosts (although Frank 'locked' me in the walk-in fridge today because he thought he was playing the joke on Azu. Quite hilarious really: I was looking for chard for dinner tonight and all of a sudden the door closes and the light goes off and my immediate first thought is that he didn't realize somebody was in the fridge, and 'oh my god, am I going to be locked in the fridge all night???!!!' but no reason for panic as you can open the door from inside as well - phew! When he realized it was me and not Azu we both enjoyed a healthy little laugh fest).
I do have pictures I want to post that capture some of the adventures and experiences from the last few days, but for now I am off to bed. My goal is set for tomorrow!
Sunday, September 9, 2012
DRAW Match in the Hurling National Championship!!
WOW! What a fantastic way to experience my first hurling match. . . . but let's start from the beginning of today, because it is noteworthy too. =)
First of all, since getting here on Monday, September 3rd, I have had NO RAIN!! Instead, we've had glorious blue skies and sun! Ridiculously unexpected and equally welcome. This spectacular weather allowed me to do a little TRX workout outside this morning, in the light of a brilliantly glowing orange ball of rising sun. Magical.
It was wonderful to be outside this morning, and to be able to do some (very low key) TRX again. My back is feeling better, but I'm a bit wary as I felt almost back to 100% before my trip, then after two days of carrying my bags, it was feeling off again. Boooooooooooo. I held off on running (originally planned to start up again my first day in Ireland . . . what better way to celebrate?) but since it still wasn't feeling good, I held off until yesterday. Saturday, September 8th was my first day 'running' since August 19th (10 x 1 minute - eeeeesh, frustratingly limited, but gloriously pain free!!) Oh, so sad! I have missed running so much, and every time I see people running, it gives me this acute and powerful desire to be running also. I am excited about the 10 x 1 minute bouts of pain free running, but simultaneously aggravated by not being able to run more. I know it will come with time, but I want to go on long, exploratory runs now!!! I am learning patience.
But I digress! On to the exploratory (non-running) parts of the day. Explored the area north of the Liffey, and actually ran into the tour bus driver from my Thursday tour! Small world! (Dublin is quite small actually, and the locals consider it impossible to go someplace without running into someone you know).
Took a guided tour of Trinity College and learned fascinating details about the school history (founded in 1592!! And used to be an old monastic site, from which 3 components remain, including a bell they use to this day to toll lunchtimes, etc . . . )
After the tour, we got to see the Book of Kells and learn in depth details of how it and other books were made (these books dated from the 6th to 9th century. It is amazing!) AND I got to see the long library. It is phenomenal and I wish I could show you pictures, but I could not take any as pictures were strictly forbidden. It is enormous (almost 65 meters long with 2 stories for bookshelves where books are organized by - are you ready for this?? - the size of the book. Yep, if you want to find a book, you have to know its dimensions. Interesting, and really cool looking! True that it helps to be most efficient with vertical space, but definitely a pain in the butt!).
Next stop = a Fusion Festival Market. Held every second Sunday of the month, it is a blend of various cultures with a mix of all sorts of items for sale, from food to art to massage. Azu and Frank sell their produce and some food they cook at the market, so I stopped by to check it out and even met a French lady selling her art work.
It was hilarious actually, when I walked by her table, she said "Bonjour" and I was surprised because I don't think I look all THAT French. But it turns out she was joking because she had been hearing a lot of other people speak French and was equally surprised when she learned that I actually was French. We bonded over this and chatted for a while.
It's funny how long it's taking my brain to get out of French mode here; I didn't think my brain was that immersed in it, but I keep saying "pardon" automatically instead of "excuse me." I'm sure it will wear off soon. I'm actually starting to get in the habit of looking right before I cross streets here. I'm becoming more and more intrigued by the idea of attempting to drive here (especially shifting on the other side) and am considering renting a car during my 9 days off between farms. We shall see!
And now the big moment! The National Hurling Championship Game! I went to Ireland's oldest pub (established in 1198) called the Brazen Head to watch the match and it was incredible! Drank some Bulmer's pear cider, met a very nice couple from Galway (match was Kilkenny vs Galway) and a very helpful gentleman from London. They were all really patient in explaining lots of various details to me, and we all cheered together as I witnessed my first hurling match AND one of the closest games I've ever seen. With about 40 seconds to go, Galway scored one final point to bring the match to a tie (called a draw here, apparently) so they have to play another match on September 30th. So exciting! The whole game was really close, and I now understand the basics of hurling! Priceless Irish experience: Watching a draw match for a National Championship of Hurling at Ireland's oldest pub. I left feeling very content.
The next few hours I just strolled along the Liffey, heading west to Phoenix Park, and explored the park. Coming back I crossed the Millenium Bridge and the Ha' Penny Bridge (so named because people used to have to pay half a penny to cross the bridge). At this point on my wanderings, I heard live music coming out of a restaurant, but wasn't hungry, so I just listened outside, standing by the river, looking at the sparkling night lights reflected in the water. It was wonderful.
Caught a bus back to the farm (only a 20 minutes bus ride from city center, so convenient!) and had dinner with the family. It was awesome - they had brought back a bunch of ethnic food from the market, as all the merchants traded their goods at the end of the day. How cool is that?! I love trade systems!!
Tomorrow I will attempt to do a nutshell update on the other days I've spent in Ireland so far, and get some pictures up!
First of all, since getting here on Monday, September 3rd, I have had NO RAIN!! Instead, we've had glorious blue skies and sun! Ridiculously unexpected and equally welcome. This spectacular weather allowed me to do a little TRX workout outside this morning, in the light of a brilliantly glowing orange ball of rising sun. Magical.
It was wonderful to be outside this morning, and to be able to do some (very low key) TRX again. My back is feeling better, but I'm a bit wary as I felt almost back to 100% before my trip, then after two days of carrying my bags, it was feeling off again. Boooooooooooo. I held off on running (originally planned to start up again my first day in Ireland . . . what better way to celebrate?) but since it still wasn't feeling good, I held off until yesterday. Saturday, September 8th was my first day 'running' since August 19th (10 x 1 minute - eeeeesh, frustratingly limited, but gloriously pain free!!) Oh, so sad! I have missed running so much, and every time I see people running, it gives me this acute and powerful desire to be running also. I am excited about the 10 x 1 minute bouts of pain free running, but simultaneously aggravated by not being able to run more. I know it will come with time, but I want to go on long, exploratory runs now!!! I am learning patience.
But I digress! On to the exploratory (non-running) parts of the day. Explored the area north of the Liffey, and actually ran into the tour bus driver from my Thursday tour! Small world! (Dublin is quite small actually, and the locals consider it impossible to go someplace without running into someone you know).
Took a guided tour of Trinity College and learned fascinating details about the school history (founded in 1592!! And used to be an old monastic site, from which 3 components remain, including a bell they use to this day to toll lunchtimes, etc . . . )
After the tour, we got to see the Book of Kells and learn in depth details of how it and other books were made (these books dated from the 6th to 9th century. It is amazing!) AND I got to see the long library. It is phenomenal and I wish I could show you pictures, but I could not take any as pictures were strictly forbidden. It is enormous (almost 65 meters long with 2 stories for bookshelves where books are organized by - are you ready for this?? - the size of the book. Yep, if you want to find a book, you have to know its dimensions. Interesting, and really cool looking! True that it helps to be most efficient with vertical space, but definitely a pain in the butt!).
Next stop = a Fusion Festival Market. Held every second Sunday of the month, it is a blend of various cultures with a mix of all sorts of items for sale, from food to art to massage. Azu and Frank sell their produce and some food they cook at the market, so I stopped by to check it out and even met a French lady selling her art work.
It was hilarious actually, when I walked by her table, she said "Bonjour" and I was surprised because I don't think I look all THAT French. But it turns out she was joking because she had been hearing a lot of other people speak French and was equally surprised when she learned that I actually was French. We bonded over this and chatted for a while.
It's funny how long it's taking my brain to get out of French mode here; I didn't think my brain was that immersed in it, but I keep saying "pardon" automatically instead of "excuse me." I'm sure it will wear off soon. I'm actually starting to get in the habit of looking right before I cross streets here. I'm becoming more and more intrigued by the idea of attempting to drive here (especially shifting on the other side) and am considering renting a car during my 9 days off between farms. We shall see!
And now the big moment! The National Hurling Championship Game! I went to Ireland's oldest pub (established in 1198) called the Brazen Head to watch the match and it was incredible! Drank some Bulmer's pear cider, met a very nice couple from Galway (match was Kilkenny vs Galway) and a very helpful gentleman from London. They were all really patient in explaining lots of various details to me, and we all cheered together as I witnessed my first hurling match AND one of the closest games I've ever seen. With about 40 seconds to go, Galway scored one final point to bring the match to a tie (called a draw here, apparently) so they have to play another match on September 30th. So exciting! The whole game was really close, and I now understand the basics of hurling! Priceless Irish experience: Watching a draw match for a National Championship of Hurling at Ireland's oldest pub. I left feeling very content.
The next few hours I just strolled along the Liffey, heading west to Phoenix Park, and explored the park. Coming back I crossed the Millenium Bridge and the Ha' Penny Bridge (so named because people used to have to pay half a penny to cross the bridge). At this point on my wanderings, I heard live music coming out of a restaurant, but wasn't hungry, so I just listened outside, standing by the river, looking at the sparkling night lights reflected in the water. It was wonderful.
Caught a bus back to the farm (only a 20 minutes bus ride from city center, so convenient!) and had dinner with the family. It was awesome - they had brought back a bunch of ethnic food from the market, as all the merchants traded their goods at the end of the day. How cool is that?! I love trade systems!!
Tomorrow I will attempt to do a nutshell update on the other days I've spent in Ireland so far, and get some pictures up!
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