Northern Ireland

This morning, we left Sligo and I gave my presentation on Yeats; we also passed the cemetary in Drumcliffe where he was eventually buried (he died in France in 1939 and his body couldn't be transported back to Ireland for 9 years). We went to Glenveagh Castle today, which was built in the 1800s and has only had a few owners; its last owner gave the castle to the Irish government in the 80s. We were there a bit early for our tour, so we had almost an hour to wander around the gardens before taking the tour. The parts of the house we could see were lovely and our guide was very informative. We left the castle a little before 3 and came up to Northern Ireland, going straight to Derry. It was raining, so we didn't do much besides walk along the city wall for a while before going to our accommodations, which are absolutely lovely. This evening, we had a group dinner, and I'm about to go journal and get ready for bed; it has been a long day of traveling, plus I'm taking Sudafed to clear out my head before we get on the plane on Sunday. There is quite the line for this computer, so I'm going to sign off now.

Back from the island paradise

Well, not exactly a paradise. We had gale force winds the first night we were there, but I haven't gotten to that point in the story yet. On Friday, we went to the Cliffs of Moher; I've never seen such wonderful natural beauty. The view was breathtaking, as was the drop to the ocean below. I don't have my cord with me, so I can't upload my new pictures, but they are pretty fantastic. After that, we drove through the Burren, a national park with lots of rocks and protected plant species. We stayed there for a little over an hour to have a chance to sketch a bit; I'd forgotten how hard rocks are for me to draw! That night, we went to Galway City, where I met my Nana's cousin Anto and his wife Mary. They were both wonderful, and I also met their daughter Alva and her son, who were in town for the night. He's 4 1/2, and I have to say, it really made me miss Jack. It was so much fun to be able to meet them and spend time at their home.

On Saturday morning, we got up and caught a ferry over to the biggest of the Aran Islands, Inishmore. The ferry ride over was quite choppy and I've discovered that I get seasick. I didn't actually get sick, but Amanda Beasley is right, standing outside makes it more like an amusement park ride and much less terrifying. We spent the day exploring around the island and I bought my last present, plus something for me (that I then lost and found...it was a long story.). We ate dinner in, then journaled & worked on drawing/drank tea.

Yesterday, we climbed up to Dun Aengus, one of the ring forts on the island. It also has a large drop off the edge, about 300 feet. James wouldn't let any of us get TOO close, but I did get some good pictures. Most of us went back to the B&B afterwards, because we were very cold, but James, Susy, and Amanda did some more exploring. The power was out on the island last night and we were supposed to have a group dinner, so 20 minutes before it closed, we literally sprinted down to the one supermarket and all got to pick out dinner food. We had a ridiculously full cart, but we were trying to feed 15 people, so I suppose that's to be expected.

This morning, we got up and left really early; it was much calmer, so the ferry ride wasn't as bad, but I did stay outside just to be on the safe side. We met Liam, our driver, and spent the day exploring Boyle Abbey and climbing way up to Carrickkill (sp?) to view the passage tombs. I'm finding more and more that these hikes seem impossible as we're doing them, but end up being totally worth it because of the view from the top. We're in a hostel in Sligo tonight, then spending the day at Glenveagh and on to Derry, in Northern Ireland, in the evening. We're reaching the end of our adventure, but it doesn't seem like it. While I am very ready to see my family (and a little tired of traveling in a bus), this trip has helped me to grow in ways I never thought I could or would. I hope all of these changes are positive, and I think they are, but I suppose I'll have to wait to get home to really know.

On the road again...

We left Dublin on Tuesday morning, and headed out to Waterford. We stopped around lunchtime in Kilkenny and got lunch at a restaurant across from Kilkenny Castle. After lunch, we walked down to the Cathedral of St. Canice, a church that's been used for over 800 years, first as a Catholic church and then as an Anglican church since the Reformation. I found a window that I really like, so I sat down and drew for a while, while others in our group chose to climb the tower. Around 3:00, we headed back into town to tour the castle; it was the home of the Butler family for hundreds of years, until they moved out and it fell into disrepair; they then decided to give it to the goverment for upkeep and it has undergone extensive restoration.

That evening, we drove to Waterford, which we've discovered dies at about 6 pm. Taking a tip from a local man painting a shop front, Susy, Alecia, Amanda and I ate dinner at T & H Doolan's, the oldest pub in town. It has been expanded several times, and they even have a part of the medieval wall in the building. They told us that there would be live music that night, so we walked around and looked in empty shop windows until 9:30; the music was fantastic and the guy was quite amusing, even if he did threaten to sit on Amanda's lap until she sang along with "Molly Malone."

The next morning, we headed to the Waterford Treasure Museum, which went through the history of Waterford, along with various "interactive" exhibits; for example, we got to do a "3-d presentation" on the Vikings which involved sitting in a boat that "rocked"-it was all quite amusing. After that, we were supposed to go to two galleries, but they had closed, so we had a long lunch and headed out to the Waterford Crystal Factory. Our guide took us through all the steps in glass making, and even let some of us hold pieces; there's one of me with a giant crystal goblet, but Alecia has it, not me. In the Waterford shop, I bought my present for me that Mom told me to get, a gold Celtic cross with crystals inlaid; I felt that that would be a good, lasting way for me to remember this trip. We had a group dinner last night, and Mom & Dad, I tried Indian food. I was a little unsure, but I figured it was now or never; I'm having a lot of growth moments lately, so I went ahead and it was really good. I was expecting my stomach to rebel about 2:00 this morning, but I slept like a rock.

Last night, Susy and I just hung out in our hotel room, and we left for the Rock of Cashel at about 9:30. We arrived around 11, and spent the next 3 hours wandering around, taking a guided tour through the buildings, and working on drawings. Amanda, James, Amanda, Susy and I took a walk down to a ruined Cistercian monastery from the 12th century and ate our lunches down there. I took pictures on the walk down, then pictures of Cashel from the abbey; it was quite a walk, but worth it for the view. We spent the rest of the afternoon in Adare, of which I also took a lot of pictures; the church pictures from the end are from a priory established in 1280, which is still in use. We got back on the bus a 3rd time and are now in Limerick; we had another group dinner at a very hip little Italian restaurant, and I'm going back to journal tonight. I can't believe we only have a little over a week left; I miss home, but I'm having so much fun and loving Ireland so much that I don't want to leave-I just want my family to move here!

Last day in Dublin

Tomorrow we leave for the country, so my blogging will be a bit more sparse. Our itinerary is as follows:

Tuesday, June 17th: Kilkenny/Waterford
Wednesday, June 18th: Waterford
Thursday, June 19th: Rock of Cashel/Adare/Limerick
Friday, June 20th: The Burren/Galway City (this is where I get to meet my family!!)
Saturday-Sunday, June 21st-22nd: Aran Islands
Monday-Tuesday, June 23rd-24th: Sligo
Wednesday, June 25th: Derry/Dunluce/Giant's Causeway
Thursday-Friday, June 26th-27th, Belfast
Saturday, June 28th: Hill of Tara/Dublin
Sunday, June 29th: Home to NC

It's hard for all of us to believe that we're 1/3 of the way through our trip. Personally, I think it will be nice to get into the country for a while; I love Dublin, but I'm ready to see the rest of the country too. This morning, we went to Kilmainham Gaol to take a tour; this was the prison where the leaders of the 1916 uprising were imprisoned and 16 executed. The prison was in use from the 1790s through 1924, when Eamon de Valera, later Prime Minister and then President of Ireland, was the last prisoner to be released. We got to see the cells, both old and newer, the condemned man's cell, and the hard labor yard, which is where the 1916 executions were carried out. It was an especially interesting trip for me because I did my senior thesis in high school on the Easter Rising. I had read a lot about Kilmainham, so being there was pretty incredible. It made the history so much more real, to walk the halls where these men that I had studied in depth had walked to their death, to see the wall against which they stood to face the firing squad.

After that, we caught a bus back and Susy, Rachael, Katelyn and I went for lunch in the Temple Bar. Today being Bloomsday, we were looking for Joycean activities, but only saw a few people in costume. Then we went shopping and are getting ready to head back to the apartments; I need to pack, journal, and get ready for our group dinner tonight.

Sunday in Dublin

Last night, I found an out of the way Catholic Church and attended Mass with Alecia and Amanda at 8:00. The church was on Merchant's Quay and looked like a regular building from the street, but opened up into this enormous Georgian style church; my favorite part of the architecture was the ceiling, which was latticed off into sections that were painted blue with white lattice work and the shades of blue got darker as it went up. After church, we came back to the apartments and played Quiddler, a word game at which I got beaten soundly.

This morning, I got to sleep in until about 10, when I got up and showered/got ready for my day. Susy, Alecia, Amanda, Katie, Molly, and I went shopping; I found most of the gifts for my family, but I'm not telling what any of them are! We also found a coffee place called Butler's Chocolate Cafe'; the coffee costs about as much as McDonalds (about 3 euro), plus they give you a truffle for every cup you buy. That was a pretty exciting discovery for us, because the coffee was fantastic.

We met up with the group around 2 and visited the garden of remembrance with the Children of Lir statue. The Children of Lir is an Irish myth about a widowed chieftain who remarried to a woman who was jealous of his love for his children, so she cursed them and made them turn into swans. They were forced to remain swans for 900 years; this garden was built to remember everyone who has died for Ireland.

After that, we visited the Dublin Writer's Museum, which was one of my favorite stops so far, since I was familiar with a lot of the writers. I also liked it because there were a lot of new writers that I learned about. I was told before I left that Ireland publishes some of the most beautiful books in the world, and I understand that now; every time I go into a bookstore, I want to buy a lot because they are just beautiful books. The other place we visited today was the Hugh Lane Gallery; a lot of it was closed because they're getting ready to open a new exhibit, but they did have one room with stained glass in it that was gorgeous. I bought a postcard with the panels from "The Eve of St. Agnes," which we read in my British Lit class last semester.

Once we were done with the gallery, I came back to my apartment and took a nap, then had dinner up in another apartment with some of the girls. Once I get back from the internet cafe, we're going to play cards, then get ready for our last day in Dublin; we're visiting Kilmainham Gaol and some of the Bloomsday activities. Then, on Tuesday morning, we head out for Waterford.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy! Love you!

Brief skim-through of several days

It's been a while since I've been able to get back here, so this will just be a brief summary of what we've been doing. Thursday, we went to the Irish Museum of Modern Art, which is housed in an old hospital on the Northside of Dublin. I'm not much of a modern art aficionado, though, so my favorite part was the exhibit that showed all the different wars that soldiers who lived in the hospital fought in; it was a military hospital. Then, we went to the Guinness Storehouse to take the tour, paying special attention to the graphic design in the advertisment section. We had an excellent lunch on on the 5th floor (which was actually the 6th or 7th, but they number floors strangely here), then took off on the tour. We saw the 9000 year lease that Arthur Guinness signed, leasing the property for 45 pounds a year, then went through all the steps that are required to make the beer. The advertising section was particularly interesting, because they had televisions where you could look at old commercials, as well as memorabilia that was produced by the company. After the storehouse, we walked down to St. Auoden's church to get our Heritage Passes for the rest of the trip, and the man that sold them offered us a tour of the church. It is the only complete medieval structure that remains in Dublin, and bordering it is part of the medieval wall. The church has been in use ever since it was built, changing from Catholic to Anglican after the Reformation. Walking back from the church, we passed Temple Bar, where Susy, Alecia, Rachael and I decided to stay until our group dinner at 7:30. We found a gelateria, then did some shopping.

Yesterday was our free day, and I got up early to go out. I didn't end up going anywhere til after 10, when I went out for coffee, then back to wait for Susy, Alecia, Amanda, Rachael and Kaitlin to get ready. We stopped for coffee for them and to mail postcards, then took a trip over to Pearse St. to get a package for Rachael. We went back to the National Museum, but Susy and I didn't stay very long, since we had to catch a bus out to Santry, a neighborhood on the Northside, where we visited some friends of my grandparents, Jenny and Norrie Wilson. The Wilsons were the kindest couple, welcoming us into their house with open arms and lots of kisses. We told them about our trip, what we'd done so far, school, and of course, I had to update them on my family. They decided that I looked like a distant cousin named Alva, whom I'm going to meet when we go to Galway; they had me call up Alva's mother Mary, who, when she found out I was a relative, insisted that they take me out to dinner the night that we arrive. Jenny wanted to make us a "pot of tea, " which we accepted, but couldn't figure out why she was gone so long. When she called us into the kitchen, we saw why, because she had prepared a full spread with bread, turkey, ham, coleslaw, potato salad, lettuce, tomatoes, beetroot, tea of course, and a stollen-like bread called Oxford lunch for dessert. It was quite the spread and we both left there feeling quite full! When it was time to go, Norrie drove us back to the apartments; he's been a cab driver in Dublin for 58 years and was telling us all about the city and how he'd seen it change. It really was a wonderful afternoon with two very lovely people. Last night, I went with Susy and James to the Gate Theater to see Conor MacPherson's "The Weir." I was so glad that I was able to experience Irish theater while I was here, because it was absolutely wonderful.

This morning, we headed out to Dublin Castle about 9:45, but stopped to watch some people swim in the Liffey; they were doing a charity swim for cystic fibrosis. Dublin Castle wasn't open, so we visited the garden that is built around the site that they think is where the Black Pool originally was (Dublin's name comes from the Gaelic for those words, Dubh Linn. It was changed to Dyfflin by the Vikings, then later Anglicized to Dublin) and the Chester Beatty Library. The afternoon was spent at Christ Church Cathedral and St. Patrick's Cathedral, taking self-guided tours and drawing. I got to see the plaque with Jonathan Swift's epitaph on it; actually, that's what I chose to draw.

I'm about out of internet cafe time, but I'll try to get back before we leave Dublin. When I get back, I'll also post a link to my snapfish account, which is where I've put my pictures. If you don't want to wait, I've emailed that link to my parents, and they can pass it on. Love from Dublin!

We have arrived!

It's the evening of our second day in Dublin and I'm sitting in an internet cafe with Katie, Amanda, Alecia, and Susy. James has appointed me the official chronicler of our trip, so I will do my utmost to live up to that.

We arrived yesterday morning around 8:40 Dublin time. Customs was easy to navigate; we just had to wait a while for our luggage. Then we boarded a double-decker bus (!!) and took that to Parnell Square. We dropped off our luggage at Ivy Exchange Apartments and freshened up a little, but headed out soon afterwards, as James said if he didn't keep us busy, we'd nap and then be jet-lagged. We went to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells; also included in that exhibit was the Long Room, which houses the old, 20,000 volume library of Trinity. That was the most fantastic room I've ever seen in my life; I think I could die happy there! The other (non-English) majors thought I was a little crazy, but it was an amazing experience. From there, we walked past Leinster House and the National Museum and stopped for a bathroom break in the National Gallery. We then went over to Merrion Square Park and walked for a while, pausing for a group pose with Oscar Wilde. Our last tour stop of the day was Number 29, a restored Georgian house, where we split up into two groups and took a tour. It was a lovely four-story house with fairly small rooms; the guide said that the family who had originally owned it had 7 children, but the sons were sent to boarding school at a young age. It was interesting to see that facet of Dublin's history, since most of what I've read is literature from people like James Joyce and Sean O'Casey, who deal with a Dublin that is not only of a different era, but different classes as well. We had a group dinner last night at Flanagan's, then I came back and crashed after journalling for a little while with my head bobbing with sleepiness. Yesterday is hard to reflect on, though, since it was such a blur. I remember doing what we did, but I remember most of all that my feet hurt and I was exhausted.

This morning, we got up and met to go to the National Museum, which houses some of the major Irish archaeological finds. We saw the Tara Brooch and the Ardagh Chalice, which are surprisingly much smaller in actuality than I imagined. I also saw 4 bog people, who are incredibly preserved, but still rather creepy. I also wandered through an exhibit of medieval artifacts, most of them belonging to churches. I was surprised at how much I recognized as similar to things used in modern Catholic churches. Our next stop was the National Gallery of Ireland, where we visited an impressive exhibit of Impressionist interiors (yes, the pun was intentional. I know it was bad, but I couldn't resist!); Katie and I had lunch at the Gallery cafe (chicken and broccoli soup for 4 euros-not bad!) and then looked through the portrait gallery and 18th-19th century Irish paintings.

We regrouped on St. Steven's Green, where we talked a little about the similarities and differences we've noticed. Personally, most of the differences I've noticed have been small, like different vocabulary, the fact that all soups seem to be pureed, and the fact that you can't follow the "righty-tighty, lefty-loosy" rule for faucets (It's backwards, as I discovered at 7:00 with a faceful of cold water) Dublin is a very cosmopolitan, very diverse city; even walking around, you don't hear Irish accents exclusively-there are a lot of Eastern Europeans, Asians, Africans, Spaniards, as well as the requisite tourists. I spent the rest of the afternoon in my apartment, sitting on the balcony and drawing. Then I called Katie about dinner and found James, who walked with me down to Temple Bar, where we ate dinner at Farrington's. After this, I'll go back across the Ha'penny Bridge & down to O'Connell Street to get back to the apartment; I want to finish my drawing and get to bed again early tonight.

I apologize for not emailing yet; I can't get onto the whiterabbit server, so I will try again tomorrow or the next day. I'll also start using my gmail account. Emails/comments are welcomed and loved.

I leave today!

Got back on Saturday from an incredibly restful week at the beach with my family, and now...it's today! I'm so excited I'm beside myself. I was nervous up until I woke up this morning, but now excitement has just taken over. 2:00 flight out of RDU, then a 7:20 flight out of Chicago. I'll be in Dublin about 4:00 am our time tomorrow morning, 9:00 Dublin time. Wish me safe travels!!