Green Glasses on Emerald Island

When I was traveling last fall, I brought a mini moleskin with me. In London while waiting for a train, I happened to go into a store and pick up a gluestick, deciding that maybe I'll paste some things into the sketchbook along the way. And my travel journal was born. It's a notebook that I treasure still, referencing whenever a friend is traveling in Europe: "oh, there's a great hostel in Nice that we found" as my memory for things like that is shit.

.

So I decided to do it again, this time with a bigger notebook and a bigger gluestick. These images are all in flickr, so if you click on it it'll bring you there to view a larger version if you want to read it all. I'm only retyping a summary and some of the highlights of the trip.

.

We began the trip with delays in DC then delays in the Philly airport. Sitting on the tarmac for a few hours, we finally took off across the big pond.

.

Shannon

We arrived in Shannon and proceeded to get the rental car and a cup of coffee. With an over-nighter flight, I was a bit nervous with the prospect of driving on the left side of the road. What I actually should have been worried about was the fact that everyone drives well over 100 km/hr on tiny 1/2 lane windy roads with no guard rails and barely paved. I'm happy to report that despite my driving record I only hit one car, and it was only minor mirror-on-mirror action. Luckily I avoided the electric blue BMW that came tearing around a corner towards me then panicked and swerved TOWARDS me (wrong side buddy) as I cuddled up with the bushes.

.

Ennis

We took off in our new wheels towards the coast and got as far as Ennis. A lovely place for lunch. The one-lane roads that were barely alleyways created a picturesque little town. A quick bite to eat and we were off to the Cliffs of Moher.

.

Cliffs of Moher

I feel like I'm going to insult it by trying to describe it. It is an amazing place. Peaceful and powerful at the same time. It is a spectacle to see and an experience to feel. We walked around the regular viewing area. But then with ambitions of ruggedness, we "hopped" the barbed wire fence to the North (ouch) but only made it about a hundred yards before the gale-force winds deterred us from strolling along the cliffside. Then we took of to the South past the "Private Property" sign and barrier and that was really the place to see it. Unobstructed by the rock walls, it was amazing. Though I avoided falling at the important places to avoid doing falling, I did eat it a bit when climbing back over the barrier as I slipped off a rock, hooking my other leg around the fence that I grabbed with one hand while simultaneously grabbing my camera in a maternal instinct, swinging around the front of the fence and coming to a rest straddling the barrier with a look of "holy shit, did you just see that?" on my face.

Please ignore the fact that I spelled Moher incorrectly in the book :)

.

Ennistymon

We made it back inland to Ennistymon and decided to stay there for the night, finding a little B+B up the road called The Byrnes. It was overlooking a little waterfall/river that would have been adorable if you couldn't tell the water was a nasty brown. We walked (past the donkeys) up the river to the Falls Hotel for dinner at the Cascade Restaurant. Typical tourist menu, though delicious. Then a few more donkeys came out, so I decided to take some pictures. I shot a few, then put my camera down as I turned and came face to (not two inches away) face with a HUGE donkey. I screeched in his face, then panicked realizing screeching in his face was probably not the best way to avoid aggressive behavior on his part. Then slowly backed away while sending pleasant vibes his way.

That night we walked up to the Cooley House where we chatted with Jo Cooley and some folks, and enjoyed a Bulmers.

.

Galway

Tuesday was a big driving day. After a big breakfast at Byrnes, we took off in the morning towards Galway, going the scenic route through the Burren. Galway felt like a place that would be great to spend the time to find the nooks and crannies of awesomeness because on the surface it's just super touristy. However, they had fantastic street performers - the best was a group of 3 guys and a girl singing classic rock/chill.

.

.

Claregalway

On the drive out of Galway we found a really cool old cemetery and Friary, the Claregalway Franciscan Friary, off the road and decided to stop in to explorer a bit.

.

Derry

Back on the road and hours later we're in Northern Ireland. As we entered, we were greeted with sidewalk curbs painted in red, white and blue and the roads an eerie red tint. The highlight of the day was going to Peador O'Donnell's that night. There was a session going on, but it was packed so we couldn't really see the musicians. Everyone was so friendly! I wish I could remember all of the hilarious conversation; but suffice to say - it was a really awesome night! I met David, the ginger, and the "corporate sell-out" with the Manchester United jersey, and the birthday boy. Their quick banter in adorable accents was fun to listen to, but a bit difficult to actually comprehend in a timely manner to carry on a conversation. Though I'm sure he lived in a different direction, David was kind enough to walk us back to the B+B; a gentleman.

Our car got locked into the parking garage as we found out that the hotel was booked out; but luckily we got a room up the road at The Merchant's House.

The next day we were able to explore the city; Derry is the only remaining walled city in Ireland. It was really amazing to walk along the top of the wall and see both the inside and the outside. Along the Northeast side you can see some of the political murals for Free Derry; along the Southwest side some of the murals for the UK. A lot of the old buildings had stains from paint thrown on them, especially the ones near the walls.

Derry is an amazing city, rich with history and culture. The people are fantastic, the story interesting, and the sites beautiful in an unconventional way.

.

Giant's Causeway

Back on the road, up to Giant's Causeway, a natural phenomenon that caused thousands of stacks of hexagonal rocks to form, leading into the ocean. It's a quick and beautiful walk out along the cliffs, then down to the beach where you can explore on and around the rocks. Awesome.

.

Carrick-A-Ride

Up a little bit to the rope bridge. It sounds a lot more intimidating that it actually is. The guidebooks all make it look like it's a huge and scary thing teetering high above the roaring sea. Sorry to crush your Indiana Jones dreams, but you'll have to seek real adventure somewhere else because this bridge was passable without even grabbing onto the side ropes. But it does give you a great view and take you to a little island of spongy moss that is fun to bounce on.

.

Portrush

The rain came in as we headed to what sounded like a fun little town nearby, Portrush. Not so exciting.

.

Letterkenny

Driving plus a ferry, and we arrived in Letterkenny the next day.

We got some information about the Earagail Arts Festival going on, and I picked out an exhibition to check out. But first, food.

The Regional Cultural Center in Letterkenny is a fantastic space! It's a contemporary gem, set in the middle of old buildings and architecture, making it really stand out as a beacon of interest.

There were a number of exhibitions going on. A fun one called Le Mouvement encouraged the viewer to participate and create pieces of his/her own. Well that's all we needed to sit down and bust out the markers, gluesticks, and stickers!

The real reason we went to the Center was to check out A Room of One's Own; an exhibition that asked six architects to design a room for their teenage self. The exhibition was small but really interesting. Each took a very different approach, though there were a lot of similar themes: escape, multi-levels, mobility, and the ability to morph.

.

Donal Lunny in Dunlewey

Yea, throw in a brogue accent and the fact that we hadn't heard of either the singer Donal Lunny and the town Dunlewey, and it turned into a long game of who's on first. This was also a part of the arts festival. It was sold out, but they were releasing more tickets at the door, so we got there early. Second only to Danny, a Dunluey native who chatted with us for the hour we waited for the doors to open. He decided early on that mom and I (then she kindly informed him that she was in fact married, so it turned to just me) should find a good Irishman and stay in Ireland. "They're lonely here. Throwing themselves into the water because of it."

The concert was fantastic! We were able to get front-row seats for the performance, which really made the experience unforgettable. There were four musicians total, playing in different groups throughout the night, then all together for some songs. Awesome. Just awesome.

.

Bunbeg

We had reserved a B+B in Letterkenny in a small town called Bunbeg. It turned out to be a wonderful little place, right on a quaint little harbor. The place was just a short walk from the main drag of *bustling* Bunbeg (lots of sarcasm there). We enjoyed the B+B and the surrounding area, that we decided to make this the only place we stayed two nights. In our explorations around town, we found one little sweater/craft/gift shop that had a ton of machine- and hand-knit sweaters. Seeing hundreds of sweaters but no yarn along the way, we asked again - where can we find yarn? A woman there brought up her stash: a bag of about 400 yards of brown, about the same of creme, and a bag of small skeins of navy blue tweed. Refusing to go home without and Donegal wool, I opted for the mystery brown. With the thousand sheep that we saw along the trip, where the hell does all there wool go to???

The next day we took off to the Glenveagh National Park to see the Castle there. They have acres and acres of beautiful gardens that kept us occupied for a few hours. The tour of the castle was cool, too, but we both enjoyed the gardens far more. Mom probably could have (and would have) stayed there for hours more but we got caught in a mini-downpour out on one of the trails and I got completely soaked in our attempt to run for shelter. You would think that wouldn't be a big deal, as it's summertime. Well I've neglected to mention that summertime in Ireland for this particular week topped out at maybe 60 degrees.

Our second night in Bunbeg there was supposed to be a session up the road. We grabbed dinner then went to the pub, running into our B+B friends we had made the previous night at the concert. A boy from Dublin and a girl from Donegal (Killian and Sara). The session was really great. Serious, but very good music. We had a great time. Killian and Sara are both musicians; Killian is doing his masters in music technology in Dublin and Sara teaching music and geography (a natural combination).

.

On the Road Again

On our last full day in Ireland, it was time to make our way back South. The drive seemed to take forever. Windy roads at whipping speeds, listening to broadcasts from Oxygen - the amazing music festival going on that weekend that I desperately wanted to go to. Next year...who's in? Just look at the lineup.

.

Ennis

We finally gave up on the driving in Ennis - a quick 18 kilometers from the Shannon airport. All of the hotels and B+Bs were booked up, but one called her friend who sometimes opens up her house to take the overflow and we decided that this was our best option.

.

Our last night in Ireland! Time for some good food, music, and pubs. Despite being a bit skeptical, we followed the recommendation of Rick Steves and Marie (our landlady for the night) and went to dinner at the pub attached to the Old Ground Hotel. It turned out to be our best irish meal! Fish and Chips and a Kilkenny and I was a happy girl.

.

Then began our quest for music. We ended up stopping at a number of different pubs, finally landing on one that neither of us know the name of. Claire's perhaps? Not sure. Anyway, it was a blast! A group of guys up from Kilearny gave us their seats, then engaged us in conversation that had us nearly falling off those seats. Dennis the Doormaker was one of the funniest, as he was also the most intoxicated. He decided that it was fate that we were both young, single, and free.

.

Whispering to my mom: "if she were Irish, I'd marry her tomorrow".

Mom: "well, sorry, she's leaving tomorrow."

Dennis: "it was love at first sight. she'll come back to me."

Mom started laughing so hard, I think she was actually crying.

A boxing match was going on which delayed the music. When they finally started playing, they only played a handful of songs and we decided to go back to the session at the Old Ground Hotel. Catching their last few songs, we called it a night.

.

Back to the US of A

Traveling back the next morning was a headache. We returned the car to Avis and they claimed that we had damaged the wheel. When we looked at it, it wheel was bent, with a different hubcap zip-tied on. I tried to explain to him that we couldn't even find the gas station, how the hell would we have found a spare hubcap and zipties? Finally a shop guy came out and confirmed that it was old damage.

.

Then to the airport. This was the only flight that we took that actually left on time and without hassel. Philly was not so lucky. We ran through customs and more security to make it to our plane, only to sit on the tarmac for about 2 1/2 hours with all planes going into DC grounded for weather. Then the crew timed out and our flight was cancelled. I got a seat on the next flight but mom got standby. Then that flight was delayed and delayed and delayed some more. Finally mom got a seat and we got on the plane. More sitting on the tarmac waiting in line the take off. The pilot had announced when we got on that we had until 10:58 to take off or else this crew would time out. More sitting on the tarmac and they finally bumped us to the front of the line a few minutes shy of 10:58. Phew! We finally made it to DC! Our bags were not as fortunate. After waiting for over an hour, it was time to accept that our bags were not coming. Wait in line, make the claim. Metro is shut down for the night, wait in line for a taxi. Taxi driver gives us attitude because he doesn't really want to drive out to Silver Spring. Arrive at apartment, get to the door and realize that my keys are in my luggage that is lost. Both roommates asleep, no one is answering their phone or the door, so I go downstairs. They usually have to call maintenance and it's a $60 charge. The man is so sweet and takes pity on me and with a "shh" and a wink, he sends the security guard up with me and a set of master keys. They turned out to be the wrong keys, which was good. It bought us time to get Ringo away from that door and over to the other door so when the securuity came back to open the door he wouldn't find our illegal animal. Finally inside and I was greeted by a mystery package; a little present from the West coast that put a smile on my face after what seemed like the day of everything going wrong. Thanks Stephen! I don't have any luggage, but I have new headphones!
.

Oh, and here's a quick map to show the location of some of the places we visited:



.

I'm slowly uploading pictures to flickr, so some from the beginning of the trip are up already. You can check them out here.