nat playing irish song on uke!

I learned this song in Ireland on Inish Bofin. I love it because it has such sweet lyrics.

Here are a few of my paintings, in case you were wondering what kind of things I painted. I love the portrait of the bride. The feet are those of my younges son when he was a month old. the portrait of the boy is my middle son when he was about seven and the picture of the tricycle is my mother and her brother when they were 4 and 6 respectively. The greenery painting is one of my first paintings, it took me forever to do!

LOVE IRELAND!

Well, the overall conclusion is I totally love Ireland. Why? Because, somehow I feel at home there. The air smells good, the breeze on my skin feels good and I connect with the people. Of all the tours I have done so far (and I say that because I will be back, hopefully next summer, to do another tour, maybe a bike tour!) the Connemara Safari one was the most intmate. Initmate with the land that is, but also the group I was with. We only covered a relatively small amount of land and sights, but we were up close to the land because of the hiking. I loved the long walks (like 4-6 hours) on the islands and the fjord.

But, if you wanted to see more of the prominant sights of Ireland, the Vagabond Tour I did last year was good for that. the group was only 14 people, I like smaller gruops, and we bumped around in a jeep for seven days seeing all the sights on our path. I loved this tour as well, and connected nicely with the people on it. The average age was younger than the connemara safari, around 30 or so compared to the connemara which was mainly comprised of 50 plus aged tourists. I think the price point for both these tours were about the same, but the Vagabond was more days and only breakfast was included. Connemara was 4.5 days and everything was included, all meals.

Shamrocker was great because it was cheap and we hit the main attractions on our route. Nothing was included in the trip but your seat on the bus, everything else was extra. We stayed in hostels, which were nice, and ate at our own expense. I think the Shamrocker is a great affordable way to see the sights in Ireland. Average age on the tour, about 24 years old.

So, three very different tour companies, all with their own advantages depending on what you are looking for. I know, this blog is boring, I just tought it would be good to summarize my experience so far. I am glad I did all three tours, they were all enjoyable and worth doing. A great selection for anyone intending to travel there, you just have to know what you are looking for. Hopefully next year, I will be able to add another tour company to my list of experiences!

Now, this blog will convert to my everyday ramblings of life and thoughts I might have here and there, with the odd picture when I take it.

tootles!!

Shamrocker day three

This morning we took a black cab tour of Belfast and were driven around to many of the murals in the city. My favorite is the bloody hand of Ulster. Story has it that the king said whoever sailed to land firstand touched the soil could mary his daughter and be kind of his land so when the second guy realized he was going to loose, he cut off his hand and threw it onto shore, therefore winning the prize. I think I would rather keep my right hand, but it just shows how passionate these people are about their land.
We went to a memorial and were told about the people who died inside the walls of Belfast (catholic side) and I noticed the caging on the backs of the houses closest to the walls. These cages were just recently installed. The fear is still very real between the catholics and protestants.

We also had a bus load of really hung over young adults (gosh I am old!) and I stood up and turned around to see everyone with eyes closed and many of them snoring loudly.

We drove up to an old cemetary with beautiful celtic crosses as grave markers. I stood and talked to the three older people manning the info desk for about 20 minutes and had a grand time chatting to them. Their passion for what they do is clear. That's what I love about Ireland, it seems the people I encounter are passionate about their heritage and take pride in it.

The bus of younguns finally did liven up and I told them all to look alive for this last shot. They did pretty well considering some of them went to bed at around 6am after having gone to some Irish guys house to play Wii. Oh the follies of youth.

Day two Shamrocker

After a good nighs sleep in the Independant hostel in Derry, we boarded the bus and went on to Dunluce Castle. This castle was so beautiful it was easy to see the extravagance in the design and how it's previous owners had lived in luxury for their time. Heck, even for our time, such a buiding would be beautiful. I could envision the art up on the walls and the great feasts they would have had in the dining room. The kitchen was neat with it's oven's too. The kitchen was constructed outside the regular house in order to prevent fires.

We set off for the famous giant's causeway. Legend says a giant threw rocks in the water to build a causeway to get to Scotland. Science would have you believe that it occured because of cooling lava. Either way, it was very cool, geometrical shaped colums, kind of like the old video game Q-bert. It was lovely to walk out on the lava rocks and climb over them, certainly a miracle formation and I think should be a wonder of the world. I am amazed that nature can construct such a phenomenon.

Our next stop was the rope bridge used by fishermen to get from the mainland to a small rock island where the fishing is better. The bridge was restricted to hold only nine people for safety reasons and it was quite wobbley too, but I was not worried, everything was too beautiful to worry about the bridge. The beauty here is like a quenching drink for the eyes and dare I say the soul too. Many times, I would stand and close my eyes to smell the air, then open my eyes, to try and imprint the images on my brain forever. I love the rugged, untamed beauty that is Ireland. Something seems wild about the country here.

We made our way to Belfast where we would spend the night at the Independant hostel, a clean reasonable place to stay. But first, look at the Guiness clock and university in Belfast. I took these pictures on our walk to find the cheapest drinks.

Shamrocker day one

Well July 6th and I was off to the Shamrocker tour. I cabbed downtown to the Kinley house hostel for 8:30am. This after a night of throwing up and being sick the other way too (I know, too much info, but I must impress upon you how ill I was). I considered cancelling my north tour due to this nasty spell of illness, but really had nowhere to stay if I didn't go. By the way, this Murf (the weeuns called him smurf).

Turns out I just felt like I would throw up all day but I didn't actually throw up. The bus ride was bouncy and I had to focus on not being sick. But we made our way up north, towards Eniskillin. It was rainy that day and I ran to the phone booth to wait it out. After ten minutes, I went to the place to change my money over to Pounds instead of Euros (the north is part of the British Isles) and I am pretty sure I got ripped off but anyway.




We boarded the bus again and the tour guide had us all inroduce ourselves and say something intersting, I chose to tell a discolorful joke about a priest that I had heard the week before, on the Safari (tanks Martina!) I shan't put the joke here, but if you are curious, you can ask me sometime, it is quite funny.




We stopped at Trim Castle, very pretty, and wandered around on our own. I took lots o photos!




I believe this was in the city of Antrim.
After, we road the bus to Loughcrew cairns, which is an old burial site above ground in a small little hut like structure on the side of the mountain. This picture is me just following the guides bum into the wee tiny place, only big enough for about nine of us to go, sans backpacks. ( I was still feeling quite sick!) The carvings on this stone illustrated the importance of the sun and how i moved as the sun shone in the tomb. As the day grew older, the sun moved down and to the right, you can see the picture of the sun in three spots, which signifies where it was at a certain time of day.








It is after the cairns that we went to Eniskillin where it rained. Then we went to Derry where we took a walking tour of the walled city of Derry. The wall is beautiful and fully surrounds the inner city. You can see many murals on house walls depicting "the troubles" as they are called. The troubles are the war times. Bloody Sunday happened in Derry and there is a mural all about that too. One of these pictures is one of the I think four gates enclosing the city of Derry.

On the way again!

Well, Saturday morning (july 4th), the owner of the Castle arranged for me to catch a ride up to Sligo to see my friend Sam and his wife and baby. Jerry, the tour guide was my ride and he was so nice to talk to all the way there, it took 2 hours. We talked all the way to Sligo about all sorts of things and by the end of the trip I was quite attached to Jerry and was sad to say goodbye. I apologized for talking so much and Jerry said it was the fasted rideto Sligo he has ever had. I like him lots and will definately want to see him again next time I am here.

When we arrived in Sligo I called Sam and he gave us more precise directions to get to his house, I said goodbye to Jerry and saw Sam walking down the lane. It was great to see him and finally meet his lovely wife Anna, who I know would be a great friend if we lived closer to eachother. She is smiley and gentle with little baby Cian too which is sweet to watch. The baby is adorable and we had a nice day visiting.

I ended up crashing their friends kids third birthday party that day too, which is totally fun. I tagged along and ended up making the guocamole for the party under the direction of Brian, the dad of the kid whose birthday it was. The people at this party were mighty craic and I had a ball visiting and meeting with new people. Gosh I love meeting people!!

Later that evening, Sam had to take a train back to Dublin so I tagged along because i had to be there the next day as well. We stayed overnight with his brother and sister in law and had an evening of laughing, singing and fun. They were very hospitable to let me stay there, especially since the didn't know I was coming. The next morning, Philip and Ozlem (Philip is Sam's twin broter, Ozlem, Phil's wife) took me out for coffee and then we walked to the Irish Sea beach area and vegged. Ozlem and I walked thruogh the water in our barefeet and picked up shells for Jordan. New friends again for me are these lovely people and hopefully they will come visit me in Canada!

This wood carving man is Sam's uncle by the way and if you are ever in Sligo, you simply MUST visit his store. He makes amazing carvings in an old butcher shop in town and while he works, can tell you all kinds of local tales and folklore, he is a great story teller. His hame is Michael Quirke and even on the plane ride home recently I met a young man from Sligo who knew all about Michael. In this picture, he is making me a small carving of my little dog, which now is one of my favorite things from my trip.

Clare Island

Well, after Inish Turk, where we actually stayed two nights, we ferried over to Clare Island. That island is pretty also and the town seems busier and more populated. We hiked up the mountain and took lots of pictures, my feet were killing me here because we were walking on the rocky road, which is harder on my feet than the spongy turf we had been hiking on the past couple of days. The hike took about an hour and a half and while we were walking a cute little girl ran down her driveway to say hello to all the tourists. I asked her if I could take her picture and she said ok with her Irish brogue.......very cute.

When we got to the center of our hike, we had the option to go up to the lighthouse, which would add another hour and half to the hike and though my feet were blistered, I went uphill to see the lighthouse. The view was spectacular, it always is, and we sat up there on the ground to take it in.

We stopped to see a small church, which is said to be the burial ground for Grace OMalle the pirate queen of Connemara (I am told a really great book to read by the way) and inside the church, the ceiling was painted with fresco figures which Jerry explained in detail. It was very beautiful and we spent about half an hour listening to stories and looking at the artwork. If you look carefully, you will also notice that the two narrow windows in the church are shaped like a flickering candle at the top, really cool!

After the Island walk finished, we got back on the ferry and went to the mainland accross to catch our bus and three hour ride back to Abbeyglen castle were we stayed for the night (this was not included in the package but most of stayed on because we didn't want to say goodbye yet. The dutchman sang his song again(he had made a song for Jerry and sung it on the second night at Inish Turk) and it was quite good. I have it recorded, but cant upload it right now. I was put in a beautiful room with a huge tub, which I fully used before supper. The picture of the castle is the Abbeyglen, very pretty scenery.

The evening went well, we all said our goodbyes and then I turned in at around eleven thirty, so tired I dropped into bed and fell asleep quickly.

Inish Bofin, Inish Turk

So we walked around Inish Bofin on Wednesday. It was up high mountains, sides of cliffs and all the while sidestepping the endless mounds of sheep poop. I have shown you an example of that in the photo above. It is like the edge of the world on the Island, you can see green for miles and the air smells so nice and clean. The remains of old stone walls used for defense are visible in many spots and our fearless guide Jerry from Derry is very knowlegable about the history of these islands.

The meals we ate in the local B&B's were so fresh and tasty, nothing needed salt or pepper because the natrual flavors of fresh fish and meat were enough to make the food savory.

Jerry is not only our guide, he is also our waiter sometimes. His attitude is always positive and I could listen to his history lessons for hours. He made the trip interesting and made the history come to life. We could all tell that he enjoyed his job. The two ladie I am with are Claudia and Phil. They were kindred spirits for sure. The people on the trip were all so nice and interesting, it was a good group.

As I write this, I am quite tired and have been sick for almost a day so excuse my lack of humor or enthusiasm. It is certainly not because I didn't enjoy myself. I will really miss the experience but feel honored that I was able to participate in such an historical and beatiful walk on Inish Bofin.

You see the sheep in the road, this was our traffic jam when I was walking the lost Auzzie sr. back to our bed and breakfast. The sheep clearly were stressed about meeting up with people and they turned on their heels and headed back to where they came from.

Ok, some of the photos are from Inish Turk, also a very beautiful island. They really sound like Newfies there, nice accent! The group shot is our group, there were twenty of us not including jerry, I know I have made some life long friends on this trip for sure.