En un momento yo duermo en un hosteria. Es moy comodo! La hosteria tiene wifi. Yo apprecio wifi porque necesito wifi para mi clases.
This day was insane! We woke up and went downstairs to grab a bite to eat. As we ate I got to meet Mrs. Jossie and Brendon. I loved talking to them! They were so nice! Brendon took us in his car up to see the hill that Mr. Anderson was born on. He took us right up to their house and showed us all around the countryside. He told us that the hedges used to be in great shape, and that in the past they had a committee of people who would trim them. Now they're left to the farmers, and they never do it. He also told us about the accident he'd been in where his right socket got completely shattered (he was chopping down trees and one got him). He also showed me their puppy labs. Such cute doggies!!!!
He took us back to the b&b and shortly after we'd gotten out of the car Ahmee asked him if there were any ooold cemeteries around where she could look for Andersons or Bells or Beales. Of course, he hopped right back into the car and drove us to three graveyards to search for our ancestors names. We didn't find any. The whole time we enjoyed talking to him though and we teased him about how he was just trying to get out of painting and doing wallpaper.
Once we got back to the b&b he recommended we go see the local historian and that he might be able to help us. Seamus McClouskey (sp?) was an older gentleman who was very accustomed to people just showing up at his doorstep asking if he knew more about their ancestors. Since Ahmee already knew tons about the Andersons and Bells, the conversation that ensued was more about where they resided. He wasn't sure at the time, but he and Ahmee definitely loved trading history back and forth. I enjoyed sitting there, listening to the old family stories that came from Ahmee, and the old Irish history that came from Seamus. Someone interesting he told us about was Sir John Leslie, the 96 year old Knight who lived in the castle in Glaslough. The really interesting thing about this man was that he, to this day, loves to go to the disco, and they often call him by Disco John. He sounded like such a lovely character! It's a shame he was in Italy when we were there, he would've been incredible to meet. Seamus was a very interesting man as well. He reminded me of Mr. Owens in that they both get so into what they're talking about that they'll forget what they'd set out to inform people on.
We left then, but we heard back from Seamus after Ahmee and I got back from horseback riding. To sum the ride up, I enjoyed going slow and enjoyed the lovely view of the trees, the lake, and the grasses, my horse loved going slow, we got far behind, I hadn't ridden in forever so I didn't give him a hard enough kick, and... the horse didn't go any faster. Before we headed out to dinner we went and checked in on Seamus who was so excited when we came in. He asked Ahmee a couple questions about James Anderson and then he informed us that he had been one of the leaders of a society called the United Irishman Society, men who worked to make Ireland a separate country from England, that he had been on the most wanted list, and that if he hadn't escaped he'd have been hanged next to the very b&b we were staying in! Gives you goosebumps? It did for me. How lucky do we have to be to have walked right to the right door? The odds of it happening are tiny!
Seamus also told us that we were all three members of the county and he presented us with our certificates. He also told Ahmee that he wrote a small history section for the weekly newspaper and that he planned on including her story in there.
Our heads were quite large after having left his house!
Friday, August 29, 2008
08/26/08 Glaslough, Ireland (2 miles from Northern Ireland)
Los dias en Europe es moy diferente los dias en America. Yo nunca duermo tarde en America. En Europe es normal para nosotros duermemos tarde. Nosotros viajamos muchas en Europe. Nosotros cominamos muchos sitios.
The next morning we got up, ate breakfast, put our stuff in the car, and went for a walk to the Botanical Gardens in Dublin. The directions we got from the desk were incomplete and we ended up walking several extra miles. Basically a trip that would've taken us 15 minutes ended up taking an hour. We were told initially to make a right out of the hotel, walk down to the junction, make a right at the church, walk a ways, make a left and keep to the left in the same area we'd been in the night before the Botanical Gardens are on the left a couple miles down the way that way. Of course, they didn't tell us about the right fork we were supposed to take. After we'd gone at least three miles down that way we decided we should ask someone where the gardens were. The people we asked generously offered to lead the way to the fork we needed. So we followed them and talked to them as we walked back the way we came. Something I must mention now is that all of the people we've asked help from while we've been here in Ireland have gone out of their way to help us out and point us in the right direction. I know this might sound like a tour guide, but the Irish people are so friendly and obliging!
Once we'd made it to the gardens we took a break to use the restroom and rest our legs then we headed to the sections we wanted to see of the gardens. We made sure to see the annual section where it was in full bloom and completely stunning; the native plants section-which didn't have the name of a particular plant I've been seeing along the road, I think I'll call it the "Irish Ditchlilly"; the herb garden, which turned out to be more of a perennial garden than anything else (crocsomias are very popular); the grass garden, where I saw the little blue hedgehog spikes that we have in our garden; the woodland garden, which was a collection of strange looking plants that did well in the shade (I loved them); the Chinese garden, didn't have much in it but what was there was lovely and varied; and the rose garden, where Poppy made a list of 7 roses they needed to get as kids raised around the outer sidewalk. As we walked through I realized that a lot of the time I was the one who pointed out the unusual, and that I normally loved those things more than the average everyday plants. I won't forget what these plants looked like, but I know that I've already forgotten their names. It's so difficult to remember the Latin names of these plants! Now that I look back on it I wish I'd taken notes of the plants I really liked.
After visiting the Botanical Gardens we walked back to the car and started to head towards Glaslough. I worked hard to try and get as much done as I could while I was in the car, even though I got slightly carsick from it. Whenever my work was interrupted I was a little grumpy but I held my tongue. This was a really good thing because Ahmee had been looking for the tourist information center in Monaghan (sp?) and was having no luck finding it. We got out of the car and went into a shopping mall to ask someone where it was. While in the mall I looked around at the people my age. A lot of them were just hanging out on the benches, watching people pass by and making their own comments amongst themselves. This mall, like so many others, was the hangout place of people my age. Being the geek that I am, I just wanted to find the information center so I could get back to the car and finish working on my homework (chp. 8 AP US History study guide). We found a map that showed us that the tourist information center was on the outskirts of town. We got back in the car and headed out, I didn't even bother getting out my homework again because I knew I'd be going in with them. The tourist information center was in the local exercise building. This building had tennis courts outside and pools inside. Of course, the tourist information office was closed so Ahmee went up to the lady at the main desk and asked her two things: where we could possibly stay in Glaslough, and why the tourist information office was located here. Ahmee was not happy, she was very close to getting very angry with people. Since I'd missed most of the search I don't fully understand why, and I don't know how long they were looking while I was working. At any rate the woman told us she knew of one place we could stay in Glaslough and that that was 200 euros a night per person. Ahmee didn't want to do that and was talking to Poppy about moving on past Glaslough or finding a place to stay there in Monoghan whenever I piped in saying, "You know... it's not really that lady's job to tell people places they could possibly stay. Most likely that place is the most famous and thus is the only one people around here talk about. There might be other places to stay there." They decided to check Glaslough out, and I decided I was going to go back to work.
I barely even noticed when they told me they'd be back in 15 minutes that they were just going to check out the one and only b&b in Glaslough. As I got closer and closer to being done with my work I started to wonder what they were up to, because I knew that they had been in there for much longer than 15 minutes. I didn't worry too much about it though, because I knew that if they had stayed in there that long that we definitely had a place to stay for the night. Whenever I got down to the final few questions on my study guide I decided I should go in and check on them.
Shortly after we all got together again we decided we'd head down to the Castle to eat dinner. This castle has been renovated and turned into a hotel by the locally famous Sammy Leslie. This was the hotel that the lady had proposed we go to. Every time we go in to fancy places like this I remember The Chateau in Canada on Lake Louise. So fancy, fine, and expensive! The food was delicious of course, even though we were eating in the bar. We enjoyed the atmosphere and our food and talked about the b&b keepers. They had talked for ages and whenever they heard that Ahmee's great great grandfather James Anderson was born on Coolcollid Hill Mrs. Josie freaked. She told Ahmee and Poppy that that was the hill that they lived on. We all hoped that we'd get to see the hill that our ancestor was born on.
Before we headed out I decided I needed to use the bathroom. After every meal I always end up having to use the bathroom simply because I tend to drink a whole lot. I hope that they don't think I'm anorexic. I wouldn't be surprised if they did. Our family has a history of having women who are very harsh on themselves if they feel they aren't thin enough or pretty enough. At any rate, on my way back from the restrooms I missed and step and stumbled. As I straightened up I saw a fireplace with a real log fire burning in it. I took a few minutes to warm myself by it because I love real fires (not the gas powered things), I like the smell, I like the warmth, and I like the look of the flames. I didn't stick around the fire too long though because Ahmee and Poppy wanted to head out.
We walked back up to the village and started to walk towards the information center. We found out that the only information about the town was enclosed in a case on the corner. While Ahmee read that Poppy and I looked around and realized that there weren't any people out on the streets at all. Poppy said he felt like he'd been dropped into the Twilight Zone. I said I felt like I'd been dropped into Duloc with Shrek and Donkey. Poppy laughed at me. Of course, the feeling that I was in Duloc quickly changed as I saw the smoke coming out of the chimneys, the moss growing on the roofs, the smallest bit of grass on the sidewalk- Duloc had nothing out of place and it was a strange place to be in. The town of Glaslough was slightly untidy, but it was a nice untidy, at least you knew the town was lived in.
That night I stayed up late writing. Poppy heard me talk in my sleep a lot that night, he told me I did not sound happy at all.
The next morning we got up, ate breakfast, put our stuff in the car, and went for a walk to the Botanical Gardens in Dublin. The directions we got from the desk were incomplete and we ended up walking several extra miles. Basically a trip that would've taken us 15 minutes ended up taking an hour. We were told initially to make a right out of the hotel, walk down to the junction, make a right at the church, walk a ways, make a left and keep to the left in the same area we'd been in the night before the Botanical Gardens are on the left a couple miles down the way that way. Of course, they didn't tell us about the right fork we were supposed to take. After we'd gone at least three miles down that way we decided we should ask someone where the gardens were. The people we asked generously offered to lead the way to the fork we needed. So we followed them and talked to them as we walked back the way we came. Something I must mention now is that all of the people we've asked help from while we've been here in Ireland have gone out of their way to help us out and point us in the right direction. I know this might sound like a tour guide, but the Irish people are so friendly and obliging!
Once we'd made it to the gardens we took a break to use the restroom and rest our legs then we headed to the sections we wanted to see of the gardens. We made sure to see the annual section where it was in full bloom and completely stunning; the native plants section-which didn't have the name of a particular plant I've been seeing along the road, I think I'll call it the "Irish Ditchlilly"; the herb garden, which turned out to be more of a perennial garden than anything else (crocsomias are very popular); the grass garden, where I saw the little blue hedgehog spikes that we have in our garden; the woodland garden, which was a collection of strange looking plants that did well in the shade (I loved them); the Chinese garden, didn't have much in it but what was there was lovely and varied; and the rose garden, where Poppy made a list of 7 roses they needed to get as kids raised around the outer sidewalk. As we walked through I realized that a lot of the time I was the one who pointed out the unusual, and that I normally loved those things more than the average everyday plants. I won't forget what these plants looked like, but I know that I've already forgotten their names. It's so difficult to remember the Latin names of these plants! Now that I look back on it I wish I'd taken notes of the plants I really liked.
After visiting the Botanical Gardens we walked back to the car and started to head towards Glaslough. I worked hard to try and get as much done as I could while I was in the car, even though I got slightly carsick from it. Whenever my work was interrupted I was a little grumpy but I held my tongue. This was a really good thing because Ahmee had been looking for the tourist information center in Monaghan (sp?) and was having no luck finding it. We got out of the car and went into a shopping mall to ask someone where it was. While in the mall I looked around at the people my age. A lot of them were just hanging out on the benches, watching people pass by and making their own comments amongst themselves. This mall, like so many others, was the hangout place of people my age. Being the geek that I am, I just wanted to find the information center so I could get back to the car and finish working on my homework (chp. 8 AP US History study guide). We found a map that showed us that the tourist information center was on the outskirts of town. We got back in the car and headed out, I didn't even bother getting out my homework again because I knew I'd be going in with them. The tourist information center was in the local exercise building. This building had tennis courts outside and pools inside. Of course, the tourist information office was closed so Ahmee went up to the lady at the main desk and asked her two things: where we could possibly stay in Glaslough, and why the tourist information office was located here. Ahmee was not happy, she was very close to getting very angry with people. Since I'd missed most of the search I don't fully understand why, and I don't know how long they were looking while I was working. At any rate the woman told us she knew of one place we could stay in Glaslough and that that was 200 euros a night per person. Ahmee didn't want to do that and was talking to Poppy about moving on past Glaslough or finding a place to stay there in Monoghan whenever I piped in saying, "You know... it's not really that lady's job to tell people places they could possibly stay. Most likely that place is the most famous and thus is the only one people around here talk about. There might be other places to stay there." They decided to check Glaslough out, and I decided I was going to go back to work.
I barely even noticed when they told me they'd be back in 15 minutes that they were just going to check out the one and only b&b in Glaslough. As I got closer and closer to being done with my work I started to wonder what they were up to, because I knew that they had been in there for much longer than 15 minutes. I didn't worry too much about it though, because I knew that if they had stayed in there that long that we definitely had a place to stay for the night. Whenever I got down to the final few questions on my study guide I decided I should go in and check on them.
Shortly after we all got together again we decided we'd head down to the Castle to eat dinner. This castle has been renovated and turned into a hotel by the locally famous Sammy Leslie. This was the hotel that the lady had proposed we go to. Every time we go in to fancy places like this I remember The Chateau in Canada on Lake Louise. So fancy, fine, and expensive! The food was delicious of course, even though we were eating in the bar. We enjoyed the atmosphere and our food and talked about the b&b keepers. They had talked for ages and whenever they heard that Ahmee's great great grandfather James Anderson was born on Coolcollid Hill Mrs. Josie freaked. She told Ahmee and Poppy that that was the hill that they lived on. We all hoped that we'd get to see the hill that our ancestor was born on.
Before we headed out I decided I needed to use the bathroom. After every meal I always end up having to use the bathroom simply because I tend to drink a whole lot. I hope that they don't think I'm anorexic. I wouldn't be surprised if they did. Our family has a history of having women who are very harsh on themselves if they feel they aren't thin enough or pretty enough. At any rate, on my way back from the restrooms I missed and step and stumbled. As I straightened up I saw a fireplace with a real log fire burning in it. I took a few minutes to warm myself by it because I love real fires (not the gas powered things), I like the smell, I like the warmth, and I like the look of the flames. I didn't stick around the fire too long though because Ahmee and Poppy wanted to head out.
We walked back up to the village and started to walk towards the information center. We found out that the only information about the town was enclosed in a case on the corner. While Ahmee read that Poppy and I looked around and realized that there weren't any people out on the streets at all. Poppy said he felt like he'd been dropped into the Twilight Zone. I said I felt like I'd been dropped into Duloc with Shrek and Donkey. Poppy laughed at me. Of course, the feeling that I was in Duloc quickly changed as I saw the smoke coming out of the chimneys, the moss growing on the roofs, the smallest bit of grass on the sidewalk- Duloc had nothing out of place and it was a strange place to be in. The town of Glaslough was slightly untidy, but it was a nice untidy, at least you knew the town was lived in.
That night I stayed up late writing. Poppy heard me talk in my sleep a lot that night, he told me I did not sound happy at all.
08/25/08 Dublin, Ireland
Yo estudio para mi clases. Tengo Historica de US (AP) y Espanol 3. Tengo otros clases, pero me gusto historica y espanol. Me gusta historica y espanol porque los clases es deficil aveces. Para mi, escribo espanol es moy deficil. Necesito pratica.
This was an extremely busy day for us. Basically, we went on a tour of Dublin via a double decker bus. This bus system was nice because if we wanted to check out one of the stops then we could get off the bus and explore, another bus came along every ten minutes. We got off the bus 3 times. We got off to see the Book of Kells at Trinity College, to see St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and to check out the Kilmainham Gaol (old jail of Dublin). We were lucky we didn't stop anywhere else because the tours ended sooner than we expected and we ended up having to walk back to the main street to catch a different bus to go up to the hotel. Back to the book of Kells though. This was a religious book, a bible that had been made by monks in Dublin. The extreme detail that went into this book was what was extraordinary. The first couple pages had soooo many different illustrations and it was so colorful! The many different materials they had for this book were amazing. I think it shows how well the trade worked in Dublin because I think that many of the materials had to be imported. After we got done reading the information that came with the book of Kells, how it was made, how long it took, what different styles were used in it, why certain illustrations were shown so often, etc.. Personally I thought it was interesting that the snake shedding its skin was symbolic for the resurrection of Christ. Later on in the day we ran into another symbolic meaning for the snake, this meaning is better known. Many people believe that the snake is a symbol of the devil (watch Passion of the Christ and you'll see what I mean).
After we saw the Book of Kells we went upstairs to the long gallery. This is a famous library at Trinity and it's often photographed. I thought that they rows and rows of books was absolutely wonderful. All of the books were old, so a slightly musty smell hung in the air throughout the library. Something that surprised me while we were in there was that people were not allowed to read the books, they were fenced off. I suppose this shouldn't have surprised me. There are so many people who come to Trinity College to look at the book of Kells, they don't want people waiting too long to see it. If a whole lot of people were stuck in the library for hours at a time looking at some of those magnificent books then that would hold up the line and people would get very testy inside and outside the library. While we were in the library I began to look back on how I'd read every sign in the exhibit (except for the first three). While looking back I realized that I had read those signs faster than I'd ever read anything else (and still understood it and got a good idea of what it was about). It's really exciting! I think there were a couple reasons for why my reading was like that: the first is that here people talk much faster-Ahmee has said that she feels like she has to gear up her brain to understand them (so far I have only had issues understanding one woman), and the second is that I think that with all the reading I've been doing for AP US History and otherwise I've had to learn how to read faster and better- I hope it sticks.
Once we got out of the library and the gift-shop we went around the lawn to another building to look for restrooms. I was in a huge hurry on my way in because I desperately had to go. I didn't pay much attention to the building or the people in it as I scurried towards the toilet sign. Once I came out though I looked around and saw that the building definitely needed some work. There was a lot of garbage on the floor, it was very dark and gray in there, and I believe that the paint had places that were scratched away. In short, it didn't look like Queen Elizabeth the 1st was the founder of the school, it was far too torn up to have been founded by her. Honestly, I'm used to sections of a college looking like that, being somewhat messed up. What's important in college is the quality of the teaching. You go to school to learn right? Granted college is where a lot of people break away from their parents and have a brilliant time doing things they didn't when they were back home with mom and dad, but college was made to help it's students become more educated so that they might do better in a given career. Whenever Ahmee started talking about how terrible that building was I said these things. I think that all colleges have at least one older, less taken care of building, and I think that I'd be more concerned about the education than the beauty of the buildings. However it was somewhat startling to see the college that Queen Elizabeth the 1st founded be like that. She founded the school to give Protestant Dubliners a better education, she said the purpose of the school was to educate and civilize the filth (pretty much that-exactly that harsh). Most Irishmen are Catholic though and the Catholics weren't allowed an education, so for a long time Trinity College wasn't open to educate and civilize most of the filth that resided in Dublin.
Right next to Trinity College was the bus stop, instead of getting on this immediately we went looking for an atm and a nice bar to have lunch in. We found both. The bar we ate at was very large, it had a sandwich section, a section reserved for warm meals, and the bar. The mushroom soup that I got was killer and Ahmee and Poppy's meals were pretty much the same. Something that really stuck out at this bar was the fact that there were a whole lot of Americans there. After checking out someone's nametag I realized that they were all together at a resort. Ahmee, Poppy, and I have had conversations before with the heads of the b&b's here about how many Americans nowadays went on buses or spent their entire time in Europe in a five star hotel or resort. Both of these things are not good to do! You don't get to really experience a place by looking at it for half an hour, buying a few trinkets, and then moving on! You most definitely don't get any idea what a country is like (and the people and customs involved as well) by staying cooped up in a hotel-no matter how sweet the hotel is. I think that the way we're going about it, while conservative, is much better than those two. I honestly think that the more time you spend in an area the more you get to really know it. I think that backpacking is a great way to go about traveling.
Anyway! Back to St. Patrick’s Cathedral! After we got done eating we headed back to the bus and got off at St. Patrick’s. At first the three of us slowly made our way around, checking out the tombstones, statues, and plaques that were in along the walls. After about fifteen minutes a man's voice came booming, "If anyone would like a guided tour of St. Patrick’s Cathedral we're about to start!" The man who showed us around St. Patrick’s cathedral gave us quite a lot of history of the place. For instance, St. Patrick’s Cathedral was built by the Normans near the site of the wooden church St. Patrick used. St. Patrick used a well that was close by to baptize the people and convert them to Christianity (Catholic). Mr. Guinness spent large amounts of his own fortune fixing St. Patrick’s Cathedral and that Mr. Guinness's daughter was a huge humanitarian who helped the poor the best she could. She had a stained glass window dedicated to her in St. Patrick’s cathedral; funnily enough one of the pictures has her helping a child drink from a very large chalice (Guinness providing the drink-har har). For a long time St. Patrick’s Cathedral was a part of the church of England. That was a time of grandeur for St. Patrick’s, which had several knights dedicated to it. Now it is not a part of the church of Ireland and that church is right up the road from St. Patrick’s. St. Patrick’s cathedral when it was Catholic had many different statues in it, more tombstones, and it had the ceiling painted blue with yellow stars. The church was built in a cross form and often different sections f the church were cut off. Behind the altar there's another church entirely that's called The Lady's Church (this along with the stained-glass window was dedicated to the younger Mrs. Guinness). The two "arms" of the church were cut off at one point in time as well by a wall. The left hand wing was a separate church, and the right hand wing was a church, a school, and a meeting place for politicians (these were different stages of course).
After the cathedral we got on to the bus and were delighted to discover that the bus driver had a fun sense of humor. For instance, as we pulled away from St. Patrick’s he said over the intercom, "And to your left is the cemetery. Everyone loves cemeteries! I know ya do! I'll bet that you all didn't know that the inventor of the crossword puzzle comes from Ireland and that he's buried over there! Yeah! He's buried over 5 and up 3." This man had a good time telling us about the Guinnesses and their personal life. He told us that Mr. Guinness married a very rich young woman, that that woman’s money was what built the factories, and that they had over 20 children together, and that together they started the phrase that every bottle of Guinness has a baby.
Not soon after we passed the Guinness factory we came to the Dublin Prison. This prison is not in use today but its got wonderful tours that tell a lot about Irish history. I think many jails probably do end up telling the history of the nation. In the tour we found out that Ireland did not get their independence from England until 1921-1922, but that there had been several attempts at it over the years. Only two stick in my brain though. The first was led by a silly fellow who was 25. The general idea was that his was poorly planned and I think he was silly because after he got away he came back to Dublin a month later and got captured. The second was a much more well known try. People got together and protested the English, stated they should be a country unto themselves, and they started pro-revolutionary propaganda. Fighting ensued between them and British troups. After two days though they surrendered, simply because so many civilians had died. The people who had volunteered for this were rounded up and sent to the jail. Most of the Irish people didn't like this. They spat on the people as they walked into the jail. Later, their view changed. It changed whenever all of the volunteers were executed. Mostly it was the heartbreaking stories that made the Irish people want to take action against the British and work to develop their own country. One story told of how the jailors allowed a prisoner to get married to his fiancé, a couple hours later he was taken out with the rest of the political prisoners, lined up, and shot. The man had just gotten married!
The end of the Irish revolutionary war was a treaty that Britain signed and several Irish representatives agreed on. In this treaty all of the counties of Ireland were free except for 6 and those 6 would remain with Britain. Ireland would have their own separate country. The treaty was accepted and this caused a civil war. Immediately following the revolutionary war, the Irish had a civil war were it was literally "brother against brother" in many cases. On one side people believed that the treaty was a generous offer and that they'd be better off taking it, on the other side people felt that they hadn't accomplished what the people in prison had died to achieve: a free Ireland - there were still 6 counties to the north that were under British rule. Obviously the first was the one that won, because to this day we have an Ireland and a Northern Ireland.
The jail was often very crowded. Dublin was the main center where all of the prisoners who were to be transported to Australia were kept till they had enough for the boats. Later whenever the great famine occurred many people were in the jail because they felt it was better to be in jail and get a little food than be out and have none at all. The jail also took it's crimes very seriously. People could be sent to jail for: stealing (shoes, coats, apples, etc.), for using fowl language while drunk, and for being homeless. There's a lot more. It did not take much to get you thrown in jail. There were a lot of kids in jail too. The youngest for a girl was 7, she stole a lady's cloak and got sentenced to five months. The youngest for a boy was 5, for stealing apples. Something else I should mention is that there was a parliament member in the jail at one time who conducted government business from his jail cell. There was also a Duchess who later became the first woman to be in the Parliament of Ireland.
After the jail, we rode around on the bus a bit longer. Unfortunately we didn't have the live commentary on this last stretch and we also had the unfortunate luck to have to sit behind "UGLY AMERICANS". Obviously this is not a term used for all Americans. These are the Americans who expect to be pampered, who expect all places to offer the best for them, who expect for everything to entertain them, who are loud and rude about a different culture, and who don't care how turned up their noses are (also are known for eating McDonalds while on vacation in a different country). I was very relieved when they left, because not only did I not have to listen to their complaining, but I also got to take their seat and get out of the rain (we were on the top of a double decker and we were caught in an area where there wasn't a roof).
We discovered shortly after those people left that the tour was over and that we were going to need to go find a different bus to take us back up to the hotel. This took us about 15 minutes.
Once we got back we grabbed some money and we were on our way. I wanted to get wireless internet and grab a phone card while we were out, but I decided I should wait until after we ate since we were all very hungry. After we ate I went into an internet cafe and asked the cashier if they had wireless internet. He told me no but that McDonalds had some. At first I thought he was pulling my leg, but it turned out he was telling the truth. I was able to hook up at McDonalds for the price of one coffee. After I got stuff done on the computer I went back to the cashier in the internet cafe and asked where I could find a phone card (so I could call Iain). He told me that there was a place just around the corner that should have it, again, he was right. I bought a card for 7 euros.
Of course, I naturally called Iain once we got back to the hotel. It was a little late for Iain because he had been busy working, but I don't think he cared too much. We both had a wonderful time talking that night, even if it was for only 30 minutes. We both had missed being able to talk to each other. During this conversation I had a thought denied, I had thought that after we started waiting to talk until after he was done working that I was no longer the main person he talked to. He told me I still was the person he talked to most. It made me very happy to talk to him; I've missed our crazy conversations. He asked if I'd had to fight off the Irishmen, how things were getting along between Ahmee, Poppy, and me, he asked how schoolwork was going, he and I talked about "THE UGLY AMERICAN", he told me about things there-how Scot was moving out to live with his girlfriend and that Iain was thinking of going back to school or get a second job so he wouldn't have to depend on Scot getting stuff done, and we were just goofy. I can't wait to see him in Scotland.
This was an extremely busy day for us. Basically, we went on a tour of Dublin via a double decker bus. This bus system was nice because if we wanted to check out one of the stops then we could get off the bus and explore, another bus came along every ten minutes. We got off the bus 3 times. We got off to see the Book of Kells at Trinity College, to see St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and to check out the Kilmainham Gaol (old jail of Dublin). We were lucky we didn't stop anywhere else because the tours ended sooner than we expected and we ended up having to walk back to the main street to catch a different bus to go up to the hotel. Back to the book of Kells though. This was a religious book, a bible that had been made by monks in Dublin. The extreme detail that went into this book was what was extraordinary. The first couple pages had soooo many different illustrations and it was so colorful! The many different materials they had for this book were amazing. I think it shows how well the trade worked in Dublin because I think that many of the materials had to be imported. After we got done reading the information that came with the book of Kells, how it was made, how long it took, what different styles were used in it, why certain illustrations were shown so often, etc.. Personally I thought it was interesting that the snake shedding its skin was symbolic for the resurrection of Christ. Later on in the day we ran into another symbolic meaning for the snake, this meaning is better known. Many people believe that the snake is a symbol of the devil (watch Passion of the Christ and you'll see what I mean).
After we saw the Book of Kells we went upstairs to the long gallery. This is a famous library at Trinity and it's often photographed. I thought that they rows and rows of books was absolutely wonderful. All of the books were old, so a slightly musty smell hung in the air throughout the library. Something that surprised me while we were in there was that people were not allowed to read the books, they were fenced off. I suppose this shouldn't have surprised me. There are so many people who come to Trinity College to look at the book of Kells, they don't want people waiting too long to see it. If a whole lot of people were stuck in the library for hours at a time looking at some of those magnificent books then that would hold up the line and people would get very testy inside and outside the library. While we were in the library I began to look back on how I'd read every sign in the exhibit (except for the first three). While looking back I realized that I had read those signs faster than I'd ever read anything else (and still understood it and got a good idea of what it was about). It's really exciting! I think there were a couple reasons for why my reading was like that: the first is that here people talk much faster-Ahmee has said that she feels like she has to gear up her brain to understand them (so far I have only had issues understanding one woman), and the second is that I think that with all the reading I've been doing for AP US History and otherwise I've had to learn how to read faster and better- I hope it sticks.
Once we got out of the library and the gift-shop we went around the lawn to another building to look for restrooms. I was in a huge hurry on my way in because I desperately had to go. I didn't pay much attention to the building or the people in it as I scurried towards the toilet sign. Once I came out though I looked around and saw that the building definitely needed some work. There was a lot of garbage on the floor, it was very dark and gray in there, and I believe that the paint had places that were scratched away. In short, it didn't look like Queen Elizabeth the 1st was the founder of the school, it was far too torn up to have been founded by her. Honestly, I'm used to sections of a college looking like that, being somewhat messed up. What's important in college is the quality of the teaching. You go to school to learn right? Granted college is where a lot of people break away from their parents and have a brilliant time doing things they didn't when they were back home with mom and dad, but college was made to help it's students become more educated so that they might do better in a given career. Whenever Ahmee started talking about how terrible that building was I said these things. I think that all colleges have at least one older, less taken care of building, and I think that I'd be more concerned about the education than the beauty of the buildings. However it was somewhat startling to see the college that Queen Elizabeth the 1st founded be like that. She founded the school to give Protestant Dubliners a better education, she said the purpose of the school was to educate and civilize the filth (pretty much that-exactly that harsh). Most Irishmen are Catholic though and the Catholics weren't allowed an education, so for a long time Trinity College wasn't open to educate and civilize most of the filth that resided in Dublin.
Right next to Trinity College was the bus stop, instead of getting on this immediately we went looking for an atm and a nice bar to have lunch in. We found both. The bar we ate at was very large, it had a sandwich section, a section reserved for warm meals, and the bar. The mushroom soup that I got was killer and Ahmee and Poppy's meals were pretty much the same. Something that really stuck out at this bar was the fact that there were a whole lot of Americans there. After checking out someone's nametag I realized that they were all together at a resort. Ahmee, Poppy, and I have had conversations before with the heads of the b&b's here about how many Americans nowadays went on buses or spent their entire time in Europe in a five star hotel or resort. Both of these things are not good to do! You don't get to really experience a place by looking at it for half an hour, buying a few trinkets, and then moving on! You most definitely don't get any idea what a country is like (and the people and customs involved as well) by staying cooped up in a hotel-no matter how sweet the hotel is. I think that the way we're going about it, while conservative, is much better than those two. I honestly think that the more time you spend in an area the more you get to really know it. I think that backpacking is a great way to go about traveling.
Anyway! Back to St. Patrick’s Cathedral! After we got done eating we headed back to the bus and got off at St. Patrick’s. At first the three of us slowly made our way around, checking out the tombstones, statues, and plaques that were in along the walls. After about fifteen minutes a man's voice came booming, "If anyone would like a guided tour of St. Patrick’s Cathedral we're about to start!" The man who showed us around St. Patrick’s cathedral gave us quite a lot of history of the place. For instance, St. Patrick’s Cathedral was built by the Normans near the site of the wooden church St. Patrick used. St. Patrick used a well that was close by to baptize the people and convert them to Christianity (Catholic). Mr. Guinness spent large amounts of his own fortune fixing St. Patrick’s Cathedral and that Mr. Guinness's daughter was a huge humanitarian who helped the poor the best she could. She had a stained glass window dedicated to her in St. Patrick’s cathedral; funnily enough one of the pictures has her helping a child drink from a very large chalice (Guinness providing the drink-har har). For a long time St. Patrick’s Cathedral was a part of the church of England. That was a time of grandeur for St. Patrick’s, which had several knights dedicated to it. Now it is not a part of the church of Ireland and that church is right up the road from St. Patrick’s. St. Patrick’s cathedral when it was Catholic had many different statues in it, more tombstones, and it had the ceiling painted blue with yellow stars. The church was built in a cross form and often different sections f the church were cut off. Behind the altar there's another church entirely that's called The Lady's Church (this along with the stained-glass window was dedicated to the younger Mrs. Guinness). The two "arms" of the church were cut off at one point in time as well by a wall. The left hand wing was a separate church, and the right hand wing was a church, a school, and a meeting place for politicians (these were different stages of course).
After the cathedral we got on to the bus and were delighted to discover that the bus driver had a fun sense of humor. For instance, as we pulled away from St. Patrick’s he said over the intercom, "And to your left is the cemetery. Everyone loves cemeteries! I know ya do! I'll bet that you all didn't know that the inventor of the crossword puzzle comes from Ireland and that he's buried over there! Yeah! He's buried over 5 and up 3." This man had a good time telling us about the Guinnesses and their personal life. He told us that Mr. Guinness married a very rich young woman, that that woman’s money was what built the factories, and that they had over 20 children together, and that together they started the phrase that every bottle of Guinness has a baby.
Not soon after we passed the Guinness factory we came to the Dublin Prison. This prison is not in use today but its got wonderful tours that tell a lot about Irish history. I think many jails probably do end up telling the history of the nation. In the tour we found out that Ireland did not get their independence from England until 1921-1922, but that there had been several attempts at it over the years. Only two stick in my brain though. The first was led by a silly fellow who was 25. The general idea was that his was poorly planned and I think he was silly because after he got away he came back to Dublin a month later and got captured. The second was a much more well known try. People got together and protested the English, stated they should be a country unto themselves, and they started pro-revolutionary propaganda. Fighting ensued between them and British troups. After two days though they surrendered, simply because so many civilians had died. The people who had volunteered for this were rounded up and sent to the jail. Most of the Irish people didn't like this. They spat on the people as they walked into the jail. Later, their view changed. It changed whenever all of the volunteers were executed. Mostly it was the heartbreaking stories that made the Irish people want to take action against the British and work to develop their own country. One story told of how the jailors allowed a prisoner to get married to his fiancé, a couple hours later he was taken out with the rest of the political prisoners, lined up, and shot. The man had just gotten married!
The end of the Irish revolutionary war was a treaty that Britain signed and several Irish representatives agreed on. In this treaty all of the counties of Ireland were free except for 6 and those 6 would remain with Britain. Ireland would have their own separate country. The treaty was accepted and this caused a civil war. Immediately following the revolutionary war, the Irish had a civil war were it was literally "brother against brother" in many cases. On one side people believed that the treaty was a generous offer and that they'd be better off taking it, on the other side people felt that they hadn't accomplished what the people in prison had died to achieve: a free Ireland - there were still 6 counties to the north that were under British rule. Obviously the first was the one that won, because to this day we have an Ireland and a Northern Ireland.
The jail was often very crowded. Dublin was the main center where all of the prisoners who were to be transported to Australia were kept till they had enough for the boats. Later whenever the great famine occurred many people were in the jail because they felt it was better to be in jail and get a little food than be out and have none at all. The jail also took it's crimes very seriously. People could be sent to jail for: stealing (shoes, coats, apples, etc.), for using fowl language while drunk, and for being homeless. There's a lot more. It did not take much to get you thrown in jail. There were a lot of kids in jail too. The youngest for a girl was 7, she stole a lady's cloak and got sentenced to five months. The youngest for a boy was 5, for stealing apples. Something else I should mention is that there was a parliament member in the jail at one time who conducted government business from his jail cell. There was also a Duchess who later became the first woman to be in the Parliament of Ireland.
After the jail, we rode around on the bus a bit longer. Unfortunately we didn't have the live commentary on this last stretch and we also had the unfortunate luck to have to sit behind "UGLY AMERICANS". Obviously this is not a term used for all Americans. These are the Americans who expect to be pampered, who expect all places to offer the best for them, who expect for everything to entertain them, who are loud and rude about a different culture, and who don't care how turned up their noses are (also are known for eating McDonalds while on vacation in a different country). I was very relieved when they left, because not only did I not have to listen to their complaining, but I also got to take their seat and get out of the rain (we were on the top of a double decker and we were caught in an area where there wasn't a roof).
We discovered shortly after those people left that the tour was over and that we were going to need to go find a different bus to take us back up to the hotel. This took us about 15 minutes.
Once we got back we grabbed some money and we were on our way. I wanted to get wireless internet and grab a phone card while we were out, but I decided I should wait until after we ate since we were all very hungry. After we ate I went into an internet cafe and asked the cashier if they had wireless internet. He told me no but that McDonalds had some. At first I thought he was pulling my leg, but it turned out he was telling the truth. I was able to hook up at McDonalds for the price of one coffee. After I got stuff done on the computer I went back to the cashier in the internet cafe and asked where I could find a phone card (so I could call Iain). He told me that there was a place just around the corner that should have it, again, he was right. I bought a card for 7 euros.
Of course, I naturally called Iain once we got back to the hotel. It was a little late for Iain because he had been busy working, but I don't think he cared too much. We both had a wonderful time talking that night, even if it was for only 30 minutes. We both had missed being able to talk to each other. During this conversation I had a thought denied, I had thought that after we started waiting to talk until after he was done working that I was no longer the main person he talked to. He told me I still was the person he talked to most. It made me very happy to talk to him; I've missed our crazy conversations. He asked if I'd had to fight off the Irishmen, how things were getting along between Ahmee, Poppy, and me, he asked how schoolwork was going, he and I talked about "THE UGLY AMERICAN", he told me about things there-how Scot was moving out to live with his girlfriend and that Iain was thinking of going back to school or get a second job so he wouldn't have to depend on Scot getting stuff done, and we were just goofy. I can't wait to see him in Scotland.
08/24/08 Kilkenny to Dublin (been very busy-writing this on the 26th)
Ahmee y Poppy hable ingles despacio. Mas personas en Europe hablen rapidemente. Es moy deficil para mis abuelos comprenden los europeos. Para mi, es facil. Es interesante para mi trater leo y hablo rapidemente. Creo yo leo rapidemente mucho ahora viajo Europe. Me gusto leo mucho ahora.
The next day we woke up, ate a continental breakfast, went on the walking tour, went on a self-guided tour of the castle, went to three cathedrals, went up into a super tall tower, and drove to Dublin. Obviously we spent most of the day in Kilkenny.
When we went on the tour guide we learned a very detailed history about the different sites of Kilkenny and a bit of Irish history as well. Kilkenny was founded on one side of the river; after the Normans invaded the other side of the river had a town. The two towns faced each other, each had their own laws and rules, but each spoke French. They started building their churches and their townhouses with the limestone that was nearby. They also constructed several walls. To get to the black abbey (monks who wore black frequented this church) men would have to pass through a gate. It was ordered that all men had to put up their swords before they entered. Now back in the day this was very insulting to the men, their swords were kind of like the cowboys pistols, and they just couldn't leave them there! Of course fighting often broke out at this gate and it started the Kilkenny Cats limerick. On the outer wall there were a few other gates that people had to pass through to get into the city. The city made a huge profit from these gates because if you wanted to get in you had to pay a fee, that fee would change based on how much cargo you were bringing in (1 pig=2 cents, 2 pigs= cents). After King Henry the 8th started the Protestant faith the Irish didn't change their faith from Catholic (even thought they were a part of Britain). However it wasn't until later that catholics got many of their religious and social rights taken away. When Queen Elizabeth the 1st ruled the Catholics weren't allowed in colleges. In Kilkenny one particularly happy and wellset Catholic family was given a choice. They could either keep their wealth and be protestant, or they could remain Catholic and be sent somewhere else. They responded by packing up and leaving to France where one of the daughters became Queen Marie Antoinette’s lady in waiting (she was beheaded of course). As Britain began gaining more and more land they gained Australia. They needed women to go there because there it was six men to every woman, so the easy fix was to send prisoners over. The prisoners who went into the Kilkenny jail eventually went to Dublin where they waited until enough people were in to send to Australia and then they were shipped away, sometimes for things as “unlawful” as fowl language when drunk.
A few things I must say about the tour. The guide was funny older man who knew tons about Kilkenny and Irish history. After the tour the city of Kilkenny wasn't difficult to navigate around at all. During the tour our tour guide showed us a carving of the first Catholic priest in Kilkenny. I was the first to notice the cat in between the man’s eyebrows, it was so subtle you could barely make it out. Of course the tour guide asked us if we thought the priest looked Irish. All of us said no and a few people ventured guesses as to where he was from, Poppy guessed Africa. I don't even remember where the priest came from, but I do remember that the tour guide started talking about how the Egyptians landed in Ireland. That they had sailed up past Spain and that they landed on the southern part of Ireland. He said that that's where the Irish got many of their instruments (the fiddle, the flute). He also said that the there was a study conducted where they took south Irish genes and compared them to the Egyptian genes, and there are major similarities. Insane isn't it!?!
Ireland has had a great variety of people.
The main thing I learned at the castle was that many British lords left to go back to England and that most of them sold all of the belongings they had at auctions. The lord who inhabited the Kilkenny Castle was one of these lords, and that after his auction he had a good deal of money.
The cathedrals we visited had beautiful stained glass windows. The first one we went to I don't remember much about other than the fact that its main window was knocked out multiple times and that the stone tower they had outside had incredibly steep steps. These steps would've made me nervous even if I hadn't had high heels on! Yes, I walked around Kilkenny, around the Kilkenny castle, and around three churches in heels. I won't be doing it again anytime soon (when I tried them on I had thicker socks on and they provided a lot more comfort which made me think the shoes were wonderfully comfy-nope). I snapped at Ahmee whenever she stopped ahead of me as I was halfway up one staircase. I said, “Ahmee could you please keep moving?!” She asked why and I said, “Because I don't like stopping halfway up a staircase!” I heard Poppy murmur, “You tell her Rachel.” Let's just say that heights make me nervous in many cases and that whenever I'm climbing it isn't too bad.
The other church had a really interesting figurine that they found hidden in the wall. It's a trinity symbol, meaning it had the father the son and the holy spirit included in it. They weren't sure where it came from, but they have conducted a search and so far they haven't found a single thing like it. The preacher who showed us around and gave us a bit of history of the church asked us what we'd already seen in Ireland. We told him the Dingle Peninsula and he cried, “OH! Dingle! It's like you've gone to heaven!” We agreed, it really was that wonderful there.
After all of this walking around we headed back to the car where I read AP US History and ate a leftover brownie that I'd gotten in Waterford. Once we got closer to Dublin I stopped doing homework to help them get to our hotel. This was quite an excursion since most of the roads in Dublin aren't labeled. Another thing that made it interesting was that we were coming in from the south side of the city and the directions our hotel gave us were coming from the airport which was at the north side. Before we got anywhere close to Dublin I suggested we take the bypass that goes up to the north and use the directions the hotel people gave us. As you might've guessed, this is exactly what we didn't do. We went in searching for ages for street signs, finally we pulled over and asked a lovely couple for directions. The man was very nice, but he didn't give very good directions. He went on and on about the things we'd see, not the things we needed to look for and which directions to turn and such. After about an hour of driving around (actually heading in the right direction) we found the right street and our hotel- The Charlymene. We were starving when we first got their so we quickly ran our stuffed bags down to our room and headed out for a good walk that wasn't too long. We ate at a very good restaurant where we were entertained by the pictures on the wall (had a lot of famous people hung up- we enjoyed picking out which ones we knew) and also little clips on the wall. Our favorite to read was: Bushisms. This article showed a ton of stupid things that Bush has said. It was funny and embarrassing. I'll have to see if I can't look it up and post it on this blog, then I could share this document with you all.
Once we got back to the hotel Ahmee and Poppy went downstairs and I went and typed on the internet, talking to Iain mostly on Yahoo and we planned for me to call him the next day (via-email). I've missed being able to talk to him the entire time we've been on this trip. I think it's apparent that I've adored the time we've been spending out here and that I'm doing the best I can to get the most out of it, but I do miss being able to talk to the people I'm able to talk to back home. Funnily enough (Iain lives in Scotland) even though I'm closer to him now I can't talk to him as much. I must say that talking to him for that short period of time helped because that night I had some really good dreams, Ahmee heard me giggle in my sleep more than once.
The next day we woke up, ate a continental breakfast, went on the walking tour, went on a self-guided tour of the castle, went to three cathedrals, went up into a super tall tower, and drove to Dublin. Obviously we spent most of the day in Kilkenny.
When we went on the tour guide we learned a very detailed history about the different sites of Kilkenny and a bit of Irish history as well. Kilkenny was founded on one side of the river; after the Normans invaded the other side of the river had a town. The two towns faced each other, each had their own laws and rules, but each spoke French. They started building their churches and their townhouses with the limestone that was nearby. They also constructed several walls. To get to the black abbey (monks who wore black frequented this church) men would have to pass through a gate. It was ordered that all men had to put up their swords before they entered. Now back in the day this was very insulting to the men, their swords were kind of like the cowboys pistols, and they just couldn't leave them there! Of course fighting often broke out at this gate and it started the Kilkenny Cats limerick. On the outer wall there were a few other gates that people had to pass through to get into the city. The city made a huge profit from these gates because if you wanted to get in you had to pay a fee, that fee would change based on how much cargo you were bringing in (1 pig=2 cents, 2 pigs= cents). After King Henry the 8th started the Protestant faith the Irish didn't change their faith from Catholic (even thought they were a part of Britain). However it wasn't until later that catholics got many of their religious and social rights taken away. When Queen Elizabeth the 1st ruled the Catholics weren't allowed in colleges. In Kilkenny one particularly happy and wellset Catholic family was given a choice. They could either keep their wealth and be protestant, or they could remain Catholic and be sent somewhere else. They responded by packing up and leaving to France where one of the daughters became Queen Marie Antoinette’s lady in waiting (she was beheaded of course). As Britain began gaining more and more land they gained Australia. They needed women to go there because there it was six men to every woman, so the easy fix was to send prisoners over. The prisoners who went into the Kilkenny jail eventually went to Dublin where they waited until enough people were in to send to Australia and then they were shipped away, sometimes for things as “unlawful” as fowl language when drunk.
A few things I must say about the tour. The guide was funny older man who knew tons about Kilkenny and Irish history. After the tour the city of Kilkenny wasn't difficult to navigate around at all. During the tour our tour guide showed us a carving of the first Catholic priest in Kilkenny. I was the first to notice the cat in between the man’s eyebrows, it was so subtle you could barely make it out. Of course the tour guide asked us if we thought the priest looked Irish. All of us said no and a few people ventured guesses as to where he was from, Poppy guessed Africa. I don't even remember where the priest came from, but I do remember that the tour guide started talking about how the Egyptians landed in Ireland. That they had sailed up past Spain and that they landed on the southern part of Ireland. He said that that's where the Irish got many of their instruments (the fiddle, the flute). He also said that the there was a study conducted where they took south Irish genes and compared them to the Egyptian genes, and there are major similarities. Insane isn't it!?!
Ireland has had a great variety of people.
The main thing I learned at the castle was that many British lords left to go back to England and that most of them sold all of the belongings they had at auctions. The lord who inhabited the Kilkenny Castle was one of these lords, and that after his auction he had a good deal of money.
The cathedrals we visited had beautiful stained glass windows. The first one we went to I don't remember much about other than the fact that its main window was knocked out multiple times and that the stone tower they had outside had incredibly steep steps. These steps would've made me nervous even if I hadn't had high heels on! Yes, I walked around Kilkenny, around the Kilkenny castle, and around three churches in heels. I won't be doing it again anytime soon (when I tried them on I had thicker socks on and they provided a lot more comfort which made me think the shoes were wonderfully comfy-nope). I snapped at Ahmee whenever she stopped ahead of me as I was halfway up one staircase. I said, “Ahmee could you please keep moving?!” She asked why and I said, “Because I don't like stopping halfway up a staircase!” I heard Poppy murmur, “You tell her Rachel.” Let's just say that heights make me nervous in many cases and that whenever I'm climbing it isn't too bad.
The other church had a really interesting figurine that they found hidden in the wall. It's a trinity symbol, meaning it had the father the son and the holy spirit included in it. They weren't sure where it came from, but they have conducted a search and so far they haven't found a single thing like it. The preacher who showed us around and gave us a bit of history of the church asked us what we'd already seen in Ireland. We told him the Dingle Peninsula and he cried, “OH! Dingle! It's like you've gone to heaven!” We agreed, it really was that wonderful there.
After all of this walking around we headed back to the car where I read AP US History and ate a leftover brownie that I'd gotten in Waterford. Once we got closer to Dublin I stopped doing homework to help them get to our hotel. This was quite an excursion since most of the roads in Dublin aren't labeled. Another thing that made it interesting was that we were coming in from the south side of the city and the directions our hotel gave us were coming from the airport which was at the north side. Before we got anywhere close to Dublin I suggested we take the bypass that goes up to the north and use the directions the hotel people gave us. As you might've guessed, this is exactly what we didn't do. We went in searching for ages for street signs, finally we pulled over and asked a lovely couple for directions. The man was very nice, but he didn't give very good directions. He went on and on about the things we'd see, not the things we needed to look for and which directions to turn and such. After about an hour of driving around (actually heading in the right direction) we found the right street and our hotel- The Charlymene. We were starving when we first got their so we quickly ran our stuffed bags down to our room and headed out for a good walk that wasn't too long. We ate at a very good restaurant where we were entertained by the pictures on the wall (had a lot of famous people hung up- we enjoyed picking out which ones we knew) and also little clips on the wall. Our favorite to read was: Bushisms. This article showed a ton of stupid things that Bush has said. It was funny and embarrassing. I'll have to see if I can't look it up and post it on this blog, then I could share this document with you all.
Once we got back to the hotel Ahmee and Poppy went downstairs and I went and typed on the internet, talking to Iain mostly on Yahoo and we planned for me to call him the next day (via-email). I've missed being able to talk to him the entire time we've been on this trip. I think it's apparent that I've adored the time we've been spending out here and that I'm doing the best I can to get the most out of it, but I do miss being able to talk to the people I'm able to talk to back home. Funnily enough (Iain lives in Scotland) even though I'm closer to him now I can't talk to him as much. I must say that talking to him for that short period of time helped because that night I had some really good dreams, Ahmee heard me giggle in my sleep more than once.
08/23/08 KilKenny Ireland
Aveces yo explico como usar la computadora. Mi abuelos no usan la computadora. Se gustan tarjetas proque se gustan escribir. Por lo todo, ustedes trabajen moy bien con la computadora. La computadora se gusta mucho mi abuelos, la computadora no se gusta mi. La computadora insiste no trabaje para mi. Es moy deficil, la computadora.
It is now 10:39, back home I wouldn't be tired at all but here I'm exhausted. Today we went to Waterford were we stopped by the Waterford Crystal Factory and got a tour. It was really interesting seeing how it was all made. The time and effort those men put into those was amazing! The minimum amount of training was 4-5 years, and some of them went to school for 7-8 years. Those men had a doctorate in glass!
I can't explain how they made the crystal, but I can explain how they shaped it. They had several large ovens where they'd stick they glass in and turn it so that it was nice and hot (easy to bend), then they'd either put it into the iron mold, or they'd mold it on the table, after that they'd put it into a cooler where it was cooled off incredibly fast. Later the glasses got sent to the cutters where the cutters were given the right “formula” and from this formula they were told how to cut it and what the dimensions would be. They'd cut the glass and then set it in acid to peel away any of the foggy areas.
Then the glasses went through inspection. Many of the men who worked there were payed based on how many pieces they sent out. At inspection 2% of the things they made had to be smashed and sent back (they recycle it). There are some things that the factory makes that takes much more time and skill though. For instance, many sports trophies are made with Waterford Crystal. They make 3 exact replicas of the trophy : 1 to send to the competition, 1 to hold in their library for future reference, and 1 as a “just in case” for the one they sent to the competition. This factory also makes the New Year Ball that drops in New York. I never knew that that ball was made out of Waterford Crystal.
After the tour we walked through the gift shop. I can't say if we got anything, and I can't say why I can't say anything, so I'll just leave it at that.
We had a wonderful lunch in the cafe at the tourist center and then we headed out for Kilkenny. On the road up there it was raining terribly. My windows kept fogging up, and opening them wasn't an option if I didn't want to get wet. I cracked them open when the rain wasn't coming down as hard and this enabled me to see a large part of the time.
Ahmee and Poppy talked about how nasty the weather was and how whenever you're on vacation it should be sunny wherever you go (Poppy said that). Course, I must say that Ahmee said that this was just part of Ireland and we were experiencing the bad weather like all of the people who live here. I bounced in by saying that I liked the rain. I do like the rain. I don't mind walking in it, and I LOVE what it does for the gardens here. I'm sure that the Irishmen don't like it simply because it's here all the time, but I think it adds so much more magic to Ireland. Why do I say magic? I say magic because Momma and I have always liked rainy days, simply because they're the perfect napping days. Rainy days are the days to kick back, relax, listen to the rain fall, dream, and read. Basically, lose yourself in your imagination on rainy days. I know that the people of Ireland can't do it, because it rains far too often to be dreamy that much, but I love having so many days in a row where getting lost in the imagination isn't such a bad thing.
Back to Kilkenny! We came in to Kilkenny looking for a b&b to stay in (it's the first thing we do every time we come in to a new town). Our first try wasn't a success, but then on our second try we struck gold. On the main street there was a small-looking business that Poppy popped in to ask if they had a place for us. They did, but they didn't want to put us there, they were holding quite a few partiers and we wouldn't get any sleep at all is what they said. So they called one of their other b&b's for us and also called to get a man to come and show us the way. Apparently they run 4 b&b's and they also have an antique store. They keep very busy, and they're very kind. If they hadn't sent a man to come show us the way to the b&b we would've never found it! They also insisted on helping us carry our luggage up the three flights of stairs, It was very nice of them and we thanked them profusely. After settling down in our room (btw I love this room! Wonderful colors!) We carried on a short conversation and we also managed to find out good places to go and visit from them. We asked them where a good place to eat would be and the innkeeper (it's far too big to be a b&b) gave me the directions-Ahmee had to ask at the end where the food was again (she'd asked so many questions she had to start all over). They suggested the Kyteler's Inn (sp?), which is a pub not too far from here that's famous for the founder being accused as a witch. Above the door they have a black cat :D. (web address and info = www.kytelersinn.ie )
We also walked around looking for the tourist information center. Unfortunately it wasn't open, but we did find out that it would be at 11 the next day, even though the next day was Sunday. Then after we checked that out we went around looking for the castle. I'm happy to say that I was the one who saw it first haha! That wasn't open either but we discovered that we had arrived just as a festival was going on. The Kilkenny Heritage Week (http://www.pbase.com/kilkenny_photo_society/kilkenny_heritage_week_) was going on. We saw that we could go in the next day to check out the castle.
At the end of the day the plan was that Sunday we'd get up and go for a walking tour of Kilkenny and then we'd head over to the castle to see what we could see. I ended up staying up a bit later doing homework, listening to the drunks pass by on the street below us, and daydream.
I almost forgot!
An Irish Limerick:
There once were two cats of Kilkenny.
Each thought there was one cat too many
So they fought and they fit
And they scratched and they bit
Till instead of two cats there weren't any!
Because of this limerick Ahmee wanted pictures of all the cats we see in Kilkenny. Due to the rain, we haven't seen any (other than the wooden one above the door).
(local hurling team)
It is now 10:39, back home I wouldn't be tired at all but here I'm exhausted. Today we went to Waterford were we stopped by the Waterford Crystal Factory and got a tour. It was really interesting seeing how it was all made. The time and effort those men put into those was amazing! The minimum amount of training was 4-5 years, and some of them went to school for 7-8 years. Those men had a doctorate in glass! 
I can't explain how they made the crystal, but I can explain how they shaped it. They had several large ovens where they'd stick they glass in and turn it so that it was nice and hot (easy to bend), then they'd either put it into the iron mold, or they'd mold it on the table, after that they'd put it into a cooler where it was cooled off incredibly fast. Later the glasses got sent to the cutters where the cutters were given the right “formula” and from this formula they were told how to cut it and what the dimensions would be. They'd cut the glass and then set it in acid to peel away any of the foggy areas. 
Then the glasses went through inspection. Many of the men who worked there were payed based on how many pieces they sent out. At inspection 2% of the things they made had to be smashed and sent back (they recycle it). There are some things that the factory makes that takes much more time and skill though. For instance, many sports trophies are made with Waterford Crystal. They make 3 exact replicas of the trophy : 1 to send to the competition, 1 to hold in their library for future reference, and 1 as a “just in case” for the one they sent to the competition. This factory also makes the New Year Ball that drops in New York. I never knew that that ball was made out of Waterford Crystal.
After the tour we walked through the gift shop. I can't say if we got anything, and I can't say why I can't say anything, so I'll just leave it at that. We had a wonderful lunch in the cafe at the tourist center and then we headed out for Kilkenny. On the road up there it was raining terribly. My windows kept fogging up, and opening them wasn't an option if I didn't want to get wet. I cracked them open when the rain wasn't coming down as hard and this enabled me to see a large part of the time.
Ahmee and Poppy talked about how nasty the weather was and how whenever you're on vacation it should be sunny wherever you go (Poppy said that). Course, I must say that Ahmee said that this was just part of Ireland and we were experiencing the bad weather like all of the people who live here. I bounced in by saying that I liked the rain. I do like the rain. I don't mind walking in it, and I LOVE what it does for the gardens here. I'm sure that the Irishmen don't like it simply because it's here all the time, but I think it adds so much more magic to Ireland. Why do I say magic? I say magic because Momma and I have always liked rainy days, simply because they're the perfect napping days. Rainy days are the days to kick back, relax, listen to the rain fall, dream, and read. Basically, lose yourself in your imagination on rainy days. I know that the people of Ireland can't do it, because it rains far too often to be dreamy that much, but I love having so many days in a row where getting lost in the imagination isn't such a bad thing.
Back to Kilkenny! We came in to Kilkenny looking for a b&b to stay in (it's the first thing we do every time we come in to a new town). Our first try wasn't a success, but then on our second try we struck gold. On the main street there was a small-looking business that Poppy popped in to ask if they had a place for us. They did, but they didn't want to put us there, they were holding quite a few partiers and we wouldn't get any sleep at all is what they said. So they called one of their other b&b's for us and also called to get a man to come and show us the way. Apparently they run 4 b&b's and they also have an antique store. They keep very busy, and they're very kind. If they hadn't sent a man to come show us the way to the b&b we would've never found it! They also insisted on helping us carry our luggage up the three flights of stairs, It was very nice of them and we thanked them profusely. After settling down in our room (btw I love this room! Wonderful colors!) We carried on a short conversation and we also managed to find out good places to go and visit from them. We asked them where a good place to eat would be and the innkeeper (it's far too big to be a b&b) gave me the directions-Ahmee had to ask at the end where the food was again (she'd asked so many questions she had to start all over). They suggested the Kyteler's Inn (sp?), which is a pub not too far from here that's famous for the founder being accused as a witch. Above the door they have a black cat :D. (web address and info = www.kytelersinn.ie )
We also walked around looking for the tourist information center. Unfortunately it wasn't open, but we did find out that it would be at 11 the next day, even though the next day was Sunday. Then after we checked that out we went around looking for the castle. I'm happy to say that I was the one who saw it first haha! That wasn't open either but we discovered that we had arrived just as a festival was going on. The Kilkenny Heritage Week (http://www.pbase.com/kilkenny_photo_society/kilkenny_heritage_week_) was going on. We saw that we could go in the next day to check out the castle.
At the end of the day the plan was that Sunday we'd get up and go for a walking tour of Kilkenny and then we'd head over to the castle to see what we could see. I ended up staying up a bit later doing homework, listening to the drunks pass by on the street below us, and daydream.
I almost forgot!
An Irish Limerick:
There once were two cats of Kilkenny.
Each thought there was one cat too many
So they fought and they fit
And they scratched and they bit
Till instead of two cats there weren't any!
Because of this limerick Ahmee wanted pictures of all the cats we see in Kilkenny. Due to the rain, we haven't seen any (other than the wooden one above the door).
(local hurling team)
Saturday, August 23, 2008
08/22/08-The Blarney Stone
More on Today (08/22/08)
This morning we got up, went down the stairs of the b&b we were staying at (btw, the woman who ran it's name was Mrs. Murphy-a very popular name because of the Murphy bars), ate with the nice Irish man and his lovely wife, ran to the library to try and get some schoolwork done, and then headed out to Blarney to kiss the Blarney stone.
On the way to Blarney I read as much as I could without getting carsick, wrote as much as I could, and in general tried hard to get some more schoolwork done. I don't think I missed too much along the way. The road we were traveling on looked quite similar to the roads back home, particularly scenic drive. Most of the time we were quite literally in a tunnel of trees. Even though it was about midday and the sun was out part of the day it was nice and dark under the leaves (not too dark for reading though).
I read all the way to Blarney, and then whenever we got close to the town I was needed for locating the Blarney Castle. Funnily enough I was the one to point out which direction we had to go, and I turned out to be right (I saw the castle over the rooftops).
We navigated through the small town of Blarney, making a mental note of where the woolen company was for later shopping and also making a mental note of where the food was. Once we reached the entrance to Blarney castle we had a good time getting ourselves together (looked like it was going to rain-which it did sprinkle). We headed in and took a nice walk through the gardens (which btw were mostly shrubs and trees-not many flowers there) as we walked towards the Blarney Castle, where at the top the most famous stone in Ireland resides. Yes, we went to kiss the Blarney Stone. Irish folklore has it that if you kiss the Blarney stone you'll get the gift of gab, or in the tours words “the gift of eloquence”.
Personally, I wasn't sure I was going to even bother kissing the stone, I was more interested in the castle. There are three things I'd like to say about the castle: 1. it's seen some interesting things, 2. the staircase up to the top is very steep and treacherous, and 3. that the layout is confusing. On the first floor, the floor we walked in to, they had the storage units where they kept all the grain and such. On the next floor they had the duke’s room right next to the staircase (why would the duke sleep that close to the entrance?). The third floor had the daughters’ rooms that were under the priests room. After that we entered the “family room” which had a giganjo fireplace (yes, favorite fake-word is giganjo) where I could've stretched out on the fire. The next floor had the great hall and the kitchen next to it (yeah... they had to carry all of the kitchen supplies up all of those stairs so that they wouldn't run the risk of catching the whole building on fire-plus they could take the boiling oil and dump it on attacking armies right then and there-very convenient). After that there were at least three different rooms that weren't labeled, one we're absolutely certain was the toilet-had a nice seat-like thing where you could squat, and also had a nice-sized hole: there was a risk of falling, bad thing about the arrangement was poo would've slid down the outer castle walls. Some of the interesting things the castle has seen are: millions of people coming to kiss the stone, royal families living in it, and a more recent royal family moving next door and “remodeling” a bit.
On to the treacherous staircase. Since the gift of gab or eloquence (not the same thing btw) is such a popular trait, many people have come from far and wide to kiss the Blarney Stone. Many, many, many years of people climbing up and down these already narrow stairs has left it's mark on them. The stair were narrow, they were slick, and they were worn. The people who grabbed the stairs with their hands and climbed up left their mark by leaving hand oils on the stairs-the stairs are shiny from it. The people who stomp up them cause them to be worn down, leaving some of the stairs to be slightly slanted. In short, I was really really grateful to have the rope to cling to on my way up, and I was even more grateful for the rooms that I was able to duck in to pause for a moment.
At the very top of the castle was the lookout, and along one side, where they would've dumped some more boiling oil, was the Blarney Stone. In the past tourists have kissed the wrong stone because the tour guides didn't want to have to bother with the real one. I must say that I can see why. The “real” Blarney stone is located along the wall. If someone wanted to kiss it in the past they would've held you by your ankles, put you out over the edge, and have you kiss the stone. Some people in the past were dropped. Nowadays it's slightly safer. Before I tell you how it works nowadays I must tell you were the Blarney stone is located. I've said before that it's located in one of the areas they would've dumped boiling oil, well I want to be more specific. The “railing” that's on the top of the castle has openings at the floor along the edge. The Blarney Stone opening also has a piece of the floor missing out of it, so that it would've been quite easy for a person to fit through there and fall to the ground which is at least 6 stories below. Now the hole has four or five bars that cover it up so that if a person were to have their foot slip they'd only get a small scare (unless they were a teeny tiny kid then there's a possibility that they'd fall). To kiss the stone you're required to sit on the floor with your butt close to the edge of this hole. Behind you on the stone wall there are two black bars, you grab a hold of these bars with both of your hands and you allow the tour guide to hold your back up while you lean back to kiss the Blarney Stone (which I checked out before I pecked it: it's shiny like the staircase, it's seen quite a lot of lips).
When I first looked at the Blarney Stone and people kissing it I said to myself, “ This has got to be the most profitable lie I've ever laid eyes on.... So many people have paid to come and kiss that stone, whenever it's just that: a stone. Why do I want to kiss that? Why do I want to kiss the stone that sooo many other lips have kissed? That's really kinda gross!” Then I noticed how the people were being held to kiss it, how dangerous it was (if they slipped they would've at least hit their head on the bars), and I thought, “That's very very dangerous, and considering everything else I've thought so far... Why would I stick my neck out for it?” Then I realized that I'd already stuck my neck out REALLY far by climbing those steps and that those steps were worse than the stone. I decided to go ahead and kiss the Blarney stone, just in case it wasn't just a really profitable lie. Poppy was the one who didn't kiss it, he had a good time taking pictures of Ahmee and me.
After kissing the Blarney stone we went and looked in a small garden. There were so many different plants in there that I know I'd seen before in books, the name is still nagging at me to come forward. I think I might just have to ask Momma what those large things are called. The garden also has a lot of really cool trees (looked like Halloween trees). We didn't stay very long in this garden though, Poppy and I started getting hungry and so we headed into town to grab a bite to eat.
After we got done eating we ran over to the woolen company. This building didn't just sell wool, they had all sorts of things in there. They had: waterford crystal, a wool store, a book store, an Irish tourist store (things tourist buy... what are they called...), and a linen store. The most interesting thing that I found in there was a rack full of name-cards. On the name-cards they had the meaning of the names and they also gave a kind of name “horoscope”. These cards were one and half pounds each. Since I'm saving my money for later whenever I can see if I can afford to get some sort of device for this computer so that it'll have internet pretty much anywhere I didn't buy the cards. It's ok though. I don't think I'll break down and cry over the cards I didn't get in Blarney, Ireland. Do I sound mean or critical? If I do, I blame it on being tired lol! I'm getting very sleepy now. I wish I could email Iain, or call him, but internet doesn't work here, and our cell costs a lot (a dollar a minute). I'll write more tomorrow.
Rachel XD
This morning we got up, went down the stairs of the b&b we were staying at (btw, the woman who ran it's name was Mrs. Murphy-a very popular name because of the Murphy bars), ate with the nice Irish man and his lovely wife, ran to the library to try and get some schoolwork done, and then headed out to Blarney to kiss the Blarney stone.
On the way to Blarney I read as much as I could without getting carsick, wrote as much as I could, and in general tried hard to get some more schoolwork done. I don't think I missed too much along the way. The road we were traveling on looked quite similar to the roads back home, particularly scenic drive. Most of the time we were quite literally in a tunnel of trees. Even though it was about midday and the sun was out part of the day it was nice and dark under the leaves (not too dark for reading though).
I read all the way to Blarney, and then whenever we got close to the town I was needed for locating the Blarney Castle. Funnily enough I was the one to point out which direction we had to go, and I turned out to be right (I saw the castle over the rooftops). We navigated through the small town of Blarney, making a mental note of where the woolen company was for later shopping and also making a mental note of where the food was. Once we reached the entrance to Blarney castle we had a good time getting ourselves together (looked like it was going to rain-which it did sprinkle). We headed in and took a nice walk through the gardens (which btw were mostly shrubs and trees-not many flowers there) as we walked towards the Blarney Castle, where at the top the most famous stone in Ireland resides. Yes, we went to kiss the Blarney Stone. Irish folklore has it that if you kiss the Blarney stone you'll get the gift of gab, or in the tours words “the gift of eloquence”.
Personally, I wasn't sure I was going to even bother kissing the stone, I was more interested in the castle. There are three things I'd like to say about the castle: 1. it's seen some interesting things, 2. the staircase up to the top is very steep and treacherous, and 3. that the layout is confusing. On the first floor, the floor we walked in to, they had the storage units where they kept all the grain and such. On the next floor they had the duke’s room right next to the staircase (why would the duke sleep that close to the entrance?). The third floor had the daughters’ rooms that were under the priests room. After that we entered the “family room” which had a giganjo fireplace (yes, favorite fake-word is giganjo) where I could've stretched out on the fire. The next floor had the great hall and the kitchen next to it (yeah... they had to carry all of the kitchen supplies up all of those stairs so that they wouldn't run the risk of catching the whole building on fire-plus they could take the boiling oil and dump it on attacking armies right then and there-very convenient). After that there were at least three different rooms that weren't labeled, one we're absolutely certain was the toilet-had a nice seat-like thing where you could squat, and also had a nice-sized hole: there was a risk of falling, bad thing about the arrangement was poo would've slid down the outer castle walls. Some of the interesting things the castle has seen are: millions of people coming to kiss the stone, royal families living in it, and a more recent royal family moving next door and “remodeling” a bit. 
On to the treacherous staircase. Since the gift of gab or eloquence (not the same thing btw) is such a popular trait, many people have come from far and wide to kiss the Blarney Stone. Many, many, many years of people climbing up and down these already narrow stairs has left it's mark on them. The stair were narrow, they were slick, and they were worn. The people who grabbed the stairs with their hands and climbed up left their mark by leaving hand oils on the stairs-the stairs are shiny from it. The people who stomp up them cause them to be worn down, leaving some of the stairs to be slightly slanted. In short, I was really really grateful to have the rope to cling to on my way up, and I was even more grateful for the rooms that I was able to duck in to pause for a moment. 
At the very top of the castle was the lookout, and along one side, where they would've dumped some more boiling oil, was the Blarney Stone. In the past tourists have kissed the wrong stone because the tour guides didn't want to have to bother with the real one. I must say that I can see why. The “real” Blarney stone is located along the wall. If someone wanted to kiss it in the past they would've held you by your ankles, put you out over the edge, and have you kiss the stone. Some people in the past were dropped. Nowadays it's slightly safer. Before I tell you how it works nowadays I must tell you were the Blarney stone is located. I've said before that it's located in one of the areas they would've dumped boiling oil, well I want to be more specific. The “railing” that's on the top of the castle has openings at the floor along the edge. The Blarney Stone opening also has a piece of the floor missing out of it, so that it would've been quite easy for a person to fit through there and fall to the ground which is at least 6 stories below. Now the hole has four or five bars that cover it up so that if a person were to have their foot slip they'd only get a small scare (unless they were a teeny tiny kid then there's a possibility that they'd fall). To kiss the stone you're required to sit on the floor with your butt close to the edge of this hole. Behind you on the stone wall there are two black bars, you grab a hold of these bars with both of your hands and you allow the tour guide to hold your back up while you lean back to kiss the Blarney Stone (which I checked out before I pecked it: it's shiny like the staircase, it's seen quite a lot of lips). 
When I first looked at the Blarney Stone and people kissing it I said to myself, “ This has got to be the most profitable lie I've ever laid eyes on.... So many people have paid to come and kiss that stone, whenever it's just that: a stone. Why do I want to kiss that? Why do I want to kiss the stone that sooo many other lips have kissed? That's really kinda gross!” Then I noticed how the people were being held to kiss it, how dangerous it was (if they slipped they would've at least hit their head on the bars), and I thought, “That's very very dangerous, and considering everything else I've thought so far... Why would I stick my neck out for it?” Then I realized that I'd already stuck my neck out REALLY far by climbing those steps and that those steps were worse than the stone. I decided to go ahead and kiss the Blarney stone, just in case it wasn't just a really profitable lie. Poppy was the one who didn't kiss it, he had a good time taking pictures of Ahmee and me. After kissing the Blarney stone we went and looked in a small garden. There were so many different plants in there that I know I'd seen before in books, the name is still nagging at me to come forward. I think I might just have to ask Momma what those large things are called. The garden also has a lot of really cool trees (looked like Halloween trees). We didn't stay very long in this garden though, Poppy and I started getting hungry and so we headed into town to grab a bite to eat.
After we got done eating we ran over to the woolen company. This building didn't just sell wool, they had all sorts of things in there. They had: waterford crystal, a wool store, a book store, an Irish tourist store (things tourist buy... what are they called...), and a linen store. The most interesting thing that I found in there was a rack full of name-cards. On the name-cards they had the meaning of the names and they also gave a kind of name “horoscope”. These cards were one and half pounds each. Since I'm saving my money for later whenever I can see if I can afford to get some sort of device for this computer so that it'll have internet pretty much anywhere I didn't buy the cards. It's ok though. I don't think I'll break down and cry over the cards I didn't get in Blarney, Ireland. Do I sound mean or critical? If I do, I blame it on being tired lol! I'm getting very sleepy now. I wish I could email Iain, or call him, but internet doesn't work here, and our cell costs a lot (a dollar a minute). I'll write more tomorrow.
Rachel XD
Some Side Notes About Ireland
Spanish:
Me gusto mucho Ireland. Ireland es moy interesante. Ahmee y Poppy miran para la casa en Ireland. Ellos prefiero Ireland porque es moy bonita(or o-not sure).
I suppose I should say that these side-notes are more about the Irish people.
The first thing I'd like to mention is that most of the front yards are courtyards, that is, they either have a large fence or a hedge that keeps outsiders from looking in. This makes it difficult for me, a gardener, to see what most Irish front yards look like. The most I can make out a lot of the time is a fleeting glimpse of the topmost tree branches, the overgrown hydrangeas (which are a gorgeous shade of blue in many cases), and/or the tops of more shrubs. Sometimes I'll catch sight of the full garden and when I do I often end up “ohhing” or “ahhing” at it, sometimes I'll even shriek and point. You'd think that I'd seen someone streaking! This hidden beauty seems to lull me even closer, which I think is a very good strategy in gardening. Momma and I like to have curves “because it's good on the eyes”, personally I think it's nice to hide part of the garden so that it makes the viewer want to come in and see more, it makes them thirst for exploration. 
Normally I would be against large objects obstructing the view of the garden. I've frowned down upon it many times before simply because the garden without a cover is there for the whole neighborhood to profit from. Gardens that are pleasing to the eye can help make people happy or they can help calm people down, that is, if the people take the time to slow down long enough to notice. 
I must say that the front-yard courtyards surprised me. So far I've thought that they were mostly a Spanish thing. When we went down to New Mexico most people had large walls fencing in their yards. Here, the walls aren't so tall, but most are tall enough to keep people who are sitting in the car from seeing them. Whenever I first saw this I started wondering why such a Spanish thing would occur in Ireland. Since I'm studying AP US History I immediately leapt on the fact that southern Ireland is mostly Roman Catholic, and Spain is as well. History started zooming through my head at a very fast rate.
It all got started with King Henry the 8th whenever he decided that he wanted to leave Princess Catherine of Arragon (Sp?) of Spain for Anne. When he did this he left the Roman Catholic Faith and started the Protestant church. The Irish decided they didn't want to change their religion to that of the unfaithful king. Of course, the king sent in British forces to “deal” with the Roman Catholics. Northern Ireland had a few people converted to the Protestant faith, while most southern Irishmen stuck with the Roman Catholic. The fighting between the Protestants and Catholics still occurs to this day in Ireland. In fact, Ahmee even asked me if I was serious about wearing an orange shirt out today (it's a protestant color), I did but it was no big deal because it was covered up (and it's just a color-add a protestant cross we'd be in trouble). Is there a possibility that the Irish and Spaniards have similar gardens because of similar faiths? Maybe... Or maybe I'm just stuck on history at the moment.
Something else I've noticed about Irish gardens is that yuccas (native to deserts of Mexico and NM) and palm trees are just as common as the hydrangeas here (which in Indiana would be... a boxwood almost). Ahmee didn't believe me at first on either of these, but then I pointed them out and she and I started seeing tons of gardens that had these plants in them. This morning whenever we were eating breakfast we had the pleasure of sitting next to a very open Irishman (I think he'd make a great writer-he told great stories). We asked him then why the palm tree was so popular here. He told us, “I suppose we all go for the exotic. Plus they remind us of the sun!” 
Like I've said in an earlier post, they've gotten a lot of rain recently, and everyone seems to enjoy commenting on it. We asked him (the same man) what the weather report was. He said that they really never needed it, it was going to be rain, rain, or more rain. I really enjoyed listening to that man.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Lots to Write about, very little time
First I'll type up my few sentences for Srt. Stuart.
Ahmee y Poppy bebemos un cervesa, se llama Guinness. Yo bebo agua. Comemos muchas porque nototros tenemos hombre. Corro para la library porque necesito un computadora. Leo para la clase de historica americana. La clase es moy deficil. La clase de espanol es facil.
Well we've been on this trip a total of three days now. Since I'm typing this in an internet cafe and I'm having to pay for the half hour I can't type very long. Even if I had enough time I know I wouldn't be able to get everything in.
Yesterday we landed in Shannon Ireland. At the airport we got a rental car and were on the road. Personally, I'm really glad I don't have to drive. Poppy had some issues driving on the left-hand side at first but he managed to get used to it after we'd left the airport. I've actually got several reasons for being really glad I don't have to drive. The first and foremost is that I get to enjoy the view more from the backseat. I actually have a sunburn today from having my face plastered to the window! You'd think with me being in the backseat that I'd get more homework done, if I knew what that work was. The thing is though that the roads are very curvy, very thin, very bumpy, and they've got lovely hedges on the sides that make you feel like you're in a tunnel a lot of the time. I had the window rolled down all day today to ensure that I didn't get car sick and I avoided reading too much as well. Whenever I read in the backseat on curvy roads without fresh air my stomach protests. In the past I've gotten really close to throwing up.
What have I seen while looking out the window? I've seen lots of green, mountains that remind me of the Rockies (and we aren't even in the highest ones!), lots of wonderful cottages, and road signs. I've been needed for finding road numbers on the map and along the roadside. The fine print was too small for Ahmee to see. It's been very very fun so far.
Lol, here I am going on about today whenever I should be telling you more about yesterday, our first day in Ireland. The first day we were here it felt as if I was walking around in a fog. Even though I had gotten a good deal of sleep on the plane I was still very tired. We drove out if Shannon airport and headed through country roads (that weren't labeled) to Adare Ireland. There in Adare we stayed at a local bed and breakfast and I managed to find internet in the library. We also went on a tour of the local castle where Ahmee and I agreed that the castle reminded us of the one in Pillars of the Earth. It reminded Poppy of Born Fighting. Since I haven't read that yet I can't say whether I agree or not.
After we went around Adare, and after I got on the computer for a bit we headed back to the hotel where Ahmee got into her pj's and Poppy and I went downstairs to read/study/fall asleep in the big comfy chairs. Yes, both of us fell asleep. After about fifteen minutes we both decided to head upstairs. Apparently I crawled into bed and was out immediately. When Poppy asked me if I was going to sleep in my clothes I apparently mumbled at him. I say apparently because I remember none of it.
The next morning, yes that'd be today, we woke up late and I hurried and took a quick shower while Poppy went downstairs to see if breakfast was on. After Ahmee and I were ready we went down and were seated by the younger bed and breakfast runner. We ate "the typical Irish breakfast" an egg, cereal, toast, two pieces of ham, two potatoes, tea/coffee, and orange juice (I know I'm missing a few things). We sat with another Irish couple who were quite nice to talk to. They were in town for a wedding. After breakfast we went up, grabbed our stuff, and came back down to say goodbye to the innkeepers. We ended up talking to the younger woman longer and we told her how long we were staying in Europe and that I was working on my homework while we were here. She gave me a kiss on each cheek! This I think made my day because I believe they do that for friends :D. The older lady shook our hands and told us to have a pleasant stay in Ireland.
Today we've been driving along the Dingle peninsula (sp?). It is sooo beautiful here. The green is incredible, the gardens (when you can see them) are wonderful, and we got to see the North Atlantic (and go in). Apparently we came just after they'd had a ton of rain. Everyone we've talked to so far has commented about the terrible amount of rain they've had. Today they got a bit of a break on the Dingle peninsula, it was nice and sunny. Lots of people were at the beach playing in the sand, eating, or out wind-surfing. I only went in to get my feet wet and to see what critters I could find.
Dang it. I'll have to write more tomorrow, out of time.
Ahmee y Poppy bebemos un cervesa, se llama Guinness. Yo bebo agua. Comemos muchas porque nototros tenemos hombre. Corro para la library porque necesito un computadora. Leo para la clase de historica americana. La clase es moy deficil. La clase de espanol es facil.
Well we've been on this trip a total of three days now. Since I'm typing this in an internet cafe and I'm having to pay for the half hour I can't type very long. Even if I had enough time I know I wouldn't be able to get everything in. 
Yesterday we landed in Shannon Ireland. At the airport we got a rental car and were on the road. Personally, I'm really glad I don't have to drive. Poppy had some issues driving on the left-hand side at first but he managed to get used to it after we'd left the airport. I've actually got several reasons for being really glad I don't have to drive. The first and foremost is that I get to enjoy the view more from the backseat. I actually have a sunburn today from having my face plastered to the window! You'd think with me being in the backseat that I'd get more homework done, if I knew what that work was. The thing is though that the roads are very curvy, very thin, very bumpy, and they've got lovely hedges on the sides that make you feel like you're in a tunnel a lot of the time. I had the window rolled down all day today to ensure that I didn't get car sick and I avoided reading too much as well. Whenever I read in the backseat on curvy roads without fresh air my stomach protests. In the past I've gotten really close to throwing up.
What have I seen while looking out the window? I've seen lots of green, mountains that remind me of the Rockies (and we aren't even in the highest ones!), lots of wonderful cottages, and road signs. I've been needed for finding road numbers on the map and along the roadside. The fine print was too small for Ahmee to see. It's been very very fun so far.
Lol, here I am going on about today whenever I should be telling you more about yesterday, our first day in Ireland. The first day we were here it felt as if I was walking around in a fog. Even though I had gotten a good deal of sleep on the plane I was still very tired. We drove out if Shannon airport and headed through country roads (that weren't labeled) to Adare Ireland. There in Adare we stayed at a local bed and breakfast and I managed to find internet in the library. We also went on a tour of the local castle where Ahmee and I agreed that the castle reminded us of the one in Pillars of the Earth. It reminded Poppy of Born Fighting. Since I haven't read that yet I can't say whether I agree or not. After we went around Adare, and after I got on the computer for a bit we headed back to the hotel where Ahmee got into her pj's and Poppy and I went downstairs to read/study/fall asleep in the big comfy chairs. Yes, both of us fell asleep. After about fifteen minutes we both decided to head upstairs. Apparently I crawled into bed and was out immediately. When Poppy asked me if I was going to sleep in my clothes I apparently mumbled at him. I say apparently because I remember none of it.
The next morning, yes that'd be today, we woke up late and I hurried and took a quick shower while Poppy went downstairs to see if breakfast was on. After Ahmee and I were ready we went down and were seated by the younger bed and breakfast runner. We ate "the typical Irish breakfast" an egg, cereal, toast, two pieces of ham, two potatoes, tea/coffee, and orange juice (I know I'm missing a few things). We sat with another Irish couple who were quite nice to talk to. They were in town for a wedding. After breakfast we went up, grabbed our stuff, and came back down to say goodbye to the innkeepers. We ended up talking to the younger woman longer and we told her how long we were staying in Europe and that I was working on my homework while we were here. She gave me a kiss on each cheek! This I think made my day because I believe they do that for friends :D. The older lady shook our hands and told us to have a pleasant stay in Ireland.
Today we've been driving along the Dingle peninsula (sp?). It is sooo beautiful here. The green is incredible, the gardens (when you can see them) are wonderful, and we got to see the North Atlantic (and go in). Apparently we came just after they'd had a ton of rain. Everyone we've talked to so far has commented about the terrible amount of rain they've had. Today they got a bit of a break on the Dingle peninsula, it was nice and sunny. Lots of people were at the beach playing in the sand, eating, or out wind-surfing. I only went in to get my feet wet and to see what critters I could find.
Dang it. I'll have to write more tomorrow, out of time.
Monday, August 18, 2008
08/18/08-Getting ready to Head Out
As I write this a million things are rushing through my head. It doesn't surprise me since tomorrow I'm leaving for Europe. I've been looking forward to this trip for over a year now and now that it's here it's mind-boggling. While I know I'll have a great time exploring areas I've dreamed of seeing I also know that this trip is going to be one of the biggest trials I've ever gone through. While I'm on the road I'm going to be continuing my classes online, writing journal entries on this blog, and doing quite a bit of sightseeing. Since in the past I haven't been very good at managing time, I'm more than a little nervous about my schoolwork, especially since I'll be taking AP US History on the road with me.
Another thing I know I'll end up having issues with is getting along with my grandparents Ahmee and Poppy. Everyone gets on each other’s nerves whenever they've spent a large amount of time together and I'm afraid that my grandparents don't realize how goofy and "crazy" I can be. Well, we'll be learning a lot about each other on this trip.
Actually I think it'd be safe to say that we'll be learning a lot period on this trip. I've told my friends to expect me to come back looking like an alien. My brain will be so full it will enlarge my skull! Maybe this will turn out to be true maybe not....
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