Dublin Dénouement
Ah, my time in Dublin is rapdily diminshing like the grains of sand between my fingers. If all goes as planned, this time tomorrow I’ll be in France!
Yesterday I awoke to a gray and misty wet day. I immediately recognized it as a classic museum day! I set off after breakfast for the national museum. I had been once before weeks ago but I was suffering from a sinus infection and didn’t enjoy it fully or really look at everything, so it was a natural start. It was much better this time. I almost feel I should have re-done the whole thing, but instead, I focused on taking in the details on all the finds from the gold hoardes. I also checked out an exhibition on the excavations at Tara, knowing I’d be there today. I’m sure I must have walked through there before but had no memory of it at all.
I spent hours there before deciding to move on. I planned to take in the Natural History Museum which is nearby. The museum itself might not interest me, but it’s apparently become renowned as a museum of 19th century museums as it’s not been updated in well, quite some time. There are signs all over advertising it. I don’t just mean street signs, we’re talking flash vinyl outdoor adverts. So, I walk up and there’s a sign it’s closed. I thought maybe for the day or afternoon or something. No, the guard told me a section of the ceiling collapsed and it’s closed indefinitely. Ah, would be nice to remove the signs saying to come see it, eh!
Defeated on that point and really over the urge to see any museums, I just did some aimless wandering. I stopped by HMV and got the new CD from Codeine Velvet Club (side project of the lead singer of the Fratellis) as I discovered unlike the other albums I wanted to get here, it would actually cost me more to import that one than to buy it here. Why, I know not!
After dinner, I had it in mind to find somewhere for some live rock music. I found a place that sounded promising and set off to find it. An hour later I had accomplished my mission. It’s not that it was THAT far away, it’s just that Dublin (as a lot of old cities do) likes for its streets to change names any old place for any old reason. That coupled with very poor signage caused me to totally miss my destination despite once being within a block of it! Ah well! Once there, not much seemed to be going on despite the advertised start time. Having a tour this morning, I didn’t fancy staying out late so made a meandering path back to the hostel. I spent another hour in that misty wet, not because I was lost but just taking in the sights of a part of the city I’d missed to date.
My Italian room-mate and I had, until last night, been mysteriously in sync. Typically when I came in, he was just getting ready for bed so that saved both of us the whole fumbling around in the dark trying not to wake up the other person in the room deal. Last night my going to bed early broke that routine. Still, it worked for me because I sleep soundly I barely heard him come in enough to register he was there but not enough to put a time to it. Tonight may well be a repeat.
This morning, I was likewise up earlier than him and did my best to quietly get ready before dashing off to meet up with a tour group bound for Newgrange and the Hill of Tara. It was a fab day for a tour, bright, sunny, and nearly cloud free. The Hill of Tara, while there’s not a lot for the naked eye to see, was a gorgeous green place with an amazing view. You can definitely appreciate why it was strategically an important spot in ancient times. It was once, among, other things, the site of the coronation of the high kings of ancient Ireland.
The second stop was Newgrange, a chamber tomb that was 1,000 years old when the pyramids at Giza were built. We were told that it was the oldest intact astronomical observatory in the world. For six days each year around the winter solstice, sunlight penetrates the door into the inner chamber where burials of cremated remains once took place. The exact reasons and meaning for this neolithic monument are lost to us, but its amazing nonetheless. And, being a month late for the solstice, as we stood inside the tomb, the sunrise was simulated and it was truly amazing! Newgrange definitely ranks high on my list of things I’ve seen in Ireland if not at the top.
While I’m at it, let me put in a word for Mary Gibbons, the tour guide. If you’re ever in Dublin, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend you take a tour from her. I think she only offers two, and I’m sorry I won’t get to take the other before I leave. She was truly a professional. She provided information to us pretty much non-stop from beginning to end. And while 8,000 years of Irish History is a lot to absorb, I felt like I probably got the most retained information from her tour. And I thought I had some excellent guides up until now! Her style of delivery and tone was perfect. If she’s not also teaching somewhere (or didn’t in the past), then she’s missed her calling.
Arriving back in town, it was near dusk. While I wish there could have been two of me today, one who stayed here and enjoyed the bright light of day in town and one who took the tour, there was only the one of me. So, I made do enjoying that deep blue dusk sky that you only get on a clear night and wandered around taking photos until it turned to inky black. And still I wandered some more before calling it a night. I need to get my bags in order before bed tonight! I’ve been here close to a month and I am ready to move on, but it’s always a bit sad to bid farewell to a place for me. So, keeping it brief, au revoir Dublin – next stop Paris!
Irish Ghosts
Yesterday was bus day. There’s no other name for it. I knew it was worth it to go ahead and waste a night than adding another night in Galway and losing today getting here, but it didn’t make it nicer knowing that.
I woke up and had a leisurely morning. I had walked enough of the area around Sleepzone Connemara already. I might have taken the stroll down to the fjord if the weather had been nice, but it wasn’t. The wind was gusting and it was misting rain constantly.
The best news of the day came that instead of having to walk the 15 minutes to the top of the road (and stand there who knows how long in the rain) the Galway Tour Company had sent a minibus that would come to the door to fetch the three of us! I literally cheered when our host at the hostel informed me!
The back end of the tour was marred by the weather and how quickly night descends here in winter. We stopped at Kylemore Abbey, the only stop of any length. I toured the Abbey and church for lack of anything better to do. Beautiful place (a mansion house before the nuns purchased it). The place is closing and will be in private hands soon, the nuns are aging and their ranks are not being replaced. I doubt I got any good photos, between the gray day and the gusting winds, it was a forced march to do anything. I was first back on the bus a good half hour before we had to be back. At least I had a muffin and a coke in the dining hall. It was my last meal for far too long.
The rest of the drive was rain and then darkness. When we got to Galway, the Brazillians and I scattered off the tour bus to the bus station as fast as we could, little more than 10 minutes after the 5:30 bus to Dublin had left. Ironically, we were heading the same way. Luckily there are buses evey hour until like 8:30pm. I hate to imagine being on that one as the 6:30 set down at the main Dublin station after 10:30pm! It was a soul crushing ride. I couldn’t sleep and the reading lights in the whole bus were broken so there went option two. It was a sea of headphones and I followed suit, pretty much four hours of my own soundtrack as we passed through countless anonymous towns and villages and took on and put off passengers. It was the dark ghost of my trip to Galway almost two weeks prior. The way out had been in the bright fullness of day, but the way back was dark, cold and wet.
When the bus finally landed here, a happy block from Jacobs Inn, I lost track of the Brazillians. I hated not getting to say farewell as they had been good travelling companions in that short span of time. But everyone off the bus scattered into the Dublin night.
I scampered up the street and checked in. This us my second time at the inn. Last time, I was in a six person dorm. I’m not sure if that was a financial decision or if there were no four person dorms when I booked. This time four person, and I have to say here this is literally the penthouse of this hostel. I’m on the 4th floor (which in American terms would be the 5th – in Europe, 1st floor is ground floor, second is first). The room even has a TV. I’m floored. I don’t really see the need, but it’s a nice room. So far, it’s only two of us in there. The other guy is Italian. Don’t ask me his name. I tried several times and I still think he just nodded that I had it to get me to stop mangling it. By this morning, not even a ghost of what I thought it was remained.
Today, I predictably slept in. The Italian was gone and I slowly prepared myself to face the day. I thought based on the gray weather that it would be museum day, but while I sat in the lobby checking out tours to Newgrange and the Hills of Tara, the sun began to peek out. So I got out and spent hours wandering the city with my camera. It turned out to be a gorgeous day. Even when the sun was behind the clouds, the clouds had such a depth and texture to them… It just had to be seen to appreciate it. I think I’ll have some neat city shots from today!
I did sign up for a Newgrange tour on Friday (keep a good thought for nice weather please) and I got on a Dublin city bus tour for tonight – Dublin’s ghost bus tour. It was great fun. The stories were genuine, but it was one of those tours where they try to scare you, no surprise to anyone. The interesting part was they had us take photos in a couple of reputedly haunted places. I got orbs in both, but I take those with a grain of salt. Too many easy explanations, but still interesting because we did not all get them. The really interesting one was the last stop where he said they routinely get some interesting stuff, two of us (including ME) got mist in our photos! I’ve never had anything like that before. I only wish I had a way to upload it to show but will not until I get home!
And that’s another day in Ireland gone. Only two more before I’m hurtling for the airport for Paris. I should add hopefully, as today there was a several hour strike by the air traffic controllers union (think that’s the right group). Supposedly just today, hoping for no repeats. The irony is that I had travel troubles that kept me from Paris the last time I tried to go! Fingers crossed!
Connemara and Killary Fjord
I’ve spent the past two nights here in Connemara at the Sleepzone Connemara overlooking the Killary Fjord. Reputedly this is the only Fjord in Ireland. Lonely Planet suggests that it’s not technically a fjord as it wasn’t glaciated. I’m not sure who to believe, but it’s a very beautiful place.
It’s actually a good deal when booked through the Sleepzone Hostel in Galway. I got a discounted rate on the tour bus. The Galway Tour Company runs a loop out through Connemara. It’s normally a day tour, but in the case of those staying at Sleepzone, you are put off part way through the tour and can pick up with another group on a following day. I chose to stay two nights here. There’s also a Burren route with a Sleepzone hostel as well. Had I not gone to Inis Mór (or spent less time there), I would have liked to have gone that way, but at least the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher, the big ticket items on that tour were in my Paddywagon tour, however brief.
Anyway, it’s been a nice couple of days here. The weather has been a bit warmer but perpetually wet. I still think I got some cool landscape photos and shots of the fjord (or whatever it really is). Most of the rain has been of the misty sort, so with jacket and umbrella in tow, no problem. It does hit my list of somewhere I’d like to come back to in summer, maybe with a car to really take it all in.
On the tour out, had a great driver (hope he may be the one that picks up this afternoon). Maybe it was because we were such a small group, but I can’t imagine he’s not always a card. He was telling us he had never done the tour before and kept asking us how to get to Connemara. At one point, he even circled a roundabout multiple times asking us which road to take. The funniest part, though, may have been when we were driving down this little lane quite slowly and someone on the bus saw a fox. He looked off to see it (apparently a rare sight here) and bumped into a farmer’s fence! It was funnier because of how he’d been acting lost/inept earlier! We took in some spectacular mountain vistas and saw some old cottages, towers, and cairns. We also had a brief stop in a tiny village. Don’t have the map in front of me, so not sure what’s on the second leg this afternoon.
The hostel has been nice. I think there are only the three Sleepzones in the chain, but just based on the two I’ve been to, I’d recommend them all. Well run, clean, warm, hot showers, all the things I expect in a hostel. I’m not looking for the ritz after all.
The first night, if not for a French brother and sister traveling by car, I’d have been the only guest. She was studying in Limerick, and her brother was visiting her on holiday. He spoke pretty much no English, which led to an interesting search through the Hostel DVDs for something that combined either English or French subtitles. As I’d just finished watching Tropic Thunder when they came in, I was fine with our first choice, a French movie with English subtitles, or so it said. The movie started and this guy spouted off a soliloquy and they put like three English words across the bottom of the screen. The looks of horror on the French speakers faces was hilarious. i didn’t say anything but broke down laughing when they turned it off. Obviously it was poorly subtitled… So we searched again, and this is how we came to watch an old John Wayne movie, Hitari, dubbed in French with English subtitles. I don’t know if the plot would have seemed so unending if not for the subtitles, but I can say that the technicolor images of Africa from over 40 years ago were breathtaking at least.
The second night, we were practically bursting with people by comparison. A French couple who I never spoke to enough to get their story came by car, and a brother and sister from Brazil showed up on the tour bus. The sister is studying in Portugal and the brother is here for a month on holiday seeing the sights with her. They go back to Galway on the same bus with me this afternoon. I watched the back half of “What Just Happened” with the French couple. I didn’t see enough of it to really form an opinion, but the general Hollywood theme was funny. Afterwards I thumbed through the DVD selection. I have to give a slight edge to the Kilronan Hostel on Inis Mor for DVD selection, but both had good catalogs. There was just less here that I hadn’t seen or wanted to see again right now. So, I ended up watching Oliver Stone’s “W” – even after watching it, I think it’s too soon for me to really digest it, the events still too recent. Although I was amazed at how many of the events depicted I had already forgotten. I guess my attention span is shorter than I thought. I had forgotten Bush landing on an aircraft carrier and the declaration of victory in Iraq already for instance…
Anyway, that catches me up to now. I’ve checked out. It’s too overcast for me to really be interested in walking anywhere until the bus is here for me to get back on bound for Galway. So, I’m just relaxing in the hostel until I get to head back. Once in Galway, I’m snagging the first bus to Dublin that I can. I have reservations there at Jacobs Inn (the hostel I stayed in when last in Dublin) for the remainder of my time in Ireland. Hoping to see more of Dublin without ice and snow and maybe take in some day tours out or something.
Goodbye Galway
I think I’ve done fairly well with my couch potato plans. I haven’t exactly been laying on a couch, but I’m also having an equally hard time coming up with what exactly I have been doing. I have wandered some and seen more of the city, more residential and commercial areas, nothing special but part of the local fabric.
I mailed a package home yesterday. I don’t know if this is true of all Irish post offices, but the one here does not take credit cards… Well, isn’t that nice… and of course I had hardly and cash on me… I can’t believe they let me leave the package there (already had postage on it when they figured this out) while I went and found an ATM. I also can’t believe they don’t take credit cards! Yikes!
I took in another movie yesterday. This time I tried Daybreakers, a vampire movie that I read was filmed two years ago. Don’t know why they hung onto it so long and then released it with no fanfare amidst the glut of vampire mania, but it’s actually a decent movie. Different plot from the general fare and a fairly unique ending. I would recommend it at matinée prices, but take that with the grain that I am not known for liking universally loved movies.
This evening, I wandered with the camera at dusk and stocked up on groceries for the next couple of days. I leave after breakfast tomorrow for a Connemara tour. I’ll have about half a day of touring and then spend two nights at a hostel in the midst of nowhere. Hence the need for some ready eat meals. There’s a village 3 miles away! I may walk there just to see it if the weather is good, which remains to be seen.
The weather her today is more towards the norm for here. Rainy and overcast but not nearly so cold. The ice in the canals and inner harbor is gone. The trees aren’t glistening with ice, the sidewalks aren’t slippery. It barely feels like the Galway I fell in love with anymore! Still, I am so glad I stayed here awhile. It was just what I was looking for.
Yet, I am also ready to move on as well. I’m ready to get back to Dublin and ready to move on for my short stay in Paris. I spent part of last night reading my wee guide to Paris. I’m looking forward to something new. I also, dare I say it, am looking forward to being that much closer to home. I love traveling. I don’t think that will ever change, but as I hit 3 weeks of living out of bags and moving around every few days, I’m discovering that the novelty is wearing on me at the moment. I’m sure a short time after being home I’ll want to plan somewhere anew, but right now, I’d welcome the recharge. If I wasn’t going home, I’d need to find somewhere I could recharge on the road, with a proper bed and bath, and all the trappings of home. As things stand, I know home is on the horizon and can enjoy this all the more knowing that.
Galway Potato
So, we’re working our way through day two of my planned couch potatoing.
Oh and yes, for those who didn’t see my post on Facebook, I am off the island at last! No disrespect for Inis Mor and the Aran Islands. I am sure they are a splendid place in the summer, spring, and fall probably, but in the winter, i spent too much time there. Especially that last marooned day! I think I also have a weird version of claustrophobia. it’s not fear of small places for me, but being trapped anywhere. Back when my home town had its flood many years past, the fact that the main roads were pretty much all washed out made me concerned even though I had probably spent MONTHS of my life there without leaving, never mind a few days! So, being trapped on an island was just… too much!
Anyway, yesterday, I wandered and wandered while I waited to be able to fully check into my room (I got here too soon). I found the section of Galway that is not so tourist, jammed with the irish version of American shopping malls, walkable, but very much built with the car in mind. I also found the movie theater! So, yesterday at 5pm, I was watching the new Sherlock Holmes film. I quite enjoyed! I’m not major Holmes fan. i have only a memory of reading one of the stories, The Hound of The Baskervilles, in school. So, bear that in mind with my saying it was a good film. It was funny, had a good pace that kept me awake (no mean feat yesterday), and i felt like the actors were really into their characters. So, there’s my take on it. That and apparently world over, movie theater popcorn is huge. I got a “regular” popcorn and a “regular” coke. I very well could have swam in the over-flowing TUB of popcorn that came across the counter. The coke, not as much as I would have liked.
After that, I spent the evening doing really thrilling things. Like what? Washing and folding laundry! I know. These are the types of edge of your seat stories that you come here for! Still, all told, it’s surprising (and, yes, lame) how much happiness you can get from a bag full of clean clothes! Never mind the joy of putting on clothes that aren’t “clean enough” in the morning.
This morning, I spent time going through my bags for my momentos and such from the trip. I have actually bought far less than on past trips, but it adds up no matter what you do. I bagged up everything and went out today and found an office supply store and got a box and packing tape. I haven’t mailed it yet, but tomorrow I’m mailing home some of my stuff along with a book I finished. Would that it was a week later so that I could also mail that honking big Ireland tour guide as well! But then I’d be wishing my trip away, eh?
This morning, I made the plans for the remainder of my time here. I’ll be in Galway until Sunday morning. I’m taking a tour of Connemara – lots of things on the tour. It can actually be completed in a day, but Sleepzone, the hostel I’m in here, has a hostel out there in this sleepy but beautiful place. I’m staying there two nights. Hopefully not a repeat of Inis Mor! Tuesday afternoon the bus will pick me up and I’ll finish the Connemara tour getting back into Galway late afternoon. And then hopping straight on to a bus for Dublin that night. Back to the Jacobs Inn for the rest of my time in Dublin, leaving from there for Paris. I will probably try to take a day tour out to Newgrange, one of the last places on my really wish to see list.
Today was to be day 2 of my Couch potato fest. And while it was very relaxing, there was very little couch. After I made my plans for the remainder of the trip, I read email for awhile and then wandered out to the Galway City Museum. I would have sworn to you that Lonely Planet said there was a fee for going there, but not so. Not a massive museum, but cool. There are displays on the history of the city, a large display on the traditional Irish boats – Currachs which means “skin boats.” Traditionally they were willow basket type affairs with animal skins wrapped around them. The lore is that they predate the Vikings and were the first boats that brought the ancient Irish to this land. According to the info. that accompanied it, they were originally used on the open sea as well before the vikings stamped them out. There was also a photo exhibition of a locally well known photographer. I had seen a few of his pieces here and there along the trip. He had some excellent stuff – sorry blanking on his name. The last exhibition was a changing exhibition, currently modern art… Some of it was beautiful and haunting, but all in all, I can’t help that I don’t always appreciate modern art. I still have respect for the work the artists put into it.
Afterwards a general wander. Another Mexican meal and then I checked out a book shop. Didn’t buy anything now but saw some books I may add to my Amazon wish list. There was one I was looking for that I’d heard about on the trip but couldn’t find. That one was added to my Amazon wish list! LOL
And thus my rampaging fest of fun goes on! I’m enjoying the down time. I may wander one more time with the camera here in Galway either Friday or Saturday (depending on which has the best light), but otherwise, I’m just being a bum here until I leave for Connemara. I’m hoping to get to do a little more camera wandering in Dublin when I get back since it was so cold and icy when I left. I haven’t looked at the weather recently but it’s much warmer here in the west than even last week when I first got here.
