The Good Life: Aran Islands

The last couple of days have been downright delightful. I gladly left Dublin on a bus headed west to Galway on yet another sunny day! (It has not rained one drop since I arrived in Ireland. Lucky, I'm told) Galway itself was a cute town. Very touristy. It sortof reminded me of an Irish version of Rockport or something. Lots of little shops and cafes, lots of street musicians playing all kinds of Irish music, my favorite being a girl playing beautiful music on her harp. I was only in Galway for half a day really before getting up early to catch a ferry out to Inis Mor, the largest of the three Aran Islands. The ferry ride was about an hour long and very very windy. I see that being a fisherman in these parts, which there are plenty of, would take some tenacity. I checked into my hostel and rented a bicycle to take a look around the island. SO BEAUTIFUL!!! There are only about 600 people who live on this island which is just a little smaller than Manhattan (10 miles long by 2 across). They all speak Gaelic and live a very traditional lifestyle. Lots of the houses are the old fashioned cob plaster with thatched roofs and there are stone walls absolutely EVERYWHERE!! I biked all day, from one end of the island to the other and then back again with a few excursions on some narrow lanes used to bring cows and horses to their pastures. There are some cars here but some of the natives still get around on horse drawn carts. It's seriously like stepping back in time. It's easy to imagine what life would have been like out here a hundred years ago. I went to a world heritage site called Dun Aonghasa which was a huge iron age fort built on the highest ground of the island. All that remanis of it is a stone circle which was at one time the base of an enormous dome shaped fortress. This was built on the very edge of a huge cliff, probably 500 feet tall, plumiting straight down to the sea. Just incredible. Today I woke up early to the sound of gulls outside my window. I ate toast and tea for breakfast out on the deck of the hostel, looking out over the pier. I'm sunburned and hoping that the clouds will stick around today. I surely did not think I'd need to bring sunscreen to Ireland! I'm going to put on my walking shoes and venture out into some of the areas that I could not go yesterday with my bicycle. It's so nice to be out of the city and in such a peaceful and serene place. The sea air is wonderful and the slow pace of life here is refreshing. Two more days and I'll be on the farm. I'm anxious to meet the people I'll be staying with for September but I'm sure it will all be great. I definetly look forward to not moving around quite so much and not having to pack up all my stuff every couple of days. I'll write again once I'm settled down there. Love to you all!!!

Dublin Schmublin

Today has been a long day. Started out well with a sunny day at last. I ate a breakfast of coffee and raspberries, bid fare well to my London hostel mates, and was on my way. For the record, London was wonderful and I had a great three days walking around and meeting really great people nearly everywhere I went. So... today was a day of transport and little else. A subway to a shuttle to the airport. The flight was only an hour but seriously, that hour was the most intense stereophonic surround sound screaming baby hour I've ever had in my life. Luckily I was in good enough spirits to laugh it off and feel good about having my ipod on hand to block it out as much as was possible. I was also lucky to have a window seat so that I could just stare out at the beautiful patchwork of England's landscape. Once on the ground again I made up an elaborate story of how I know my "friends" in Ireland for the customs officer and was pleased that he believed me and let me into the country. I felt like such a bandita. Once out of the airport I got onto yet another bus which brought me into the center of Dublin where I was promptly completely lost. I wandered into some shop and asked the man at the desk how to get to my hostel and he was kind enough to escort me half way and pointed me in the right direction, which was exceedingly kind of him. I was so relieved to arrive at the hostel where I would finally get to put down my pack and take a hot shower and lie down to read my book. However, this is far from the reality of the situation. I opened the door to my room to find nine half naked Irish dudes simultaneously turn to see who was coming though their door. They were polite enough and said hello, but I got the impression that they were all friends who had come to the city together and were not there as travellers per se. They were all getting ready for a night on the town and their disgusting cologne mixed oh-so-nicely with the inevitable boy stink body odor. mmmm..... Anyhow, I basically just said hello, dropped my pack, and decided to head out and take a look around. My initial impression is that Dublin is a sortof depressed city. It looks quite industrial, with brick row-houses and pub upon pub upon pub. I haven't seen much yet, though, and because I didn't arrive until past 8:00, darkness fell quickly and I didn't get to wander far. I'm glad I'm only staying here two nights and then will be on to greener pastures. I'm needing some country air just about now. So, all in all, I'm having a great time so far, and I figure that days like today are just little trials to persevere through. I remind myself in less than ideal situations that I just have to roll with the punches and everything's going to be just fine. Much love to everyone back home. Till next time....

London!!!

Oddly enough, I find myself sitting in a shopping mall right now... the last place I'd expect to be on my first day in London. I arrived at about 7:3o a.m. and miraculously found my way from the airport to the area of town where my hostel is located via the underground (thank god for friendly subway employees who guided me on my way!). It's raining steadily outside, as it should be, this being London and all... (thank god, also, for wonderful brothers who give their little sisters things like rain jackets and waterproof backpack covers - Bless you, Si!!). After about an hour on the subway, which was SO much cleaner, better smelling, more punctual, and less full of crazy people than any of the NYC ones, I arrived in Bayswater and found the street that my hostel is on. Because it was still so early I decided to find a semi-dry spot in Kennsington Gardens, which is right down the street from the Hostel, to collect my thoughts and eat the rest of the grapes I had bought at JFK before my flight (this totally reminds me of the first "meal" Kate and I ate in Spain all those years ago). I nearly got hit by a double decker bus because being in my exhausted and semi awe-struck state, I forgot completely that they drive on the opposite side of the street here (duh...). I pulled up a seat under a tree and ate my grapes and watched people playing with their dogs. I wanted to take a nap but figured it wouldn't be good to get in trouble for being asleep under a tree in the park in the first hours of my visit here. Instead, I headed for the hostel, where they let me drop off my backpack early, and headed out again to wander around and see what there is to see in my neighborhood. I sat in a cafe and drank a four dollar cup of coffee (!!!!) and wrote in my journal for a while and now, here I am in this totally American-esque shopping mall writing this so that everyone out there will know I'm alive and I'm ok. So far (that is, about 7 hours into my first day of a three month trip), I'm totally happy to be on my own in a foreign place. I'm excited to see what this journey brings me.

blog virgin

Ok...so.... This seems a bit like a one way conversation to me. Kindof self-indulgent feeling. The objective of my setting up this blog is to keep my friends and family posted as to my whereabouts while I'm off traveling during the next year and beyond. Right now I'm still in Shelburne, trying to justify the fact that I'm not working by telling myself that there's plenty of time for work, and even though it doesn't feel like it right now, my time wasteage opportunities are about to expire. I'm in a state of semi-denial about the fact that I'm leaving in 16 days, not because I dont want to go... just because I'm not really looking forward to the packing/going crazy trying to wrap up loose ends part of departure. Instead of doing what I'm supposed to be doing (i.e. packing, visiting friends, cleaning, etc.) I've been spending impressive amounts of time watching bees pollinate flowers in my back yard. Sounds strange, but when you really watch them up close, it gives you a real respect for how amazing bees are. It did for me, at least. Anyhow, I'm going to stop writing because this is already starting to be embarrasing. It's easy to just spew stupid crap when there's no face in front of you pleading for you to just stop rambling and get to the point. The point is, I'll be posting stories/observations/ramblings on this page for whoever is interested in reading it, so keep checking back now and then.