The Emerald Isle-- Finally!

One of the high crosses we discovered on our travels through Ireland

We are all moved into our new apartment, and Mark is working on week two of classes.  I finally have time to relay some of our Irish tales.  We didn't encounter any leprechauns (although there is a newly opened leprechaun museum in Dublin, oddly enough), but Mark made lots of friends on our first night in the city (more about that later...).  The first thing you should know about our trip, is that for some reason it was IMPOSSIBLE to find decent accommodations in Dublin for the week we wanted to go.  We couldn't really figure out why, so we just assumed it was because we wanted to go during the last week of vacation in France and much of the rest of Europe.  So the options were to either pay 3,000 euro (at the low end) for the week and live in a luxurious hotel, or pay 128 euro and stay in a mixed dorm room of a hostel.  Considering our budget, it was Abraham's Hostel, here we come!  When we arrived, it became clear we were situated on the dodgy end of town, and it wasn't the cleanest facility you've ever seen, but I figured "hey-- we've never done this before, and you can't knock it until you've tried it!"  So we took our sets of sheets, and headed up, and up, and up, to the most dingy room on the top floor of the building (no elevator).  The key would not work in the door, so someone inside finally got tired of hearing us argue about who wasn't turning it right and jiggling the door knob, and let us in.  It was a semi-normal looking guy, so I figured our room mates couldn't be too bad.  We chose our beds and put our sheets on, and normal looking guy left, so then we discussed what to do with our stuff.  We could either leave our bags on our bed and hope nobody would steal anything, or pay a ridiculous price to lock everything up in a locker, which charges you by the hour.  We opted to have a little faith in our room mates, and left our things (nothing valuable; we took all the important and expensive items with us in a backpack).  We headed to the Temple Bar area for our first meal, and of course we had to eat in a pub to get the full Irish experience.  Temple Bar is like 6th Street in Austin with an Irish accent, and the people all seem a bit more friendly than in Austin.  Live music everywhere, lots of people walking between all the bars, pub food, drinks, etc.  Very lively atmosphere (see below).

We chose a place called the Auld Dubliner (of course!), and opted for the menu.  Mark ordered something that sounded traditional and Irish:  the coddle.  It was different kinds of sausages and meat in a soup, and he thought it tasted pretty good.  He also had the first Guinness of the trip (which was the preview picture at the end of our last blog).  After our meal, we walked around a bit more, and then headed back to the hostel for a fairly early night-- at least, we thought...  at about 3 a.m. (I'm guessing), Mark comes over to my bunk and says, "My stomach hurts really bad."  I asked if he thought he was sick, and he says "... Yeah," after a good long pause.  He then goes into the bathroom, and spends the better part of the night in there.  I won't go into details, but we'll just say that Revenge of the Coddle is not a pleasant experience, for anyone-- neither the one consumed with the sickness, nor the 7 roommates bunking with him.  About 4 of our "roomies" came in about 30 minutes into Mark's occupation of the bathroom, and once they figured out what was happening, (it didn't take long; the hostel walls were very thin), they then debated about how to find another bathroom to use.  It got really quiet after awhile, and I thought I was going to have to break into the bathroom and figure out how to get Mark to a hospital in the middle of the night in a strange city, but he finally came out.  He approached my bed once more, and said, "Umm... the toilet won't flush."  So, yeah!  That was our first experience in Dublin!!  I'll spare you the rest of the details, but can you imagine what this story sounds like from the perspective of one of the stranger roommates??  I kind of think it would be worse if I didn't know Mark.  The poor soul; something always happens to him!  We were fairly low on energy the next day, but he wasn't sick for the rest of the trip.

I will share most of the remainder of our vist through photos, as they are much more interesting than my discourse.  I will say that having tried the shared dorm hostel experience, those of you that never have, you aren't missing a thing.

Trinity College in Dublin, where we got to see the Book of Kells!!

St. Stephen's Green, one of the beautiful public parks in Dublin.  We managed to get some photos on one of the rare sunny days while we were there.

Christ Church Cathedral

The Treasury of Christ Church Cathedral, where they happened to have costumes from the HBO series The Tudors on display.

The crypt of Christ Church Cathedral contains these famous mummified cat and mouse corpses.  Apparently they were found together stuck in an organ pipe, presumably one chasing the other.  Dubliners have nicknamed them Tom and Jerry-- what else would you call them?!?

Kilmainham Gaol.  The history surrounding the Easter Rising is encapsulated in this building.  It was one of the most interesting tours we went on in Dublin.

Photos of Mark inside one of the jail cells.  The pictures are taken through the cell door.

Dublin has the most fantastic Georgian homes, and I loved all the beautiful doorways!  This one is apparently the most photographed doorway in the city (sorry the photo is so poor; we were on a night tour when this was taken!!)

Oscar Wilde relaxes on this rock, gazing over at his old home in Merrion Square.

Merrion Square, another beautiful public park in Dublin

These are fairly self-explanatory-- join us on our tour of the Guinness factory!!

Don't know if you can see it, but that is a combine cutting the barley on the screen behind me!!  Man I miss those days...

He's so excited!!

I actually don't love Guinness this much; I couldn't even make it through my free glass all the way.

The expert, pouring the perfect pint of Guinness-- he's concentrating so hard!!

Yay!  Now we just have to wait for it to settle...

Almost there...

Finishing her off...

Et voila!!  The perfect pint, ladies and gentlemen.  I'm not sure why Mark has that insane, creepy look on his face, but he was pretty happy to get his little certificate as a souvenir of the Guinness experience, as you can see below.

Rather than pour my own, I opted to head up to the Gravity Bar at the very top of the building for my pint, so we could check out the gorgeous view of the city.

I drank about half of that, and went from a thumbs up to a "here you go, Mark."  I just can't do dark beer!  The tour was fun, though.

We also toured the Jameson Whiskey Distillery.  Mark was elected a special taster, so here he is preparing to try different blends.  In retrospect, we did both alcohol tours on the same day.  That was a risky decision, considering Mark's track record...

We met up with our wonderful Irish friend Peter in Dublin, and got to meet his beautiful, kind girlfriend Katie.  We wish we could have spent more time with them!  Peter is a friend from my language training days back in Tours, when I had the Rotary scholarship in 2008.  Notice Mark's shirt:  He is sporting a Texas Ranger's t-shirt around Dublin, and while we were at this bar, I overheard someone say to him, in a rather defiant voice, "You have a Texas shirt on.  Why?"  My hair immediately began to stand up, as I prepared for Mark to get into a late night bar fight, as he replied, "Because I'm from there-- why do you ask?"  The group of people around the guy started cheering after Mark's reply (much to my relief!), as they were also from Texas, and were in Ireland for a wedding.  Such a strange meeting, as this bar was far away from the tourist areas, no where near Temple Bar.  While things worked out that night, I am hoping Mark will reserve sporting the Texas t-shirt attire for lounging around the apartment in the future...

We visited many ancient sites on our Celtic Tour of the Boyne Valley, and this is Mark posing on the Hill of Tara. 

 The Hill of Tara is a location where Neolithic Peoples would have flocked during important religious and burial ceremonies. The hill (there are many different sites/hills in the area) dates from 3000 B.C. as a place held sacred by ancient inhabitants of this region. The dating of sites begins at 3000 B.C., which would predate the pyramid's of Giza in Egypt. Like other structures that are this aged, one would have to employ a pretty good imagination to really understand what it would have looked like 3000 years before the wise men journeyed to the manger. Despite the huge difference of time between us and them, there are modern principles displayed in their construction techniques. The people who constructed the burial/religious hills were master stone masons. These mounds where constructed with rock and are still waterproof to this day. At certain sites, the stones were aligned to receive a special transformation of light on the equinox and solstice times of the year. Along many of the passageways and entrances to the mounds, there were great examples of stone art that the ancients carved meticulously into the stone. For more detailed information on the various sites and histories see this site: http://www.knowth.com/tara.htm

Another stop on our Celtic tour.  Our guide told us it was a short hike to get to this place, and we ended up climbing a mountain!  It was worth it though, especially for the view.

It was FREEZING and extremely windy on top of that mountain!  And so beautiful; hard to capture in a photo.

We had to include this photo of Slane Castle for all the rockers reading this (ahem, Dr. Vandehey, ahem!).  This castle was inherited by a man who did not have enough money to fix it up, so he decided to hold a rock concert there to raise money for renovations.  It was the debut of U2's career, and he has been inviting bands to rock out ever since.  A few of the more famous concerts have been The Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Queen, Foo Fighters, REM, Bob Dylan-- you get the picture.  And for those of you who have ever seen that Celtic Woman ad on PBS (the KERA station in Wichita Falls) with scenes from one of their concerts, well, that was also filmed here.  Mark gets sucked into that ad every time it is on, and he ends up watching the whole thing.  Not sure how he'll feel about me sharing that about him, but she who writes the blog decides what to say!  How cool would it be to attend a rock concert in a castle??

The three photos above are from our favorite stop on a tour to Kilkenny and the Wicklow Valley.  They are from a little village in the Wicklow Valley, and I wanted to stay there instead of returning to France!

The view here was spectacular, and not possible to capture, obviously.  This is the site where the cover image for Braveheart was shot.  We visited several famous sites from scenes in the film-- yes, it was filmed entirely in Ireland, even though it is a Scottish tale.

We found a Paris, Texas shop in Kilkenny, Ireland--had to share it with you!

Another Celtic site, this time on the way to Belfast.  This is a megalith, built with techniques similar to those used for Stonehenge.  No one knows for sure who or how these were built, but they are thought to be sites that are important to the Pagan religion of the Celtic peoples.  Mark thinks they were built by giants.  At any rate, we had several little Japanese girls with us on this tour, and our guide told them that if they toss a small stone and it lands on top of the big rock on top, they will find true love within a year (see all the little stones on top?  Apparently others had been searching for their loves well before we arrived).  We then watched the grand spectacle of each Japanese girl tossing a stone, and then squealing with delight if it landed, or squealing with sadness if it rolled off.  They would have stayed there and continued to throw rocks up all day if our guide would have let them.  Those girls were so much fun to have on our trip!

Mark is standing in front of a famous wall in Belfast which separates the Catholic community from the Protestant community.  There are still occasionally riots in Belfast, but the two groups co-exist peacefully now, for the most part. There is still a strong difference between those who wish to be a part of Great Britain, and those who wish to be an independent republic-- you can tell how a certain group feels by which flag is flying in a particular part of the city.

That giant hole is where they built the Titanic in Belfast-- pretty impressive.

The two photos above are from our delicious meal in the beautiful Crown Bar in Belfast.  We shared the beef and Guinness, and it was delicious!  Hard to tell here, but that is a scrumptious puffed pastry cooked over a dish of beef slow cooked in Guinness.

This is a wall from one of the monasteries we visited (also a cemetery), called the Jumping Church.  The wall has moved about 3 feet from its original foundation, and legend has it that someone who had been excommunicated from the Catholic Church was buried within the wall of the church, which is against Catholic dogma.  So, the wall reportedly jumped inwards to prevent the body from lying within its confines.  Irish legends are the best!




  And that completes this small snapshot of our trip to the homeland!  I loved it so much there; we definitely have to go back someday.  I would love to spend more time in the countryside, maybe in a little B&B somewhere, now that we have pretty much exhausted the sites in Dublin.  Oh yeah, we did finally figure out what was going on in Dublin that week-- apparently there was this American football game, Navy versus Notre Dame, that was being played there, and a small crowd of 30,000 Americans were in town for the game.  That's right, folks, 30,000!!  They took all the good hotel rooms, and they weren't even there to see the country.  Sigh...  Talk about bad timing on our end.  

This post sums up Ireland, but much more has happened since then, so we'll post again in a few days.  Of course, we visited many other sites in and out of Dublin City, but it is simply impossible to share everything.  I'll end by saying that it felt like home, and I will never forget the wonderful smell of the Long Room in the Trinity College Library-- I wish I could bottle the smell of those old books and carry the comfort of that room with me always.

Summer's end in style and the rolling greens of the emerald isle

Here is a photo of us standing in front of Lake Annecy. 

Apologies first, for taking so long to post-- we have been busy living life here!!  This post is a joint effort between Julie and Mark, so excuse us for switching between our two voices.  Our latest adventures include a visit to the magical village of Annecy, a tour of Fourvière Hill here in Lyon, and a week-long voyage to Ireland.  So, sit back with a nice cup of coffee or hot tea, maybe some Irish toffees or cookies if you need a snack, and settle in for a nice long read.  Hopefully you'll enjoy reliving our travels, as we'll do our best to capture some of what we have experienced lately.

Annecy:

We spent most of the day walking around the village, eating delicious French/Swiss food-- Mark and I had this delicious platter of assorted lunchmeat, potatoes, salad and bread served alongside this pot of melted cheese that you spoon on top of everything.  It was so good!!  Annecy is famous for its beautiful lake, surrounded by the mountains.  We took a video from our train tour for you:

I am sure the video does not do the scenery justice, as it was so beautiful that it gave one the sensation of being inside a postcard image.  It was a very warm day, and despite wading in the lake, and putting on a bit of sunscreen before departing, I was very red after our visit (I'm sure you all know who has been typing so far after that statement!).  Side note about the train ride, and a small snippet of a Mark story-- the train goes all the way to this little park on the opposite end of the lake.  You have the option of getting off and staying in the park, or riding back to the village.  We of course planned to stay on the train, as it would be a very long walk back.  Mark decides that he has time to take a photo of a beautiful palace on the other side of the park, so he jumps off the train, runs across the park, and is in the middle of taking a photo when the train takes off!  I yell at him, and he begins to run back towards the train as we gain speed.  So I had the pleasure of getting to shout "Attendez!  Attendez!  Monsieur, attendez s'il vous plait!"; sounding like a complete idiot, while Mark runs frantically alongside the train and tries to jump in, unsuccessfully, while we are moving. Part of the problem may have been that I was seated on the side of the train that Mark was running along, so he couldn't very well jump in over me.  The driver finally sees me shouting and waving my arms; again, like a crazy woman, and he stops the train suddenly, jerking all the passengers forward.  Mark jumps into our car, and his classmates enjoy a great laugh over the whole experience.  Fortunately, no one was injured in this little escapade.

Here are a few photos of the rest of the village:

Mark and I wading in the lake!!  Luckily, speedos were not a requirement in the wading pool...

We are standing in front of the "Palace on the island"

The city is situated on canals, so the clear lake water runs all though the village.

These are Mark's classmates!  I promise he really does go to class.  I tried to make him be in the picture, but he refused, so you get to see the beginnings of my sunburn instead.

Another view of the Palace.

Mark was playing King of the Rocks.

 
Fourvière Hill:

The hill that prays. There are two hills here in Lyon: Croix-Rousse and Fourvière. The Croix-Rousse is the hill that works, named aptly for all of the silk workshops that made Lyon a major trading network hub mentioned in a previous post, and Fourvière, named for the magnificent cathedral that sits atop the hill. There is also a tiny replica of the Eiffel Tower (3rd floor copy of it's Parisian counterpart) standing adjacent to the basilica. This structure would be the bourgeois testament that reason and  liberty reigns supreme over the influence of organized religion and that the age of the church's dominance remains in the early 15th century and before. In my opinion, the twisted steel is nothing but an eyesore that should be melted down and turned into something less spartan and more culturally inspirational. Reason and liberty have their place, but the idea shall not be contained in some copy of a larger television tower. What this tower represents and its purpose seem, to me, to be two completely separate things. "This tower stands for reason and liberty, and it will be used to combine individual thought and expression into a standardized form by way of exposure to Jersey Shore and Snooki to the masses!"  (note from Julie:  I LOVE the mini-Eiffel tower!!)

Anywho, ramble over (obviously the product of Mark now). We toured around the hill that prays and saw some amazing stone work aqueducts that were created by the Romans shortly after the city was founded by one of Caesar's lieutenants around the time ole' Julius made his trip to the rotunda (44 B.C.). There was also a wonderfully preserved Roman amphitheater that is said to have housed a number of events including elections, public speeches, gladiator fights, and markets. Today, the space is used for outdoor concerts and plays with the aid of electric light and nothing but a sweet sound system. I'm sure the Romans would have loved to hear Alter Bridge at 140 decibels! The Roman roads are still intact and our guide even showed us the stones that were slick due to so much foot traffic over the centuries. There was also a path and indentations in these stones along the road where mainly cats (dogs, beasts of burden, and the like) that accompanied the various nations that have occupied the hill since Rome fell. Realizing that emperors, kings, apostles, and disciples of Christ have walked the very same road and maybe the very same path as we did is worth the time and money spent to get here tenfold.

Roman amphitheater

As we followed the path down the hill we walked through various gardens and pathways that are very important to the Lyonnaise religious community. There was a special path that connected the cathedral atop the hill with one of the oldest churches in the region at the bottom of the hill (St. John). Also dotted along the landscape, there are houses that date back to the middle ages. The urbanization and growth of the homes and workshops have condensed the real estate layout considerably, but it's not hard to imagine why the bubonic plague spread so quickly in this area during the 14th century. By the end of the trek around the hill, we were hot and tired. It's a good thing that the nights were getting a little cooler as the month went on, and the rains had increased in frequency. A few moments during the cool days when the wind would greet you with a sudden quickening, you could certainly feel the air flirting with the arrival of autumn. It's is this very feeling; (you know, during the long months of the Texas summer when you almost forget what it feels like to have an authentic chill) the coming of the fall, that I have loved since I can remember.

This is a sculpture of the two rivers running through Lyon.

View from on top of the hill.

Part of the amphitheater.

Mark presents the cathedral.

Closure of Language School:

After our various tours around Lyon and getting to know my language teacher and classmates, my short three week language training came to an end. Our group, while small and unlikely, managed to have quite a cohesiveness despite each of us coming from a different spoke on the wheel of the world. We spoke French in and outside of class to better learn the language and to keep our patrons at the school happy. In our group, the following nationalities were represented: Spanish-German, Italian-German, Flemish-Brazilian, Japanese, and of course Texan! I wonder what my grandfather would have thought in 1945 of his grandson in the near future sitting at a table sharing drinks and stories with two Germans and a Japanese guy? I would like to think that this is the hope for peace that so many of the WWII generation wished and fought for; in this thought, I would like to thank those who had enough wisdom and forethought for the future generations to share a well-earned peace. On the last day of class, we all went out for a parting drink, and as we said our au revoir's, a bientots, and goodbyes, the sky opened. The rain came down in sheets and left nothing untouched in the city. By the time we got back to Dorothea's house, we were one with the water. I felt as though the initiation of coming back to France was over and we were now being washed clean of the language troubles of the past month. Newly baptized into the French language, we entered the house and began to explain the significance of the word bittersweet (doux-amère) in saying goodbye to one chapter and starting another.

Ireland:

Sorry to disappoint those of you who really sat back with Irish toffees, but we are going to insert a bit of cliffhanger ending here.  This post is already way too long, and those of you who are reading on the job, you should probably get back to work!  We'll post about Ireland soon.  Here's a photo teaser for you:

To be continued...