The second leg of our trip began on Monday, March 27th, as Anya and I took the short hop over to Dublin. As we boarded the plane, I knew things were going to work out for a fairly nice flight. For the first time in a long time (and I think only the second time in my life), I had an entire row of three seats to myself. Our captain came over the intercom to introduce himself, and the first words out of his mouth were, "My name is Patrick Murphy and I'm your captain today. Our flight time will be 1 hour and 9 minutes...". I was sold on Aer Lingus. The stewardesses came through the cabin with beverages and duty free items, and just as I decided to put in my headphones (and, as Anya pointed out, just as some people were getting their coffee), we began our descent. Sinead and her mother, Maeve, met us at the airport (we were shocked, flattered, and eternally grateful for the ride), we made a quick pitstop to pick up Sinead's brother, Colm, and were ferried home to a warm welcome and the first of many absolutely delicious meals we would have over the course of our stay.
Our first delightful Gleeson meal was vegetable soup and homemade bread courtesy of Sinead's father, Tony. Usually when I think vegetable soup, I think a clear-ish broth with chunks of veggies...healthful--sure, tasty--maybe, inspired--not often. But this was an entirely different entity. We were presented with a steaming bowl of pureed soup--think like the typical squash variety--that we couldn't consume fast enough. It had never occurred to me to take the standard recipe and puree it, but it made an enormous difference. Top that off with fresh bread (I'm pretty sure Tony makes at least one, if not two loaves a day...there is always some dough rising in the mixing bowl, as far as I could tell) and tea and we were the happiest of campers. This wasn't dinner, though, not by a long shot. After our late lunch and some wonderful lying around, we were treated to another delicious meal, this time Tony's beef and Guinness pie. But this wasn't just any pie---we each had our own individually baked serving, ensconced in homemade crust and served in small casserole dishes and customized to our specifications. He came in while we were chatting in the living room to ask us whether or not we wanted potatoes; Sinead claimed it soaked up too much of the sauce, but I went for, "just a few," anyway, and was not disappointed! Anya even had her own vegetarian pie, complete with onion gravy. This is a creation that I'm going to have to learn to make myself when I get back home and move into a real kitchen, because it was utterly outstanding. Stuffed with pie and several servings of Bulmer's cider (you can buy this as Magner's in the States, and I highly recommend that you do so), we headed off to laze around some more and get some sleep.
Here we all our with our Bulmer's and our pies!
The next morning we made our way into Dublin on the Luas (the abvoe-ground train system) for a free tour that we'd found online.
Sandeman's is the parent company that runs them, and the tours are the New Europe Tours. They're offered in several cities, and I cannot recommend them enough! Our guide took us all over Dublin, and presented what was essentially the entire history of the city (and of Ireland, in general, as it related) up until the present day. There was so much information I had never heard before, and he presented all of it with real enthusiasm which was, needless to say, very engaging. We spent a little longer walking around than he usually would (a good three and a half hours) because everyone was enjoying themselves so much, and we were fairly exhausted by the end. Here are some photos from the tour!
The castle and the attached Chapel Royal
More of the castle from the back
The scales of justice which sit atop the gate leading into the castle courtyard were, for a long time, never even. One scale rests under her arm, and the other is unprotected, causing rain to collect in one and create an imbalance. Small holes have since been drilled in bottom to correct the rather unfortunate issue!
Inside the castle courtyard
Inside the Chapel Royal, which apparently, if I'm remember our tour guide's words correctly, gets used in the Tudors? I haven't noticed this yet, but there are a bunch of dates on the wooden designs around the second level that are highly anachronistic for the series...must pay better attention next time!
Looking at the historic Liberties
At Trinity College, academic home of Sinead and Ivor
Loved the architecture
U2's hotel
The Millennium Spire
Christ Church Cathedral
The next day, we hopped a bus (well, several buses) to Kilkee, a small resort town on the western coast of Co. Clare where Sinead's family owns a holiday apartment. We lucked out, in that the weather while we were there was absolutely beautiful, and while the town is definitely not abuzz in the early spring, there was still plenty to do, see, and of course, eat!
On our first morning in Kilkee, we took a lengthy walk around the cliffs to admire the ocean and enjoy the weather. It must have been about 70 degrees by the time we'd been out for an hour or so!
Approaching the beach from town
The cliffs to the North
Looking back toward the town--we walked along the southern cliffs
There are lots of lovely houses all along this part of the cliff line as you leave town
A statue of Richard Harris, Kilkee tennis star (and, you know, famous actor)
More of the cliffs
Yes, I took a million photos. Sue me.
Anya and Sinead enjoying the sea breeze
Some sort of ruins of what seemed to be a cottage on a chunk of land that is now separated from the mainland. I was so curious what they where and when they had been built, but to my dismay there was no plaque or other information provided anywhere close by.
Coming back into town and the beach, where someone was training/exercising a horse...?
We ended our long day with a pint of Guinness at the pub, and then headed over for some delicious dinner at a restaurant across the street. I had fish and chips, freshly caught from a nearby town (the fish, not the potatoes), and my first ever mushy peas--very tasty!
The next morning we made ourselves some delicious Irish breakfast and hopped onto yet another several buses to make our way to Galway! It's safe to say Anya and I are now both experts with English trains, the Dublin Luas, and the Irish bus system! After not too many hours, we reached our destination and checked into our (excellent) hostel. A kitchen for guests to use, fridge storage for food, and free wifi? Yes please. We explored the area immediately surrounding our hostel, had a tasty bite to eat, procured some dinner groceries, and just had a nice walk around to flesh out our options for the next morning.
Not just in Bath, the Griffin's are in Galways, too! We had some scrumptious desserts here the next day...
Walking down to the sea
At the Spanish Gate
On the waterfront in the evening
Just beautiful!
Sunset over the southern half of the city
We set out the next morning with the intention of exploring the university and a bit of the southern half of the city, as well as finding a pub where we could hear some traditional Irish music. Here are some photos from our walk:
Crossing the bridge to the South
Fancy new marine sciences building at the university
Inside the cathedral
The chili-covered baked potato I had for lunch. We stopped at a GREAT baked potato restaurant.
Stopping into the pub around the corner from the hostel for some pre-dinner Guinness and Bulmer's
After making our own dinner in the hostel kitchen, we headed out to try to find some trad music. The first bar we tried was very crowded, and though it had some great music, it wasn't what Sinead wanted for us, so we moved on. The second bar, however, was a much better find, and we squeezed ourselves into the small room on the second floor to listen to a group of musicians essentially jamming together around one long table. They would periodically take breaks for beer, swap out instruments, and invite people in the audience who happened to be musicians to play with them. It was an absolutely fabulous experience, and I only wished we could have stayed longer, but we were just exhausted and headed out after about an hour. I got a brief video of the players that will hopefully give a good idea of the feeling:
The following morning, we visited the
Galway City Museum, which not only had a very interesting exhibit on the history of Galway, but also some great artifacts, art exhibits, and more specific installations; Ireland in the wars and the history of the film industry, for example. We had a great time, and made it out just in time to grab some lunch before our date at the pub for the Ireland vs. France rugby match! We arrived early enough to get some beverages and stake out a favorable table, and it was good we did, because the place got very full! The following sign was put up under the tv's, so I strategically waited to order my Guinness until Ireland had scored two tries (goals)! In case it's a little small, it reads, "The Skeff Bar: Dropping the price of a Ping of Guinnes/Bulmer's/Bud/Carlsberg by 50 cents with every Irish try!!!! For the duration of the match. This is Rugby Country.
Awaiting the beginning of the match
This was the first full rugby match I'd ever seen, and to be honest, my first time actually paying attention to the sport. I found it so much more entertaining than American Football! For one, there are virtually no pads involved, and certainly no helmets, so you feel you can really see the players and follow what exactly they're doing. The game also doesn't stop with the same frequency as it does in American Football, which I think makes things much more exciting. Things were very tooth and nail for a while at the end, and Ireland and France ended up tying. Seeing as things were extremely close at the end, I think all of the fans were fairly satisfied with the outcome. Better than a loss! After the match, we hopped on our final bus of the trip and headed back to Dublin, where, of course, more delicious food awaited us!
We spent our final two days in Ireland doing some more Dublin exploring, eating Tony and Maeve's delicious food, and taking in a little culture. My favorite evening was spent at an event called Ruby Sessions, which hosts up and coming musicians in sort of a parlor-style bar on the second floor of an old pub in the city. We had some dinner at a place called Captain America's and then headed over to find seats on a cozy couch and grab some drinks for the show. Wonderful music.
Our first big 'last hurrah' excursion was a trip out to see the Hill of Tara and Newgrange, two historically and archaeologically significant sites that are well worth seeing if you find yourself in Ireland and have the time. We went on a
day tour that was actually recommended on the Newgrange website, and it was an excellent choice on our part (and an excellent recommendation on theirs). Our tour guide was an extremely knowledgeable, enthusiastic woman who greeted us as we boarded the large coach bus and asked us all about our studies. She then proceeded to give us an even more in-depth history of Ireland and the surrounding area, with particular emphasis on the Battle of the Boyne (since we were driving along the river) and the Hill of Tara as we approached the site. I think she talked for essentially the entire time on the bus, but it was all extremely interesting. And in fairness, she warned everyone before we set off that if they found history dull, it wasn't too late to back out!
Our first stop, the Hill of Tara, has held great significance for different reasons throughout Irish history. Firstly, as Sinead very aptly explained to us, Ireland is shaped sort of like a bowl (not the roundness, but the elevation pattern is similar, at least), and the Hill of Tara is somewhat at the center. This means, on a clear day, you can see a very good portion of the country if your eyes are good enough (or, you know, you have some kind of binoculars). There are a number of earthworks on the site, as well as a Neolithic passage tomb (dating to around 3,400 BCE), and presumably the site was considered sacred, or at least of great importance for cult purposes, at the point at which they were constructed. Later, it was the seat of Irish kings and saw its heyday for that purpose through sometime in the 6th century CE. Since then, however, it has still been a very powerful place associated with kingship and rulers, and it was also the site of some important revolutionary activity later on in the 18th and 19th centuries. For our touristy purposes, it provides a stunning view and a nice place to saunter around and take photographs. Win-win!
St. Patrick, bringer of Christianity to Ireland and the man who bestowed significance on the shamrock.
Some of the signage was a little unclear, but I believe this is the 'Mound of the Hostages', also known as a small passage tomb. It was having some work done, and I wished the people doing it had actually been around. Alas...
I tried to get a picture of some of the earthworks...I wish she'd discussed them, but I didn't get a chance to ask and the information provided at the site could have been a little more in-depth. And I was too cheap to buy a book in the visitor's center.
Some more earthworks and part of the splendid, 360 degree view
And here we are on the Hill of Tara itself, bundled up like snowmen against the wind. Also my rain jacket sleeves are decidedly too short (I swear I think my arms grew), so I look like a preschooler.
After a half an hour of meandering around the hill and various mounds (of which there were several), we headed back to the bus and moved on to Newgrange. It was really well worth it to do this with a tour group, because our entry fees were taken care of, and we didn't have to deal with any of the logistics once we were there--we just did what we were told. The site, for preservation purposes, is actually somewhat tricky to get into now. I mean, you can certainly do it, but you have carefully-orchestrated tour times and have to board a bus to get from the visitors center to the tomb area...mostly because they're trying to keep throngs and throngs of people off the premises at any given time. The visitors center was outstanding, however; I was really impressed with how well done it was. It provided not only an overview of Neolithic life in the area, but dioramas, both life-sized and miniature, depicting some of the things discussed as well as a history of the couple who were in charge of excavations there. Newgrange itself is another Neolithic passage tomb that dates to about 3,200 BCE, though it's MUCH larger than the Mound of the Hostages on the Hill of Tara. On the morning of the Winter Solstice, for just over 15 minutes, light shines directly into the passage (which slopes uphill) and illuminates the chamber. You can enter a lottery (they can get about 20 people in there at once, but it's very cramped), or you can go on the tour and they re-enact it for you with either a lighting system or a powerful flashlight...couldn't quite tell. In any case, it was beautiful to behold. The mound was fairly grown over when it was discovered (I believe in the early 20th century), and so the large part of the facade has been reconstructed based on the lead archaeologist's interpretation. 100% accurate? Not necessarily. But archaeology is an inherently uncertain thing. And before I go off on that, here are some photos!
The diorama of an archaeological site in the museum. On the info board to the right, there are numbers on a diagram pointing out things like 'trowel', 'excavation notes', etc. It's so glamorous.
Crossing the River Boyne to go to the small bus to take us the five-ish minutes to the site. These cows could be doing the exact same thing as their neolithic ancestors...
Newgrange
Newgrange closer up
There are some other interesting, marked postholes around the site from various other structures, but they don't get much attention from the tourists...too bad, really.
This is essentially what it looks like all the way around at the base, and most of these stones bear very interesting carvings
The entrance
The entrance stone--such cool neolithic art here
Here's an interesting map of the Boyne Valley...there are two other sizable neolithic passage tombs, but only one has been fully excavated, and Newgrange is the one that's really been set up for tourist visitation in terms of restoration, a visitors center, etc.
On our final day, we headed into Dublin to visit the Guinness Storehouse--a noble destination indeed! This place was VERY cool. The entrance fee was about 12 Euro for students, but this includes a taste of the beer about halfway through, and then a free pint in the Infinity Bar at the very top of the building at the end, which provides an exceptional view of the city. You enter on ground level, and are taken through all of the different ingredients (well, "all"... there aren't many--it's very simple) that go into Guinness. They're actually there, so, for example, you can walk around what is essentially an enormous sandbox full of barley and cases full of hops plants. Way cool. Then you're taken through a set-up that explains the history of the company, its development of its major beer varieties, of which there are currently three. Import, Draft, and Stout. There are many floors with areas for vintage ads (you can even watch old ones on tv), tasting, history of transportation, etc. It was extremely well-designed, and entirely worth the entrance fee. It really felt like they put in a lot of effort to make it both highly informative and a very cool, fully-sensory experience...no corners were cut with this one.
Behind the waterfall. Water being a key ingredient, of course.
The enormous cask we sat in to watch a video about the different Guinness varieties.
Part of the section on barrel making
One of my favorite vintage ads
Sinead: Born in Ireland, Adored Worldwide!
Here's the beautiful view from the Infinity Bar at the top
And here we are with our Guinness. Some people were *ahem* too full to finish theirs, and the bar was closing shortly after we got there. Fortunately, one of us pony'd up to make sure there weren't any fallen soldiers. Especially when the beer is delicious and free.
Our final pit-stop of the day was the Brazen Head, the oldest bar in Ireland, if not Europe. We presumed this was its original location, and you can absolutely tell its superlative is the real deal. Surrounded by larger buildings, this tiny little stone structure stands there as though it grew there out of the ground and continues to hang on!
I mean just look at it, how awesome?
In case you weren't sure about its age...I believe that says 1198.
And that, friends and family, was the trip! We returned home to Tuebingen, and I spent one only semi-glorious week at home before returning to the States to visit grad schools. For that, and some anecdotes about German Easter, check back soon! Or you know, keep an eye on your facebook newsfeed for a link. It won't be such an undertaking like these last two, so it should happen very quickly :)
