Sligo, Knocknarea, Markree

knocknarea, Nervousness, and NEWS.

It looks like we aren't very consistent with our blogging. We really did try, someone needs to tell Ireland that WiFi isn't a luxury it is a necessity. I spent way to much time looking for a signal and just began to give up.

Some of you may be thinking that we died in the castle on the 13Th, don't worry we didn't. In fact, there was nothing spooky about it besides the fact that there was an annoying American group of 30 college kids on a tour. They were whining about the new Facebook format.

We had a great time at Markree and we were upgraded to an amazing corner room in the hotel with a view. On Friday we met up with one of my friends that still works there and she showered us with wine and chocolates in our room, fueled Josh with some crazy Irish shots, homemade soup, and a medley of desserts with "Happy Birthday" painted on with chocolate and fiery sparklers spraying flames from them.

The next day I walked up to the horse stables with my friend Emily to find my other friend Vicki and help her wheel some horse poop out of the stables. The previous weekend I had told Josh about a mountain in Ireland that I climbed about 6 years ago. It is called Knocknarea and at the top of the mountain is Queen Meave's grave. She was a Warrior Queen in Celtic Mythology, nobody knows if she was real or not. We decided that since it was nice we should get some exercise and hike to the top.

It is a fairly easy hike about the same as Mt. Peak but there are sheep everywhere grazing and an amazing view of the ocean and Sligo from the top. For some reason Josh was acting a little strange and was about 10 steps ahead of me the whole hike and then kept coming back down to me and then ahead again. It was so windy at the top we could hardly hear one another speaking and my lip was blowing open, but we had a moment of sun and a great view. On the way down the mountain blocks the wind, making it completely calm so we decided to take a few pictures with our broken cameras. As I was going to retrieve the camera Josh told me he had to ask me a question and he was shaking....

We are going to to get married next summer 2010, and we hope all of you can come. We will have more details soon. Our trip to Ireland and Spain was fantastic, thank you for following our blog. I hope it wasn't too boring. I promise we did more than we posted! Ireland will always be a significant place in my mind. I think I have learned more there than anywhere I have ever been. About myself, about other people, and the world.

To be continued with more travel...
Lindsey

Friday the 13th

Tomorrow morning we are leaving our little cottage in Gort and heading up to Collooney to stay at the Markree Castle for the weekend. The castle has been featured several times on the TLC special Haunted Hotels usually airing around Halloween. I didn't realize when I booked it that we would be there on Friday the 13Th. I lived there before and wasn't ever too spooked but I am eager to trip Josh out. That will be the fun part. So if you don't hear from us again....

Yesterday we took a long road trip down to Cork and then onto Kinsale. Cork is a bustling city on a waterway and it was a it overwhelming to drive in. Overall it was fun and we made a trip to Sheila's Hostel and a small coffee shop that was inspired by Seattle. Kinsale was beautiful however the town is under construction. We drove all the way above the town and caught a glimpse of the Celtic Sea (or a bay that I am choosing to call the Celtic Sea).

Today we are just sort of making our rounds and we will probably have a few drinks at this little place in Gort called the Gallery Cafe. It is our most frequented spot.

We can't stop agreeing that our friend Connee needs to move here to find himself a wife. Seriously Connee, Spunky Red Heads 'R' Us.

Adios.

No Love..

Either everyone is just reading and not commenting or nobody loves us.  Our blog may have to fizzle and die. 

We are in Galway today and we spent the weekend in Sligo. We went out to Strandhill and my mom and I had seaweed baths.  They fill up these giant vintage tubs and put a bucket of seaweed in them and you soak for 50 minutes in between 5 minute sessions in the steam shower. The seaweed feels like aloe very gel and I soaked my hair in it.  Believe it or not they tell you not to rinse off afterward sot that the seaweed can soak into your skin, I followed orders and smelled like sushi for the rest of the day.  Strandhill is the surfing capital of Ireland and Woody Haraldson is known to frequent one of the local pubs right on the Beach, I guess he has a house there. 

On the way home we picked up our Fiat at Knock airport and Josh's driving skills are impressive.  I have yet to try my left hand at shifting.  I will let you know when I do.  The roads are about half the width of ours and we often feel like our mirrors are going to get popped off when we pass oncoming traffic. Roundabouts are a whole different story and I catch myself with my eyes closed when we are going through them. 

We are starting to become locals at one little bohemian place in Gort called the Gallery Cafe, we will probably go there again tomorrow because they show movies on tuesday nights.  It sort of reminds me of the Joe Bar in Capitol Hill.  Ally you know that place, they have a bit more food though and more hippies. 

We might head to Cork tomorrow or the next day, until then I hope you are all doing well at home and we miss you. 

Lindsey

The Return

Hey guys,

Josh is by far "outposting" me so I better make this good. 

The night before we were supposed to go to Barcelona it started snowing in Gort, where we are staying at the cottage, which is insanely unusual for this time of year and in Ireland all together. The next morning at 4 am it was an intense drive to the airport, thanks to Dusty's skills we all arrived safely. We took Ryan Air to Spain and I would recommend it to any person! The planes are brand new and they are very efficient and the on time rating is higher than any European airline. Not to mention the fact that the tickets were $25 roundtrip to Barcelona from Shannon. It gets a bad reputation for all the charges but it is ideal for scrappy travelers like us.

We arrived in sunny Girona and then hopped a bus to Barcelona city center. Not even ten minutes after stepping off of the bus and the metro there was a protest tearing through the city. I would say the median participant was 16 to 18 years old and they were protesting removal of higher education. However, it was in Spanish so I could be slightly off.  These people think with their hearts and they aren't afraid to fight for whatever is right.  Spanish women are as beautiful as you imagine with an effortlessly chic sense of style. Jagged haircuts, bulky leather boots, and raspy smoker voices.  Me on the other hand looked like a color blind eejit, the weather report was completely different than the actual temperature and I had to buy a sweater and a scarf just to walk around.  Josh and I were amazed and just sort of floated around from markets to cathedrals to cafes and shops. There was an endless amount to see and I think we wasted some time wishing we had more. We stayed at an extremely inexpensive place that I would recommend called Pension Miami.  It was very central and only $25 a night for two! We will definitely be back in Spain someday soon and Barcelona is a must. 

I think Josh summed up our little music session last night, but I have to say it was incredible. I felt like I was one of their friends and had only just met them.  I love the way, in Ireland, age puts no restriction on what company you will be surrounded by.  There was everyone from 14 to 78 there and we all had something to learn from on another.  In fact Tom told us that his granddaughter had taught him a few of the tunes the 78 year old played.  As the night went on the wine was poured and the stories got louder and funnier.  At one point, and for those who know me well this may be a shock, Tom had my mom and I on either arm doing an old Irish jig in the center of the living room. I felt like a peasant on the lower level of the Titanic, it was hilarious and liberating. 

Today was the first day I returned to the Markree Castle, it was a strange feeling. I missed it but I appreciated my time there even more now that I can see it for the first time again. It smells the same and there is the same witty crude banter echoing throughout the workers quarters as they all get ready for the events. I hope someday when I have children they can go on an adventure like the one that I was able to go on. 

I guess we are getting kicked out of here so I have to go now.  I will have a lot more to say tomorrow because we are going out on the Sligo town tonight with an old friend of mine.

Cheers

Lindsey

Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona, Spain

Our own Irish hoedown.

Dancing the jig.

Last night was one of our most memorable nights so far. Lindsey put it best, it was one of those moments that you look around and wonder where you are, how you got there and if it was even real. The old guy Tom that we are renting the house from is a old time Irish musician, he plays that weird little round drum that you play with a little stick, i’m not sure what it’s called. His good friend Charlie Piggott lives right next door and he is a very famous musician in Ireland, he plays the accordion, the spoons, concertina, the tin pipe, guitar, mandolin, everything. They invited their whole family over and three of their friends. It was amazing, we drank wine and they all gathered around and played music in our house for about 4 hours straight. Two accordion players, one bag pipe player, Charlie playing the spoons, Tom’s 14 year old granddaughter played a thing called the concertina, it was kind of like a mini accordion, Tom and this lady from Guatemala? showed us Irish dancing. It was pretty amazing. Charlie had a Ph.D. in chemical research and like I said is famous all over Ireland for traditional Irish music, him, Tom, and the bag pipe player Eugene have traveled the world playing music. We were pretty lucky to meet these people. It was fun.
Today we are heading up to a town called Sligo. It is the town where Lindsey lived in the Markree castle for 6 months. We are all excited to see it. Lindsey and Charlene are going to go to some spa and me and Dustin are going to try to go trout fishing or something. Supposedly Ireland has some of the best trout fishing in Europe. I am sure i’ll catch the biggest and most, goes without saying.
Sorry about the writing, I feel like I have about a 5th grade education when I reread these posts. I need to practice up on my writing. I saw the Huskies are kicking ass. Whoo. Is Griffey still able to walk? I figured he would be hurt by the time I got back? Adios, amigos.

Barcelona

Hi people.
Barcelona is probably the coolest city ever. If I spoke spanish it might help a little bit though. I have tons of pictures but I can't get my computer working. Sorry Brian I couldn't find a sword for ya. Zack, Tyler, there is marble ledges and things to skate everywhere, i'm sure you knew that. I took a few pictures of them for ya. We should all come back here. I met an anarchist guy who took me and Lindsey on a rickshaw ride, he was telling me how important the history of the anarchists were to Barcelona, how the fucking communists ruined the revolution. There is a park named after George Orwell. We saw the Pyrenees mountains. It was very sunny there but freezing, we were not expecting such cold weather in Barcelona. Oh yeah it snowed here in Ireland the day we left, not just snowed but dumped snow. Anyhow i'll find a wi fi connection hopefully soon so I can use my own computer and put my pictures on here. love ya. peace.

Espana

Hiya,

Tomorrow we are heading to Barcelona if anyone has any tips for us or a place that we shouldn't miss please feel free to let us know.  We will be staying at Pension Miami which is close to the city center. It has been very rainy here in Ireland today so we are excited to be in some better weather.  Josh is going to want to move to Barcelona he says. We will let you know how it goes.

I have had enough tea to entertain Boston.

L. Land

Exploring Ireland

Hello if anyone is out there reading. Me, Lindsey, Dustin, and Charlene made it to Ireland! It is beautiful and has been pretty much sunny since we've been here. Me and Lindsey took the train from Galway to Dublin it took about 3 hours. We all wandered around Galway. It was really cool, a college town kind of. We have a cottage in a town called Gort. It is out in the country. There are horses and a dog. The guy who owns the place is named Tom he comes by every morning and has coffee. He is the most stereotypical Irish guy you have ever seen. Derby cap, rotten teeth, can't understand him hardly, very nice. Him and his friends are supposedly famous Irish musicians. Him and his buddies are coming to the house on friday to give us a show, should be good. Today we went to this place called the cliffs of Moher. They are about 1500 feet straight down to the Atlantic ocean. I jumped over the fence and looked straight down, it was rad. I have had 4 Guinness' today, i'm already kind of tired of them. Haven't gotten into the whiskey yet jake, connie juhl. But don't you worry, i'll show these pot o gold chasin' leprechaun lovin' Irish how to drink. It is pretty cool here, exactly like I pictured in my head. Well I am going to get back to my Guinness. Love you all, miss you. Check back for updates. Comment please. I want to hear from home.