USA USA USA Temple Bar

 Happy Independence Day!  As I mentioned, the 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays, and today we drove from Galway to Dublin, dropped our bags off at our hotel, and walked around Temple bar, before coming back to the hotel to watch "Independence Day" while drinking white wine from the bottle.  Note:  I am the only one drinking white wine from the bottle.

Temple Bar is bordered by the River Liffey and Dame St, and preserves its medieval set up.  It was the location of the first performance of Handel's Messiah (1742), and is a huge touristy destination in Dublin. 

We went to a nearby pub to hear some live music (we joked about requesting the Star Spangled Banner), drink some whiskey, and engage the adorable bartender, Josh, in conversation. He told us he was in his final year of university, and is working towards a degree in forestry. 

One of the things Lizzie and I enjoyed the most in Ireland were our fabulous cab drivers.  Any time we took a cab, we engaged the amusing and knowledgeable drivers in conversation, and in the way into Dublin this evening, our driver, Gerard, told us about an adult store which had been recently built.  It's open until 3 in the morning, and when it was first constructed, a group of 80 year old men would be out in front protesting, counting their rosaries, and Gerard was like "someone needs to take the old fellows home."  Maybe they could stop and get a movie or something first.  ;)

On the way back from Dublin, our cabbie wasn't quite as friendly, until he learned that Lizzie had driven us all through Ireland, and then he suddenly opened up, proud of her pretty impressive acheivement.  The western part of Ireland isn't easy to navigate through. 

Before I left Boston for Ireland, I talked to my friend Lisa, who will be going on a duck tour, as to whether they'd have similar tours in Dublin.  They do, and they're called viking splash tours, and the tourists wear faux viking helmets and scream as they pass by large groups of people.  Lisa--if they don't give you a horned helmet, they aren't doing right by you.  Yarrrrrrrrr.

In any case, it's back to Boston tomorrow.  Hope you all have survived Andrew okay.  Can't wait to see you!

The Floor is Made of Lava

 Walking out to the Poulnabrone dolmen here was like playing "the floor is made of lava."  You had to hop from stone to stone, and as you can see from the tree a few pictures down, this area is hella windy, and it was raining gang busters.  Lizzie hung out there, and I popped around like a goat while she watched  to make sure I didn't fall in one of the pots. 

The Poulnabrone dolmen (Poll na mBron, meaning "hole of the quern stones") is a portal tomb, a neolithic structure consisting of two more more upright (portal) stones supporting the capstone, which here is 12 feet long.  Between 16-22 adults and children were buried here, and excavation also revealed a polished stone axe, weapons, pottery, quartz, pendants, etc as well. 

It's unclear if it was just a territorial marker, or used for celtic rites and rituals but it was most likely the latter.

The Giant World Cup

Apparently some folks used to think that these big ol' isolated rocks were footballs (or soccer balls, as we yanks would say) for Giants.  Lizzie and I posited that perhaps instead, they are fossilized giant poop, and you will see the fossilized, squished remains of regular humans underneath if you were ever to move them.

The Burren

 The Burren:  not just a bar in Davis Square that I spent most of my mid-to-late 20s in!

Burren means "great rock," from the Irish boireann.  Back about, oh, 350 million years ago, this landscape was under the sea, which helped to create the limestone we see.  Eventually it was run over with glaciation, deepening the criss-crossing cracks in the limestone pavement, and creating neat little pots for flowers, meaning that both Mediterranean and alpine plants can live in the area.

There are over 90 megalithic tombs in the area, portal dolmans, and ring forts.  The sad donkey you see was at the Caherconnell ring fort which we visited, but it was pouring out so we couldn't stay long.  Some of the pictures are obscured with rain drops, because it was coming down sideways, and it was hard to keep the lens clean.

Kilfenora Cathedral

 After the cliffs of moher, we took a rainy drive to the burren centre, and saw the Kilfenora cathedral here.  It was built in 1189, on the site of an early monastery.  It has five High Crosses (sorry I am a heathen and don't know what that means.  Catholic readers?) which makes it an important religious site, and the Pope is their bishop. 

Jesus take the wheel and whatnot.

Cliffs of Moher

 So has anyone here seen the Princess Bride?  If you have, these here are the "cliffs of insanity," i.e. the Cliffs of Moher.  (They also show up in Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince, FYI.)

The gorgeous cliffs are made of beds of shale and sandstone, and at their highest point reach 702 feet, and go on for five miles.  The rocks were formed over 300 Million years ago, and they are mind bogglingly beautiful.  The rock you see sticking out a little is the branaunmore sea stack, and the birds SUPER love it, as well as the cliffs and inlets. The wildflowers are gorgeous, and there is no where to look that isn't breath taking (plus it is very steep, so....)

In any case, it is very easy to fall off the sides of the cliffs, and there's a memorial to people who have died here--I don't think ghosts can blog, so it looks like we made it.

Roads to the Cliffs

So this is a two-lane road on the way to the cliffs of moher.  The picture doesn't do it justice, but we had to lean forward to help our poor little micra up the hill.  This is actually one of the nicer roads, but we ended up with half a bush in our bumper anyway.  By the time we got to our B&B near the cliffs, it was raining, so we'll have to visit those tomorrow.  See you soon!

No Dumping

Or you will be subject to a 3,000 Euro fine.

The River Shannon

 It's my river, everyone!  One time I asked my Mom where she found my name, and she said it was the name of a character she liked in a book who's "eyes were as blue as the Shannon river."  Pre-pollution, I imagine.

Lizzie and I drove up from Dingle, our eventual goal being the cliffs of moher.  We followed our GPS, who eventually said, "board ferry."  We were like, "okay," as going through Limerick would've added an additional god-knows-how-many hours to our trip, and the ferries come ever 30 minutes.  You all know how much I like to touch stuff, so after the ferry crossed the river, Lizzie drove us down a terrifying cow path so I could touch the actual river.  It was a little treacherous, just like me, because it was low tide and the rocks were covered in slick algae (comparison does not extend that far) but I stuck my feet in.  Shannon-in-Shannon complete.  After accidentally smacking Lizzie in the head with my camera (it's probably because she found a rock shaped like the devil--THE POWER OF CAMERA COMPELS YOU) we continued on our way to the cliffs.


Just a little info on the River Shannon.  It's the longest river in Ireland, and cuts off the West from the East and the South.  It is named after a woman named Sionnan, who went to Connla's Well to seek herself some wisdom.  Because as we all know, women get punished for seeking wisdom, she, having caught and eaten the salmon of wisdom, was carried away to sea when the well's water burst forth.  Now Sionnan is the goddess of the river, and gives life to the land.  I would be much more vengeful than this if I were a goddess.  This is important to keep in mind. As you all know, I am a feminist killjoy, and it must be noted that when the male warrior-hero-hunter Fionn mac Cumhaill ingested the salmon of wisdom, he was imbued with its powers.  No instant death punishment for him.  Check out the comic entitled "also it is my personal fetish."

The River Shannon is also supposedly home to Cata, a river monster "with a horse's mane, gleaming eyes, thick feet, nails of iron and a whale's tail."  As far as I know, I am not home to any river monsters, but sometimes I get super bad heart burn if I eat doughnuts.  Just thought you'd like to know.

Dingle's Famous Dolphin

 Dingle is a little (and the only) town on the eponymous peninsula.  It's main industries are tourism, fishing, and agriculture.  And also Fungie the Dingle Dolphin.

You should probably say that to yourself a few times.  We'll wait.

So Fungie is a bottlenose dolphin who has broken contact with his own kind to hang out with humans.  He hangs out with the tour boats who go out to see him, and there's a sculpture of him near the harbor. (See?)  Fungie is 25, which is old for dolphins, so if you want to see him, you should probably go sooner rather than later.

We did not, unfortunately, have time to see Fungie, so we drank whiskey and ate some of Dingle's famous sea-salt ice cream instead. 

Dolphins murder for fun.

Dingle, Inch by Inch

 Our first stop of the day was Inch Beach, on our way to Dingle.  How many Dingle jokes can we make on one trip?  So many Dingle jokes.

Kinder Eggs!

 Kinder Eggs are a magical treat which will never be sold in America, because along with explosions and grilling shit, we also are super good at lawsuits, and that's why we can't have anything fun.  This is a fake kinder egg, but the idea is the same.  You unwrap it, break it in half, being careful not to choke on the giant capsule inside, eat the egg, open the capsule, and find an awesome prize.  I got Spiderman!  Thumbs Up!  Lizzie got a plastic Tigger, which is pretty appropriate.

Killarney Loves the USA

 We eventually made our way back to Killarney proper, after wandering around for a while trying to find our B&B, which was on a road that shares THE EXACT SAME NAME with a road that is about a half a mile away.

Downtown Killarney is all decked out for the 4th of July, hilariously, though I don't blame them for wanting to celebrate what is one of my favorite holidays, as it showcases what Americans are best at, explosions and grilling stuff.

It's probably been the most touristy place we've seen so far, with tons of souvenir shops and random buskers playing "Danny Boy" on the sidewalks, but they also sold imitation kinder eggs! 

Annals of Innisfallen

 Innisfallen Island (Faithlinn's Island) is located in Lough Leane, which means "lake of learning."  On the island are the ruins of a monastery that was founded in 640 by a monk known as Finian the Leper (now St. Finian, hopefully sans leprosy.)

For about 300 years, the monks here wrote "The Annals of Innisfallen," a history of Ireland (which chronicle amongst other things, the first Viking invasions of Ireland.)  The annals are now at Oxford University and due to their age and condition can never be opened again, but they were transcribed, and you can peruse them online.

The celtic cross you see here was found recently at the bottom of the lake by two fisherman, where it had been sitting for 700 years.  The abbey church, the complex, and an oratory remain (the cross is in the oratory) and the island is also home to many flora and fauna, including the doe and her fawn(a) seen here.  There are two yew trees which are hundreds of years old, and I hope to look nearly as good when I hit 800.  I imagine I will.