Today we left the country and took a ferry to Scotland! On the boat we watched the movie Bolt about a superhero dog and mum fell in love with the hamster character. From the port where we were dropped off, we caught another bus to Glasgow. It was about a 3 hour drive and I enjoyed it, even though it was grey and raining a bit.
When we arrived in Glasgow we had to walk down the main street for about an hour with our packs on. When we were in Marrakech the city looked pink. In Glasgow the place looked a cross between grey and brown. It wasn’t bad, it was just something I noticed and want to remember.
Our room in the hostel was 9 floors up so we took the left and then afterwards, we went out to get some noodles, then back again for an early night before we pack Glasgow in in one day…
Ok, so Glasgow. We had a sleep in because the planned early night wasn’t. so we began the day with just walking around trying to find our way around. When we got to a church that said “Free guided tours” mum thought we were in the right spot. Unfortunately not. We were in a small chapely thing and no wonder the tours were free, the woman was awfully boring. Her content was good but really… what I did find interesting was 3 stain glass windows that were made from little squares with letters on them. One told about scientists and it had the double helix in there, a computer, the globe map in the segment pieces so the sphere is laid flat.
We then went and found the oldest house in Glasgow. It was for a priest I think, and Mary queen of Scots visited often a long with Henry the VII, but please don’t trust that. I’m not sure. I just came to that conclusion as there were original portraits of these characters a long with Mary Queen of Scots’ husband and their son Bonny Prince Charlie.
My favourite room was the top room with many sketches of street characters. They were really interesting. There was a man called “Jamie Blue” who danced and rhymed, his accomplice, “Blind Alick” who was a fiddler and also “Major” who danced too.
We then walked to the cathedral which mum wanted to go in. dad didn’t go in, as he limits himself, instead he went into the religion museum. Inside the cathedral was another stain glass window like the three we saw in the chapel by the same artist, and also the tomb of St Mungo.
I wanted to go into the religion museum too, so we then went in. what was special about this museum, is that it didn’t just show Christianity. It showed all about the 6 main religions; Christianity, Buddhism, Muslim, Judaism, Sikhism and Hindu. So first we looked into a room with many religious art pieces. I was very glad to see an aboriginal painting. Also there was some ancient Greek pottery, Egyptian headdresses, some South American shrines, a large Hindu sculpture, one of their females goddesses, and of course small sculptures of the crucifixion.
The next room had some cabinets in describing the stages in life for each religion; birth, coming of age, sex and marriage, death and the after life. To there was a christening dress in the first cabinet for Christianity, a poster of the smoke ritual for the Aboriginals and many other items that I can’t describe without some important information.
I found the coming of age the most disturbing. I’m not sure which religion but I think it’s Hindu, the woman’s clitoris is removed. This causes mutilation of the reproductive system and the woman or child often dies in child birth after this ritual has taken place. There was an a photo of the ritual taking place. All you could see was the man behind the woman, and the woman crying out in pain. Her face ripped me open. This is the reason I can’t understand some religions.
We then walked to Georges Square and took one of the red bus tours that we took in Rome. Being so tired from a not-so-good sleep, and there’s something about those buses that instantly put me to sleep! But we went around in a big circle and so I didn’t miss anything. We went in a big circle because we wanted to meet up with some people ay their house, but first we went and looked in a museum for half an hour before it closed.
Inside we saw the winners of animals… if that makes sense. I mean thy had stuffed animals of the largest, the tallest, the smallest, the deadliest, those sort of things. It was nice to see the Kangaroo took “the longest jumper” and the koala took “the fuzziest eater…” with a title like that I think they just wanted to put a koala in their collection but I have no objections, who wouldn’t!?!
We then went for a short walk to where we met up with Greta-Mary and Graham; my great aunt and uncle. Greta-Mary is Dad’s Dad’s cousin. They were both very welcoming and we had a great fun with them. we went out for dinner and then they walked us a little way before we continued back to the centre of town.
On the way we checked out a Kilt shop and we saw, that a whole outfit, cost about £650! And that’s just the day suit!
8/29/09
Belfast
On the 20th of August we left Ballycastle and started our way to Northern Ireland. On the way we stopped at Giants causeway. Apparently there was a man called Finn and he created this causeway to Scotland. But he saw a giant and ran back, frightened of the size of him. But the Giant came back, chasing him but when he arrived at Finns house he was surprised to find Finn was apparently not there. His wife was at his house and said “no, Finn is not here, only me and the baby.” But when the Giant saw the baby in the crib he ran back frightened. The baby was huge and he thought if that’s the size of the baby the Finn must be enormous!!!! When the giant left, Finn jumped out of the crib, pulled his bonnet off and jumped with glee.
So anyway, from that story, somehow this causeway was built. Its like all the hexagonal rock formations tessellating with each other. The rocks were huge columns that towered up, it was amazing. We were so lucky, we had beautiful sunshine while we were looking at it, but as we headed around to have a look at the rest of the place, suddenly the we had freezing rain pounding down at us and we were absolutely soaked through. We decided to get back to the car as quickly as possible :P
We then stopped at an eco sort of museum. It told us about pollution, evolution of power, and out the front were huge insects! There was a massive spider, caterpillar, fly on a bottle, ladybird, snail and dragonfly! I so would have been the one to climb all over it but it was still raining…
We then came into Crumlin where we met up with Johny Mackel. He and his two kids Liam (16) and Eoghan (13 and pronounced Owen) and their cousin Brendan who I think is also 16. They all met us in Crumlin, and then we followed them home.
Mum and Dad met Johny and Cath (his wife, she was away when we were there) 20 years ago in Ireland and have only seen them once since. We had good long chats and went too bed late.
When we were in Ennis, we met one of Miko’s clients/friends called Brendan, he plays brilliant wooden flute and he performed a few things for us which was lovely. When we told him we were going to Belfast he said we must do the black taxi tour. Well I had no idea what that was but we gave it a shot. Around lunch time, we took Eoghan into Belfast.
The first main street we came down was called Shinkle or something. Anyway, it was really odd to see all these Union jack flags around. They had those roped with mini flags on them strung all down the street, crossing over the road from lamp post to post. We also saw some of the murals we knew that we were to see more of. Straight away I had a feeling of intimidation.
After parking our car, we walked to the “Big Wheel,” like a Belfast eye, where we were to meet our taxi. So the idea of a black taxi tour is a taxi comes and gets you, takes you on a particular route and gives you information.
So we began the tour by going up the same street and then taking a turn off. We were parked in this little park area where young boys were playing golf with aluminium cans and golf balls. Around us were lots of buildings, and their walls facing us were covered in paintings. We were stopped in a place specially for the famous murals. They were all awful and scary, but one really intimidated Eoghan. Eoghan felt quite scared in this area, but one of the murals really impacted him, and me too. There was a mural with 3 pictures of men on it. 2 were copies of photographs of particular men representing U.R.A and I.R.A or some other form of initials. The man in the middle represented the army force , I think, but it was a man dressed in the camouflaged khaki holding a gun. The most intimidating aspect of him was his gun. The man was holding a gun, and no matter where you stood, it looked like the gun was always pointing straight at you, you were always looking down the barrel.
We then got back in the taxi and drove past the iron gates. There is actually a wall separating the protestant living area and the catholic. These gates are left open during the day but close at night. This curfew idea is to stop either side starting a violent riot with the other. As we continued down the “peace lane” where the gates are, it comes to a wall which stretches until the next set of gates. The wall is completely covered in graffiti on the protestant side and the taxi driver actually provided markers so we could right our names and nationalities on it with our own message. I wrote “Tegan Brownless, Australia ’09 PEACE” because I couldn’t think of anything smart to say other than that. What was really strange, was someone from America had written our school motto “Per Aspera Ad Astra” meaning “through hardship to the stars.”
We then went through the next set of gates into the catholic side. Instantly we could see a different scene. I can’t really tell you what the difference is, but I just know it was, a different feel, not better or worse, just different. On the opposite side of the wall there was no graffiti or road, but houses backed right up to it. On this side there were images, photographs of people and the house rubble. One of the stories of the houses, was some catholic men were inside creating a bomb to throw to the opposite side but it accidentally blew up before they had finished with it. The whole house was blown to the ground and the 4 men inside died.
There was another poster that was placed up against one of the houses next door. It was of the streets with burning houses. The Protestants came in and burned the Catholics out of their houses. Then in the bottom right hand corner, there was a black and white image of a boy. He signed up for the army at 15 and was the first to be killed by the Protestant’s actions.
We then went to a monastery/church where, when the Catholics were burned out of their houses, they came and sheltered here in the under-ground rooms. Then eventually this was attacked too during a funeral. Some young Protestant men attempted to burn it down but luckily its still standing.
When we had the conversation about Belfast with Brendan, he told us how they went to a bar on the Catholic side and inside were these huge men, extreme tattoos and baseball caps drinking many pints of Guiness. The same night they went to a bar on the Protestant side where there were other men exactly the same, huge with tats and caps, yet they believe they are so different. We experienced a similar thing when we arrived at the monastery. There were some young boys playing a form of golf. The only differences between the boys were one lot was catholic, the others were Protestant and they also had different sort of batts…
We then went and had a look at another mural about a man called Bobby someone. He was the first to die from a silent protest he participated in. A few men had decided to go on a hunger strike and he was the first to die from starvation from the group. One man’s parents couldn’t bare to watch their son dieing and asked doctors to actually force feed him through a tube. He lived and did finish his strike, but he was so affected from the strike that he died young anyway from the frailness he suffered from.
We then went to a wall that had been painted with many different types of political statements. One was a copy of a Picasso painting, one had been painted in the past 3 weeks and was stating how no one should live under racism.
That was it for the taxi tour, but ht night was far from over. After dinner, Johny and Dad packed the fiddles in the back of the car and the four of us headed to a pub. We left the three boys back at the house. They think its old peoples music and its really boring. The night sessioning went til about 1:30 am. It was great fun. We were in a small pub. Low ceilings, the main light was from the candles on the tables and the people were very welcoming. One of the sessioners was Brendan! So we were lucky enough to hear his magic flute playing again J
So anyway, from that story, somehow this causeway was built. Its like all the hexagonal rock formations tessellating with each other. The rocks were huge columns that towered up, it was amazing. We were so lucky, we had beautiful sunshine while we were looking at it, but as we headed around to have a look at the rest of the place, suddenly the we had freezing rain pounding down at us and we were absolutely soaked through. We decided to get back to the car as quickly as possible :P
We then stopped at an eco sort of museum. It told us about pollution, evolution of power, and out the front were huge insects! There was a massive spider, caterpillar, fly on a bottle, ladybird, snail and dragonfly! I so would have been the one to climb all over it but it was still raining…
We then came into Crumlin where we met up with Johny Mackel. He and his two kids Liam (16) and Eoghan (13 and pronounced Owen) and their cousin Brendan who I think is also 16. They all met us in Crumlin, and then we followed them home.
Mum and Dad met Johny and Cath (his wife, she was away when we were there) 20 years ago in Ireland and have only seen them once since. We had good long chats and went too bed late.
When we were in Ennis, we met one of Miko’s clients/friends called Brendan, he plays brilliant wooden flute and he performed a few things for us which was lovely. When we told him we were going to Belfast he said we must do the black taxi tour. Well I had no idea what that was but we gave it a shot. Around lunch time, we took Eoghan into Belfast.
The first main street we came down was called Shinkle or something. Anyway, it was really odd to see all these Union jack flags around. They had those roped with mini flags on them strung all down the street, crossing over the road from lamp post to post. We also saw some of the murals we knew that we were to see more of. Straight away I had a feeling of intimidation.
After parking our car, we walked to the “Big Wheel,” like a Belfast eye, where we were to meet our taxi. So the idea of a black taxi tour is a taxi comes and gets you, takes you on a particular route and gives you information.
So we began the tour by going up the same street and then taking a turn off. We were parked in this little park area where young boys were playing golf with aluminium cans and golf balls. Around us were lots of buildings, and their walls facing us were covered in paintings. We were stopped in a place specially for the famous murals. They were all awful and scary, but one really intimidated Eoghan. Eoghan felt quite scared in this area, but one of the murals really impacted him, and me too. There was a mural with 3 pictures of men on it. 2 were copies of photographs of particular men representing U.R.A and I.R.A or some other form of initials. The man in the middle represented the army force , I think, but it was a man dressed in the camouflaged khaki holding a gun. The most intimidating aspect of him was his gun. The man was holding a gun, and no matter where you stood, it looked like the gun was always pointing straight at you, you were always looking down the barrel.
We then got back in the taxi and drove past the iron gates. There is actually a wall separating the protestant living area and the catholic. These gates are left open during the day but close at night. This curfew idea is to stop either side starting a violent riot with the other. As we continued down the “peace lane” where the gates are, it comes to a wall which stretches until the next set of gates. The wall is completely covered in graffiti on the protestant side and the taxi driver actually provided markers so we could right our names and nationalities on it with our own message. I wrote “Tegan Brownless, Australia ’09 PEACE” because I couldn’t think of anything smart to say other than that. What was really strange, was someone from America had written our school motto “Per Aspera Ad Astra” meaning “through hardship to the stars.”
We then went through the next set of gates into the catholic side. Instantly we could see a different scene. I can’t really tell you what the difference is, but I just know it was, a different feel, not better or worse, just different. On the opposite side of the wall there was no graffiti or road, but houses backed right up to it. On this side there were images, photographs of people and the house rubble. One of the stories of the houses, was some catholic men were inside creating a bomb to throw to the opposite side but it accidentally blew up before they had finished with it. The whole house was blown to the ground and the 4 men inside died.
There was another poster that was placed up against one of the houses next door. It was of the streets with burning houses. The Protestants came in and burned the Catholics out of their houses. Then in the bottom right hand corner, there was a black and white image of a boy. He signed up for the army at 15 and was the first to be killed by the Protestant’s actions.
We then went to a monastery/church where, when the Catholics were burned out of their houses, they came and sheltered here in the under-ground rooms. Then eventually this was attacked too during a funeral. Some young Protestant men attempted to burn it down but luckily its still standing.
When we had the conversation about Belfast with Brendan, he told us how they went to a bar on the Catholic side and inside were these huge men, extreme tattoos and baseball caps drinking many pints of Guiness. The same night they went to a bar on the Protestant side where there were other men exactly the same, huge with tats and caps, yet they believe they are so different. We experienced a similar thing when we arrived at the monastery. There were some young boys playing a form of golf. The only differences between the boys were one lot was catholic, the others were Protestant and they also had different sort of batts…
We then went and had a look at another mural about a man called Bobby someone. He was the first to die from a silent protest he participated in. A few men had decided to go on a hunger strike and he was the first to die from starvation from the group. One man’s parents couldn’t bare to watch their son dieing and asked doctors to actually force feed him through a tube. He lived and did finish his strike, but he was so affected from the strike that he died young anyway from the frailness he suffered from.
We then went to a wall that had been painted with many different types of political statements. One was a copy of a Picasso painting, one had been painted in the past 3 weeks and was stating how no one should live under racism.
That was it for the taxi tour, but ht night was far from over. After dinner, Johny and Dad packed the fiddles in the back of the car and the four of us headed to a pub. We left the three boys back at the house. They think its old peoples music and its really boring. The night sessioning went til about 1:30 am. It was great fun. We were in a small pub. Low ceilings, the main light was from the candles on the tables and the people were very welcoming. One of the sessioners was Brendan! So we were lucky enough to hear his magic flute playing again J
19/8/09
Back in the car today and I don’t know why, but we arrived at a castle in Glenveigh. We went into the tourist information centre and watched a few videos. One, we realised, that out of the 6 national parks in Ireland, we had been to 5; Kilarney, Conemarra, The Burren, Wicklow and the one we were at. There was one in County Mayo which was the only one we hadn’t been to.
We bought tickets for a mini bus to the castle. The trip was only 10-15 minutes and suddenly, out of the blue, there’s a castle. The castle is built next to a lake, yet they still had their own swimming pool… ? all the tours were booked out for inside the castle so we just had a walk around.
We walked up a very steep hill that would continue up a mountain to look all over, but as it was getting late we decided not to do the whole climb. Instead we took a left turn into a small forest past the 67 stairs. Randomly, in the middle of the forest, there are 67 stone steps. Unfortunately it was all blocked off but personally I think the makers are mad. Who would ever want to haul stones up this steep hill to make 67 stairs when there’s already a path laid out???
We went for a walk through the veggie garden which dad enjoyed identifying all the plants. What dad didn’t enjoy was going through the rose garden, but mum, sympathetically, finished that walk early.
After the bus trip back we started going again, in the car and on to Ballycastle. At Ballycastle it was raining and grey. It’s located on the beach so I guess it would really suck for all the local kids who wanted a summer of buckets and spades… they have a beautiful cliff on the horizon too but we couldn’t see it because of all the rain and mist.
We bought tickets for a mini bus to the castle. The trip was only 10-15 minutes and suddenly, out of the blue, there’s a castle. The castle is built next to a lake, yet they still had their own swimming pool… ? all the tours were booked out for inside the castle so we just had a walk around.
We walked up a very steep hill that would continue up a mountain to look all over, but as it was getting late we decided not to do the whole climb. Instead we took a left turn into a small forest past the 67 stairs. Randomly, in the middle of the forest, there are 67 stone steps. Unfortunately it was all blocked off but personally I think the makers are mad. Who would ever want to haul stones up this steep hill to make 67 stairs when there’s already a path laid out???
We went for a walk through the veggie garden which dad enjoyed identifying all the plants. What dad didn’t enjoy was going through the rose garden, but mum, sympathetically, finished that walk early.
After the bus trip back we started going again, in the car and on to Ballycastle. At Ballycastle it was raining and grey. It’s located on the beach so I guess it would really suck for all the local kids who wanted a summer of buckets and spades… they have a beautiful cliff on the horizon too but we couldn’t see it because of all the rain and mist.
17/8/09-18/9/09
This morning I regret. I didn’t sleep well and so I was very tired in the morning. Mum believes that that morning was more beautiful than all of the cliffs in Ireland we had recently seen. I spent the morning sleeping in the car. When I finally woke up, the Conemarra national park had gone and most of the special beauty with it. But most of the country side in Ireland is beautiful anyway so I don’t think what I saw was bad, just not as beautiful as all the stuff we’d already seen.
We spent a long time in the car, we drove a long way north until we arrived in the town Donegal. We stopped and had dinner and reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally nice tiramisu :P
Our final stop was in a small town called Glen Colm Kille. We had a great stay there, we were to stay there two nights.
The next day we slept in, had breakfast and mum and dad went for a walk. I stayed home to do a bit of maths. When they came back, even though it was raining, we got in the car and headed for the highest cliffs in Europe.
They were beautiful, so high! Mum had to fight midges all the way up, they really love her! For some reason they don’t like me. *shrugs* when we got to the top after climbing several stairs to the top, the wind was so great that the midges disappeared. To our right we could see down into the ocean where the cliffs fall into the water. To our left we could see more mountain/cliffs in the distance and a huge lake that was caught into og this cliff we were standing at.
When we came home, I cooked macaroni cheese and finished my book :)
We spent a long time in the car, we drove a long way north until we arrived in the town Donegal. We stopped and had dinner and reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally nice tiramisu :P
Our final stop was in a small town called Glen Colm Kille. We had a great stay there, we were to stay there two nights.
The next day we slept in, had breakfast and mum and dad went for a walk. I stayed home to do a bit of maths. When they came back, even though it was raining, we got in the car and headed for the highest cliffs in Europe.
They were beautiful, so high! Mum had to fight midges all the way up, they really love her! For some reason they don’t like me. *shrugs* when we got to the top after climbing several stairs to the top, the wind was so great that the midges disappeared. To our right we could see down into the ocean where the cliffs fall into the water. To our left we could see more mountain/cliffs in the distance and a huge lake that was caught into og this cliff we were standing at.
When we came home, I cooked macaroni cheese and finished my book :)
Ennis and Letter Fraic 9/8/09-16/7/09
This morning we had a nice sleep in before going to the Dingle Aquarium, the only aquarium in all of Ireland. Inside were really colourful fish my favourite of which was the cow fish, piranhas, sharks, Molly the turtle and my favourite, the friendly rays. There was a touching pool which I must have spent 20 minutes there just patting these really friendly rays! They would come up, stick their nose out at you and you cn pat them! They were so friendly!
After the Aquarium, back in the car and on to Ennis. We were greeted by our old friend Miko there. Miko used to play in dad’s band with Helen his partner. He was very welcoming and we spent many nights at his place.
The first day was a school day and mum and dad went out to a free concert in a small community. Every night dad and Miko went out to play at sessions in pubs always til the wee hours.
On one of the days we decided to be awfully touristy and go to the cliffs of Moher. The cliffs were fantastic, beautiful and super duperly high. On top of one of the cliffs there’s a little castle fort that I’m not even sure if its a real one. They were seriously beautiful but places crowded with tourists always takes the edge off it. There were common signs around advertising life-lines trying to stop suicide jumping.
We then made a stop at the Burren where there were heaps of little rock formations. Tourists had created little towers of rocks and we saw a few in the making, and after that we went to the portal tomb. Its quite touristy but no one can barely find it and it was free so yippy! It was apparently made a really long time ago (forgotten te exact years) by the first occupants of Ireland, the Irish before the Vikings came.
One of the other days we went south to Kilkee. Dad took us on a road that was really thin and all through boring farm land. Often we got held up by tractors carrying turfs. Turfs are lumps of the Pete land that they burn for fuel. Almost all the trees in Ireland were cut down for housing materials and fuel so after they all went they decided to burn the land itself, which they still do today.
South west of Kilkee is a scenic loop that we believe rivals the cliffs of Moher any day. They were just as beautiful and perhaps more so. We didn’t need to pay for any parking tickets and the number of people was insignificant to the people at the Cliffs yesterday. In some places parts of the land have been completely worn away and it stands as a small plateau in the ocean. One still has a small ruin on it!
On the 15th of august we went on a look around the Burren. The Burren is an area of limestone rock that used to be covered in pine forests, but after the Irish cleared all the trees, the soil slid away leaving the rocks bare.
So we drove around and then walked along these lakes. Apparently these lakes don’t keep their water. The lakes fill up from the rain and the gradually seep out into underground rivers. And because its summer and it rains all the time anyway, the lakes were pretty full.
Miko took us up a different way to the original path because from one way you see one direction and along the path, you see the other. So we looked out over where we parked the car, and over the lakes and out to the horizon where the mountains peaked.
When we got to the top we were standing on what is called a Can. It’s sort of an ancient ritual site and its just made from a big pile of rocks that of course have stayed in its place.
On top of the Can we could see out over another five mountains. Being on top of one, we couldn’t really see it well, but looking out to the other ones we could see the amazing spiral like formation of the rocks. Was incredible!
As we looked out in the opposite direction to the other mountains, we could see farm land and a few houses. Covering them was an incredible ban of rain that we could see coming towards us. From the sun that we were receiving the rain clouds were glowing. It was beautiful! But because we didn’t want to get wet, we began the descent down the path.
From this side we could see Father Teds house. I haven’t seen the series but its about some priests living on island or something. Well we saw the house that it was filmed in. we drove there after we got down too.
Amazingly we somehow missed the rain, it didn’t go up the mountain and went along the side of it!
That night we went out and dad stayed late at the pub with Miko playing tunes again til the wee hours!
This day we packed up, said goodbye to Miko, and hit the road again. We drove to a plaice called Letter Fraic. The drive was beautiful we drove past lakes and green mountains covered in plantations of pines. On the way we saw the famous Kylemore Abbey. We didn’t go an visit it, we thought it was too expensive and apparently aprx 2500 tourist go there everyday or something!
We arrived at our hostel which was very cheap and not luxurious, but the feeling was good so we didn’t mind. We had parked our car outside this white building with a park around it. We didn’t know what it was until we went for a walk.
Strangely we didn’t just walk the 20 metres to it, we decided to go down the hill, go shopping to buy some essentials like tea and then walk about another km uphill on the national park road back to the white building…
After I got over my annoyance of walking so far to somewhere so not far, we went inside the building where we saw mini models of how the area would have looked before people came, then when they came and now what it is. the most interesting par to fit was a real tree that was on display. It had been dug up out of the tree less bog. The studies on the carbon showed that it was over 2000 years old! So now no trees grow but they did before men arrived.
Mum was really tired so she took the shopping back while dad and I decided to do a walk in the park. We were out for about an hour, walking on a gravel path that sometimes became a boardwalk as it was so boggy and wet it was impossible to put a pt through. On the way up we could see out over huge lakes in front of us. They were so big we’re not actually sure they were lakes, we were considering them to be the sea, but who knows. I can’t tell you, sorry.
That was all for that day, a good day to add the many :)
After the Aquarium, back in the car and on to Ennis. We were greeted by our old friend Miko there. Miko used to play in dad’s band with Helen his partner. He was very welcoming and we spent many nights at his place.
The first day was a school day and mum and dad went out to a free concert in a small community. Every night dad and Miko went out to play at sessions in pubs always til the wee hours.
On one of the days we decided to be awfully touristy and go to the cliffs of Moher. The cliffs were fantastic, beautiful and super duperly high. On top of one of the cliffs there’s a little castle fort that I’m not even sure if its a real one. They were seriously beautiful but places crowded with tourists always takes the edge off it. There were common signs around advertising life-lines trying to stop suicide jumping.
We then made a stop at the Burren where there were heaps of little rock formations. Tourists had created little towers of rocks and we saw a few in the making, and after that we went to the portal tomb. Its quite touristy but no one can barely find it and it was free so yippy! It was apparently made a really long time ago (forgotten te exact years) by the first occupants of Ireland, the Irish before the Vikings came.
One of the other days we went south to Kilkee. Dad took us on a road that was really thin and all through boring farm land. Often we got held up by tractors carrying turfs. Turfs are lumps of the Pete land that they burn for fuel. Almost all the trees in Ireland were cut down for housing materials and fuel so after they all went they decided to burn the land itself, which they still do today.
South west of Kilkee is a scenic loop that we believe rivals the cliffs of Moher any day. They were just as beautiful and perhaps more so. We didn’t need to pay for any parking tickets and the number of people was insignificant to the people at the Cliffs yesterday. In some places parts of the land have been completely worn away and it stands as a small plateau in the ocean. One still has a small ruin on it!
On the 15th of august we went on a look around the Burren. The Burren is an area of limestone rock that used to be covered in pine forests, but after the Irish cleared all the trees, the soil slid away leaving the rocks bare.
So we drove around and then walked along these lakes. Apparently these lakes don’t keep their water. The lakes fill up from the rain and the gradually seep out into underground rivers. And because its summer and it rains all the time anyway, the lakes were pretty full.
Miko took us up a different way to the original path because from one way you see one direction and along the path, you see the other. So we looked out over where we parked the car, and over the lakes and out to the horizon where the mountains peaked.
When we got to the top we were standing on what is called a Can. It’s sort of an ancient ritual site and its just made from a big pile of rocks that of course have stayed in its place.
On top of the Can we could see out over another five mountains. Being on top of one, we couldn’t really see it well, but looking out to the other ones we could see the amazing spiral like formation of the rocks. Was incredible!
As we looked out in the opposite direction to the other mountains, we could see farm land and a few houses. Covering them was an incredible ban of rain that we could see coming towards us. From the sun that we were receiving the rain clouds were glowing. It was beautiful! But because we didn’t want to get wet, we began the descent down the path.
From this side we could see Father Teds house. I haven’t seen the series but its about some priests living on island or something. Well we saw the house that it was filmed in. we drove there after we got down too.
Amazingly we somehow missed the rain, it didn’t go up the mountain and went along the side of it!
That night we went out and dad stayed late at the pub with Miko playing tunes again til the wee hours!
This day we packed up, said goodbye to Miko, and hit the road again. We drove to a plaice called Letter Fraic. The drive was beautiful we drove past lakes and green mountains covered in plantations of pines. On the way we saw the famous Kylemore Abbey. We didn’t go an visit it, we thought it was too expensive and apparently aprx 2500 tourist go there everyday or something!
We arrived at our hostel which was very cheap and not luxurious, but the feeling was good so we didn’t mind. We had parked our car outside this white building with a park around it. We didn’t know what it was until we went for a walk.
Strangely we didn’t just walk the 20 metres to it, we decided to go down the hill, go shopping to buy some essentials like tea and then walk about another km uphill on the national park road back to the white building…
After I got over my annoyance of walking so far to somewhere so not far, we went inside the building where we saw mini models of how the area would have looked before people came, then when they came and now what it is. the most interesting par to fit was a real tree that was on display. It had been dug up out of the tree less bog. The studies on the carbon showed that it was over 2000 years old! So now no trees grow but they did before men arrived.
Mum was really tired so she took the shopping back while dad and I decided to do a walk in the park. We were out for about an hour, walking on a gravel path that sometimes became a boardwalk as it was so boggy and wet it was impossible to put a pt through. On the way up we could see out over huge lakes in front of us. They were so big we’re not actually sure they were lakes, we were considering them to be the sea, but who knows. I can’t tell you, sorry.
That was all for that day, a good day to add the many :)
8/7/09
In the morning, after checking out, we went for a walk around the town before heading off. We walked up the road on the way to a ruin mum saw on the way in yesterday. On the way we saw some donkeys which were really cute and I felt very at home with :P. we stopped in at the post office to see how a parcel would go. we couldn’t get to the ruin, it seemed to be at the back of the estates area, but we took some good photos J
We then hot the road again and stopped at many good view opportunities. We stopped at a lovely stream where 2 intersected just before it went under the bridge.
I don’t know where the next place was but there was a really difficult turn to do, we were waiting and waiting so we went in all these detailed roads trying to find our way out if it until we came across a monument. A fair was on at the time so the background of the monument isn’t as nice as it would have been, but it was dedicated to Townsend Blennerhasset. Blennerhasset is my mother’s mother’s mother’s maiden name, or also known as my great grandmother on my mum’s side. It was pretty weird that this Townsend had also drowned in Castlemaine Bay after attempting to save a fellow creature. The monument didn’t say what sort of creature.
The nex stop I definitely remember the name. in fact the name of the town is exactly the reason wwhy we went there. Castlemaine was our next stop; “Birthplace of the Wild Colonial Boy.” In Gallic Castlemaine is spelt Cais. na Mainge. We decided to go to a bar/coffee shop where we got a beer for dad and a cup of tea for me and mum.
The people at the bar were very nice, especially when they found out we came from Castlemaine. The bar man said he was emailing a man from Castlemaine in Australia. Dad thinks he knows him but we’re not sure.
Mum then wanted to go to the post office and see if they had a box and the bar man happily took her there and introduced her as his new girl friend. After paying for the beer and tea dad and I caught up with her and joined in on the great conversation mum and the post master seemed to be having. He gave us his details and we’d really like to get something going between the two Castlemaines. The post master seemed to agree with this thought.
On our way to our final destination we had a quick look a the beach on the Dingle peninsula and watched in our jackets, mad people surfing and swimming in the freezing water.
Then we arrived in Dingle. We had booked a B&B and we drove back into town after a rest looking for dinner.
After dinner we went and had a look around. I ended up buying a hairclip for myself and a top too. We saw a weird sight of a bar when we were looking around. There was a bar called The Hardware Bar. During the day it was hardware shop and at night it became a bar, still dusty and filled with hanging tools.
Dad and I decided to walk back and dad picked lots of blackberries, getting the juice everywhere too :P
We then hot the road again and stopped at many good view opportunities. We stopped at a lovely stream where 2 intersected just before it went under the bridge.
I don’t know where the next place was but there was a really difficult turn to do, we were waiting and waiting so we went in all these detailed roads trying to find our way out if it until we came across a monument. A fair was on at the time so the background of the monument isn’t as nice as it would have been, but it was dedicated to Townsend Blennerhasset. Blennerhasset is my mother’s mother’s mother’s maiden name, or also known as my great grandmother on my mum’s side. It was pretty weird that this Townsend had also drowned in Castlemaine Bay after attempting to save a fellow creature. The monument didn’t say what sort of creature.
The nex stop I definitely remember the name. in fact the name of the town is exactly the reason wwhy we went there. Castlemaine was our next stop; “Birthplace of the Wild Colonial Boy.” In Gallic Castlemaine is spelt Cais. na Mainge. We decided to go to a bar/coffee shop where we got a beer for dad and a cup of tea for me and mum.
The people at the bar were very nice, especially when they found out we came from Castlemaine. The bar man said he was emailing a man from Castlemaine in Australia. Dad thinks he knows him but we’re not sure.
Mum then wanted to go to the post office and see if they had a box and the bar man happily took her there and introduced her as his new girl friend. After paying for the beer and tea dad and I caught up with her and joined in on the great conversation mum and the post master seemed to be having. He gave us his details and we’d really like to get something going between the two Castlemaines. The post master seemed to agree with this thought.
On our way to our final destination we had a quick look a the beach on the Dingle peninsula and watched in our jackets, mad people surfing and swimming in the freezing water.
Then we arrived in Dingle. We had booked a B&B and we drove back into town after a rest looking for dinner.
After dinner we went and had a look around. I ended up buying a hairclip for myself and a top too. We saw a weird sight of a bar when we were looking around. There was a bar called The Hardware Bar. During the day it was hardware shop and at night it became a bar, still dusty and filled with hanging tools.
Dad and I decided to walk back and dad picked lots of blackberries, getting the juice everywhere too :P
7/7/09
This day wasn’t so fun. The morning was great, a fantastic breakfast again with a few pressies then we jumped in the car and went around many bends and wiggles and bumps. Anyone with any knowledge of my childhood, they are likely to know I, very often got carsick. I’ve sort of grown out of it by this time but the bumps and bends were pretty rough, so the slightest queasiness came over me.
When we finally found out how to get down to our destination through a one way road of madness when a car came the opposite way, we boarded a small fishing boat. The journey, I don’t want to talk about. Lets just say that the queasiness came on pretty strong over the incredibly rough waves…
When we finally go here, and I was kissing the land, we went for a walk around the island. oh by the way, we were on an Island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The rock formation is on an extreme diagonal and the island is completely green and rocky. Its quite far from the mainland of island and for some reason these mad monks decided to sail out to them and build a monastery on it where only monks would live.
The monasteries are still there, in fact the whole town. They’re built in a sort of beehive fashion out of stones, going up in a spiral direction. At the entrance of each building, above the door, a cross is made by white rock above it. There were large holes under the stone path we were walking on where rain water is stored. Because it had been raining earlier that day, most of them were overflowing down the path.
The only contrasting thing to this tiny town, was one building. No one would notice unless you listened to the guide like us, who told us that this building must have been built after the original buildings were built. It was in a rectangular shape and built in a brick like fashion. Bits of the roof had fallen in so you can see then he beehive structure is way more stable.
Then the dreaded moment of getting back on the boat came. The firs part was goodish. We drove past the second Skelig Island. When we came in I thought the island was made from white rock but I wasn’t paying much attention to anything but my stomach and the forth coming waves. When we did this small detour I realised that all the white was actually all birds and bird poo. This is where gulls rest and breed and cover the entire island.
When we finally touched the mainland again, we had to do the awful drive up the one way street with many oncoming cars. We then arrived at our hostel called the sleepy camel. We asked about a good place to eat and headed for it.
We had a lovely meal and I knew that in a few weeks I would realise that the horrible boat trips would have been worth the loss of breakfast. The waiter was very nice and put a candle in the muffin I ordered for dessert.
When we finally found out how to get down to our destination through a one way road of madness when a car came the opposite way, we boarded a small fishing boat. The journey, I don’t want to talk about. Lets just say that the queasiness came on pretty strong over the incredibly rough waves…
When we finally go here, and I was kissing the land, we went for a walk around the island. oh by the way, we were on an Island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The rock formation is on an extreme diagonal and the island is completely green and rocky. Its quite far from the mainland of island and for some reason these mad monks decided to sail out to them and build a monastery on it where only monks would live.
The monasteries are still there, in fact the whole town. They’re built in a sort of beehive fashion out of stones, going up in a spiral direction. At the entrance of each building, above the door, a cross is made by white rock above it. There were large holes under the stone path we were walking on where rain water is stored. Because it had been raining earlier that day, most of them were overflowing down the path.
The only contrasting thing to this tiny town, was one building. No one would notice unless you listened to the guide like us, who told us that this building must have been built after the original buildings were built. It was in a rectangular shape and built in a brick like fashion. Bits of the roof had fallen in so you can see then he beehive structure is way more stable.
Then the dreaded moment of getting back on the boat came. The firs part was goodish. We drove past the second Skelig Island. When we came in I thought the island was made from white rock but I wasn’t paying much attention to anything but my stomach and the forth coming waves. When we did this small detour I realised that all the white was actually all birds and bird poo. This is where gulls rest and breed and cover the entire island.
When we finally touched the mainland again, we had to do the awful drive up the one way street with many oncoming cars. We then arrived at our hostel called the sleepy camel. We asked about a good place to eat and headed for it.
We had a lovely meal and I knew that in a few weeks I would realise that the horrible boat trips would have been worth the loss of breakfast. The waiter was very nice and put a candle in the muffin I ordered for dessert.
6/7/08
Through this day, after a beautiful cooked breakfast I stayed in bed and blogged, emailed and had an easy day of school J. In the morning we called home and said happy birthday to Grandpa and it was really nice to talk to everyone. Mum and dad went into the ational park close by, they said they went on a boat over the lake and looked very silly in huge fluro orange lifejackets, they went on a beautiful walk through very green and damp moss forests. Their day was much more interesting than mine but I enjoyed it all the same.
When they came home, we dressed up and went the 10 minute walk to the theatre. The doors didn’t open until a half hour after we arrived. So we went and had a drink before hand. Then we went inside.
We got fantastic seats but they were all really and the place wasn’t packed. The show was great, there were 3 main female singers, a violinist who didn’t impress mum, and an Irish dancer who would have been in the river-dance show we went to except she had this gig. There was a great pipest who played flute, pipes and many other woodwind things. He often looked like he was completely off his face but I think that was him just concentrating really hard. He never smiled.
Also dads god was there. Frankie Gavin, he is considered the best fiddle player ever, though after the show dad said he wasn’t quite as impressed with him as he’d hoped.
The night was beautiful and I really enjoyed the day.
When they came home, we dressed up and went the 10 minute walk to the theatre. The doors didn’t open until a half hour after we arrived. So we went and had a drink before hand. Then we went inside.
We got fantastic seats but they were all really and the place wasn’t packed. The show was great, there were 3 main female singers, a violinist who didn’t impress mum, and an Irish dancer who would have been in the river-dance show we went to except she had this gig. There was a great pipest who played flute, pipes and many other woodwind things. He often looked like he was completely off his face but I think that was him just concentrating really hard. He never smiled.
Also dads god was there. Frankie Gavin, he is considered the best fiddle player ever, though after the show dad said he wasn’t quite as impressed with him as he’d hoped.
The night was beautiful and I really enjoyed the day.
8/24/09
5/8/09
Next morning we were up early again. Checkout time was like 11 but we would have had to pay for a parking ticket otherwise so we left early.
We only drove a very short way before we made our first stop. When we were in Bayeux we saw a BBC news report on the germiest tourist places. San Marcos square was one of them because of all the pigeons but the number one spot was the Blarney stone in Ireland. After seeing that news report we couldn’t miss it when we were so close.
We began our blarney castle tour with a little walk crossing over many bridges of a small creek. Every bridge we crossed, people had turned it into a wishing area and thrown coins in.
We came up to the castle and we were towered over. Up to the entrance of the castle we passed an old lookout tower. The spiral staircase had fallen in but we could still see where the stairs would have been placed.
Up at the entrance were some long benches. The back of them had the words Blarney Castle written in it. We then entered the castle.
We went through numerous rooms, up and up through a spiral staircase. My favourite room was the very first we entered into. It was very large and the ceiling was very high. This room was used for cattle. But when I climbed the modern set of stairs to begin the original spiral stairs, I saw a decorated fireplace at my height, the foot of it level with my feet. I first couldn’t understand why cattle would need their own furnished fire place, secondly, why would it be so high up? Suddenly it clicked, the floor/ceiling had fallen through and there was a lounge area above the cattle room.
When we had finally reached the top, there were hardly any people there. Only 5 or 6 at eight o’clock in the morning. Dad and I proudly kissed the Blarney stone (after hearing the new report and the amount of swine flu around she decided against it), a rock that is part of the castle at the very top. There were no stones underneath us and we could see the people entering the castle beneath us. Mum got very good pictures of our stretched out fronts. :P
We then continued down through the castle to end up at the great hall at the centre. There should have been three stories above us but instead we could see the blue (I describe it this way as it is so rare) sky above us and the people waiting in line to make their kiss and be given the gift of Blarney.
Apparently there was a man called Blarney from Ireland and he was friends with Queen Elizabeth the first. Being Irish, he could talk and talk, just like the man our tour guide from Dublin. J One day Elizabeth said something like “its all Blarney to me” referring that she had no idea of the meaning behind the words, and a new word was born!
On our way out of the castle there were 3 girls busking in the cattle room playing trad Irish music. Just near where the girls were sitting was a small room with a trap door in it. It is plainly known as “The trapdoor room.” This is where archers or other people skilled with some form of weapon would shoot at the unwelcome guests entering the castle.
We then left the castle and went through a garden called “The rock cose.” We found a beautiful waterfall and passed another river, the bridge also presenting itself as another wishing place. It was very beautiful in there.
We then climbed the wishing stairs near the waterfall and looked over the water garden we had just passed through. Above it was much denser with trees and the light was much dimmer.
We found ourselves at a small cave called “the witch’s cave.” Later we came to the witch stone which is a stone with a peculiar shape, a hole in it and a elongated bit sticking out, making it look like a witch’s face. The story goes that when night falls the witch escapes from the rock, camps out in her cave and if you arrive early enough in the morning, you can sometimes see her coals finish burning. I don’t understand how anyone can light a fire in Ireland. The previous night it was pelting down and I think that witch would have got awfully wet. I would have rather stayed in the stone.
We then went on another little walk that passed more beautiful greenery until we got to a playground, where dad pushed me on a tyre swing until I was so dizzy I almost fell over. Nearby was a very weird tree. This tree’s branch had grown out in such an awkward way it became a horizontal bar between its two trunks!
Near the end of the path where we first came in were some dungeons. We had decided to leave them til later when we first found them; “head for the stone, then when everyone else is queuing for it, we’ll see everything else.” So inside the dungeons it was wet, slimy, dark and very, very small. Mum decided to miss on it as it was so tiny.
Next dad and I went into the badgers cave. It was even wetter, the puddles weren’t puddles any longer inside, they were pools. The cave went very far into the rock, it almost did a full circle but dad hit his head the roof being so low, so we quickly retreated.
We then walked a little path surrounded by thistles and other big “weeds” to dad, we then arrived at the Fern Garden. We had a chat with the gardeners who said they were mostly transported from Tasmania but a few from other areas in Australia. They said it was very expensive to import big ferns but it cost almost as much to get them from Dublin to the castle because they are so big and heavy, the transportation is very expensive too. The largest one they had was 17 feet!
We then went on a loop walk and ended up at the beginning of the fern garden path. We had passed a very nice house that the people who lived in the castle decided to move into in the winter when it was too cold. We also passed a lime kiln. I’m not sure if it’s called that because it is made of lime or it helps produce lime. *shrugs*
We then went for another drive which I slept for again. We then arrived at a little town which I don’t know the name of. We went on a small walk to see some seals! There were two seals, a mother, a father and a baby. Very cute. We couldn’t see them very well but thanks to our fantastic opera binocs we bought in Verona, we could see them quite well, resting and baking in the rare sun on a tiny Island.
We then went back, found something yummy to eat, and continues our journey.
We saw some of the most amazing views, looking over a valley with a large lake at the bottom. We went through very windy roads and often slowed for the local sheep inked up with red and blue…
We then arrived at our destination; Kilareny. we spent a very long time trying to find our hotel. The strangely decided to change the name without telling us. We went and found some Chinese takeway and booked tickets for the following night to a concert called “The women of Ireland with De Dannen and Frankie Gavin.” Dad found it very funny after the takeaway shop person asked dad where we came from, and then asked “oh great you can help me settle an argument with my wife, which is the capital of Australia, Melbourne or Sydney?”
Fireplace above cattle room
We only drove a very short way before we made our first stop. When we were in Bayeux we saw a BBC news report on the germiest tourist places. San Marcos square was one of them because of all the pigeons but the number one spot was the Blarney stone in Ireland. After seeing that news report we couldn’t miss it when we were so close.
We began our blarney castle tour with a little walk crossing over many bridges of a small creek. Every bridge we crossed, people had turned it into a wishing area and thrown coins in.
We came up to the castle and we were towered over. Up to the entrance of the castle we passed an old lookout tower. The spiral staircase had fallen in but we could still see where the stairs would have been placed.
Up at the entrance were some long benches. The back of them had the words Blarney Castle written in it. We then entered the castle.
We went through numerous rooms, up and up through a spiral staircase. My favourite room was the very first we entered into. It was very large and the ceiling was very high. This room was used for cattle. But when I climbed the modern set of stairs to begin the original spiral stairs, I saw a decorated fireplace at my height, the foot of it level with my feet. I first couldn’t understand why cattle would need their own furnished fire place, secondly, why would it be so high up? Suddenly it clicked, the floor/ceiling had fallen through and there was a lounge area above the cattle room.
When we had finally reached the top, there were hardly any people there. Only 5 or 6 at eight o’clock in the morning. Dad and I proudly kissed the Blarney stone (after hearing the new report and the amount of swine flu around she decided against it), a rock that is part of the castle at the very top. There were no stones underneath us and we could see the people entering the castle beneath us. Mum got very good pictures of our stretched out fronts. :P
We then continued down through the castle to end up at the great hall at the centre. There should have been three stories above us but instead we could see the blue (I describe it this way as it is so rare) sky above us and the people waiting in line to make their kiss and be given the gift of Blarney.
Apparently there was a man called Blarney from Ireland and he was friends with Queen Elizabeth the first. Being Irish, he could talk and talk, just like the man our tour guide from Dublin. J One day Elizabeth said something like “its all Blarney to me” referring that she had no idea of the meaning behind the words, and a new word was born!
On our way out of the castle there were 3 girls busking in the cattle room playing trad Irish music. Just near where the girls were sitting was a small room with a trap door in it. It is plainly known as “The trapdoor room.” This is where archers or other people skilled with some form of weapon would shoot at the unwelcome guests entering the castle.
We then left the castle and went through a garden called “The rock cose.” We found a beautiful waterfall and passed another river, the bridge also presenting itself as another wishing place. It was very beautiful in there.
We then climbed the wishing stairs near the waterfall and looked over the water garden we had just passed through. Above it was much denser with trees and the light was much dimmer.
We found ourselves at a small cave called “the witch’s cave.” Later we came to the witch stone which is a stone with a peculiar shape, a hole in it and a elongated bit sticking out, making it look like a witch’s face. The story goes that when night falls the witch escapes from the rock, camps out in her cave and if you arrive early enough in the morning, you can sometimes see her coals finish burning. I don’t understand how anyone can light a fire in Ireland. The previous night it was pelting down and I think that witch would have got awfully wet. I would have rather stayed in the stone.
We then went on another little walk that passed more beautiful greenery until we got to a playground, where dad pushed me on a tyre swing until I was so dizzy I almost fell over. Nearby was a very weird tree. This tree’s branch had grown out in such an awkward way it became a horizontal bar between its two trunks!
Near the end of the path where we first came in were some dungeons. We had decided to leave them til later when we first found them; “head for the stone, then when everyone else is queuing for it, we’ll see everything else.” So inside the dungeons it was wet, slimy, dark and very, very small. Mum decided to miss on it as it was so tiny.
Next dad and I went into the badgers cave. It was even wetter, the puddles weren’t puddles any longer inside, they were pools. The cave went very far into the rock, it almost did a full circle but dad hit his head the roof being so low, so we quickly retreated.
We then walked a little path surrounded by thistles and other big “weeds” to dad, we then arrived at the Fern Garden. We had a chat with the gardeners who said they were mostly transported from Tasmania but a few from other areas in Australia. They said it was very expensive to import big ferns but it cost almost as much to get them from Dublin to the castle because they are so big and heavy, the transportation is very expensive too. The largest one they had was 17 feet!
We then went on a loop walk and ended up at the beginning of the fern garden path. We had passed a very nice house that the people who lived in the castle decided to move into in the winter when it was too cold. We also passed a lime kiln. I’m not sure if it’s called that because it is made of lime or it helps produce lime. *shrugs*
We then went for another drive which I slept for again. We then arrived at a little town which I don’t know the name of. We went on a small walk to see some seals! There were two seals, a mother, a father and a baby. Very cute. We couldn’t see them very well but thanks to our fantastic opera binocs we bought in Verona, we could see them quite well, resting and baking in the rare sun on a tiny Island.
We then went back, found something yummy to eat, and continues our journey.
We saw some of the most amazing views, looking over a valley with a large lake at the bottom. We went through very windy roads and often slowed for the local sheep inked up with red and blue…
We then arrived at our destination; Kilareny. we spent a very long time trying to find our hotel. The strangely decided to change the name without telling us. We went and found some Chinese takeway and booked tickets for the following night to a concert called “The women of Ireland with De Dannen and Frankie Gavin.” Dad found it very funny after the takeaway shop person asked dad where we came from, and then asked “oh great you can help me settle an argument with my wife, which is the capital of Australia, Melbourne or Sydney?”
Fireplace above cattle room
Dad recieving the gift of Blarney
Me kissing
Trapdoor
Second half 4/8/09
Our next stop was at Glendalough monastery. There was a cemetery, a tall tower and the monastery. In its time the monastery was the largest stone building in Ireland. They were so impressed by the Romans and Greeks that they could build such magnificent things! The towers have no doors or windows so that when the monks were invaded they would run up the tower with the invaders left at the bottom with no way up. Too bad for the monks, the Vikings were just too smart for them, they brought straw, burnt a fire at the bottom and eventually smoked them out.
Then back into the car and to our hotel in Cork.
We had a little room with one of those triple bunks where the bottom one is a double bed. It was connected next to a bar so we figured this was one of those great places for young people who have no money.
We then looked through the guide book to see if there was somewhere good to eat. We went for a nice walk to this vegetarian restaurant. On the way we saw a man who was really good at fire twirling without fire.
We had a good dinner then went back to the bar. Mum and dad stayed in the bar because they had a video of Freddie Mercury playing but I went upstairs, read and slept.
Tower
Then back into the car and to our hotel in Cork.
We had a little room with one of those triple bunks where the bottom one is a double bed. It was connected next to a bar so we figured this was one of those great places for young people who have no money.
We then looked through the guide book to see if there was somewhere good to eat. We went for a nice walk to this vegetarian restaurant. On the way we saw a man who was really good at fire twirling without fire.
We had a good dinner then went back to the bar. Mum and dad stayed in the bar because they had a video of Freddie Mercury playing but I went upstairs, read and slept.
Tower
Monastery Ruin
Shrine in Cork
Guiness :)
First half 4/8/09
Glendalough and Cork… 4/8/09
So we left Dublin in our little silver car. We drove through lots of hills and saw lots of mini water falls. Often we had to give way to the sheep passing. I slept a lot of the way until I was woken up. Grrr, though I soon forgot that feeling.
We were at a place called Glendalough, where a man once decided to go and live in a cave and be isolated from everyone else in a beautiful spot. Soon many other people thought this was a great idea and eventually it was so crowded it wasn’t much of a hermit’s life anymore. We went on a short walk that would go right around the beautiful lake that was there but we stopped and turned around conscience of time.
We then decided to go to the other side of the lake. I can’t tell you which side it was with north or south because, being Ireland, it was cloudy and I don’t know where the sun was.
We did a tiny walk then up to see a larger waterfall than the roadside ones we’d been seeing on the way. It was crowded with ferns and greenery which looks so beautiful and different from home!
Mum and I then went back to the car to get lunch organised while dad went into the info centre where he said he saw a stuffed otter and badger!
Running streams
So we left Dublin in our little silver car. We drove through lots of hills and saw lots of mini water falls. Often we had to give way to the sheep passing. I slept a lot of the way until I was woken up. Grrr, though I soon forgot that feeling.
We were at a place called Glendalough, where a man once decided to go and live in a cave and be isolated from everyone else in a beautiful spot. Soon many other people thought this was a great idea and eventually it was so crowded it wasn’t much of a hermit’s life anymore. We went on a short walk that would go right around the beautiful lake that was there but we stopped and turned around conscience of time.
We then decided to go to the other side of the lake. I can’t tell you which side it was with north or south because, being Ireland, it was cloudy and I don’t know where the sun was.
We did a tiny walk then up to see a larger waterfall than the roadside ones we’d been seeing on the way. It was crowded with ferns and greenery which looks so beautiful and different from home!
Mum and I then went back to the car to get lunch organised while dad went into the info centre where he said he saw a stuffed otter and badger!
Running streams
Glendalough Lake
Hermits cave
Waterfall
8/15/09
second half of 2/8/09
New Grange
Entrance to Sun Chamber
Structure os New Grange
Entrance Stone
Then we arrived at New grange is a similar thing to Tara but a lot more complicated. In the early 1900s (I think) stories were about of this hill we were standing on. Many thought there were fairies and things that lived up there so many didn’t go up there. One English man decided to have a look himself and asked 2 men to go and clear the vegetation. These 2 men were believers of the stories and when they found a rock covered with spirals and decorations they freaked out and left. The English man then decided to look into it more. He took a scoop out of the side of the mound and discovered a path. He then went into the path and found a room with 3 smaller rooms coming off the sides. They found ashes of people in these small rooms (as in tiny like as a big as a room for a toilet) and each one was different. One had a large bowl on the ground where the ashes were found and on the side was a 3 spiral Celtic symbol. In the other 2 rooms there was lots of decoration on the roofs and walls. Somehow they figured out that on a particular date, at dawn, the sun would come streaming in when at all other times if the year it is in complete darkness.
We had a look around the sides of the mound. Around the base are large rocks some decorated with more of the spiraly squiggles. Above the base stones are white quartz stones that held all the earth in on top of the room inside. They believe that the makers of this tomb were sun worshipers. First of all the reason that the sun come in perfectly one time of the year, and also that they travelled a very long way to gather all the quartz as no quartz is found in the area. This helps the theory because sun can shine through the rocks and show the light. So maybe the rocks were special to the people. What was really interesting was that the guides and all the discoverers don’t know anything about the people and the reasons for all of this. They have come up with theories but they could be so wrong or so right. The guide often said “you don’t have to believe anything I’ve told you today, you can make up your own theories and no matter hoe far fetched it is, no-one can tell you you’re wrong.” As much as I liked that idea, I liked the guide’s theories even more. So I just stick with those.
Back at the main building, there was an exhibition that we went into. We saw mini models of the area with New Grange and other mounds around so you can see how they relate. Also tents and things to show how the people must have lived and how they got the stones up the hill. They likely did it with logs rolling it up the hill.
Mum bought some maps because we were getting a car and then we got back on the bus and drove the hour or so back to Dublin where we walked back to our apartment, cooked dinner and watched some T.V
That was our last day before we got back on the road. The next morning dad went to pick up the car and we drove off, leaving Dublin behind after a great stay…
first half of 2/8/09
Tara Hill
Castle Ruin
Blue door house
Red door House
The next morning we had to get up and go. We walked for about half an hour, back to the main street with the statues along it and the “Spike” at the end. Near here was a bus station where we were to get on a bus tour. We met a nice lady in the queue who had been to Australia, she said it was fantastic and everyone was so friendly which was nice to hear but as she hadn’t actually left the Sydney airport because she was on a connect flight to New Zealand, she didn’t really see much!
Anyway we had a fantastic driver, he was very funny and told us a lot of history on the way. He also told us about how farmers look after their sheep. Apparently, the place a belt on the male which has a sort of ink pouch containing red or blue ink just under the belly. So from this, they know which female is likely to be pregnant. If she has a huge blue or red spot on her back, she will need special attention in the winter.
We also learnt about the names throughout Ireland. When the Vikings came, they didn’t change the name of what the Irish called it, just simplified so it was easier to say. Everywhere you go in Ireland the signs to places always have to names, often similar, one in English and one in Gallic.
Our first stop was Tara, a hill where the king of all Ireland would sit, because from there you can look out to all of Ireland.
The king has a certain rule that he inflicted. No one could light their fires for cooking at night until he had lit his. So he looked out over Ireland making sure he saw no smoke before he lit his own fire.
One time during the kings rein a man called Patrick who came knocking at the castle door and he wanted to see the king. The guards wouldn’t let him in so one night he lit a fire before the king had lit his. So the guards went out and dragged him back to see the king. When the king asked why have you broken my rules? Patrick answered I broke them so I could get an audience with you sir. Now that we’re here, will you please listen to this new religion called Christianity… and so then the whole of Ireland peacefully converted to Christianity and Catholicism.
On Tara hill were lots of different things. There was a tomb where a boy, aged about 13-15 was buried. He was wearing a necklace.
Before we went and saw the top of the hill we had been inside a church and had watched a movie about the hill. From above you can see how it looks like ripples. The hills are formed into sort of wave actions in the dirt. So from above it looks like a circle within another circle and that one in another.
We then all jumped back on the bus and went to a castle ruin. There weren’t many ruins from the original Irish, but after the Vikings came they realised you could build things out of stone. So these ruins were from after the Vikings arrival. Mum and I walked around it but didn’t go inside. We didn’t have very long and we needed to get some lunch too. Inside is apparently a museum of “Original battle weapons” but they are actually fake ones taken from the movie Braveheart.
On our way between the castle and New Grange the driver told us a story about a man and his 4 daughters. They were all very beautiful and all very smart. And each of them thought they more loved than the others by their father. They would pester him into telling them who he loved more until finally he said, “right, I’m going to build you each a house and who ever has the best house will be the one I love more.” We passed these houses at a roundabout and we could see them, all exactly the same all facing into the middle of the roundabout. The father had made each of the houses the same, but the daughters, determined to be the more loved, decided to paint their doors the best colour making their house better than the other, therefore being more loved. So facing into the middle of the roundabout there are 4 houses, exactly the same except for the doors, one red, one blue, one white and one brown.
Dublin 28/7/09-1/8/09
Me in a bubble
Luciano Pavarotti's handprints
The spike and statue
The frieze that i don't know the name of...
We arrived in Dublin and, you’ll never guess, it was raining. Not heavily luckily, just drizzling but it mean waiting for a taxi wasn’t that pleasant. But we didn’t have to wait long, in the line we got given the big bus taxi. A whole bus to ourselves! The taxi man was really nice, he told us U2 had played the previous night and 70,000 people made it to the concert!
We had booked an apartment for the week which was really handy. We had booked this after our bad news…
No well sorry, not bad news just a little annoying. The original plan was to get a ferry from Amsterdam up to Glasgow and start our UK trip up there, but we found out about this great Irish folk festival that was on in Dublin when we were planning on getting the ferry. So we switched from water to air, and took a plane to Dublin. But just before we left Tim and Karen’s we realised this festival was located in Dublin, yes, but Dublin Ohio. Hmmm. They don’t acknowledge Ohio on the website because the Americans obviously haven’t heard of Dublin, Ireland!
So overall, we booked an apartment for a week which was good because after our stop in Holland we realised how tired we were. So we had another break and I got a good day to catch up on blogs and maths because we felt we’d seen as much as we wanted to in Dublin after a few says. So this is how the few days went.
Our first day I stayed home. All day! I was just so intent on reading Angles and Demons!
Next day was pretty much the same, though we went out to see Harry Potter. Yay! Great movie!!!
Next day we actually did something. We went for a long walk to Trinity College. On the way we stopped at a castle/cathedral. Not really sure but it was pretty! When we got to Trinity College we arrived just in time for a tour which was taken by one of the students. He was really good and told us about the history, architecture and all. One of the architectural disasters is located here, and it’s the only building if the college open to the public. :S it is the canteen. Is fallen in twice I think because the stones are too heavy and after hey rebuilt it the roof caught fire. So the student described it as building 2.5.
There were two statues in the courtyard. One is of a man who I can’t remember the name of. He was like the founder of the school or something. He believed that females shouldn’t be allowed to be educated. He said “over my dead body will females be educated here!” well funnily enough a week later he died of a very sudden heart attack. The next man who took charge then allowed females to be educated at Trinity College but they were still not equal, they had to enter through the back gates and through the front where the boys would enter. Strangely the back gate passes the graveyard where the first man was buried. So now, quite literally his wish came true: “over my dead body will females be educated at Trinity College!”
After the tour we got to see the book of Kells. There was heaps of information before we actually got to see it. I saw a mini movie of how they made the books and books in general.
The books were displayed in a glass cabinet. There were four, one was opened at a beautiful illumination, another on a page of script, the third on a grid of four drawings, a lion a horse and some other creatures, and the last book was sort of a combination of all three. I can’t believe that was all done by hand!!!
After the book of Kells and the others, we walked upstairs into “the long room.” As its title describes, it was a very long room. It was a library, with huge bookshelves. There was a curly flight of stairs that took you up to more book shelves in line with the ones beneath. But the librarians are quite lazy. The books aren’t ordered in alphabetical order, they’re ordered in size. The huge big books are placed at the bottom of the shelves and the smaller books are at the top. Like I said, lazy librarians…
After The Trinity college tour we went and found the small science exhibition they had going. The theme of this exhibition was bubbles. We wandered around for ages trying to find it, struggled but eventually asked for directions and entered the bubble exhibition. I actually got to stand in a bubble!!!
Then we went walking and found ourselves at Oscar Wilde’s old house. I guess we’ve done his life tour then, his grave and his house!
We then went for a walk in the park. We saw a wedding party who took their photos in front of the small fountain. The park was lovely, with white swans!!!
We then walked for the Gaiety Theatre. ON our way mum and I went shopping and I bought a T-shirt with cookie monster on it that says “Make Cookies not war” tehe I love it! It matches my Oscar the grouch T-shirt that says “Don’t trash my Planet!”
Anyway, The Gaiety Theatre, here we saw Luciano Pavarotti’s handprints!! There were gold plaques on the ground like stars in Hollywood but these were handprints. We booked tickets to River Dance then for tomorrow night!!! :D
That was about it for this day, bit more exciting than the previous two days but I enjoyed all three!
So this day mum got me up early. Dad was gonna stay home and play violin and book our accommodation and plans for the next few days. Mum and I however were to catch a walking tour that started at 10:30, or so we thought. It actually started at 11:30 and it began at the International Bar. At 10:30 we met some Irish people who were waiting for the bar to open at 10:30 for their first pint of the day. Very nice people but a little scared by all the piercings. The woman had her gum pierced! *shudder at thought of pain*
So mum and I got some water and I think some money out of the ATM then went back to the bar.
The tour started well and the guide was very… Irish. Talked very fast and I couldn’t keep up. So unfortunately I can’t tell you anything about the uprising in Ireland. I didn’t get the ground structure so I couldn’t build any more information on top. So sorry but yeh, all I remember is something about German weapons.
Though we did see a lit of great things. We started with Trinity College but we didn’t go inside. Next stop was at the spire. There is a huge metal spike in the middle of the town that was originally going to be a tribute to the new Millennium (I learnt this on the tour the next day) but they were slow with the making and got it up in 2003 so they decided it couldn’t be a tribute to that. So they searched frantically and came up with another reason; a tribute for light because of the light bulb on top. But the makers mucked up the wiring and the lights blew after a few tries. Now it just symbolises the centre of Dublin because it’s very close to the post office. They used to measure distances between towns by the distance between the towns post office. The spire or spike has many nick names. The walking tour guide was speaking too fast but I heard he was talking about nick-names the locals call it. There were many but I only heard one; Stiffy by the Liffey.
We then ended up close to where our apartment was. We passed the famous frieze that I don’t know the name of. Then we went up to the City Hall with a plaque that had listed all the names of the people who fought in something…
Our final destination was the Dublin Castle. Inside were statues but the most exciting part was a temporary exhibitiony thing of sand. They were like huge sand sculptures of hands and a skull and a mermaid and other interesting things.
We then returned back to the apartment to get changed for the next part of the day/night. We retraced our steps from the previous day and ended up at the Gaiety theatre. We took our seats and admired the building around us. The huge chandelier in the centre of the ceiling, the stalls below us, the balconies we were sitting at and the ones above. Everything was in red and gold, except the ceiling which had green decoration on it.
Then the curtain went up and the show started. It began with a man playing a pipe, not the Irish pipes, the flute sort of thing that you hold like a recorder. The sound was so beautiful. Then the dancers came out and began there dancing. They were all smiling and you could tell that they were all having so much fun.
They did lots of different dances. Some were representing fire, others the moon and often a voice over would come and tell us what they were dancing for. My favourite dance was when some ships arrived and some new men came out. They wore black and white clothing, something a bit like the fashion now of loose pants, a singlet and a black button t-shirt to go over the top, buttons undone. So these men were African, or African American, either way, they were fantastic! They did the sort of jazz style tap and the Irish men thought they were stupid, using their arms made them look dumb. So there was this sort of competition going on between the 2 Africans and the 3 Irish men, for who had the best form of tap. In the end they compromised and danced a form of tap that combined both. It was so much fun to watch!
After the show we went home feeling very happy and uplifted.
8/7/09
8/4/09
Holland
Haarlem, Netherlands 23/7/09-28/7/09
So this was the week we met up with Dads cousin Tim. For those who don’t know how he fits in the picture, he’s my Grandma Beth’s brother Ross’s son. He’s living in Haarlem with his wife Karen and his two children Berit and Stefan.
When we arrived in the airport/train/bus station we met up with Tim and got taken to their house in Haarlem, a little way from Amsterdam.
This week was filled with fun, our first day we had a tour. Tim and Karen took us around and showed us the main shopping street, the main square, where there’s a small fountain. Tim said that sometimes some teenagers bring a huge box of washing powder and throw it in the fountain. It then churns up and makes huge big bubbles everywhere! We visited their old house which Berit doesn’t remember and Stefan want born then. In Haalerm they have a very special way of numbering the houses. The houses are numbered by colours. First there is the number of the house like any other house number, but because there is a house above and a house below, they have the number red and the number black. Is that didn’t make sense which im pretty sure it didn’t, Tim and karen used to live at 37 Red, but the house beneath them is 37 Black. This is apparently only found in Haarlem. Tim and Karen took us into the back of people’s houses into a public garden area that the rich made for the poor to visit a while ago.
Then we took the bus and had a small go on the playground on the way back.
Next day Karen, Mum and I went to the Van Gogh museum. Before we went to that we got to talk to Grandma Beth and Grandpa Ric, Jenny and Grandma Kim. It was so nice to hear from you all!!! Inside we saw the famous painting of the Bed in the room and his self portraits. Unfortunately Starry night is in New York somewhere.
We then went out and had a quick drink before we went looking around Amsterdam on our way back to the Train Station. We walked through a street with lots of building leaning on their sides that look like many we saw in Venice. Amsterdam is very similar because Amsterdam and all of the Netherlands is filled with canals as the Netherlands were originally a lake that was pumped out to create land to live on.
We passed the “Australian” shop for homemade ice-cream. Well I sure hope its not homemade from Australia otherwise that’s a lot of importing!
One street was filled with heavy smokers and drinkers and mum was telling about how its so easy to get marijuana and hashish and saying those words mum was offered some! It was very funny! We then took the train home to an awaiting family :D
The next few days were a blur of relaxing and happiness. One day (can’t even remember which!) Tim, Berit, Stefan and I rode to the Rocket ship playground. Everywhere in the Netherlands, they seemed to have brilliant bike paths everywhere and it makes so much sense, everything is practically close enough and everywhere’s flat! Then Berit and Stefan went swimming in the lake nearby and we then rode home for lunch. That night, (at least I think it was that night) Dad and I cooked dinner. I cooked Tuna Casserole and dad cooked Pavlova to make it a real Aussie dinner!!!
On our last day Berit and Stefan went to day care and Karen went to work. Tim was nice enough to stay home with us. Later, Tim took dad and me to the beach. There was a family there collecting shrimps and had a whole bucket of them! From one side of the beach you could see out to a city and then at the other end of the beach you could see another city. They looked so close but it’s actually really far away. Because it’s flat it looks only like 1 km away yet its probably like 5.
On our way back we picked Stefan and Berit up then headed back to the house. There we put our baggage in the car and headed off to the airport. Karen, Mum, Berit and Stefan took the bus while we went in the car.
We found a good place to eat which had a playground with a big fake tree in the middle of it. The place handed out balloons for any kids who wanted one and poor Stefan’s burst. His face was priceless! Sorry Stefan…
So we waved goodbye after dinner and then we found where to get onto our plane.
Our plane was a short, fun trip, and when we arrived in Dublin, you can imagine, it was raining…
So this was the week we met up with Dads cousin Tim. For those who don’t know how he fits in the picture, he’s my Grandma Beth’s brother Ross’s son. He’s living in Haarlem with his wife Karen and his two children Berit and Stefan.
When we arrived in the airport/train/bus station we met up with Tim and got taken to their house in Haarlem, a little way from Amsterdam.
This week was filled with fun, our first day we had a tour. Tim and Karen took us around and showed us the main shopping street, the main square, where there’s a small fountain. Tim said that sometimes some teenagers bring a huge box of washing powder and throw it in the fountain. It then churns up and makes huge big bubbles everywhere! We visited their old house which Berit doesn’t remember and Stefan want born then. In Haalerm they have a very special way of numbering the houses. The houses are numbered by colours. First there is the number of the house like any other house number, but because there is a house above and a house below, they have the number red and the number black. Is that didn’t make sense which im pretty sure it didn’t, Tim and karen used to live at 37 Red, but the house beneath them is 37 Black. This is apparently only found in Haarlem. Tim and Karen took us into the back of people’s houses into a public garden area that the rich made for the poor to visit a while ago.
Then we took the bus and had a small go on the playground on the way back.
Next day Karen, Mum and I went to the Van Gogh museum. Before we went to that we got to talk to Grandma Beth and Grandpa Ric, Jenny and Grandma Kim. It was so nice to hear from you all!!! Inside we saw the famous painting of the Bed in the room and his self portraits. Unfortunately Starry night is in New York somewhere.
We then went out and had a quick drink before we went looking around Amsterdam on our way back to the Train Station. We walked through a street with lots of building leaning on their sides that look like many we saw in Venice. Amsterdam is very similar because Amsterdam and all of the Netherlands is filled with canals as the Netherlands were originally a lake that was pumped out to create land to live on.
We passed the “Australian” shop for homemade ice-cream. Well I sure hope its not homemade from Australia otherwise that’s a lot of importing!
One street was filled with heavy smokers and drinkers and mum was telling about how its so easy to get marijuana and hashish and saying those words mum was offered some! It was very funny! We then took the train home to an awaiting family :D
The next few days were a blur of relaxing and happiness. One day (can’t even remember which!) Tim, Berit, Stefan and I rode to the Rocket ship playground. Everywhere in the Netherlands, they seemed to have brilliant bike paths everywhere and it makes so much sense, everything is practically close enough and everywhere’s flat! Then Berit and Stefan went swimming in the lake nearby and we then rode home for lunch. That night, (at least I think it was that night) Dad and I cooked dinner. I cooked Tuna Casserole and dad cooked Pavlova to make it a real Aussie dinner!!!
On our last day Berit and Stefan went to day care and Karen went to work. Tim was nice enough to stay home with us. Later, Tim took dad and me to the beach. There was a family there collecting shrimps and had a whole bucket of them! From one side of the beach you could see out to a city and then at the other end of the beach you could see another city. They looked so close but it’s actually really far away. Because it’s flat it looks only like 1 km away yet its probably like 5.
On our way back we picked Stefan and Berit up then headed back to the house. There we put our baggage in the car and headed off to the airport. Karen, Mum, Berit and Stefan took the bus while we went in the car.
We found a good place to eat which had a playground with a big fake tree in the middle of it. The place handed out balloons for any kids who wanted one and poor Stefan’s burst. His face was priceless! Sorry Stefan…
So we waved goodbye after dinner and then we found where to get onto our plane.
Our plane was a short, fun trip, and when we arrived in Dublin, you can imagine, it was raining…
Bayeux
Bayeux 21/7/09-23/7/09
When we arrived in Bayeux we waited around for a taxi in the rain for a bit and then got a small tour from the driver who spoke a little English. We had a 3 bedroom room and that night we just did a bit of washing and watched T.V.
Next morning we headed for the famous Bayeux Tapestry depicting the story of Harold and Edward, the background and the battle. Some of the scenes were amazing. I loved the ships but my favourite was one of 2 horses getting out of a boat but one of the horses legs was still in it, so it was a real snap of it rather than just a scene portraying a big section, which I guess it was but, I don’t know, I just liked it a lot. J
We then went into the shop and bought some souvenirs as it was a special thing I wanted to do as it was one of those things I’ve studied and I get all excited when I see things I’ve seen somewhere before.
Afterwards we went into the cathedral. It wasn’t very big so we didn’t spend too much time in there, but the stain glass windows were beautiful.
Then mum and dad dragged me to a war museum about the Normandy landings. I didn’t want to go because I thought it would be boring, but I found it wasn’t at all. I still couldn’t stand it though, it was horrible. I watched black and white movies of people shooting each other, living in trenches and walked around real army cars and mini tanks. We then watched a movie in a mini cinema which again I hated. Yes I learnt things and it was very educational but war is so terrible. How did people live through that? And how does your life begin to continue afterwards when you’ve lost so many people? How do you feel human after?
Later mum and I left the museum. Dad was finding it very interesting and wanted to stay longer but I couldn’t stand it any longer with little movies of nurses healing hundreds of wounded men in the exhibition walls.
So we just spent time sleeping and watching T.V when we got back. When dad came we went out for dinner.
Next morning we headed back to the station and caught a train back to Paris. When we got there we had to get on the metro (which was no problem being so experienced on the metro as we are!) to Gare de Nord as Paris has four main stations.
When we got there we waited around and they gave us the platform about 15 minutes before the train left which was terrible for us. It wasn’t long enough, we thought that they’d accidentally double booked because the seat we reserved to sit in was taken. We asked the driver and we found out the swiss woman who did weird stuff on our train to Paris, also did weird stuff on this train, in fact she booked it for the following day! We couldn’t do that because we’re told Tim which night we were coming in on, and our Eurail ran out the next day! STRESS!!!! Well it turned out the conductor let us on and said you’ll need to pay a full ticket, but then gave us the present of only having to pay for one person. Then we just got to find a seat anywhere and we sat there. We met a very nice man on the train called Marcel. He spoke brilliant English and heaps of other languages just like so many people in Europe!
Now being in another country and passing through Belgium on our way, I think its time for another blog!
When we arrived in Bayeux we waited around for a taxi in the rain for a bit and then got a small tour from the driver who spoke a little English. We had a 3 bedroom room and that night we just did a bit of washing and watched T.V.
Next morning we headed for the famous Bayeux Tapestry depicting the story of Harold and Edward, the background and the battle. Some of the scenes were amazing. I loved the ships but my favourite was one of 2 horses getting out of a boat but one of the horses legs was still in it, so it was a real snap of it rather than just a scene portraying a big section, which I guess it was but, I don’t know, I just liked it a lot. J
We then went into the shop and bought some souvenirs as it was a special thing I wanted to do as it was one of those things I’ve studied and I get all excited when I see things I’ve seen somewhere before.
Afterwards we went into the cathedral. It wasn’t very big so we didn’t spend too much time in there, but the stain glass windows were beautiful.
Then mum and dad dragged me to a war museum about the Normandy landings. I didn’t want to go because I thought it would be boring, but I found it wasn’t at all. I still couldn’t stand it though, it was horrible. I watched black and white movies of people shooting each other, living in trenches and walked around real army cars and mini tanks. We then watched a movie in a mini cinema which again I hated. Yes I learnt things and it was very educational but war is so terrible. How did people live through that? And how does your life begin to continue afterwards when you’ve lost so many people? How do you feel human after?
Later mum and I left the museum. Dad was finding it very interesting and wanted to stay longer but I couldn’t stand it any longer with little movies of nurses healing hundreds of wounded men in the exhibition walls.
So we just spent time sleeping and watching T.V when we got back. When dad came we went out for dinner.
Next morning we headed back to the station and caught a train back to Paris. When we got there we had to get on the metro (which was no problem being so experienced on the metro as we are!) to Gare de Nord as Paris has four main stations.
When we got there we waited around and they gave us the platform about 15 minutes before the train left which was terrible for us. It wasn’t long enough, we thought that they’d accidentally double booked because the seat we reserved to sit in was taken. We asked the driver and we found out the swiss woman who did weird stuff on our train to Paris, also did weird stuff on this train, in fact she booked it for the following day! We couldn’t do that because we’re told Tim which night we were coming in on, and our Eurail ran out the next day! STRESS!!!! Well it turned out the conductor let us on and said you’ll need to pay a full ticket, but then gave us the present of only having to pay for one person. Then we just got to find a seat anywhere and we sat there. We met a very nice man on the train called Marcel. He spoke brilliant English and heaps of other languages just like so many people in Europe!
Now being in another country and passing through Belgium on our way, I think its time for another blog!
Dijon
Dijon 20/7/09-21/7/09
We arrived in Dijon after a very strange train trip. The woman who gave us the tickets only reserved us one seat and the others were “guaranteed seats” but no particular assigned seats. *shrugs shoulders* There was also a very annoying English woman behind us, some kids yelling and an odd man with a bag. When he opened the bag a dog jumped out which scared mum at first but them she fell into fits of hysteria afterwards.
We took a taxi to our hotel which was a far way out from the center of town. We didn’t need it to be in the middle because it was only a stop over night. The only thing exciting to see in Dijon, other than just the place in general, was La Maison de la Vache qui rit. For those who don’t speak fluent French, like me who could only understand it by the pictures accompanying it, this translates as The House of the Cow who Laughs, as in the laughing cow cheese. We didn’t get to go, we just rested and it wasn’t really a high priority to see but it’s cool to know we’ve been to the town that La Maison de la Vache qui rit is.
The next morning we decided to catch a bus to the post office before we caught our train. We posted a big parcel filled with souvenirs, tickets to scrapbook, and dads shaver that he’s been carrying around this whole time but forgot to bring the charger so it’s been no use whatsoever.
Then we walked the small distance from the post office to the train station, but got distracted half way and we had a coffee. It was strange that the coffee shop we chose happened to have to wall paintings; one with kangaroos on Uluru riding beer bottles made to look like horses. On the other wall was kangaroos surfing with the horse like beer bottles.
When we got to the station we had a bit of spare time so mum and I went shopping and we bought me a book. The book was called fascination, and it’s in French. I want to improve my French but I think I need the English translation by its side to be able to read it. Fascination is actually the book Twilight but in France they decide to change all the original names, rather than just translate it. Apparently in Harry Potter they change the names of the character like Snape is actually something starting with R. Why? I’ve got no idea. They don’t do it in Spain. In Spain the name for the second book of twilight was Luna Neuva meaning new moon, the title of the book in English. Strangely the French just change it. Here they call the 4 books fascination, tentation, hésitation and révélation instead of Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. Sorry about that ramble on, just shows how obsessed I am!
So we took the train to Paris, and after waiting ages until they gave us the platform, we got on the train to Bayuex. The whole time I spent trying to read fascination but it took me about an hour to translate one page… and it still didn’t make much sense!!!
We arrived in Dijon after a very strange train trip. The woman who gave us the tickets only reserved us one seat and the others were “guaranteed seats” but no particular assigned seats. *shrugs shoulders* There was also a very annoying English woman behind us, some kids yelling and an odd man with a bag. When he opened the bag a dog jumped out which scared mum at first but them she fell into fits of hysteria afterwards.
We took a taxi to our hotel which was a far way out from the center of town. We didn’t need it to be in the middle because it was only a stop over night. The only thing exciting to see in Dijon, other than just the place in general, was La Maison de la Vache qui rit. For those who don’t speak fluent French, like me who could only understand it by the pictures accompanying it, this translates as The House of the Cow who Laughs, as in the laughing cow cheese. We didn’t get to go, we just rested and it wasn’t really a high priority to see but it’s cool to know we’ve been to the town that La Maison de la Vache qui rit is.
The next morning we decided to catch a bus to the post office before we caught our train. We posted a big parcel filled with souvenirs, tickets to scrapbook, and dads shaver that he’s been carrying around this whole time but forgot to bring the charger so it’s been no use whatsoever.
Then we walked the small distance from the post office to the train station, but got distracted half way and we had a coffee. It was strange that the coffee shop we chose happened to have to wall paintings; one with kangaroos on Uluru riding beer bottles made to look like horses. On the other wall was kangaroos surfing with the horse like beer bottles.
When we got to the station we had a bit of spare time so mum and I went shopping and we bought me a book. The book was called fascination, and it’s in French. I want to improve my French but I think I need the English translation by its side to be able to read it. Fascination is actually the book Twilight but in France they decide to change all the original names, rather than just translate it. Apparently in Harry Potter they change the names of the character like Snape is actually something starting with R. Why? I’ve got no idea. They don’t do it in Spain. In Spain the name for the second book of twilight was Luna Neuva meaning new moon, the title of the book in English. Strangely the French just change it. Here they call the 4 books fascination, tentation, hésitation and révélation instead of Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. Sorry about that ramble on, just shows how obsessed I am!
So we took the train to Paris, and after waiting ages until they gave us the platform, we got on the train to Bayuex. The whole time I spent trying to read fascination but it took me about an hour to translate one page… and it still didn’t make much sense!!!
Switzerland
Lausanne and Switzerland
We arrived at Lausanne pretty late but the trip was fantastic. As we were coming in we passed a beautiful lake, enormous that stretched out to Geneva. Mountains capped with snow surrounded it. Twas beautiful!!!! Dad found it very difficult to fins accommodation in Lausanne, in fact he tried to get some in Montreaux but everything was completely booked out, and in Lausanne, the only thing he could get was a room in a 4 star hotel! And 4 star hotels are expensive as they are, but just to really make us cringe, was the fact we were staying in Switzerland, one of the most expensive places in the world!!!! That night I watched Star wars 2 in German but I love it so much that I knew all the words anyway! In Switzerland they don’t speak Swiss, it’s either French or German, German mainly in the north and French more in the south, so everything other than BBC world news was in French and German.
The next morning we got up reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally early. And I know I write that a lot but this was wayyyy too early for me. We had to catch a 6 something train and when we arrived we then had to wait 45 minutes before the next one went.
This train was a golden panorama train, and it’s usually very expensive but because we had Eurail we could have first class for sort of free! So we went through mountains of snow, green hills and blue lakes.
Our train stopped at a place called Spiez where we got off and onto another train. This train took us to Interlaken. At Interlaken we got on another train that took us up and up past a high flowing river to another train station. This one also took us up and over Interlaken where the small brown boxes decorated the green hills behind.
A house we passed had a row of cowbells on it.
This train, as you can guess, took us to another train where we again, we went up and up and up further than I have ever been. Australia only has hills in comparison to what we saw today. We reached the very highest point at 3454 m above sea level! And to think, only a few months ago I was swimming in the Dead Sea in the lowest part of the world! Up the top we entered an ice palace, some tunnels chiselled out of the ice. Inside were ice-sculptures of polar bears Eskimos and penguins, which I thought a little strange being in the northern hemisphere, as penguins live in the most southern of the southern hemisphere. Anyway, the sculptures were pretty cool... quite literally!
Afterwards we headed for the top of Europe. We went outside and, mum forgot to tell me we were heading up to see the snow, so I was in pants t-shirt and jumper, not really the outfit best for the snow, and I didn’t have my sunnies which were an essential up here! Even though, on our way up, it was awfully cloudy, we were so high we were above the clouds and the sun was beating down and making it almost impossible to see from the reflection off the snow, so in all the photos I’m practically closing my eyes :P
So on our way down we did the whole trip again, lots and lots of trains. Except the first one. We couldn’t get a train from Interlaken back the way we came so we did a huge loop going north up to Brig and then coming south west down to Lausanne where we were staying.
The next morning mum went and reserved us some tickets dor our trip to Dijon, Bayeux and Amsterdam. So we walked the small distance and got onto the train to Dijon.
I decided to put some photos up this time becaus ei remembered how! oops!We arrived at Lausanne pretty late but the trip was fantastic. As we were coming in we passed a beautiful lake, enormous that stretched out to Geneva. Mountains capped with snow surrounded it. Twas beautiful!!!! Dad found it very difficult to fins accommodation in Lausanne, in fact he tried to get some in Montreaux but everything was completely booked out, and in Lausanne, the only thing he could get was a room in a 4 star hotel! And 4 star hotels are expensive as they are, but just to really make us cringe, was the fact we were staying in Switzerland, one of the most expensive places in the world!!!! That night I watched Star wars 2 in German but I love it so much that I knew all the words anyway! In Switzerland they don’t speak Swiss, it’s either French or German, German mainly in the north and French more in the south, so everything other than BBC world news was in French and German.
The next morning we got up reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally early. And I know I write that a lot but this was wayyyy too early for me. We had to catch a 6 something train and when we arrived we then had to wait 45 minutes before the next one went.
This train was a golden panorama train, and it’s usually very expensive but because we had Eurail we could have first class for sort of free! So we went through mountains of snow, green hills and blue lakes.
Our train stopped at a place called Spiez where we got off and onto another train. This train took us to Interlaken. At Interlaken we got on another train that took us up and up past a high flowing river to another train station. This one also took us up and over Interlaken where the small brown boxes decorated the green hills behind.
A house we passed had a row of cowbells on it.
This train, as you can guess, took us to another train where we again, we went up and up and up further than I have ever been. Australia only has hills in comparison to what we saw today. We reached the very highest point at 3454 m above sea level! And to think, only a few months ago I was swimming in the Dead Sea in the lowest part of the world! Up the top we entered an ice palace, some tunnels chiselled out of the ice. Inside were ice-sculptures of polar bears Eskimos and penguins, which I thought a little strange being in the northern hemisphere, as penguins live in the most southern of the southern hemisphere. Anyway, the sculptures were pretty cool... quite literally!
Afterwards we headed for the top of Europe. We went outside and, mum forgot to tell me we were heading up to see the snow, so I was in pants t-shirt and jumper, not really the outfit best for the snow, and I didn’t have my sunnies which were an essential up here! Even though, on our way up, it was awfully cloudy, we were so high we were above the clouds and the sun was beating down and making it almost impossible to see from the reflection off the snow, so in all the photos I’m practically closing my eyes :P
So on our way down we did the whole trip again, lots and lots of trains. Except the first one. We couldn’t get a train from Interlaken back the way we came so we did a huge loop going north up to Brig and then coming south west down to Lausanne where we were staying.
The next morning mum went and reserved us some tickets dor our trip to Dijon, Bayeux and Amsterdam. So we walked the small distance and got onto the train to Dijon.
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