When in Ireland...Do as the Irish do...

“We travel, not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.”

Ohhh boy, what a jam packed weekend I had in Ireland (jam packed with walking, sight-seeing, picture-taking, wandering, good company keeping, and…mostly…beer!). I have no complaints!!

I was a little worried at the beginning of Thursday when I got to the tram station and my tram was delayed due to a traffic accident on the tracks. I had planned out my timing so that I would get to the particular bus stop I needed in enough time because the bus to the airport only runs every hour and half and I wanted to make sure I was super early to the airport just in case of any last minute changes or obstacles…I also tend to show up to most events/activities exceptionally earlier than I need to. So I had woken up at 7:30 in order to shower and quadruple check my bag before I left around 9:30 for the tram stop. Usually a tram runs every six minutes or so (maximum) but due to the accident on that day, the next tram wasn’t coming for another 20 minutes…thank goodness I left early. I finally got on the tram, only to find out as we were a few stops away from my stop that for some reason, this tram wasn’t stopping there (or at least that is what I deduced from what the driver was saying over the intercom). I got off that tram at Gare Saint Roch where all of the tram laps overlap, and got on a different tram line that also stops where I needed to be. I realized that it actually went right back the way I came for quite a ways, so I could have gotten on the line much earlier, but oh well, there was nothing I could do. I arrived at my stop and found the bus stop I needed with 20 minutes to spare—just the way I like it! I got to the airport more than an hour before I could even check in and go thru security—I overestimated the size of Montpellier’s airport…it is teeny tiny. So I got an espresso and caught up in my journal. I was particularly pleased to find out (when I actually could check in) that my bag was 2 kgs less than the 10 kg limit…which is strictly enforced.

My entire travel time was dominated by high anxiety and stress…I was literally sweating from the second I left the house until the moment I saw Dabbs. However, everything went smoothly; Leeds was a tiny airport as well and I arrived there before I could check in for my flight to Dublin as well. I met some absolutely wonderful people along the way. One elderly couple from Leeds spoke with me for quite a while during our wait for the plane in Montpellier. And I ended up sitting next to a guy in his mid-20s who was born in Ireland and lived there until he was 6 at which point his family moved to Louisiana. He remained in Louisiana until he graduated from university (with an art degree) and decided to get his Master’s Degree in 3D characterization at a university in Leeds—only 1 of 2 universities in the world that offers this master’s program. He had been vacationing in Montpellier and was returning to Leeds to defend his thesis the next day. We literally talked for the entire 2 hr flight from Montpellier to Leeds. 

In Leeds, I had time to sit down at a nice little restaurant (the only one in the airport) and enjoy a beer and a spinach and lentil burger which was OUTSTANDING before we boarded. On that flight, I sat next to a young blonde woman probably in her mid-20’s from Yorkshire named Lucy; she was going to Dublin to meet some friends for the weekend. Lucy had met the lady who was sitting next to her (also from Yorkshire) while they were waiting in the airport (I forget the lady’s name) and we all chatted for the short 45 minute flight to Dublin. Once in Dublin, we walked FOREVER to get to the exit…there is one long hallway that took a good 10 or 15 minutes to walk through connecting a few of the terminals to the rest of the departure gates and the main airport area. When we finally got to Customs, Lucy said she would wait outside for me because we both discussed on the plane that we didn’t really know for sure where we were going. To be fair, Dabbs did give me very detailed instructions about which bus stop I needed to be looking for, but with my anxiety, I was still nervous to venture out of the airport. Anyway, Lucy was waiting outside, and she decided to take the same bus into town to meet her friends since it was the only bus running from the airport into the city center. We both asked the driver where exactly we needed to get off and he promised to announce which stops were coming up so that we knew when to get off. Lucy’s stop was well before mine because she was getting off in the city center, and the university where Dabbs is living is on the other side of town. 

I made it to the stop no problem and was EXTREMELY happy to see Dabbs pacing around at the stop—typical of his to not be able to sit still. *Sigh* I cannot explain the joy of seeing a familiar, friendly face after seeing only strangers for over 3 weeks!!! I wanted to run and jump and squeal and scream, but considering Dabbs seemed very calm and collected, I settled for a big smile and a hug. Since it was already about 10:30 or so (although just getting dark) and I was exhausted from about 12 straight hours of unceasing anxiety and stress, we decided to just hang out and catch up at his apartment. A bit of talking, a cup of tea, and two episodes of The Office later, I was beyond ready for sleep. 

Friday, Dabbs didn’t go into work so that we had the whole day to see Dublin. And boy did we see succeed in seeing a great deal of the city! With the speed at which Dabbs walks, we saw the main city center and then some…and some of it twice! We started by checking out the heaps and heaps of art that was hung up and being sold by artists all around Saint Stephen’s Green. As if the park wasn’t beautiful enough itself, there was excellent art on the gates outside on all four sides. Saint Stephen’s Green is just that…green…so, so green with beautiful, well-kept plants, flowers, trees, and a pond. If I was there for any extended period of time, I would most definitely be there multiple times a week to read a book and watch all the people passing through! Did I mention how pretty it was?!

The whole city of Dublin is just magnificent. I could be a bit biased because I was so excited to hear everyone speaking English, but with or without a language barrier, the city is wonderful. The buildings are so old and cute…in fact, Dabbs commented more than once about how often I used the word “cute” while I was there, but I literally couldn’t help myself, everything was just…cute. So many flowerboxes in windows, colorful doors on the office buildings, cobblestone sidewalks, and the most authentic little pubs at every turn. At the risk of sounding like I have a slight alcohol problem, I think pubs may be one of my all-time favorite settings. Of course the beer plays a small role in that claim, but I mostly like them because everyone seems relaxed and at ease and, most of the time, friendly and willing to strike up a conversation about just about anything. Though Dabbs and I didn’t really talk to many other people in the pubs we stopped in, we had a great time just catching up with each other.

I can’t for the life of me remember the name of the first pub at which we stopped for lunch, but I do know that I promptly ordered my first Guinness. HOLY COW!!! Dabbs compares it to drinking a cloud; all I could really say was that it was the creamiest and most delicious beer I have ever tasted. With no exaggeration. It was so fresh and smooth and creamy and completely delectable….it didn’t help that I was so parched from our fast paced march around the city all morning! I had lamb stew for lunch because I thought it sounded like a pretty Irish dish…it was also absolutely delicious. Ahhh, I’m pretty sure the whole thing was a dream because it was just so wonderful. Even the bread was great (not compared to the bread I’ve been devouring in Montpellier, but it far exceeded what I’ve come across in America).

We continued our wandering after that. Dabbs showed me the Dublin castle. We didn’t go inside, but the outside was beautiful…fitting with the theme of the rest of Dublin. We stopped at a “cute” little Belgian chocolate shop called Leonidas and picked out about 5 or 6 different chocolates each to have for a snack (this was quite a while after lunch). I’m not really sure which ones I had…one was white chocolate with a strawberry mousse inside I remember…but they were all five stars in my book. Dabbs had some different ones, and judging by his face after eating one of them, he wasn’t as much of a fan of that one as I was of all of mine ;) haha.

Around 8 or so, we headed back to the university to drop off our bags, and then we headed to a little local pub next to campus. I say “next to”, but I’m pretty certain it was close to a mile away. Maybe I’m over exaggerating a bit due to the state my feet were in by the time we had finished roaming Dublin, but it was a bit of a hike. The pub was named Kiely’s and it was….wait for it…so cute. There were a few picnic tables set up outside and a few wooden tables and chairs inside next to the bar and a little area in the back of the bar that resembled a cozy little lodge living room. There were two bartenders and five or six older men hanging out at the bar. One of the bartenders was fairly old, but the other was closer to our age and…you can probably guess…very cute ;)! Dabbs may not agree, but I was not complaining! Dabbs and I stayed for a few beers…or a few hours…however you wish to measure time. I decided to try out a Beamish after my first Guinness since it is also an Irish beer; it was definitely not as impressive as Guinness, but it did not disappoint. We decided to head back somewhat due to the early morning we had awaiting us. 

Saturday morning we were up by 7:30 because we had a Paddywagon tour to Glendalough, Wicklough and Kilkenny arranged and the bus was leaving Dublin city by 9. So we stopped at McDonalds (which I HATE doing in foreign countries) to grab some breakfast and some much needed coffee. Like me, Dabbs likes to be way ahead of schedule, so we had a good 20 or so minutes to wait before the bus arrived. Unfortunately, it was not exceptionally warm yet, so I was not exceptionally comfortable during the wait, but it wasn’t raining either, so I accepted the chill. Considering I didn’t factor in going to Dublin when I was packing for Montpellier, I did not have many fitting clothes for the trip. The tour bus finally arrived, and we piled in with our fellow Paddywagoners and Aaron, our tour guide, and set off for the mountains. 

Aaron gave us some history of different parts of Dublin (mixed in with a few good jokes and folk tale) as we left the city. Eventually he tired of talking (we had quite a drive ahead of us) so he turned on some music—a mix of classic and modern Irish music which I thoroughly enjoyed. I will attempt to recount the sights and cities we passed along the way in order as best I can, but unfortunately, for me, these kinds of trips always end up blurring together and it is nearly impossible for me to keep everything straight.

First we passed through Calgary Valley on our through the Wicklow mountains. The view redefined the color “bright green” for me, and “dark green” and “army green” and “lime green” too for that matter. I have never seen so many shades of such vivid green. And I think I finally know how “rolling hills” truly look. The view was just breath taking. And among the green fields, hills, and trees, there were huge greyish-blue stones and boulders scattered about, but it all looked so perfect that you would have thought someone strategically placed each and every one. And obviously, there were sheep roaming among the greenery acting as if sights so beautiful were just an everyday thing…..lucky them! Aaron told us that Enya and Bono both own houses somewhere out in the wilderness among the dense trees. Apparently it is also where a lot of criminals from Dublin go to hide out because it is so secluded and the forests so dense, that it is nearly impossible to find people hiding out…yikes! On our way to Glendalough, we passed through Roundwood, the highest city in Ireland; Annamoe, the city where Daniel Day Lewis has a house; and Hollywood (the original)—complete with a Hollywood sign in the hills!!

It was throughout these areas that the movies “P.S. I Love You” and “Braveheart” were filmed. Obviously, I was pretty excited that I was driving along the same roads that Gerard Butler had walked while he talked to Hillary Swank. And obviously Dabbs was much more excited about the fact that Mel Gibson had slaughtered many men in the same fields. Aaron told us a few fun facts about the movies while we drove. Apparently, when Mel Gibson was preparing to film the movie, he had the whole Irish army at his disposal, thanks to some slightly corrupt Irish politicians. So, all of the soldiers that are seen battling in the movie are actually from the Irish army. The lower ranking military personnel were the ones that were made (by their higher ranking officials) to wear the kilts. Since this was all filmed from around October to February, it got very cold for these young gents. To warm them up, the directors gave them some nice whiskey and sent them into the battle scenes. Only, they weren’t using fake weapons; they were given real swords. And so, evidently some the blood that is shed in the movie is not necessarily fake blood!!!!! That is definitely something I will look for when I watch the movie next! 

Finally we arrived at the monastic city of Saint Kevin in Glendalough. There were two huge lakes in Saint Kevin—the upper lake and the lower lake. In fact, the name Glendalough comes from the Gaelic name “Glen da Loch” which means “Valley of the Two Lakes.” The upper lake was, not surprisingly, at the top of small mountain and the lower lake was down at the bottom—very properly named. Aaron drove us up to the top of the mountain near the upper lake and then we moseyed down towards the lower lake along a trail in a dense, lush green forest of trees and stones and miniature water falls. The upper lake was completely surreal. It was gigantic and extended into a misty background of rolling hills covered in vibrant green fields and trees. So tranquil and mystic. The walk down was beautiful as well but the lower lake, though certainly beautiful, held no comparison to the upper lake.

After passing the lower lake, we arrived at the remains of the ancient city of Saint Kevin. According to the sign, Saint Kevin was “a famous early Christian settlement established in Glendalough by Saint Kevin in the 6^th century.” Still existing today are the remains of seven churches, a medieval cathedral, and a round tower which could be used as refuge in the case of an attack. Just a bit more history: “In medieval times, the route known today as ‘St. Kevin’s Way’ was the main route to Glendalough. People converged at the Saint’s holy well in the village of Hollywood in west Wicklow to begin their pilgrimage to St. Kevin’s resting place.” I’m no history buff, but I found that interesting. The remains were pretty much indescribable; they were exactly what I would picture of a medieval setting though: large stones in various shades of greys overgrown with bright green grass and colorful flowers and weeds; high reaching arches, and gigantic stone crosses; and a great deal of gravestones dating back to…well…medieval times (not surprisingly). In grade school, I was infatuated with medieval times. I remember being totally ecstatic when I got to go the Medieval Times show in Florida during a basketball tournament. One of the princes even threw me a ribbon! So, in other words, St. Kevin’s was quite a delight for me to see and the scenery was astonishing.

From the city, we followed Saint Kevin’s way to a lookout high up in the mountains where we would have apparently been able to see Whales if it had been clear. However, it was extremely foggy…to the point where it was more like walking through a constant mist…so we couldn’t really see much past a few feet in front of us. Although that was a bit upsetting, it was also really neat to see the fog billowing out over the mountains. 

We made one more short stop at Brownshill Portal Tomb. The sign said (I like to give information off of the signs so that I sound credible!) that this tomb was built “as a burial place by Ireland’s first farmers sometime between 4000 and 3000 BC….so, in other words, it’s really freaking old! The tomb was made of two tall (gigantic) stones standing upright and one even more gigantic capstone which lies on the other two stones (portals) and slopes downwards in the back. The capstone of Brownshill Portal Tomb weighs 150 tons!!!!!! And this was completely man made wayyyyy before any kind of machinery was around. The most impressive part is that this tomb is out in the middle of this massive field with no other stones anywhere in sight, so somehow they were transported to this sight! Impressive is about the only word that comes to mind!

After seeing the portal tomb, we were finally off to our final destination: Kilkenny. Kilkenny was like a smaller, more quaint, even cuter version of Dublin. I just can’t get over how old and adorable all of the buildings in the center of the cities are. I’m so in love. They just feel so much homier and cozy than most of the cities in America. I also like the thought of all the different types of lives and events that have passed in the old, rugged, cobblestone streets and behind the ivy covered brick walls of the houses and buildings.

First, we walked through the huge lawn in front of Kilkenny Castle where they were a great deal of people enjoying the sunshine—yes, sunshine! Not only was it not raining, but it was actually somewhat hot—what are the chances?! We didn’t have time to go inside of the castle, but you better believe that we got more than a few pictures of the extraordinary exterior. It’s exactly the kind of castle that I pictured when I read “Castle in the Attic” and all of the Magic Tree House books about Medieval Times in grade school—nice to know that my imagination was so accurate!!

We stopped at a pub called the Metropole for lunch. We both had the day’s special: Fish and Chips, and we both agreed that it was undoubtedly the best fish and chips that either of us has ever had. The fish was so fresh, the seasoning in the breading was delicious, and even the tartar sauce was the tastiest I’ve ever tried. Of course, we also had a glass of Kilkenny because, how could one not when they are in Kilkenny?! Again, it was not as wonderful as Guinness, but it was pretty close!

On our walk back to the city center, we wandered around Saint Mary’s Cathedral which dates back to the 1800’s. It was spectacular as well: gigantic with tons of greenish windows and lots of spires and such. I think the architecture of such cathedrals is absolutely fantastic!! We took a stroll down the Dominican Black Abbey which was mostly just interesting because it was founded in 1225. There’s nothing quite like walking through…and on…and past…so many beautiful historical pieces. We stopped on the bridge crossing the River Nore to take some pictures which turned out looking like we were standing on some sort of a movie set and not in a real city!! All of it was just lovely. 

After two or so hours of wandering in the city, it was time to head back to Dublin. I can’t recap much that happened on the ride home, because I was so exhausted that the bus ride quickly put me to sleep. I do know that I fell asleep listening to The Cranberries and I woke up to Snow Patrol and U2. I don’t know what kind of music was played in the middle, but I certainly appreciated the tunes that I heard!! Once back to Dublin, we enjoyed a nice stroll (fast paced stroll) through the city in the sunshine before stopping in a pub for dinner and a few drinks. I tried another beer from Ireland, O’Hara’s Irish Red, but resorted to Guinness again after that because, well, mostly because Guinness is in my top 3 favorite beers and it doesn’t taste nearly as good in the states as it does out the taps here!!! And that pretty much wrapped up our Saturday evening.

“Cheers!” –Everyone in Ireland