While on the subject of music aka the best thing about Ireland, lets take a little stroll through some clips I have from the pubs in Dublin...
Here's a little peak into what Dublin looks like. This is kind of the touristy pub partying area called Temple Bar...
On the west coast we spent the day walking and picnicking at the Cliffs of Moher and the weather cooperated beautifully...
My surprise to Jesus was that I had bought us tickets for about the equivalency of $65
a piece to the Mid-evil Banquet at Bunratty Castle but my camera's battery was almost dead and I could only get the entrance. Once inside everyone was dressed in mid-evil garb and there was a violinist and harpist playing in the center of a big room with all the guests gathered round. The servants came around offering a friendship bite of bread and mead (but stronger than what you find in the U.S.). Then we moved into the dining hall which had maybe 100 guests all sat cozily next to each other at huge, thick, long wooden tables. They served us many courses from soup, to ribs, to roasted potatoes, to chicken with steamed vegetables and LOTS of gravy. We also were served something similar to cheesecake at the end. The red and white wine was on the table in big pitchers and it just kept comin. Our table was not able to finish ours even with me sitting at it. lol The food was pretty good but the best part for me was that the servers were also singers. They are serving your food and then all the sudden one of them busts out singing like a song bird and then the others chime in and harmonize like a frickin musical. It was feckin fantastic!!!
Side Note:
Apparently "feckin" is the Irish version of frickin or friggin and is perfectly acceptable on TV, in schools, churches and places of employment. And it feels so feckin good to say it. lol.
Like England, in Ireland they also drive on the left side of the road. It was a bit of a trip at first. You feel like you are going to run people over on the left side. You just feel so close to them. They also drive from the right side of the car. Here is a tiny clip of us not only driving on the left side but also on the top of a double decker bus from the airport into Dublin.
Here is a short clip of what the many historic buildings in Dublin look like. Coming from Washington "the evergreen state" and Seattle "the emerald city", I have really missed the green. It was nice for both Juliana, Alesya and I to see green lawns and countryside. We reverted back to being children for a minute, running and leaping all over the lawn at the church.
Jesus had had this incredible screen saver on his laptop of the library at Trinity College. This sparked some curiosity for me and he had said that would be his top must-see while in Dublin. Juliana and her sister Aleysa also wanted to see the University so we all went together and decided to eat there in the cafeteria to experience what it might me like to attend that University. The food was really quite good. A big plate full of hot and hearty steak fries covered in steaming hot, brown gravy served with 2 big grilled sausages for only the equivalent of $5 or so. We were quite happy with our decision to eat there. We also walked all around the campus, spent lots of time in their elaborate university store and Jesus and I went to see the book of Kells and the library which I think costed about $10. That was kinda cool because first there was a museum of acient texts in beautiful celtic-type caligraphy and symbols and then you get to see the gorgeous and historical library. Right when you walk in you basically get the chills because its so old and there are SO many books in all languages. Its a weird sensation when you can smell the history in the room. There is this unique smell and chill in the air and the books go from the floor all the way up 2 extremely tall stories'-worth to the ceiling but its all open with ladders to reach the books. Some of the books were so old that it looked as if you tried to turn a page they would disinigrate into dust. I am really glad we got to see it. Juliana and I kept saying, wouldn't it be so cool to get ur Master's here?
Here is a big, scenic park in the middle of the city in Dublin. There were tons of tulips, a huge overfed swan, and seagulls who pretended to be ducks to get food from the people (animal psychology at its finest).
Jesus and I left Dublin to head west which is where we went to the cliffs and had the mid-evil dinner at the castle. We took many buses to maneuver ourselves around southern Ireland. Unfortunately the buses were quite expensive and we spent much more money in transportation than anticipated. Sometimes I thought, "would it be cheaper just to take a taxi to the next town, cuz this has got to be the true definition of highway robbery?" But along the way we saw beautiful green pastures, rolling hills and tons of new born baby lambs clumsily frolicking along.
Our final destination was Inistioge, a little town on a beautiful river in Southern Ireland. Supposedly it is the most photographed town in Ireland and was the site of two movies, one called Circle of Friends with Minnie Driver and Widow's Peak, none of which I have seen but am now curious about.
In fact, when we were standing up above the town at a lookout over the town and river, Jesus said to me "I think this is the most beautiful town I have ever seen."
We would have never seen this town if it wasn't for a little stroke of fate this summer when I was back home in the U.S. I went to stay the night at my mom and stepdad's place and when I arrived, there were some friends of my mom and Billy visiting that I hadn't seen in a REALLY long time. I hadn't seen them since I was a teenager although half the year, they live right down the road from my parent's place in Suquamish. My mom brought up that I was going back to Spain for the school year and they responded with "well, you should come visit us in Ireland." And I said, "You know what, I probably will." I don't know if they believed me but they gave me their card with their contact info and after a few months of being back in Spain, I emailed them and said "I really wanna come. Can I go ahead and buy my plane ticket for spring break?" After a few emails back and forth trying to figure out the best dates for us to be in their neck of the woods, the deal was sealed. I bought my tickets, they bought theirs, being how they live basically 6 months of the year in Suquamish and 6 months in Ireland and we coincided perfectly.
There they bought a house and property for a rediculously cheap amount, granted none of the buildings had roofs anymore. On the property there are, I think, 3 stone building and they have put a roof so far on 2 of them, 1 which is now their house. They just got the shower installed last year and it is a work in progress with lots of frustrations I am sure. On their property they have a little camper which is what they used to live in while finishing the roof and which Jesus and I stayed in while we were there. It was nice and cozy I must say. They gave us lots of blankets and hot water bottles to sleep with and we stayed perfectly warm out there without a heater. The climate seems VERY similar to that of Western Washington so it was still a bit chilly in April.
If it wasn't for them we would have never gotten that dose of nature OR gotten that experience of what its like to go to a REAL jam session. I cannot stress enough visiting people that you know who live in other countries. You get a whole nother side of life that you just can't get from going as simply a tourist. They took us on walks through town, along the river a bit, up to an arboretum and up to a hilltop where we saw the whole valley of patchwork green farms. It was so windy that it was almost knocking us over but it was great fun and so beautiful.
As for the jam session, we went drivin into the night until we reached a pub that looked to be in the middle of nowhere. There was a room off to the side with a fireplace and an old out of tune piano. They began with basically one person on guitar, one lady on a bodhran drum, and 3 or 4 fiddlers. I was in heaven. Since when do the fiddlers outnumber the guitarists? In Ireland, thats where. A jolly old red-faced man was askin all the young ladies to dance. Of course I had to give this a try and as you might imagine, he danced circles around me. THEN, something really strange happened...seemingly out of the blue Tanya asked me if I wanted to sing Novia Scotia, a song that I have learned to sing, somewhat, and play on the guitar. I insisted that I didn't know all the words and certainly wouldn't be able to play the guitar and sing at the same time and she assured me with that kind gentle face of hers that it would be alright and then she started to play the song herself on the guitar. SO, I decided what the hey. The things we will do on foreign soil, I tell ya. Anyhow, so I sang in front of a room full of people and messed up the words a few times along the way. But how liberating!!! I felt so brave and free after that. I didn't die and my ego was still in tact. Its the miracle that happens when in a room full of non-judgemental, down-to-earth people get together to share and enjoy the heartfelt music. Here's a video of Tanya and Mike playing at the jam session. You can't see Mike from where I was sitting unfortunately and as you can see Tanya not only holds her own amongst the Irish but in fact was pretty much the lady of the night. She was jet-legged having just arrived from the U.S. and probably exhausted but that didn't stop her from knockin everybody's socks off with her fiddlin skills. It was cool to see that they gave way to the American girl and let her do her thang amongst all them. They obviously have a lot of respect for what she does. Mike and Tanya make their living as musicians and are always looking for gigs in Washington and elsewhere. Also, here is a link to their blog which you may find interesting http://oplandfreeman.blogspot.com.es/
Mike was an awesome tour guide and host who woke us up every morning with a knock on the trailer to let us know that breakfast was a cookin. And we are talkin a good hearty English breakfast as you will see down below. I suppose at this point I should mention that Mike was born and raised in England, hence the English breakfasts and tea and beer that he treated us to. Our first breakfast there was quite impressive...eggs, beans, sausage, toast, sauteed mushrooms and onions and of course coffee. He also drove us all over the place, to get fancy chocolates at a chocoletier, to some beautiful ruins, and to a an old mill (below). We were so lucky to have gotten to spend time with Tanya and Mike in Inistioge. Here are some pics from the walks through, in and around the little picturesque town of Inistioge.
10 Cool Things about Ireland
1. People seem to be good salt-of-the-earth people. For example, at the bus stop in Ennis I asked some of the employees there if there was a store nearby that I could walk to so that we could brown bag-it instead of eat in an expensive touristy restaurant once we got to the cliffs. One of them offered to drive me to a grocery store and bring me back in time to catch the bus. He was a nice, older gentleman and said "well, that's if you trust me" and then said looking at me funnily "I dont know if I trust YOU". So, I laughed, grabbed my pepper spray out of my suitcase discretely, left Jesus at the bus stop and went with the man to the grocery store. I tried to get into the driver's side of the car thinking that it was the passenger side and he laughed telling me that when he visited the U.S. he had the same problem of always trying to get in the wrong side of the car. He chatted the whole way and waited for me in the car while I did my shopping AND....I am still alive. Just a nice gentlemen who wanted to do a stranger a favor.
2. Using "feck" instead of the other word and having it be perfectly exceptable on T.V., at school and in the work place.
3. Seeing 3 musicians break their instrument strings in a matter of about 3 hours because when they strum, they strum like its nobody's feckin business.
4. Seeing how the majority of the people didn't give a rat's behind about how they looked...maybe even more extreme than the PNW(Pacific NorthWest).
5. Not seeing a single trace of litter anywhere. Just pristine green.
6. Seeing more fiddlers than guitar players.
7. The people seemed to be genuinly interested in helping toursists with whatever questions we had. Most seem to like to talk quite a bit to strangers.
8. Seeing the American flag along side the Irish flag at almost every establishment like we have some sort of brotherhood.
9. I can't say enough about the live music in the pubs.
10. There are quite a lot of foreigners and foreign businesses, such as restaurants and grocery stores.
