Ireland and the Epiblog

We really think Ireland drew the short straw on this trip. It was our final destination before returning home, and by that time we were really burned out from traveling. Had it been the very first place we went to, we would have been super excited to get out and see as much as we could. Unfortunately, we were almost apathetic to the entire country given the prospects of returning to the States soon. However, we did manage to see a few things and get a general idea of what Ireland has to offer.


We flew from London Heathrow to Dublin in just over an hour. There was still plenty of daylight to burn, but we had not prepared ourselves for any real sightseeing. When we did finally get our stuff into the hotel, we wandered around O’Connell Street, a main thoroughfare into town, and tried to stay warm. Our first full day was spent on a New Europe tour. Our first stop was the Dublin Castle, which looks more like a parliament or capitol building. There is a statue of Justice above one of the archways, but it was noted that she was not blindfolded and had her sword drawn, not at her side. Also, the scales that she carried were working scales, and when it rained they became uneven. The castle was home to the British government up until the 1920’s and is now part home of the Irish government. Our tour moved on to the Record Tower, sole surviving tower of the medieval castle dating from the early thirteenth century. We made our way toward the famous Temple Bar area, known for its medieval streets and funky nightlife. We also passed a bar called the Temple Bar in Temple Bar. After a brief stop for coffee, we continued on toward Trinity College, Ireland’s oldest college founded in 1592. The campus is lush and well groomed with architecture from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as well as a few modern buildings. The school’s library is home to the Book of Kells, which is on display and a page is turned every day for viewing. After a brief walk past Parliament, our tour concluded in front of a series of statues commemorating the Irish Potato Famine. Our final piece of information was about the tumultuous history between Ireland and the United Kingdom and how modern day Ireland is coping with current economic struggles. We decided to head toward the free archeological museum to catch a glimpse at prehistoric Ireland. For the better part of three centuries, the Vikings continuously raided Ireland and created settlements. The museum displayed archeological finds throughout Ireland and a large part from Dublin including weapons, armor and parts of ships, as well as preserved mummified bodies. That last part was kind of gross. When we finished a quick tour of the museum, we headed uptown towards the Guinness brewery. Mark is a big fan of Guinness and it would have been a shame not to at least visit the headquarters, especially to get his picture in front of the iconic St. James’s Gate. Although this location is not the actual brewery, the building offers eight stories of Guinness history, crafting techniques and tastings. The tour is also really expensive, so we decided to enjoy the gift store instead. We had to buy ten dollar vouchers in order to just go to the store, but those were easily spent on beer related items. We left the store just as it was beginning to get dark and our time sightseeing in Dublin was coming to a close.


The following morning we were on a train headed to the southern coast to a town called Killarney. The town itself was just a central place for us to stay for the next few days and didn't really offer too much. We decided to take a tour of the Ring of Kerry, a one hundred and eleven mile trail that circles around several remote cities along the coast. We actually wanted to take a tour of the Dingle Peninsula, which is supposed to be way better, but because it was the off-season this was all that was offered. The tour went rather fast with few stops for pictures and not much history. It was still nice to get around and see the area, and especially nice that I wasn’t the one driving. Of all the landmarks we saw, the information given was so sparse that I can’t really remember what it was. The only marked one we stopped at was the Ladies View, a stretch of river winding through an orange-colored valley. The name was given to the area by Queen Victoria as the view pleased her ladies-in-waiting in 1861. We stopped for lunch at a cute café then ended the tour at a park where a short hike went to a waterfall. Overall, the tour wasn’t fantastic, but it was pretty much the only way we would have had an opportunity to see the area. On our final day in Killarney, and our final sightseeing opportunity, we headed east to Cork to visit the famous Blarney Castle. Once we arrived, we paid a steep admission and took a short walk to the remains of the castle. The interior is mostly gutted and very little remains, but the structure is intact and can be traversed through narrow winding stairs. At the very top is the world famous Blarney Stone. Listed as one of the top one hundred things to do before you die, kissing the stone is said to give the kisser eloquence and "the gift of gab.” The stone sits on the exterior wall of the castle above a giant hole in the side. Google image “kiss blarney stone” to see how it’s done. Not only were we not interested in lying upside-down above a gaping hole in the floor five stories up to kiss the stone, we also weren’t crazy about the germs. All I would need is for the last person to have a case of the herp….I digress. We didn’t kiss the stone, but we saw it and took a picture of it. We had some daylight left and felt obligated to not waste it. There is a large park area around the castle filled with old Irish lore and pump-driven waterfalls. There was a dolmen, an ancient rock formation akin to Stonehenge. We found a set of stairs were the legend indicates that if a person were to walk up and down each step with their eyes closed, they could make a wish and it would come true. We’ll see. We found a stone that looks like a witch and a tree that looks like a harp. I think we were more fascinated by the harp-tree than we were the castle. When we returned to Killarney, we eagerly packed up and prepared for our return trip to Dublin. Our very last European vacation train ride was a sad one. We had spent so much time on the trains that it became just another part of the trip that we looked forward to. We carried on like all other rides, but knowing that it would be our last. We checked into our last hotel, a Holiday Inn, respectively. Then we departed the following afternoon.

The Epiblog


By this point we’ve been back in the States for a while. We first stopped in Florida to spend time with my parents and hang out at Walt Disney World. Thanks to my Dad, we were able to get into the parks for free whenever we wanted. We had a tough time readjusting to the time change and catching up on sleep, especially since our trip from Dublin to Tampa took over twenty-four hours (thanks to thunder storms). It was wonderful to spend time with them and have a chance to relax. And wouldn’t you know it, it got really cold in Orlando while we were there. Once we were refreshed, we jetted back to Sacramento where Mark’s brother picked us up and drove us to their parents’ house in Mount Shasta. We were hoping for snow, but all we got was fog and rain. We were preparing ourselves for the inevitable: finding jobs and a place to live. Like a lot of times in life, and a few times during our trip, our plans changed. We originally planned on moving to Los Angeles as soon as we returned from our trip. I was excited to finally get into script supervising like I’ve been planning for years and Mark was ready to start the process toward his Ph.D. Well, we hit a road block when Mark realized that he needs to have research experience before applying to any schools, and there just weren’t any jobs in the LA area that would suffice. We made some tough decisions and bit the bullet: we moved to Silicon Valley. So now we’re going to live in San Jose for a year so Mark can get the research experience he needs, then we’ll move south. Neither of us was very excited to make this decision, and we never thought it would come to this. But that’s life, I suppose. In the long run, this will provide better opportunities for us, despite being a bit of a setback in our plans.


So, this concludes our European Adventure! We really had a great time and now, a few weeks back from traveling, we really miss being on the road and exploring new cities. We’ve had almost four months of no restrictions and no employment, and now it’s back to work. Once we find a place to live….


Our next adventure: Honeymoon 2012!!!




Dublin:

Ring of Kerry and Blarney Castle: