StOnEhEnGe aNd oThEr CoOL RoCk StUff

Tuesday, December 9th

Woo Hoo! Stonehenge today! We left ISH at 8:00am, on time for once. It took us this long into the trip to do it, but better late than never? Ha.

We went to Stonehenge and it was awesome! Took lots of pictures and saw all of the amazing pieces. A few things I learned:

-The blue stones were imported from Wales, but no one knows how. Somehow they were brought down the River Avon, and then dragged a considerable distance across land.
-The lintels were secured using woodworking techniques. They are fitted into hollow carved joints, similar to that if a ball and socket joint in your arms and shoulders.
-The holes were dug with one sloping side and levered down, then pulled upright. Each stone weighs about 45 TONS, so this would have been an incredible task.
-The stones are aligned to have light in certain directions during the solstices and other occasions. It makes sense that it would keep track of the seasons and the movement of the sun because the people of this time were controlled by the seasons.

Theories:
-Three of the major theories about how the stones came to be include that of Merlin and King Arthur, a trick by the devil, and the Druids. For all I know, it was aliens…

After Stonehenge, we traveled a bit farther to a town called Avebury, where we saw another rock formation. We took lots of ridiculous pictures here, basically all kinds of silly random things you can do with rocks… it was a good time.

After we left here, we drove on for a bit to Salisbury. The drive was gorgeous and there were fields and sheep everywhere. The English countryside is really pretty, even prettier when it is not the middle of December.

Upon arriving in Salisbury, we had a walking tour (Rob, the same guy who did our tour for Stratford upon Avon and Wales was our guide for today as well), and then we ate lunch. Cody, Rachael and I all went to Subway, one of my only American fixes here, I am proud to admit. They had a special sub that was stuffing, turkey and gravy- basically Thanksgiving on a bun. I couldn’t resist…

We looked through the Christmas markets, and the girls got some ridiculous candy. I passed. The licorice they got was really funny though because it was so hard to bite into, and by the end of the trip, almost everyone had tried to get a bite off of it. Definitely a challenge.

We then met back up with the group again and walked a little further to Salisbury Cathedral. I was really excited to see this since I had studied it in one of my art history classes back at school. The outside of the Cathedral was really pretty, and we got to walk inside as well. We went into another small room that held a page of the Magna Carta. The British Library also had two pages- I visited there about a week or so ago.

This was our final stop, and we left to go back to London around 4:00. I arrived back at around 6:45 or so and went to my room to finish this journal to post it for grading, so- I will probably load videos of the Blues Bar on another post later since I am going there now…

MeDieVaL WaLk oF LoNdOn

Monday, December 8th

Woke up and journaled to catch up on the weekend. Then our International Studies class took a walk through the history of medieval London. It was rather interesting, and also our final class. I can’t believe that it is my final week! I am so sad, but also really tired and ready to go home.

Our walk started off at Moorgate Tube Station, and then we walked through some old buildings rebuilt after the Great Fire, and some graveyards from the plague. We walked by the Barbican Theatre where we had gone to the symphony earlier this year, and then past some old Roman walls. It is really crazy how all of these things, new and incredibly old, are all right here next to each other.

After class, I came back to my room and journaled some more, and then left for our weeky meeting that evening. Here, Deb gave me a bowl that Jackem had made me, personalized with my name and everything, with a note apologizing for burning my coat last week. Ha. I thought it was hilarious!

After the meeting, I went back to my room… and journaled some more…

FiNaL DaY iN iReLaNd

Sunday, December 7th

Last day of the tour. We woke up this morning to find that one of our company, Gerald, had not made it back that night. We were all a bit worried, and laughing (kind of sick I know… ha) because we figured he was sitting in a corner somewhere in Killarney because he gave his key to someone else on our tour… so he never made it back himself. The last time anyone saw him was with a tray of tequila shots in the pub as everyone else was leaving. Ha. One of the guys went outside to try to find him, but he wasn’t there…

We raided the cupboards of the kitchen and found some dishes for breakfast. Usually there is a staff to do this all for you, but there was no one there… it was a really crappy hostel. They just had some stale bread and cereal sitting on the counter with some jelly and a toaster. We did the dishes when we were done though. Some of these hostels are quite interesting. Ha. Apparently Chad, our WI friend that we had seen our first night in Galway, had stayed at a hostel called ‘the Randy Leprechaun’ and it had no staff supervising the place- later turning into a giant house party. Crazy business.

We packed our bags into the back of the mini bus and left soon after. One of the girls had tried several times to contact our missing friend, however had no such luck. Everyone on the bus kept making jokes and calling out for Gerald as we drove out of town (especially the one crazy guy who I swear, wasn’t sober the entire time). After a quick coffee break and a bit of a drive later, Gerald finally called one of our phones and all he told us was that he had a ‘wicked night last night.’ Crazy Aussie. Ha.

It was really pretty driving through the Irish countryside, to the overhead speakers of Jack Johnson (or John Jackson as the Aussies called him). We drove for quite a while and ended up at Blarney Castle. We walked down a path with a small creek and lots of wooded areas and then climbed lots of narrow, windy steps to the top of the castle. I picked some Irish moss off of the side of the castle for my collection of Ireland in a jar. I have started collecting bits and pieces from the landscape of each country to put in small mason jars. I just regret not doing it sooner…

Anyway, we got to the top of the castle and were able to kiss the Blarney Stone. (Another good luck thing…) It was really crazy how you do it though. You have to lay on your back, grab on to two poles, and then slide backwards over the side of the castle leaning backwards to kiss it. There is a guy hired to sit there and hold your legs while you do it so you don’t fall. Ha. So, we kissed the stone, I almost kissed the wrong one, and then we went back down and explored the rest of the grounds.

Apparently the story is, McCarthy had the potential to be a great leader, however had a speech impediment that forced an obstacle in his way to success. One day he saw a beautiful woman drowning in a river, and saved her. After he pulled her out of the water, she became a horrifying witch, but was still thankful of his rescue. She told him about the Blarney Stone, and said that if he went and kissed it, he would have the gift of eloquence. He did so, took the rock back to his castle, and the legend has been about ever since.

On our drive, listening to U2 (yes, they are Irish- also know the significance behind the song Bloody Sunday now), our guide told us about St. Patrick. He is the patron saint of Ireland and is credited for bring Christianity to the country. We stopped at the Rock of Cashel, another holy site in Ireland. As we were stopped here, we also saw a hunt. Men were out on horses with a bunch of dogs in the fields.

Also, sheep are everywhere and the whole country smells like burning wood. Peat is everywhere, out drying in little stacks.

Our final stop was at the Rock of Dunamase. It was the ruins of an ancient castle, and when you climb to the top of the hill it is on, you get a great view of the area. It was so cool driving everywhere because there were ruins of castles everywhere. This was one of the more significant ones.

From here, we drove back to Dublin where our tour ended. Cody and I waited in the lobby of the hostel watching tv for a while because we could get a free bus back to the airport from there. Awesome. It was nice watching tv- we got in one episode of FRIENDS and 2 episodes of Scrubs before we left. I don’t watch tv much at home, but it was nice to relax and watch some for a bit.

We got to the airport, got smoothies and milkshakes, and then left on our flight back home. I also got suckered into buying the book ‘Twilight’ for the ride back home, and for my flight back to America next week. Rachael is obsessed with the books, and the new movie coming out, and Cody is hooked now too. I guess it was my turn as well. Between our flight being delayed and the bus ride from the airport back to London, we got home a little after 1am.

PaDdY WaGoN ToUr DaY 2

Saturday, December 6th

We got breakfast at the hostel this morning, and then left for another action packed day. It was a really scenic route, and our first stop was at a real wishing well. To properly make a wish here, you have to stand on the ledge, and throw a penny over your left shoulder with your right hand, and it has to make a plopping noise when you throw it in the water. The Irish are all about luck, and are VERY superstitious!

Our driver continued on and gave us a little bit of history about the potato famine and the IRA. He was a funny guy who related well to our younger audience.

Our next stop was another castle where we took a brief stop. Apparently you walk around the castle clockwise and that brings you good luck. There are a million ways to bring good luck here. And there are rainbows everywhere! No wonder the legends about Leprechauns and rainbows are all from here. We only saw one, but our friend Chad who met up with us last night said that he had seen a ton the day before. Another witty person on our tour asked our guide if there were a lot of midgets in Ireland, hoping to get jobs as Leprechauns. Our guide responded no- there are more midgets because the Leprechauns breed with the general population. Hehe.

We cruised along the west coast of Ireland for the day, driving past some fishing villages and surfers. Yeah- surfers. Apparently it’s huge here, and has some massive waves. Even in December…

We took another stop at some crazy landscapes to get out, stretch, and enjoy the scenery. There were cliffs all full or crazy looking limestone (I cant really describe it… look at the pictures), and a rocky shoreline. It was really cool. Its also really weird to see furry white and brown cows grazing in vast fields and hills covered in nothing but rocks and marshland. A bit different than our cattle culture back home…

The next big stop was the famous Cliffs of Moher. Absolutely beautiful. We climbed up the right side and got a great view, however had to go through some ridiculous mud to get through there. The side is barricaded because it is so easy to go over the ledge, and there are signs everywhere for suicide hotlines because it is obviously a great place to get the job done… Anyway, we were paranoid we were going to fall in the mud, especially since we only brought one pair of jeans for the weekend. We did just fine, and didn’t get too dirty.

The scene was sooo pretty. You look down from so high above at the waves crashing into the rocks and the seagulls flying below you as well. It reminded me of scenes from the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ or ‘Jurassic Park.’

We walked to the other side and there was apparently a barrier that said you couldn’t go past this point. Well, Cody, myself, and about 200 other tourists walked past this sign, down the footpath, and across this area to a really scary scene. We could get to the edge of the cliffs- possibly the scariest thing I have ever done. It wasn’t windy at all today, but I wouldn’t have done it if it were. I didn’t go so ridiculously close that I would have fallen, but wow, I sure was paranoid the whole time. Our guide later told us of some stories where it had been so windy that people literally blew over the edge of the cliffs. And on one other trip he lead, he wouldn’t let people off the bus because it was so windy and some people got a little rowdy and opened the door anyway, causing the windshield to blow out. Wow!

We left to browse through the gift shop and I got back on the bus because we were cutting it pretty close for time. I laughed because Cody was still inside and the bus driver started to drive away to scare her. We ended up having to wait for some other new people who were joining our tour, so it was ok.

Once we collected everyone, we raced over to the ferry that would be leaving promptly at 4:00 to get us across the River Shannon. From here I watched a gorgeous sunset over the water. Absolutely beautiful. I sucked it up to go outside the bus to take some gorgeous pictures. The trip really wasn’t too cold- much warmer than it had been recently in London, very much to surprise. However, it got pretty cold on the water with all the wind on the boat.

There were also a group of pre-pubescent boys that kept running up to the bus, tapping on the windows, and taking pictures of the girls. The went up on the ledge of the ferry later and were pointing at us making gestures that said ‘I love you.’ We laughed quite a bit. They were ridiculous. Haha.

We arrived in Killarney at about 6:00 and checked into a room in the hostel that housed every person on our trip. That was 12 people in one room, where I expected everyone to come back loud and drunk since most people are on this trip for the pubs. Crazy- however, surprisingly, the most sleep I had gotten the whole trip. People were actually really good about it- maybe I’m just used to crazy people on my trip.

Anyway, Cody and I walked through the entire town center… in about 15 minutes. There wasn’t much, and certainly wasn’t much open. We went past a club called ‘Mustang Sally’ and I felt the obligation to go check it out in tribute to my good friend, however there was a dress code, and we were in muddy jeans, so that wouldn’t have gone over very well… We continued on, and really wanted some ice cream, but the shop that we passed was closing and really expensive anyway. Oh well, I guess we will have to wait till we get home…

We went back to the hostel, freshened up a bit since everyone had left now, and Cody played a concert for me while I was getting some stuff done. We went into a music shop in Galway the night before and bought penny whistles and instruction books. Being the music person I am, I have found it fascinating to collect musical instruments from different cultures.

We left soon after to go to a pub where everyone was meeting up for dinner. It was very good. From here, the rest of the group was going out to another pub, but Cody and I wanted to go to a different one where there was supposed to be some live traditional music being played. What an excellent decision. We went to ‘the Music Pub,’ and I got some Bulmers (apple cider beer), and we watched the funniest group of old men play some great music. The ensemble consisted of a banjo/mandolin player, an accordion, Irish drums, and a guitar. They were witty old men who kept making jokes about their wives and sang some funny songs. The music was all REAL traditional music, unlike the music last night (which was good, but not exactly what I would consider authentic), and Cody and I absolutely loved it!

After the concert, we left to go back to the hostel and get some sleep.