sherkin island

almost a month later, i'm getting back to my lazy self about getting these up.

well, let me start by letting all of ye know about the State of Affairs here... i've got 10 days left and i'm so mixed up inside about leaving. most americans when they study abroad, i've found, spend their time for the most part with other americans... so leaving means a mass exodus as well as common feelings of reminiscence. they know that coming back to the place wouldn't mean as much because the people wouldn't be here..

..but as for me, while i've the american girls with whom i go out on a regular basis, and make dinner and cook and all that... i also have the paddlers, with whom i've been friends since october. while i know that they'll miss me, they'll still all have each other, you know? so i'm just.. not here. ahhhhh it actually kind of hurts to think about. anyway. let me tell you about sherkin island, a month ago ;), and then i'll have one or two more posts for you before i leave. promise. i might get to them at home, but they'll happen.

SO: we packed up our gear and boats onto the cars and drove through skib and baltimore. we parked the vehicles just along the shore, and unpacked gear, and off we went!!



look at all the paddlers... it was just the 5 lads and myself. WHAT a weekend though... it was more a large piss up upon an island with a population of around 100 people. total. and then there was us, i'd say we scared the locals pretty bad at the pub later


we got the shore, and dragged our boats halfway across the island. then discovered that, tanks as they are, h3's make great benches. :-D


then, out comes the tescie wonderstoves... and the lads decided that i had to cook. this was more of a.. well, they can't. they'd fuck it up, for sure.
this is tommy trying to help... trying. ;)


me and anto. he's been one of my closest friends here :) in the back you can see the love boat... we assumed they were out for a dirty weekend ;)



so we had a buncha cans, then stumbled our way to the pub. like i said earlier, we terrified the locals, and discovered that half of them were named 'matt.' as we had our very own matty muscles with us, we realized the he had finally discovered a home. look at all the pint glasses in front of the boys... they decided to have a murphey's contest... and kept going, and going, and going... and i wisely abstained in favour of my carlsberg, and in moderation at that.


finally, meandered back to the tent... and passed out. gunt and i got lost on the way.. i was CONVINCED... absolutely certain that the house in the next field over was our tent. i fell over a barbed wire fence and into a bush. i couldn't stop laughing.

wonder morning after faces. i was the only one who thought to bring breakfast. so i shared. as one would. ;)
me and le gunt aka cian


and the lads in their own compartment.. they just wanted to check out matty's muscles... =D


on the paddle back, we went out of the bay from which were staying and around the island. a slightly longer paddle then the way over. then, i noticed some CAVES in the side of the cliff! in we paddled... SO COOL. it kept getting darker, and narrower... till we were afraid to go farther in case we couldn't get out. or at least i was... brilliant as adventuring goes...

the paddle back was much more bumpy than the 20 minute paddle over. over all it was a shit hot weekend... i REALLY enjoyed it...

more posts for you soon. odds are i'll get them done at home and stick them in... with a farewell post here. xoxo.
chris.

glastonbury, england

i was in some state after leaving girona. i mean... after not having slept at ALL within 24 hours, i was thrilled to catch the right plane, and then be on the right bus, at the right time, heading from bristol into glastonbury.
i was a little worried, though, as i had no idea when to get off the bus, or where, or how to get to the hostel i had booked. however, i met a woman on the bus- simone- who actually was in the same room as i was in the hostel.

you know, in glastonbury, i met the most inspiring, beautiful women: simone and landi. both of them are from south africa originally but moved to london at different points. we all met there in glastonbury.

the first night was just simone and i. we got there late, so we just had time to have some wine and conversation before passing out. of all the deep sleeps in my life, this one was definitely in the top 10.
that next day, simone and i wandered the town shopping (i got loads of gifts for people back home) and went to the glastonbury abbey. i stole some rosemary for my sandwich.

a picture of some of the ruins at the abbey.


because this abbey wasn't agreeing with the church of england, it was destroyed by the king. these two arches mark what was left of the building in which the site of king arthur's grave is said to have been located at one point.


a picture simone took of me walking up to the site of the original high alter


the site at which arthur was said to have been buried..


after seeing the abbey, we went back to the hostel where we met landi.


we packed up some dinner and games on my part and started walking towards the tor. here's pictures, as we get closer... this can be seen for miles in every direction, it's a beacon of spirituality.


getting closer...

you can see the people, now :)


and finally, our victory pose, at the top!



this is where i had probably the best sandwich of my life. with stolen rosemary, and yummy bits. i had a serious happy belly and SUCH a feeling of this is exactly where i was supposed to have been at that point, you know?



mmmm. yesh. so then we opened our bottles of wine and sat, talking, contemplating life, and meeting new people who where at the top for one reason or another. some pilgrims like ourselves, and some there to access the spiritual lay lines which converge at the top.


the tower in the sunset


me, at the top.. a hike, and a perfect evening


photographers, landi and simone ;)


the tower, as the sun as set. it was so beautiful. the simple agedness of structures in europe is outstanding to those of us who are from cocky baby countries. not that i need to get into anything political. but this history seems so much... more.


me, just... sitting.


what a night, though! we met this guy, matthew, who seemed to have an answer for everything, and then another woman, she was older and kind of kooky, who seemed to make up an answer for everything. i guess she hikes up there every night or so.

during the walk home, we stopped at a pub for some more wine, and then we went back to the crown hotel pub where we polished off even more wino for ourselves. we met this family, ros and mark and their son, and his band.. they invited us over for sunday roast the next day and i was like, sure!
the following morning i woke up around 12:30 to find directions and a number and time written on my arm.. so we called, and over we went! it was wonderful! and so great of them to share with us... it reminded me of my family at home, with people coming out all the time-- i missed it. and i pretty much laughed so hard with the banter between.. goofballs. it was spectacular.

we went home that night, and passed out after some embarrassing makeshift karaoke. i don't want to talk about it. simone had to head back to london on the sunday, so it was just landi and i. we woke on monday and walked up to the chalice well gardens. when we woke, it was pouring out, but by the time we got there, it had faded, leaving this mist over the whole garden and looking up at the tor. i could understand, then, the mists of avalon, and the relevance the area had.

the view from the garden swing bench


an arch within... this must be so nice in summer when it is at full growth.


the chalice well itself.


i picked some of the healing waters for pops, but don't tell him till i get home ;) i also waded in them, as the blisters and various other feet pains (like my broken toe in barcelona) needed some healing. :-D

after that, i hit the train and headed to strawberry hill in london to see kimmi and mike!
our train from town


kim and i shopped around and wandered, and had a grand old time. then, we met up with mike later for...

possibly the best production ever. it was brilliant.

kim and i out front


the next day, i had to head to the plane to fly home to cork...
as much as i loved traveling, it was such a relief to be home. and get rid of the backpack. and relax. and unpack.

the view of ireland from the plane

it was time.


i learned so much! and i finally got it all up on here updated, huh ;) i do what i can.
to those i've met, email me for the craic!
to those i know, i wanna hear: wow, chris, nice travel blog. that must have taken some kind of effort to get up. it looks great!

love you all.
chris.

girona, spain

well, walking around girona for a day on no sleep was some sort of feat on my part i'd like to add.
i had a hate love relationship with those busted old walls, for the view at the top and the pain of actually walking them.
but it was worth it in the end...

there was this cathedral, with 86 steps leading up to it. lotsa steps. it's ancient.


we only went down those stairs, not the other way. i wasn't up for it.

oh shhhh you're just sore because you didn't get the pun UP for it....


visited what they called the "arabian" baths. really they are just a roman bathhouse. but WICKED cool! i remember it from my latin class. this is the frigidarium. that means cold room.


the view above


and me across the way!


girona is so quaint.
check the nun and stairs. it seems to be some sort of time warp.



and that view from the old roman wall i was telling you about... the spanish countryside!


this is a nice picture. of flowers. i like flowers.


finally, a picture of the three of us, me juerd, and jeroem on the wall.

they're great!



och. i kind of gradually failed at this entry... just pictures no explanations, really. i apologize. :)
i'll do better for england.

barcelona, spain

okay, so, ready chris... update!

mmm so. getting to barce took some kinda special force, in that from holland it was like 2 trains a bus a plane a bus and a metro to naoise's house. but it was alright! i'm so glad i met j(squared) because the two of them make sure i was where i needed to be and when :)

the first day i was in the city, i left my monster bag at the guys' hostel, and was able to walk around a bit. we wandered up and down las ramblos, a center piece of our city explorations.


we also saw our first vision of gaudi's architecture, shown in this house. annie called it a little mermaid house. very valid point. actually maybe that was inspired by gaudi. go figure.


we wandered around the gothic quarter, and sat on the beach in the sun, drinking estrella... mmmmm beer. barcelona was beautiful, and the weather while i was there was SUCH a perfect compliment. there was warm sun, a bit o' wind, palm trees... SO NICE!

bet you wish it was over 90 degrees F as well ;)

we wandered around as well... barcelona is full of these little archways...



when i got to naoise's, brendan was there too! i haven't seen him in aaaaaages, not since that one christmas years ago when all of them came over to america... SO nice to see them. basically i'm going back to barce as soon as i can afford it.
naoise has a bar within his house... sean helped him make it. it's class.


the following day, i wandered by myself a bit... shopping! yaaaay! then i met up with jeroem and juerd for lunch, a typical traveler's lunch with french rolls and cheese and some ham and olives and peppers and fresh tomatoes. well damn my mouth is watering just thinking of it.

you know what i noticed, walking around barcelona? how fluent language is! i've heard so much there... from the dutch boys to spanish and catalan and all sorts of romance and germanic languages... whoa communication.
you know, in spain, most people are answering their phone: si? ... yes?
and in dutch, the boys say what for me would translate to: with chris.
in italy, they say: pronto! ...i'm ready!
and for us in US: hello? or.. what's up?

seriously, though, communication. and here i am having chosen to study latin and old irish and bits of greek... all dead languages. go figure ;)


anyway, after my lunch, the three of us headed back to the beach to lounge in the SUNSHINE!


after the beach, we wandered to the main park in barcelona (the parc de la ciutadell,) and found the cascadas... picturesque!


we finished our wander at the arc de triumf




on wednesday of my barce trip, i started looking at gaudi's arcitecture. SO AMAZING. can i just say, HOW revolutionary that must have been in the early 20th century? i mean if looking at all of it now still makes my jaw drop, it must have been something special then. and temple de la sarada família still isn't completed, 80 years after gaudi died. conrad was right when he said that guy must have been on some special sort of drugs... his work is brilliant. i've a million photos i'm going to show you. from the temple first, though, an aerial view:


look how these columns split at the top, obviously inspired by trees.


and here's the nativity scene designed by gaudi himself


after i saw that, i met j(2) for lunch again, mmm it was yummy! later, i met up with brendan to go look at the park full of guadi's work--güell. all his mosaics have SUCH vibrant colors! this little fella here is one of his most famous pieces, on pretty much every postcard:


brendan, and columns..


me, and a different sort o' columns..


this square was, according to naoise, supposed to have been used originally for an open air market. when we were there, there was a musician just playing in the middle... the acoustics were beautiful. as was the architecture, o'course ;)


here's more mosaic benches...



at the top of the park were all sorts of nice views. the picture of the temple i took from up there as well...
here's me and bren, anyway. :)
you can see the monastery atop the other hill in the background. (i think that's what it is... but it looks cool anyway)


and a view of the city


that night, i met hanna, naoise's girlfriend... and he got behind the bar for us ;) that is, the one in his house!


on thursday, i went out to lunch with sean and my cousins. we went to this hotel school, where they train students as they work to run 5 star hotels. the food was excellent, and sean was teaching us 'bout fine wine. always good to know. it was interesting to watch the three of them during lunch, because i can see which characteristics of sean's were passed to the boys ;) they're probably going to kill me for saying that... =D

and supper was with naoise's and bren's mother, angeles, who i haven't met since i was sooo little. it was good to connect and meet her, i seriously am so glad that i did.
i got to update all of them on my sisters and family... and how alanna and cade are all up and growing up and all that stuff. :-D



as for that dinner, very catalan.. i had crema de catlanya for dessert, yum yum yum! and at some point during this trip, i had butifarra, a sausage type thing... and mongetes.. like beans? but there's typical catalan.. :)

following this, the three of us headed to the music underground area.. just to the west of the top of las ramblos, full of colorful graffiti and bars and clubs... the hipster area, if you will.


we went to this one place with art everywhere, more of a gallery with a bar in it and sofas than an actual bar... there, we just kind of sat and drank. bren's friends weren't drunk enough to practice their english, so i played with my camera for a while. i wish i had becky's understanding of spanish, though!
naoise, clearly deep in thought regarding his beer ;)


me and bren


after this, a few more bars, and a club... a country club!!?! it was all these older spanish men dressed as american cowboys. something isn't right in this picture?

but my favourite part was when all of us, me, bren, and the folks from his class, were sitting in the same park as the fountain, and they picked up a box, just a wooden box, and were making music for hours! at least it seemed that long...
one of the spanish lads was dancing, too, like spanish women usually dance. he legitimately reminded me of Dave the Monkey.
and then when the morning breakfast places opened, we went there for a final drink and eggy delight in the morning.
this night, along with that one in utrecht, ties as the best on my trip. it was absolutely brilliant.

brendan and i took the train back to naoise's, and i had just enough time to grab my bag and make for town, where i had to meet the dutch boys to head to.... girona! (i was amazing at my brilliance of packing the day previous..)