How i got my best tan ever...
...in Ireland.
[First things first, if you are not reading this at http://bries-city-garden.blogspot.com/ please go there. My computer-literate friend, Ed, pointed out that it is the correct address to see the nice colors and formatting that makes it better than reading a plain ol text email.]
So, the tan. I don't really know how it happened. Some mix of the angle of the rays and the alternate days wearing sunscreen and forgetting, and one full week of clear blue skies--and i have a crazy tan.
We drove from Dingle up to Doolin on Sunday. "Doolin" is a town on the West coast of Co. Clare between the Cliffs of Moher and Galway that actually consists of two tiny villages strung along the Aille River. We stayed at the Aille River hostel, caddy-corner to two of the cutest Donkeys we'd ever seen. Harrison especially adored them.
Our first day there, we meandered around the surrounding area, called The Burren--a name we suppose derives from its exceptionally rocky terrain. The mountains look like a great giant hand smashed down on them to create accordion-like waves down the slopes. All in grey rock.
Oh, but i forget the grandest part--just out of Dingle, we (actually, I) drove up and up the Connor Pass road, and discovered at the top a tremendous 360-degree view from Dingle Bay around to the north side of the peninsula, where we were headed. The road down, we'd been warned, had a few stretches where it narrowed to one lane. Prevented from hiking to the very top of the near rise with A & H, i limped down an unlikely "sidewalk" along the road to inspect the way ahead. It appeared that if a person didn't speed down it as though it were a high-way, it would be fine.
I ended up inching down behind a tall van, which assured me we'd be seen by the waiting traffic below, and i was spared the feeling of nearly driving off the steep edge that the passengers experienced. Around a bend, we came to a waterfall on the right, and another bit of a rocky hike below a majestic outcropping of rock, which turned out to be above a lake, but i didn't get to see it (though A & H got a photo up there). I just stuck my foot in the cold mountain stream and watched three delightful little Irish girls play in the water and on the rocks, and thought of my childhood in Appalachia.
We did stop later along a sand bar to test out the waves there--much calmer than our earlier beach experience, and collected shells and, more peculiarly, stones from a wide swath where slate, purple, and gold-colored stones were scattered in the sand and had been smoothed as though they were in a river bed. i don't think i've ever seen such a phenomenon on a beach.
Back to Doolin, which is also known as a favorite spot for musicians. We spent the first day, as i said, wandering through the narrow Burren roads. I was hoping to find a site i'd noticed on a map at the hostel--a spot under a bush where "The Marks of St. Brigid's Knees" are said to be visible. I'm not convinced they *are*, but i thought it would be interesting to see. As it turned out we only found the woman who owns the land, who informed us the road to the spot is now closed. But on the way, Amanda & I strolled around a hill fort (all that remains now, a round wall of stones) which was a *law school* several centuries ago. Our afternoon closed with a brief walk out the Cliffs of Moher.
That night, we went down to a pub seeking this famed music, and we were not disappointed. The only disappointment is that none of us got the names of the musicians! But it was some fine playing--Bodhran, Ulieann (Irish for "elbow"--which is what pumps the air) Bagpipes, Flute (golly what a flutist!), and Guitar. Their set was full of the minor-key dance tunes and ballads that Amanda and i love, and their musical cooperation was alchemy. I wish you could have been there! We also noted what a different experience it was there to be in a pub with families on holiday, locals, and foreigners--despite too many people talking through the songs, it was a jolly affair.
We spent the next day on Inisheer, the smallest of the three Aran Islands. Amanda and i got our aerobic exercise for the month biking up and down the hills in another day with not a single cloud in the sky, and on an island with nary a tree for shade (more tan assistance).
And now we're back in Dublin, where the only hostel vacancy we could find is right in the city center, a few blocks from Trinity College, and next to the boardwalk on the River Liffee, where i have been enjoying my coffee and a bit of get-my-heart-straight reading of a morning.
More on that later. It's getting time for these eyes to get some sleep.
[First things first, if you are not reading this at http://bries-city-garden.blogspot.com/ please go there. My computer-literate friend, Ed, pointed out that it is the correct address to see the nice colors and formatting that makes it better than reading a plain ol text email.]
So, the tan. I don't really know how it happened. Some mix of the angle of the rays and the alternate days wearing sunscreen and forgetting, and one full week of clear blue skies--and i have a crazy tan.
We drove from Dingle up to Doolin on Sunday. "Doolin" is a town on the West coast of Co. Clare between the Cliffs of Moher and Galway that actually consists of two tiny villages strung along the Aille River. We stayed at the Aille River hostel, caddy-corner to two of the cutest Donkeys we'd ever seen. Harrison especially adored them.
Our first day there, we meandered around the surrounding area, called The Burren--a name we suppose derives from its exceptionally rocky terrain. The mountains look like a great giant hand smashed down on them to create accordion-like waves down the slopes. All in grey rock.
Oh, but i forget the grandest part--just out of Dingle, we (actually, I) drove up and up the Connor Pass road, and discovered at the top a tremendous 360-degree view from Dingle Bay around to the north side of the peninsula, where we were headed. The road down, we'd been warned, had a few stretches where it narrowed to one lane. Prevented from hiking to the very top of the near rise with A & H, i limped down an unlikely "sidewalk" along the road to inspect the way ahead. It appeared that if a person didn't speed down it as though it were a high-way, it would be fine.
I ended up inching down behind a tall van, which assured me we'd be seen by the waiting traffic below, and i was spared the feeling of nearly driving off the steep edge that the passengers experienced. Around a bend, we came to a waterfall on the right, and another bit of a rocky hike below a majestic outcropping of rock, which turned out to be above a lake, but i didn't get to see it (though A & H got a photo up there). I just stuck my foot in the cold mountain stream and watched three delightful little Irish girls play in the water and on the rocks, and thought of my childhood in Appalachia.
We did stop later along a sand bar to test out the waves there--much calmer than our earlier beach experience, and collected shells and, more peculiarly, stones from a wide swath where slate, purple, and gold-colored stones were scattered in the sand and had been smoothed as though they were in a river bed. i don't think i've ever seen such a phenomenon on a beach.
Back to Doolin, which is also known as a favorite spot for musicians. We spent the first day, as i said, wandering through the narrow Burren roads. I was hoping to find a site i'd noticed on a map at the hostel--a spot under a bush where "The Marks of St. Brigid's Knees" are said to be visible. I'm not convinced they *are*, but i thought it would be interesting to see. As it turned out we only found the woman who owns the land, who informed us the road to the spot is now closed. But on the way, Amanda & I strolled around a hill fort (all that remains now, a round wall of stones) which was a *law school* several centuries ago. Our afternoon closed with a brief walk out the Cliffs of Moher.
That night, we went down to a pub seeking this famed music, and we were not disappointed. The only disappointment is that none of us got the names of the musicians! But it was some fine playing--Bodhran, Ulieann (Irish for "elbow"--which is what pumps the air) Bagpipes, Flute (golly what a flutist!), and Guitar. Their set was full of the minor-key dance tunes and ballads that Amanda and i love, and their musical cooperation was alchemy. I wish you could have been there! We also noted what a different experience it was there to be in a pub with families on holiday, locals, and foreigners--despite too many people talking through the songs, it was a jolly affair.
We spent the next day on Inisheer, the smallest of the three Aran Islands. Amanda and i got our aerobic exercise for the month biking up and down the hills in another day with not a single cloud in the sky, and on an island with nary a tree for shade (more tan assistance).
And now we're back in Dublin, where the only hostel vacancy we could find is right in the city center, a few blocks from Trinity College, and next to the boardwalk on the River Liffee, where i have been enjoying my coffee and a bit of get-my-heart-straight reading of a morning.
More on that later. It's getting time for these eyes to get some sleep.
posted by ceciliabrie at
4:07 PM
4 Comments:
Sounds LOVELY--write more and post some pictures if you can!! Love,
Amelia
By
amelia, at 5:29 PM
oh yeah,
If you see Bono at his hotel (I hear he hangs out there late at night for a beer) tell him that the Parkers in Texas ADORE him--and tell me what he smells like too :).
By
amelia, at 5:31 PM
It sounds like a lovely bit of fun, Brie. I'm so happy you are having fun. You are in the thoughts and prayers of more people in San Antonio than you would know. We love and miss you.
love,
Beth
By
Beth, at 10:18 AM
we did visit Dalkey, where Bono and Enya famously own vacation homes. it's a brief train ride south from Dublin, a quaint artsy village with, you know, typical things like old castles laying about...
By
ceciliabrie, at 7:18 AM
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