The Epic St. Patrick’s Day Adventure That Rivaled Lord of the Rings

3.17.2009

St. Patrick’s Day granted us the day off on Tuesday from school, so I decided today would be the best day to go and retake the photos I had lost during transfer.  OOhhhh and it was.

This is going to be a long one, so either get some snacks or just look at the pictures.

Time for adventures.  It was warm enough that day to wear a tank-top and shorts, but it was also very windy.  I opted out on wearing shorts–jeans would be better for trudging around in.  I packed my backpack with some lunch, two hoodies, camera, and sketchbook.  I stopped at Emo to buy some water too because our water at the house tastes like iron and minerals.  The school had water in its vending machine (haha, singular) which would be cheaper than Emo, but I’d have to walk in the opposite direction to go to the school to save 80 Euro cents.  Not worth it.

Well I started along the road that runs along the bay to head to the area we had gone in Irish Studies in order to retake the photos.  I haven’t posted that class yet but it was one of my favorites.  So I’m heading down the road and I see there is a car show going on.  A lot of old European cars, so that was neat.  I was starting to leave town on this road and it got hot enough I had to roll my jeans up.  Eventually I got to the spot where we had cut to the shore.  I had to go through a metal gate and stone wall to get into the field that ran between the road and shore.  Like I said, it was windy, so I had to do something about me hair.

Well then this bumblebee tries to get me, so I sat on a rock.  I was putting my hair in braids and watching it on a flower, collecting goodies.  Good chance to take some close photos.

Bumblebee

Along the shore of Ballyvaughan Bay

After that I walked to the shore where there are large rocks to walk on that are so old, they have fossils from when Ireland had a Mediterranean climate.  The shore was full of them.  Soon enough, it came into view:  Gleninagh (glen-ny-na) Castle.  Almost there.

Approaching Gleninagh Castle

Since was in a cattle pasture I had to go over many stone walls; these walls are lined with thorn bushes and a bunch of other stuff.  Well, since I had my jeans rolls up, grace gets touched by some of them and it bursts into scratch marks and blood.  So sensitive.  Sea water washed the blood off, but it kept bleeding, so I just left it alone and let the wind take care of it.

Badass?

Gleninagh got closer and then I was there.  It looked great and the sun made for better photos than when we went here for Irish Studies.  This castle was in pretty good condition, but it had been restored.  Another O’ Loughlan castle, it was build in the mid 1500s and was lived in till, I wanna say some time in the 1800s, while changing many hands.  I think I remember hearing it had three levels but the entrance had been barred up for safety.  The outside was interesting enough though.

Gleninagh Castle (sea side view)

Gleninagh (front view)

This is an interesting location because of the castle, but there is also a Holywell right next to the castle, both are set in an old abandoned village from 12th or 13th century? and not far from that, there is a 12th century church and graveyard.

The Holywell was not 30 feet from the castle and looked like a little cave.  Inside was a little creepy because of the offerings, icons, pictures, and the wet teddy bear.  If you wanted to crawl in, you could; there was a natural freshwater source coming out of the ground inside the well,  but also leaked out in front of it.

Holywell near Gleninagh

I just realized that I already wrote about this part in the Irish Studies page…so, I will just show photos that I took on this 2nd trip and if you want to read about the area, go to the Irish Studies page.

Abandoned house from ancient village. There were only 3 or 4 houses still standing. That rectangular hole is the fireplace, and there is a large bunch of vines and such growing out of the chimney.

In this part of the house, someone had reinforced the doorway by installing some wood around the edges. Plants and vines have grown over it since, using it as a ladder and trees have grown out of the middle of the room.

This is a view of the sky from looking up in one of the other abandoned houses.

Window view of a field of wild leek that grows behind the village. It tastes like a sweeter chive, an onionish flavor.

After the village, I walked up the road and then came to a point where I had to go through somebody’s field.  At the back end was a enclosure/grove of trees, and this was where the 12th century church and graveyard were.

12th century church and graveyard. Many of the graves have more current residents but most were unmarked graves.

Door of 12th century church. I took this photo to give people an idea of how short/tall (however you want to think it) people were back then. I'm 5'11 ... so that is a reference.

Daffodils lined the edges of the church and were present on most of the graves. Even the unmarked stone ones had one or two planted on them.

I’ll just continue off where I stopped taking the photos to replace the ones I lost.  So after the church I left and headed up this small path that ran perpendicular to a road that went along the side of the bay and mountains.  Well I walked that road for a little while heading out of town and came to a gate.  This was the path that led up the mountain.  I made my way up and soon reached a level where some trees were growing, and then I hear the sound of some large rocks rolling down.  I stopped to listen and then I hear this woman’s voice briefly.  I kept walking and then up around the corner comes a guy on a mountain bike.  I’m talking the real deal—helmet, knee and elbow pads, spandex, mud, and a real mountain bike.  I got off to the side and as he went by he said there was three more coming behind him.  So I waited a little while and then two more guys and a girl came down as well.  I thought it was weird to see anyone else on this path but I didn’t walk much further when I ran into three hikers and there Irish Wolfhound.  If anyone has seen these dogs before you know how big they are.  They are about as tall as miniature ponies and are supposedly the biggest dogs in the world, standing on their hind legs.

View from the mountain, can see Gleninagh Castle.

I was about halfway up the mountain when I decided it was time for lunch.  There was a perfect spot, an outcrop of boulders to sit on.  I had peanut butter and jelly sandwich, green apple, and some candy.  The view was great.  The sun was bright and the wind still blowing, though as I climbed higher it got stronger and so I put my other hoodie on too.  Continuing on the path up I saw an Irish Robin.  They are similar to American Robins by the reddish patch of feathers on their breast.  Irish Robins are much smaller and are brown and white.  This one came right in front of me onto the mud and swiped a worm.  It sat in a bush-tree to wait for me to go by but I had to take some photos because it was so close.

Irish Robin

Lunch spot--the castle is getting smaller. You can see Ballyvaughan Bay.

I kept walking up the mountain and as I got higher it got windier.  I had to put my hood up by now.  Every time you think you may be at the top you realize you’ve just reached a plateau and the real top is over there.  Blast.  Well I thought I wanted to reach the very top but soon it got so bad it was hard to stand up.  Not only because of the wind but also because of all the hidden holes and rocks in the grass and moss.  Now I’m between two large mounds at the top of Cappanawalla (mountain), where we learned that at this spot was where ceremonies, initiations and funerals were held for the lords and chieftans of the area, long ago.  On the other side is a great valley.  Grided across this valley are stone walls and green pastures.

Valley on the other side of Cappanawalla.

I wasn’t sure if I should be going this way but I saw the bike tracks of the extreem mountain bikers from before in the mud, so I kept going.  There weren’t any sheep in the pastures but bloated cows, lounging in the grass.  All they did was stare and chew cud, like always.   Oh wait, one actually struggled and got up to move because it decided I was walking to close to it when I was going by.

These slots are found every once in awhile in the walls. They allow people through but not cattle, so it saves having to build a gate.

This is part of the wall system in the valley. Maybe this is the nerd in me (snnnfff), but I want to know how they kept the walls so straight for such a distance.

Cattle trough.

After a little while I came to a choice between going left, to climb a different part of Cappanawalla, or to go straight and continue on in the valley.  I went left and followed a gravel road up the mountain side.  It went winding up and eventually went straight, towards the ocean side where I had come from.  I wasn’t at the top of the mountain, but I was up there.  Then it stopped.  I had to climb over some fences and then I was back to stumbling amoung rocks and secret holes and traps.  Aroun the corner of the mountain I could see a big red metal thing.  It looked like a tank, and really, you couldn’t miss it.  As I got closer it was some kind of tank that could be pulled, but what I really want to know was how it had gotten there and why the hell was it there??

Why is this still here?

A little ways past that was a shakehole – a depression in the earth.  This happens when limestone collapses under itself, perhaps from being eroded away from beneath.  Sometimes there could be a cave beneath it and that may have collapsed.  So I come upon a shakehole and that was cool but as I walk around it I look again and there in its side, is a cave.  Holy crap I have to go down and check this out.  It was giving me chills of excitement all down my back.  How sweet was this?  I mean, here is this cave on the side of a mountain, not known to the public.  I kept thinking of what it must have been like to first discover this and things like this that no one has seen.  Undoubtedly this one had been seen before–wasn’t very far from where the tank was.  I just kept thinking about how awesome this was and if I went in and never came out, that no one would know where I was or how to find me.  Mysteries.

Cave opening.

I got closer and was taking pictures and film.  It was eerie because at the mouth of the cave, if you looked up, there was a tall ledge where the original ground had been.

Looking in at the mouth of the cave.

This big wall blocked out a lot of the noise from the wind and it got very still and quiet.  Also, it was very damp.  Outside it was dry and windy, but at the mouth it was wet in the air.  All along the walls grew tiny ferns, bright green moss, vines, and all kinds of little things. There was also some water dripping from above and a little that was trickling down its side on the rock.

So pretty, so green.

So I look in some more…and find…that it isn’t a cave at all.  Lame sauce.  I don’t know what it was (the start of a cave, or a cave that had collapsed and been blocked?)  Well, down about 15 – 25 feet the rock went, but at around that depth it stopped.  It looked like a really small hole, about 1 or 2 feet wide, that could have gone in deeper.  Oh well, it was still pretty cool.  Kinda surprised to not see bones from animals who had fallen in and were unable to escape, but then again, there were some stones placed at the entrance blocking it.  I looked up and between the silhouette at the top, a plane started to fly right across…it is hard to describe, but look at the picture.  It was one of those cool pictures that you can’t plan for or look for, really.

Airplane trail overhead.

By now the sun was starting to go down and the last thing I want to do is spend the night on the mountain like this.

The sun sets on Ballyvaughan.

I was still on the mountain side and heading towards Ballyvaughan.  Getting along the terrain was ok but it was just annoying, yeah?  They keep cattle on the mountains so there are a lot of stone walls to deal with.  Heh, now I felt like I was in one of those desert/journey movies where they are stumbling along without water or food, not knowing where they are going and letting the wind push them along.  I mean, it wasn’t bad, but this is what I thought of.  I went through areas with cattle, another with horses.  The hard thing came when I was getting closer to the bottom, because all kinds of nasty and hurtful plants were growing.  Thorney bushes blocked my way over a wall that I had to pass.  It was really getting dark now and I couldn’t see quite clearly because of the setting dark, but also because of the wind and how it was drying my contacts out.  I could see the town of course, and there are some houses spread around sporadically at the base of Cappanawalla–I kept my eye on one house’s light and used it as a guide on where to head.  Finally, I reached the bottem right as it was completely dark.  I knew where I was–the road that runs behind the school, so I put on my reflector and found my way back to the main road that led into town.

It was such a fulfilling day and I got so many good photos, not only of the ones I had lost, but also of when I was on the mountain.  I have this map of the area and so I marked down my trail and where I think I went.  Based on this, I’ve estimated that I walked /hiked about 14.5 km or about 9 miles.  It felt like it but even looking at the map, for some reason I don’t believe it.  Anyway, great craic.

UPDATES, LETTERS, MAIL, AND SUCHLIKE

I wanted to say that if anyone had planned on sending me a letter or something, now is the time.  It takes a 5-7 days from the US to Ireland and I will be flying home the 18th.   If you are going to send, DON’T WAIT PAST THE 10th OR 11th!!

ALSO:  since I have been so busy with getting ready for the exhibition we are having this Saturday, I haven’t had the time to update much in the past weeks, and will mostlikely not have time for a little while.  I do plan on posting everything else I had intended to post, once I get back to the States.  So if you still care, keep checking after the 18th of April.

St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Fanore

3.15.2009

The Sunday before St. Patrick’s Day some of the students went to a neighboring village called Fanore, to watch a parade they were having.  I went along as well.  On the way over while riding in the van, I was sitting in the front seat and asked Robert, our “bus” driver and guy who does everything at the school:  “so what’s the deal with leprechauns?  Did we make it up or does it actually come from Ireland?”  Robert:  “First of all, grace, you must know that leprechauns are not real, they don’t exist…”   Me:  “oh good, yeah, I’m glad we’ve established that.  Because it’s important.”  He went on to tell me that he (leprechauns) are brought out for football games and sports, also for most of the holidays.  My interpretation is that it is just a mascot for things like that.  Faeries here, are another thing.  Some people believe in “the Other People” and there are many stories dealing with them and people’s experiences with them.  Now, it’s all in good fun.  Robert also told me that there was going to be a raffle and that we should try to win so we could keep him at the school to eat the lawn (he has to mow the lawn…)  He also said if I won I had to ride him back to school.

Anyway.  Parade.  We got to Fanore and like the Point to Point race, Robert drops us off far from where we are actually supposed to be going—this time he leaves us where the parade is organizing and getting in line.  So, on we went into town, about a mile or something, no problem.  There were people gathering at THE pub in town, called O’Donohue’s.  This was on what you could call “main street” and across from the pub was a stage set up.  People were already wandering about with food and drinks.  There was an “MC” walking around with a microphone stopping people and talking to them, making things exciting and making announcements about the activities of the day.  He had this jester – like hat on (they wear those at football games and rugby games all the time).  He explained that it was a woman friend of his and that if he found a young man to wear it, she would marry him…So he advertised that a few times.  The MC looked so familiar but I couldn’t think of who it was or where I saw him.  Later on I realized that it was the priest from the church in Ballyvaughan.

Priest being MC. In the trailer behind him is where they kept the wee donkey.

Well, now as I said, he was walking around and talking to folks and when he got to a few of the girls from our school, he announced over the mic that there were “lots of young ladies from America here studying at the Burren College of Art, or Yanks as we’d call them, and they’re all available for the taking!”  I just slowly backed away and went to get some hot chocolate.

So things came to and it was time for the parade to start.  What the MC called the Town Officials came onto stage to start it and say something brief.  Then came what was something like the Irish guard and they presented the flag of the Republic of Ireland.  Then came St. Patrick himself, sporting a green beard, being pulled in a small carriage by a white horse a couple brown spots on it—it also had some green spots painted on it.  There was a little terrier dog in the carriage and when the MC went up to talk to the guy, the dog started singing into the microphone.  I just gave Katherine a look that said this was ridiculous.  It was the Singing Dog of Kilfenora.  Right after him came a bag-pipe band from Nottingham in England.  I like the sound of bag-pipes and they were playing a great marching song.  They also had some percussion with them—a couple of snares, a couple tympanis, and led by a big bass drum.  I didn’t take any photos of St. Patrick or the bag-pipe band, but I did take some film.  I plan to upload all the film I’ve taken here when I return to the US.

Next were some staple things found in American parades…tractors!  Oh ho ho, I was looking forward to seeing what maker they were.  As they came by the MC he would stop them all and start off by asking “what year is she?”  (all were between 1953 – 1958 I think) Then he’d ask if they had restored it or something and then they would move along, something like that.  They were mostly all Massey – Fergusons, which are Canadian originally, but I did see two John Deere’s in the parade as well.  “What year is she?  What year is she?  What year is she?”  As they went along, I yelled over to my friend Kay, “Kay!  Those are the cleanest tractors I’ve ever seen!”  Kay:  “I know!  Can you believe it?!”   She grew up on a farm so we always talk about Mid-western stuff like that.

One of the Massey - Fergusons--I don't know why he is steering with his elbow.

Next in line was a marching band from some local school, which was smaller than our flute section back in high school, and also had accordions.  They were playing the Beach Boy’s song ‘Wipeout’…can you imagine how that would sound?  Another interesting thing was that the member ranged from 8 to high school, and they were all mixed together.  A float came next and it had a bunch of fake snakes coming out of it (referring to the story of how St. Patrick rid Ireland of serpents) and St. Patrick standing and pointing out.

St. Patrick chases the snakes.

So then this van drives up with “There’s no one is as Irish as Barak Obama” painted in green on its side…what the hell?  Ok, fine.  But what came after that really made me stand back and raise an eyebrow.  Behind the van were two pre-teens wearing some brown makeup and black wigs, dressed as Barak and Michele, an American flag behind them…yeah that’s going a little too far for me.  I just couldn’t believe it.  I mean, they loved the guy and everyone here is really excited for us in America, but so excited they blacken their faces?  No one seemed to mind it except our group, we just kept giving each other looks.  Little much, if you ask me.

Obama and Michele...

But that wasn’t the end of the random craziness.  Up came Shrek and Fiona, oh and wait folks, Buzz Lightyear is here too!  It’s St. Patrick’s Day, lets all dress up.  It was very funny and maybe the Shrek characters could have worked, because Shrek has a Scottish accent (does that even work?), but Buzz, he has no connections.

After that was a van with a sign that said “Recession my ass, this is a session,” which I didn’t fully understand, but what was perhaps even more charming was the images they had taped on the sign as well—it was funny because I could tell it was just clip art from the internet, like they just Googled ‘St. Patrick’s Day.’  Comedy.

What would Marketing and Design say?

Ok, so then this truck from some animal and plant conservational group drives up and in tow there are a bunch of local animals that had taxidermy done to it.  It felt a little ironic.  Just when I thought it couldn’t get any weirder, a semi pulls up carrying a trailer with a bunch of people on it dressed in hula skirts and a Hawaiian theme.  Some guy was wearing an Elvis wig as well and then they started singing ‘Mama Mia’ by ABBA? and were dancing around with each other.  I have never seen the show/movie so I had no idea of what was going on or if was right; it just all seemed random to me.  There were more floats and such like but these were the more interesting ones to me.

After the parade was over most everyone went into the pub.  It was packed and even the bag-pipe band went in with their instruments.  There wasn’t anywhere to sit but on some tables that had their instruments on it against the wall.

Inside O'Donohue's pub.

We ordered some chicken and chips and just kinda people watched for awhile.  I can’t remember if I had mentioned this before, but apparently the wide Mohawk and the Mullet are really in right now…(checkout Buzz)  I started to hear some music so I went over to go check it out.  There was a father/son team, one on guitar and one on synth.  They had the greatest getup: maroon colored western shirts with little American eagles embroidered by the collars, creased black pants and the guitar strap had golden colored sequins on it.  Awesome.  Well they started playing ‘Country Road, Take Me Home’ by John Denver and it was sung in a confusing way for me.  He had an Irish accent but I think he was trying to sing in a country/western style so it sounded really different.  Onwards they sang and played mostly country/western songs (sorry Dad, didn’t play “They’re Gonna Put Me In the Movies…”) but the son did sing a cover of U2’s ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.’  They took a break after awhile and then the band from Nottingham gets all their instruments and starts to play another great marching song.  They also played ‘Amazing Grace’ which I think sounds gorgeous on bag-pipes.  I took film of them playing that, and though I was standing pretty close, the audio is decent.  The father/son duo went back to playing and now more people were dancing.  There was an older couple that were dancning and I couldn’t help but be reminded of my Grampa Arens.  He was a really classy dancer and knew a lot of styles not done in the clubs now and was one who liked to get out on the floor at all those events.

Dancing at O'Donohue's. I watched the older guy carefully and tried to figure out his pattern. The dance he did later with his wife had a lot of spinning and twirling.

I learned earlier where the Shamrock came from.  Apparently St. Patrick used a clover as an explaination for the Trinity–Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit and that a Shamrock is just the symbol.  Someone thought it was an actual plant like the clover.  All in all it was pretty fun to experience.

I didn’t win the donkey.

Irish Surnames

I didn’t realize I was so far behind on posts! Oi, but I have been so busy.  It always bothered me when people would say that; I thought it was an excuse but now it is at a time in my life where I’ve had to say “I’ve been too busy to do that” and it is fully true.  I will try to bring you up to what has been happening.

3.12.2009
This is mainly for my family and relatives and all I will talk about is surname origins from our Irish lineage.  Just a warning so those who wouldn’t be interested don’t waste their time.

I found a book on Irish surnames in one of the gift shops in Ballyvaughan; this is what I found:

Harney (O’Harney)
Irish: Ò hAthairne
This was formally anglicized Haherney, now sometimes Hartney.  The latter is confused with Hartnane.  Originally of Roscommon, Harney is still found in Connacht but has also spread to Co. Tipperary.

Sullivan (O’Sullivan)
Irish: Ò Sùileabháin (Sùil means ‘eye’ in Irish/Gaelic)
Most numerous name in Munster and 1/3 in all Ireland.  Originally south of Tipperary, the O’ Sullivans were forced westwards by the Anglo-Norman invasion where they became one of the leading septs of Munster.

Driscoll (O’Driscoll)
Irish: Ò hEidersceiol, the later form is Ò Driscoil.
One of the principal Corca Laoidte septs.  The name is very numerous in Co. Cork but not elsewhere.

I tried looking for Quinlan but it was absent from the text, and I had forgotten about Power(s).

Berlin

F.23.2009
On this day we had to leave Ballyvaughan at 3:30AM sharp.  Most of us hadn’t gotten much sleep, myself included.  I tried to go to bed at 9:00PM but I couldn’t fall asleep and ended up getting about 3 or 4 hours.  No matter, we were going to Berlin.

We were flying through RyanAir, which is basically a really cheap airline company that flies only through Europe and a few locations in northern Africa.  It is actually a really good deal if you can handle smelly airplane seats, no complimentary drinks or food, no pillows and the like, walking out to the plane, and having advertisements shown inside the plane and announced over the intercom on occasion.  If you have an MP3 player or earplugs, this is not a problem.  Takeoff was actually pretty fast and we didn’t have to wait in line on the runway.  The flight to Germany took about 2.5 – 3 hours and we landed at Shoenefeld Airport in Berlin.

My first impression of Berlin was that it was a grey, depressing city with Neo – Classicism and Modern design, yet falling apart to shambles.  Gruff characters and trendy cool people.  The bus guide said it was a very liberal and modern city.  I also noted how much graffiti there was all over the city; there was a lot of good graffiti/street art and a lot of bad graffiti/street art.

Hitler Street Art -- this was seen a lot over the city.

Like a lot of the buildings in Berlin, our hotel we stayed at was a renovated factory that had made helmets or sewing machines in its prime.  Many Berlin buildings were reused for other purposes while new buildings were built after the destruction from wars.  It was actually pretty nice and had a Modern feel to it as far as the design.  I roomed with Katherine, Emily, Kay, and Katelyn.

Katelyn in out hotel room. We were on the 4th floor but the view wasn't anything special.

SLOW Boy...this one goes out to all my friends back home....you know what I mean..

Street Art

Can't escape...

By that time is was lunchtime so we hopped on the U-Bahn (subway system for Berlin) and traveled to Auguststraße, in which we ate at a Thai restaurant.  Delicious.  I hadn’t had Asian food in awhile so it was extra good.  After lunch we were supposed to break off into groups and see some big galleries.  One was going to a special photography exhibit by Leibowitz and the other was supposed to go to other galleries.  I knew I didn’t want to go to the photography one because you had to pay and I simply did not care to go.  What happens?  Well I go to the photography exhibition of course.  The other group had broken off without my knowledge so I was stuck paying for a show I didn’t want to see and ended up not enjoying.  I strongly disliked the show.  A lot.  I don’t want to see photos of celebrities in their glamour and pregnancy, being sexy or classic; I don’t care who you are.  Bah!  Silent complaints by Grace.  After that Kay, Katherine, Katelyn and I split and visited some small independent galleries.  There were some good ones and I got a little inspiration.  Also, on the way back home we found a mask/costume shop.  Darth Vader (however much shorter) was there so I had to stop and pose with him.

Me n Darth Vader

F.24.2009
Today we slept in a little because our alarm was turned off by someone half asleep so we had to join the group late.  We went to the Sharf – Gerstenberg Collection, which consisted of mostly Surrealist artists including Dali, Ernst, Redon, Goya, Magritte, Klinger, Hugo and Twombly.  Across from this collection was the Museum Berggruen which had Picasso and Klee works.  These were probably my favorite museums/collections/galleries.  Sometimes you can’t believe you are standing in front of a Redon print, or a Picasso painting.

After that Kay, Katelyn and I went off to get lunch.  We found a café but everything was in German.  I took German for four years in high school but have forgotten much of it since.  Regardless I was able to read a lot of things, including some of the menu, so it was neat to have to translate for Kay and Katelyn so they knew what to eat.  I ordered milk and some tomato soup.  When my milk came I was a little confused because it was warmed and very frothy.  It also came with honey and a little Italian cookie.  I put the honey in the milk and mixed that up and it actually wasn’t too bad.  It was pretty good but not what I’d prefer with a hot bowl of soup.  The soup and milk were 5 Euro combined…..much cheaper than Ireland.  And the soup and bread was fancy!  I mean, it was all pretty good for that price.

We were going to find the Kathe Kollwitz Museum (did expressionist prints and drawings in first half of 1900s) but we heard it was closed.  So we decided to ride the U-bahn and find some other museums (Neue Nationalgalerie, Gemäldegalerie, Kunstgewerbemuseum…)  We got lost for a few minutes and let everyone know we were tourists by reading our map all sprawled out on a bench.  We found the museums : religious triptychs with illumination, portraiture, huge 20 ft x 50 ft tapestries and much more.  Not really what I am interested in, but still appreciate.  On the way back home we saw some pieces of the Wall, but probably wasn’t the best section to see.

This is a poor shot of a very small section of the Berlin Wall. It wasn't the best section to see but we happened to walk past it.

Night scene on one of the squares -- I forget where.

We were pretty tired but we went out to a Spanish restaurant and again I had to play translator.  Most everyone here in Berlin spoke some amount of English, but it wasn’t the bi-lingual impression I had gotten in high school.  It was frustrating because I wish I had remembered more or had been raised bi-lingual or started younger.  At least I knew I could get around the city.  We found a cheap grocery store and decided to buy a bunch of junk food.  I got some iced crème bars, strawberries, chocolate covered cherries, some Cherry Coke, and a Kinderegg (chocolate egg with small toy inside of it.)  While in there two different guys had been staring at me and smiled.  Creepers.  After checkout Katherine and I ate some of the crap we had bought and waited for the others.  They came to us and said some of those guys had bought them candy and had invited us to their friends’ birthday party….well that made us laugh a lot, which I guess pissed off some guy who ended up yelling at us and told us to be quiet…what a grump.  To add to it, the Cherry Coke ended up tasting like medicine….boooooo.

F.25.2009
Today was our last day in Berlin but was definitely the best.

TV Tower and ? Museum

Side walk along the river.

To start off we went to a museum as a group called the Pergamonmuseum which had a ton of ancient art from Greece, Rome, Israel, Mesopotamia, and the far east.  It was pretty amazing because they reconstructed some Greek and Roman temples which took up rooms the size of half a football field.  They also had tapestries, palace walls with elaborate details, many many statues and masks—lots of pieces.  It kinda made me sad because it reminded me of all the things lost by wars.

Part of a temple brought back from either Rome or Greece, and reconstructed here.

Sorry, some of these photos are pretty crappy, but what can I say.

Aphrodite

Temple in Pergamonmuseum

Honestly I could show you a TON more photographs from this museum but it would be easier to just show in an album later.

After that museum Katelyn, Kay and I left and asked a woman who worked at the museum shop for some directions.  She knew some English so I asked her some things in German and English.  She helped us out a lot and also knew some good areas to shop.

On our way to something I saw a Birkenstock store (expensive leather sandals but long lasting) and wanted to stop in.  Kay and Katelyn went somewhere else while I was in there.  This was a good chance to practice my German so I tried speaking only that.  I did pretty well—told her I didn’t need her help at the moment, asked her about sizing, asked for directions on where I could get some cash, and also if my friends had come back looking for me yet.  I ended up getting a pair of sandals and it will do me good.  I didn’t bring any spring shoes anyhow.

After that we walked/took the U-Bahn to the Reichstag, which is Berlin’s government building.  Visitors are allowed to walk up the spiral walkway of its glass dome, as well as explore the building for free, but the line was so long we just decided to take some pictures from the giant courtyard in front of it.

Reichstag

I thought the pediment was pretty so I zoomed in...The words in English mean something like "to the German people" or "the German people"... (right wyatt??)

After that we wandered into a park called the Tiergarten and found the Soviet Memorial from WWII.  It had some giant slabs and a huge Soviet soldier on top pointing down at us.  I couldn’t read anything it said because it was all in Russian (I thought of you, Manley and wondered if you could’ve translated it for us). There were also some giant slabs lying down that resembled tombs and some war machines.  A tank had a tulip coming out of its barrel.

Soviet Memorial in the Tiergarten

The Brandenburg Gate wasn’t far so we walked to that next.  I don’t know much of the history of the gate but I am pretty sure the Wall connected onto it; anyway it’s a landmark for Berlin.  There was an actor that would dress either as a Soviet, German, or American soldier and pose in front of it so you could take a picture.  They had helmets and flags for the appropriate nation.  I don’t understand why anyone would want to pay for a picture like that because it doesn’t “take you there” to the time of the war…there are tons of tourists walking all around the gate and behind the actor so you would not get the effect.

Brandenburg Gate

Tourists at Brandenburg Gate: Look at these chuckleheads! It was just like a movie...there was this group of tourists huddled real close together for some reason and all pointing and looking and taking pictures at once. I bet it was the best spot to get a centered photo of the Gate; I thought it looked funny (yes wyatt, it was hilarious.)

Statues on top of the Brandenburg Gate.

View of Victory Column from Brandenburg Gate

Anyway, we took one of those “hey we’re friends traveling together and we’re taking a picture together because we’re friends and having a great time” photograph.  It was a good photo (Kay has it, not me).  We didn’t see it but one of our teachers did…Martina said she witnessed somebody trying to tag (spray paint) something on the Brandenburg Gate and some Politzei that were in disguise broke out and busted them before they could do anything—they had to pay a huge fine.  Hohohoho, that would have been something to see.  Secrets everywhere.

After that we walked to the Holocaust Memorial (which is actually called the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe).  For those of you who don’t know what the memorial is like, it is a series of rectangular slabs of varying heights and widths set up in a grid format.  It is sculpture memorial.

Holocaust Memorial

Now based off of what I learned in Art History class, the intention behind it is that the viewer is supposed to feel disoriented, lost, and uncomfortable.  Because of the slabs and how they feel like they’re closing in on you, and all their crazy angles, it is supposed to give you that effect.  I think because I knew the intentions before going in to see the memorial, I didn’t feel any of those things.  It was still really nice to walk through and I’m glad we went.

Holocaust Memorial

Holocaust Memorial

By now it was time for lunch so we stopped at a Dunkin Doughnuts and I got a couple to eat for later.  We ended up eating at a Vietnamese restaurant and it was delicious.  I’d never had Vietnamese food and ordered duck with veggies and pineapple in a sweet and sour sauce.  Sooooo good.

We wanted to see the Kaiser-Wilhelm Gedächtnis Kirche so we took the U-Bahn to get to that area of town.  This church was a church that was bombed during WWII and was left in ruin as a memorial ever since.  They obviously picked up the rubble but you can see how most the church was blown off and all the stained-glass windows had been blasted out as well.  It was gorgeous, truly.

Kaiser-Wilhelm Gedächtnis Kirche

Imagine that with stained-glass.

You could also go inside…there were the most beautiful mosaics I’ve ever seen.  They were so detailed…they were able to make cheeks have blush using tiles!  Gradients people!  Amazing.  There were also some nice religious reliefs and statues.

There's Jesus

Mosaic -- I think these guys are Kaiser and Wilhelm, which the church is named after.

Inside there is also a little bit about the history of the church and the events leading to the bombing and its aftermath.  The stained glass blasted from the windows was used in part of making two memorial churches build next to the Kaiser-Wilhelm Gedächtnis Church.  We went inside one of them as well—it definitely gives off a meditative mood because almost the entire front section is made up mostly of blue stained glass from the original church.  The size makes it seem so powerful.

We had planned on doing some shopping after we saw the church and so we went to an H&M that was across the street.  We all found something in there and when looking for another place we saw that there was another shop down the street called H&M Women…so we had to go in that one to see if they had anything new that the other one didn’t.  After that we looked further down the street and we saw another H&M so we had to go in that one because it was ridiculous that you could see all three from the top of the street.  It began to pour rain but we were really hungry so we looked for a restaurant.  I felt bad for buying stuff so I insisted that we find a cheap place to eat.  Well, it was raining and you can only look at so many menus to check prices before you just pick one.  We found a South American grill type place that specialized in steak.  Katelyn and Kay each ordered a delicious meal and lucky for me they had a lot of appetizers.  I ended up getting garlic bread and fries.  It was nice though because they both gave me what they couldn’t eat so I ended up the winner there.

We rode the U-Bahn home and crashed.  We all had to get up early the next day to fly home.

Hunting, Rainbows, and a Tea Party!

Mar.1.2009

Today I was on my way to Spar, minding my own business, and all of a sudden 30 or more hunters on horse back come trotting up the street and past me.  There were people of all ages and all dressed in traditional English hunting style.  Once I thought they had stopped, more came running around the corner in another bunch.  Not only were they on horses, but they also had a huge pack of hunting dogs with them, about 20.  It was craziness!  All the dogs came running towards me and ran all around but didn’t stop.  It was a very strange incident indeed.

Mar.5.2009

At school today we saw a double rainbow over the castle.  How Ireland is that?

Mar.6.2009

Saw another rainbow in the morning today.  Today was Irish Studies so I will add that part to the Irish Studies page later.

Mar.7.2009

It is a Sunday and World Women’s Day today.  Anna and Kaitlin have organized a tea party and all the women at BCA are invited.  I’m not gonna lie; I’ve never been to a tea party so I was really excited to go.  We had a special tea called Women’s Tea, as well as chocolate cake, scone cookies, some popped corn (that was me) and some other treats.  It was all set up really nice, with fancy dishes and fresh daffodils from outside by the castle.  Someone had brought some cards that had goddesses from around the world on them and each of us picked one blindly.  I got one called Lakshmi, from India.  She is a goddess of good fortune and prosperity.  It says I’m not supposed to worry and that everything will be fine.  Well I guess that’s easy.   We were also supposed to bring something that represented our femininity because Anna is going to use them for a project.  I cut a lock of my hair because it probably the one thing of my body that I am hardly ever self conscious about.  Also because I am so afraid to get it cut–it takes sooo long for my hair to grow.  After that we each had to light a candle for a woman in our lives.  I lit one for Rach.  And finally, Anna read the Woman’s Creed to end the gathering.  Overall it was nice and something new for me.

Mar.9.2009

Today we were talking about a trip to Belfast in Northern Ireland and we were told that two soldiers were shot and killed by IRA.

Valentine’s Day

F.13.2009

Today I got a Valentine from Katherine—It has a picture of a an ear of corn and the corn has hair. “I hope I ear you right. Be my Valentine” She found some old ones online and gave one to her friends–of course Iowa kid gets the corn valentine, which the corn has curly blonde hair too. Ha. It is a nice valentine though.  Valentine’s Day is celebrated here but I didn’t feel bombarded by the media with it, but I think that has to do with location.  That’s about it, folks.

I don't know if you can see the card well enough, but there it is. Look at its stupid little hair---awesome!

Photography Walk

This is actually from last Friday but I just now had time to upload the pics and such.

F.6.2009

I had to use up the rest of some film so I went on a walk today near the school to take some traditional photos and some digital photos.  There is a road behind the school that goes up to the Holywell and the Junk Pile, but instead of turning to go there, you can go straight and walk a quiet road.

The road I was walking on lined up almost perfectly with the castle. I happened to turn around when walking--otherwise I wouldn't have known.

About a mile or so along the way I came on an old Church.  I didn’t know it at the time, but I found out it is from the 13th century, though the site is apparently much older than that.  There was a big double gate and the property must have been owned by a farmer because there was cow pie everywhere and you could tell they’d been inside the building.  There was also a cattle fence on one side of the Church, not sure why.

This is taken from the little road that led up to the Church area. The Church was enclosed by stone walls and trees, making an oval shape.

13th Century Church. Nature is now taking over.

On one side of the church there was a small room attached.  My best guess is that it was a prayer room or a confession room because there is a holy water bowl on the wall.

Window view from prayer room to the inside of the Church.

Holy Water bowl in the wall.

Inside the Church

I’d been taking film and digital to this point but it is about here when my batteries crapped out and I only had the film.  It’s not developed yet so I don’t know how they turned.  After that I went walking on but nothing else exciting happened so I end here.