Gift of Gab

We woke up rather early this morning due to the rather busy day that lay ahead of us. Everyone has been a bit hungry each morning due to the limited breakfast in the hostels, so we stopped in the coastal town of Kinvara to eat and ended up walking around a bit. After this, we drove along for awhile before making a quick stop at Bunratty castle, where we just took a few photos and stretched our legs. Seanie has done a good job of stopping for photos and coffee/tea breaks throughout the day. For the most part, I haven't really gotten tired of being on the bus. He tells us really "sad" jokes throughout the day, and he is using sad as "pathetic."

Who lives between two posts? Annette.
Who lives between two houses? Elaine.

His personality is making this whole trip a million times better... he is just hilarious, and obviously loves what he is doing. He calls us his "troopers" and sings to us all the time. We all have fallen in love with Seanie.

After another short drive, we arrived at Blarney Castle. Here, visitors can kiss the Blarney stone. Legend has it, that upon kissing the Blarney stone, one will receive the gift of eloquence. I'm already eloquent, so I'm not sure how that works...

The castle and it's grounds were beautiful, with fall colors blanketing the landscape. I can only imagine what it would be like to live in an era where your home is all you ever really know... Part of me says how peaceful it would be, but then I realize that people back in those times could never learn other cultures... Close mindedness is a terrible thing!

From Blarney castle, we went out to the Cliffs of Moher. These cliffs are a famous tourist attraction in Ireland, understandably so. In Ireland, the coast line, instead of being beachy and gradually turning into ocean, actually just stops hundreds of feet above the surface of the water. The dramatic difference between this coastline and all the others I've seen was a breath of fresh air. I've realized on this trip that the more beautiful places and things I see, the less impressed I get. For example, Rhine falls in Switzerland was great, but it's NOTHING compared to the Gullfoss in Iceland. I don't like this attitude/way of thought, but I can't help it. I see some really beautiful things and sometimes they are not as impressive as I tell myself they should be.

Due to an issue with our accommodations, we are actually spending this chilly Halloween in Cork instead of Killarney. I really didn't plan to dress up, but a girl on the tour had a red flannel shirt, so that plus my boots and jeans was actually a decent "costume." I went as a southern, country girl, or something similar. In order to make it look more like an actual costume, I had my hair in pig tails and someone put some eyeliner "freckles" on my face. I actually pulled it off quite nicely and a lot of people gave me compliments. We all spent the night out at a local pub where a guy was playing the guitar and singing. He mostly took requests, and was constantly cracking jokes about everyone's costumes. We stayed quite late, and ended up getting turned around on the walk back to the hostel... it took us 45 minutes to get there instead of 10. Life could be worse, right?

People in Ireland take Halloween seriously... there are no make shift costumes. They go ALL OUT. The origin of Halloween is found in Ireland, so for them it's an actual holiday, not just a time to look goofy and get candy. Don't get me wrong, they do that as well... but there are tons of other traditions and superstitions attached to the holiday.

http://www.ireland-information.com/articles/irishhalloweentraditions.htm

That's the craic for today

"Craic" or "crack", is a term for news, gossip, fun, entertainment, and enjoyable conversation, particularly prominent in Ireland.

Today we left the beautiful city of Derry and headed out to Galway... back to the Republic of Ireland! It was quite a relaxing day, as a good part of the day was spent on the bus. Galway is about 4 hours from Derry, so we split the day up with a few pit stops. First up, we stopped in Sligo, where everyone split up to find some grub. I had some groceries from last night so I just made myself a tomato and cheese bagel for lunch. Anything to save money!

While walking back to the bus, we noticed a cat struggling in the river. Somehow, he fell in and was able to get onto a rock sticking out, and used it as a ledge. He was looking up at the people who were trying to rescue him, just meowing like crazy! Someone went to a fishing store across the street and got a long net, and tried their best to get him up, but couldn't scoop him into the net... Finally, he ended up falling off the ledge, and once he was in the water, the guy with the net was able to scoop him up, and bring him to safety. Everyone cheered and started clapping in joy. It was such a good thing to witness! There are still good, loving people in the world.

When we arrived to Galway, we had a few hours to just explore the city, do some shopping, and just chill out before dinner. I found my first international Papa John's, and I finally found my hat! My ears are finally WARM. After looking for the hat for so long, I was ready to go relax for a bit. I got back to the hostel and remembered that I'm supposed to be finding Moo Free chocolate for Jared... it's gluten and dairy free, made in the UK, and is supposed to be really good! Well, at least good enough for Jared. I looked on the internet and found a store not too far away that was supposed to sell it. I headed out, found the store, and... SUCCESS. I found the chocolate, and I now have 1 kilo of chocolate in my bag. Hopefully customs at the airport won't have any problems with that!

Around 7:30pm, the group met back at the hostel and headed out for dinner. The hostel was hosting a pub crawl, and all but myself and a few of the older members of the tour were participating. It turned out, the restaurant was really just the beginning of the pub crawl. We were only able to choose from a list of 6 dishes, and it really felt like it was just a ploy for money. Each dish was over 12€, and the food wasn't even that good! This frustrated me, because I've been making specific decisions to help save money and then had to blow it on a meal that I wasn't even happy with.

When I got back to the hostel, I realized that Ireland has Netflix... I know that doesn't sound too exciting, but I miss Netflix! It was nice to just chill out and watch some episodes of random shows before heading to bed. It 'almost' felt like home.

And that, my friends, is the craic for today.

Legen...Derry

The morning consisted of a hasty breakfast, followed by a scenic drive up to the Northern Ireland coast. We went to the Carrick-a-Rede bridge, which is a 20 meter long wooden bridge suspended 30 meters above the ocean, connecting the mainland to the island of Carrickarede.  Unfortunately for our group, the wind was 45 mph (they use miles per hour in Northern Ireland, and kilometers in Ireland) so we were not allowed to walk across the bridge. The scenery was still beautiful!

We headed out to the Giant's Causeway, which is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles northeast of the town of Bushmills. Such "rock" formations really impress me, because they are nature's creation... God's creation. That is so much more interesting than man made things! It was peaceful watching the waves crash into the rocks, and seeing a few rainbows pop up throughout our time there. Rainbows in Ireland come up for about 30 seconds before fading away. When you see one, you better snap a picture quickly or else you'll miss it!

From the Giant's Causeway, we headed out towards Derry. On the way, we stopped at the ruins of Dunluce castle, and I saw a FULL rainbow, for the first time in my life. It was crisp, bright, and clear. The world is a beautiful place!

Finally, we arrived in Derry. My phone doesn't know where to say Derry is! One app said Derry, UK... and one says Derry, Northern Ireland. 

We took a walking tour around Derry, and learned all about the civil rights movement back in the 1970s. Specifically, Bloody Sunday is a tragedy that occurred in Derry back in 1972. 26 unarmed civil rights protesters were shot by British Army paratroopers. 14 were killed. In 2010, a report was made public that showed that the civilians were not armed, and that the shooting was completely unjustified. Just a little over a week ago, on October 20, 2013, the police announced that an investigation will be opened into these murders, which could result in the arrest and conviction of at least 20 retired soldiers.

Near, far, wherever you are...

Today the tour rolled out of Dublin at 8am to begin the journey onward towards Belfast in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is actually a part of the UK, whereas the rest of the island is a part of the Republic of Ireland. So I'm actually going back to the UK even though I just flew out of it yesterday! One thing I didn't consider is that in Northern Ireland, the currency is actually the British pound sterling. That's right... I'm back to $1.60 for 1£. Joy! (I know, I'm in Ireland, complaining... it doesn't make sense)

We were supposed to stop at a cathedral that has a petrified head of some person but due to today being a bank holiday, a lot of things were closed. Our driver, Seanie, took us to a cemetery instead (creepy?), which was actually quite beautiful. I'll add more details tomorrow, MOM. We continued to Belfast (and of course saw a rainbow along the way) and had a short time to explore the city before going to the Titanic museum. The museum was an optional thing, and Seanie was just going to drive us there. Due to it not being a part of the actual tour, we didn't have pre booked tickets. It turned out that the whole place was completely booked, and we had to meet back up with the group around the time the next available slot was. A small group of us decided to buy tickets for the last entrance of the day, 5:20, and planned to get a cab from our hostel to the museum. In the mean time, a few girls and I walked around Belfast some more, shopping. Yes, Emily... shopping. I didn't buy anything, but I did convince myself that I need a hat that comes down over my ears. I will find one...just wait.

We met back up with the group and Shawny drove us our hostel. He had a taxi waiting for us, so we made it to the museum just in time! The place was EMPTY. We were able to walk through at our own pace, read everything, listen to anything we wanted... I'm actually really glad that it was sold out earlier in the day! It was quite interesting to read through the history of the Titanic and more about what happened the night of the disaster... In all honesty, I've never read anything about it. I've only seen the movie, which really does a decent job portraying real events. As we got through the construction phase, and into the night of April 14, 1912, the music saddened... the lights dimmed... and the attitude of everyone just became somber. Reading through the distress calls sent out... seeing the last one before the Titanic went silent... seeing that most of the lifeboats were only half full... it's just a depressing event that can give you chills.

At the very end of the exhibit, there is a glass floor that you stand on and watch footage of the wreckage so many years later. You see shoes in the sand. Dishes strewn across the ocean floor. A massive ship sitting upright as if still pushing full steam ahead toward New York...

We left the museum and headed to a pub called Lavvertys, where most of the other members of the tour were hanging out. We ate dinner, listened to an Irish band, watched some of the more wild group members play drinking games with cards...and saw a fight between a bouncer and a patron.

Ok, so first day in Ireland... Rainbows: 1 Fights: 1

On the road again!

I woke up this morning with plenty of time to get to the church building, hoping someone would be there this time, and made it on time. Well... no one was there. Again. I gave up ringing the bell and just continued on to the bus station to catch the shuttle to the airport. I paid for the bus and the time stamp said 8:32... but it's 9:32? Nope. It's 8:32am. Europe turns the clocks back a week before Americans do. Lesson learned! No wonder people weren't at the church building... I know some early birds, but I don't know anyone that goes to church an hour early.

Due to this mishap, I had an extra hour of waiting for my flight to London. On the flight, a little girl behind me accidentally bit her finger. As the tears welled up and she started crying, the stewardess (in a thick, British accent) said, "Aww she bit her finger!" It took all I had to not burst out with, "Ouch Charlie! That hurt! That really, really hurt!"

London layover, 4.5 hours... fortunately, this gave me time to scope out where the best places to sleep are, since I'll be spending the night here next week!

By the time I got to Dublin, waited for my free airport transfer (since I booked a tour with the company, they include the airport transfer), and got to my hostel, I was pooped. There were too many people connected to WiFi, causing it to slow down and continuously crash. I finally was able to just send a short message to my mom after trying for what seemed like forever. At this point, I'm just ready for BED folks... good night!!

Another lazy day... love it.

The hostel has a cat that hangs out during the day, but somehow she got locked inside last night... to add to that, one of the other people in the room connected to mine left the door open. At 4am, this cat decided that it would be the perfect time to jump on top of me. She wanted out, and figured I was her best bet. I haven't been that startled in a LONG time. Cats are evil. That's just a fact.

I probably would have slept half the day anyways, but whenever I wake up in the middle of the night, my body decides that all previous sleep just doesn't count. I have to start over as if I had stayed up til 4. For this reason, I didnt get out of bed until close to noon. I honestly would have stayed longer, except I had to buy more lace from the market and I knew it closed at 1 or 2pm. I drug myself out from under my cozy covers, and went out into the city. Today, being a Saturday, the market was even bigger and had overflowed towards the city center. The lady selling her lace products was so excited to see me (and my money of course). I knew exactly what I was getting this time, so I didn't spend quite as much time sorting through it all. I left the market and realized that since I slept all morning, I hadn't eaten anything in close to 18 hours. My stomach reminded me of this as a wave of smells coming from the local cafes hit my nose. Unfortunately, they were all completely packed, with lines out of the doors, so I ended up just going to the center of the city and getting a mozzarella and tomato bagel type thing. I watched multiple people order it, so I figured it must be good ... and it was. Om. Nom.

After strolling around some more, people watching, catching some rays on a park bench, etc, I walked back to the hostel. The only person in the place was watching a crime show on TV, and I sat down with her and watched it... and another... and another... It captured my attention just like every other crime solving show (Law and Order, NCIS, etc). I realized after 3 or 4 episodes that it was already 7 pm. I still hadn't printed my boarding passes for my flights tomorrow, and ended up having to go to an internet cafe to do so. I had some Croatian krun left that I needed to spend so on the way back from there, I bought a cup full of fritoles... fried dough covered with cinnamon and sugar... healthy right? Who needs healthy... they were delicious!!

I ended the night with some Facebook, TV, a book, and some nice conversation with a guy that showed up at the hostel from Buffalo NY about traveling, remodeling houses, and anything else that came up. It was a relaxing day to prepare me for a day full of airports tomorrow!

Plitvice Lakes UNESCO

Do not google photos of Plitvice Lakes. Stop! I said don't!

Ugh... ok so now my photos are going to look terrible compared to what you just found on the internet. The lakes were beautiful, but really were not as "paradise like" as they are portrayed in photos and brochures. Don't get me wrong, I loved being there... it was quiet, warm but not too warm, peaceful... and gorgeous. I was just slightly disappointed because I didn't see anything like what I had been led to believe the lakes looked like. Ok, enough complaining.

Check this place out!! Gorgeous... beautiful... majestic... throughout the entire 9 mile hike, I never once lost the sound of water falling somewhere. Everywhere you turn, water is falling. Tiny trickles, gushing flow over some moss covered rocks, falling over a cliff face... This is where those companies record the sounds of water falling to help people sleep. I mean, this is the place.

I've begun keeping count of UNESCO sites that I've visited, as another goal for my life. There are 900+, and I've been to __? At least this is one more off the list!

Photos to be uploaded soon. (They're on Facebook if you're impatient)

Lazy, lost my will to explore

I can't find my will to explore. I mean, I had it... And then it got up and walked away or something! I've hit this weird point of my trip where I just have no desire to get out and explore... No desire to find something out there in the big city that other tourists overlook... I'm like a lost puppy that prefers to hide in a storm drain until it knows where to go next instead of wandering the streets.

It's frustrating, but then I realize that this is my trip. It's my vacation. If I feel like spending the whole day reading and watching movies, then who can say anything against it? (Other than that obnoxious voice in my head)

Well, thats exactly what I did for the most part! I read my book... napped... watched some random movie... eventually, I wandered out to the market to see if there was anything interesting. Well, the place is huge. I mean, I've seen some pretty big outdoor markets but this is just HUGE. You can find any vegetable or fruit you can think of, as well as cheese, meat, fish, other seafood, souvenirs, and handmade lace products. They have indoor areas, two tiers of outdoor sections, and then tables lining the edges. I bought a 1.1 lb bag of oranges for 5 krun which is 90 cents USD. If we had these kind of prices in the states, my mom would never take a break from canning. Everything is just so cheap!

After walking around in awe of the produce prices, I headed over to the elderly women selling the products they had made by hand. Mostly, everything was either beige or white, but in all kinds of shapes and sizes.  I picked through the piles at a couple booths, asking prices at each, before choosing who I wanted to buy from. The woman I chose not only had cheaper prices, but also knew more English, did very well talking with hand signals, and didn't mind answering all my questions. Some of the other women were getting exasperated that I was asking for prices and then putting things down without buying. Fortunately for this particular woman, she didn't get rude once, for which she was rewarded! I only spent $40 today, but I know I'll be back for more in the days to come.

I went back to the hostel and chilled out some more until it was time to find the church building where they have a Thursday night bible study. I emailed the people, but I hadn't gotten a reply. Everything online pointed to the same place, and same time, so I decided it was worth a shot. I found the right building, it had the name above the door and on a doorbell (it was in an office/apartment type building with 8 separate doorbells). I rang, and rang... and never got a reply. I stood outside until it was past time for the study to have begun, hoping that I would catch someone coming in, to no avail. It's so hard to find Christians to worship with in smaller areas of the world, and I got my hopes up. I'm disappointed, because I haven't been with other Christians since Milan, where even then they didn't follow the bible the way I believe it should be followed. It's just frustrating, but I'm hoping the Sunday morning services here are still a chance, and after that, maybe I can find a church group in Ireland!

Bye bye Bosnia

I slept in (again) because my bus wasn't leaving Banja Luka until 11. After dropping the key to my hosts apartment off at his office, I caught a bus out of the city to the bus station. I got there with plenty of time to spare and ended up waiting for the bus to arrive for close to an hour.

I did better on this trip, and I remembered to take my passport onto the bus with me. This time, when it was time to cross the border, I was prepared! My passport is slowly, well...not too slowly, filling up! My friend that I met in Slovenia told me that you have to have 3 completely empty pages in order to get a visa to China, so I need to put sticky notes in my passport on a few pages so that no border agents stamp them! I'm glad I learned this now and not right before a trip in a few years!

I arrived to Zagreb, Croatia in the early evening, but I was just too tired to do anything. I don't know if I'm tired from the days traveling... tired of traveling in general... or what? Either way, I didn't do much other than take a stroll around the city for a short time. When I got back to my room, I just ate my dinner of bread and tomato while watching a movie. My days in Ireland will be much more "action packed" as far as sight seeing is concerned. I think I've met my limit of city life...

Banja Luka

I slept in, and got a rather late start to the day, but it's ok because I'm in a city that you can see in a little amount of time! I walked from my hosts apartment to a bakery near his office where couch surfers leave the key each morning. Apparently he's explained it all to the lady who owns it, and it's become the "norm."

I continued on through the city to the Banja Luka "kastel." Its a very low walled fortress, with many paths and steps throughout it's interior.  As soon as you enter the castle, you are greeted with a view of the Vrbas river which is a main attraction in Banja Luka. The tourists seem to be non existent at this time of year, so the only people in the castle were locals just eating on benches, and then the short American girl taking photos.

After exploring the castle, I went closer to the city center and passed by a market. After further inspection, I realized it was quite similar to what we would call a flea market in the south, but with much more vegetables and fruit. It was nice to just walk through a few times to get a look at everything before choosing a specific stall to stop at. I purchased some souvenirs after haggling with the guy a bit on the price, and went up to the city center. Here, instead of booths, people had their wares laid out on blankets in the plaza. I stopped to look at something a really old lady was knitting, and decided to buy it. She didn't speak English, but the woman next to her did and helped with the exchange. The elderly woman said something to me, and when I turned to ask our translator what she said, she just grabbed me and planted a big kiss on my cheek. I got the impression that maybe she doesn't sell a lot of her items, so she was overly grateful that I bought something from her. Either way, it was great!

For a few hours, I just walked around the city with nothing in mind, and eventually became aware of the heat. This was the first day on my whole trip that it's been warm enough for me to sweat. I brought 3 pair of shorts, and I've only worn them four or five days. Finally, I am getting some SUN!

I ate fruit for dinner, from the market. Apples, oranges, and some hot tea... yum! Igor and I talked a lot about my tiny house, and he gave some suggestions about ways to collect water, and space saving ideas. He works in Environmental Protection so he's all about being friendly to the environment and thought it was really cool that I want to live tiny. Most people just think I'm crazy!

Traveling Day

I spent the majority of the day on a variety of buses and trains to make it from Ljubljana, Slovenia to Banja (bon-ya) Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croatia is not a part of the Schengen zone, so I finally got my passport stamped! In Zagreb, Croatia, I had to switch from train to bus, and there was a 2 hour gap to fill between my trains arrival and my buses departure. The bus driver told me I had to put my bag under the bus, which I wasn't used to, and then charged me 12 krun for it... I tried to ask why and I'm pretty sure he acted like he didn't understand me. 12 krun is only around $2.50, but I was still irritated. I got on the bus, and we began the journey to Banja Luka. I fell asleep at some point and woke up when the bus stopped at what I thought was some sort of toll booth. Everyone got off the bus, and I just blindly followed their lead. As soon as we were all off, the bus pulled away and parked away from the booth. At this point, I realized everyone had their passports out. This wasn't a toll booth... this is the border between Croatia and B&H!!! My passport was in my bag, under the bus, in Bosnia and Herzegovina... which left me on the Croatia side. I finally found a passenger who spoke English who, after getting checked, spoke to the bus driver and was able to get my passport to me. Problem solved, everything is ok, and I made it safely to Banja Luka.

I spent the evening talking with my host over a cup of tea, discussing life and travels... it was relaxing, and enjoyable. The day is over, and I'm excited to explore this little place tomorrow. It reminds me of the less populated areas of Alabama... the path (a well trodden dirt path large enough for one person) to my hosts house led us across some pasture, and through a patch of woods... There are people tending their gardens, splitting firewood, and children are playing soccer in the field. This is much better than the hustle and bustle of London and Paris!

Škocjan Caves

So for my last day in Slovenia, I headed out to the Škocjan caves with Teri and Irwin. We had a little trouble finding Irwin's car in the parking garage, but after 15 minutes of wandering, we figured it out. On the drive to the caves, we just talked about our respective cities and how America is different than the Netherlands. It was fun, and it's always nice to hear more about how the rest of the world does certain things.

The caves took a few hours to go through, and the guide told us that upon entering the caves, no photography was allowed. Well, all I can say is that rules were made to be broken. Half way through, she made a comment to the group of 50 people, "Don't think I haven't noticed some of you taking photos." Teri and I had to stifle laughter at this... many times, she or Irwin would stand next to me so that they were blocking the guide's view of my camera... hey, teamwork is always a good thing, right? I was able to get some decent photos, so it was worth feeling like a student at Camden County High School texting during class.

Irwin gave us a ride to the train station near the caves, as he was continuing on to Croatia instead of going back to Ljubljana. The station felt like it was in some sort of old western movie... no one was inside, papers were haphazardly pinned to boards, no trains were in sight, and only a few people were waiting on the platform. To add a ghetto flair to this western scene, a graffiti covered train pulled up a few minutes later.

Finally, the train to Ljubljana arrived and we got on. We had been told we could use credit cards to buy the tickets so neither of us got more cash from an ATM. On the platform, we were told we pay for tickets on the train. Ok, no problem... well, when the man came along to collect tickets, he informed us that they don't take credit cards. Teri had enough to pay for her ticket, but not enough to help me with mine... after awhile, the guy came back and had Teri pay for a ticket, and then told me that mine was free. I'm not sure what would have happened otherwise... so let's all be thankful that he was a nice guy!

The day was long, fun, and tiring(there were like 500 steps in the cave)... but great. Tomorrow, I head on to Banja Luka in the country Bosnia and Herzegovina. This trip is slowly (very slowly) wrapping up. As fun as it has been, I'm just ready to get home, see my family, and go back to work (I'm seriously out of money !!).

"You only hate the road when you're missin' home." - Passenger