May 2, 2010
Friday I was tasked with laundry which wasn’t super exciting and didn’t result in many pictures. I did learn there is no such thing as a coin-operated laundromat in Ireland, that there are launderettes which are like dry cleaning services but with laundry. It costs more, and probably takes more time, but is pretty convenient if you hate doing laundry. I spent the day wandering through the super confusing streets of the city centre. It was fun, and I got myself a kick-ass Dalek lighter which will make my nerdier friends very envious.
Yesterday morning we headed off on our weekend adventure. I wanted to make sure Alan saw some cool things while he was here, and I’d heard from a few people about things to do that were further away than could be done in a day trip. We headed west towards Killarney to go through some pretty mountains, and then headed up to the Shannon Ferry, which was pretty cool. We ate lunch in a beautiful little seaside town named Kilkey, and then we went to the Cliffs of Moher, which everyone should go see; they’re incredible. We didn’t really get fantastic photos, but hopefully they’re good enough to get an idea.
Last night we stayed in Gort, and today we will be going to Galway and seeing other cool things in the area before heading back to Cork tonight. Tomorrow is the Bank Holiday, and we have planned to probably go to Killarney National Park for the day. No time right now to narrate the photos; make up your own story.
Shannon Patterson, filed under Life |
April 28, 2010
Today I realized that every time I think the roads here can’t get more treacherous, I am wrong. I’m not sure if I’ve seen a guard rail since I got here, and today I found some places that could certainly benefit from guardrails in addition to about five more feet of width, so that both cars could you know, fit.
Today’s plan was sketchy at best and I ended up about 45 km west of where I originally thought I would go. After putting about for much of the morning, and not actually stopping at anything, I finally stopped at a pottery studio just to stretch my legs and have a break. The lady who ran the place suggested I go on to Killarney. It was an incredible drive, and my first into the mountainous region of Ireland. I ended up in Killarney National Park for most of the afternoon. I saw Ross castle, and took an overpriced tour of the inside which is situated on the shores of Loch Leane. I then continued on to Muckross House which I didn’t tour due to my disappointment in the previous tour. I moved on to the Muckross Abbey, which was deserted and beautiful. There was a huge tree growing in the middle of it, and you could see the Loch from where it sat.
The guy at the tourist information place suggested I should go to Ladies View, which he said was a short trip and would give a great view of the water and the mountains in general. What he didn’t tell me is that due to the twists and turns and overall quality of the road, I would be white knuckled and in need of a stiff drink by the time I got up there. It also took twice as long as he said it would. The view wasn’t worth it because it was fogged over and rainy.
By then it was 4:00. I was supposed to be back to Ballincollig by 5:00 to pick up Alan, and I decided to continue on the road as suggested by the tourist info place. The road did get better, but not much until I got through the next town. I didn’t arrive back to Alan’s office until about 5:45, and I was greeted by a slightly concerned husband, who was worried I’d fallen down some cliffs or something similar. We went out for dinner in the town and then came back here.
Tomorrow I’m going south. I don’t really know what’s down there but I guess I will find out. We’re still working on our weekend plans. We’ve almost completely scrapped the idea of going to Stonehenge. Most of the people I’ve talked to who have seen it were disappointed that they couldn’t get onto the site, and it is a very long drive. We’re looking at the possibility of going into the central part of the country on an overnight excursion.
Shannon Patterson, filed under Life |
April 27, 2010
Monday morning we woke up early, got dressed and ready and headed off where Google told us to go when you type in VMware Cork: “Parnell Ho Barrack Sq Main St, Ballincollig, Cork, Co. Cork, Ireland (Vmware International Ltd)”
what google told us - a 900 m drive. Took 10 minutes to walk
We got to the intersection of wherever it was Google decided to send us, and nothing in sight had a VMware or EMC logo on it. We asked some old passer-by for assistance, and he had never heard of VMware, and told us there was a Parnell Square nearby, close to the bus terminal. About a five minute walk. So off we go. We get to the bus terminal, and look around all confused-like. Again – no VMware logo, no EMC logo, nothing to indicate they know anything about VMware around here. We asked some guys watering the plants on one of the buildings. He took our Google Map, and reading further into the address proclaimed that the important part of this note was that this address was in Ballincollig, which is a satellite of Cork, about a twenty-five minute journey west. Or you could take a bus.
We went back to the hotel to regroup and get the car. One of the nice people at the desk helped us by printing off a new Google Map, with directions to Ballingcollig, and told us how to get out of the downtown core. She said once we get to the town, to stop at a gas station and ask where we needed to go from there, wished us luck, and sent us on our way.
Two wrong turns later, at a gas station not in Ballingcollig, we got the instruction to keep going past the pub in the middle of the road. Seriously. Indeed, there really was a pub in the middle of the road. Because roads here make no sense.
What Google meant - a 22 minutes drive
When we eventually made it, we got into a gas station, some further directions, and Alan said have a good day, left me with his phone and car keys, and hustled into the building, a little bit late.
It was at this point that I realized I wasn’t really dressed for the day, didn’t really know how to drive in Ireland, and didn’t know if there was anything to do at all in the town. Luckily I had my backpack and some money, and off I went to see what there was to see in Ballingcollig. I walked for about three hours, which was a bit too much for me, then found a shop to get some food, then walked a bit more, trying to figure out how to get to the hills north of the town. I gave up walking around noon, hungry, sweaty and tired. I found a lovely little bookstore and picked up three books for 20 euro: Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, Zoe Heller’s Notes On A Scandal, and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. I found a nice park and started reading.
And that’s how I ended up reading The Graveyard Book and listening to music in a small Irish town on a Monday afternoon in April. I was originally disappointed that we weren’t actually in Cork, because I thought there would be more to do in the city proper, but starting off a trip with a good long walk and a great book was probably a lot better.
After Alan got off, we came back to the hotel, had dinner, and went to bed after blogging about the weekend. I finished the Graveyard Book before falling asleep and have a long list of people I will recommend read it. All in all a pretty good start. I was frustrated that I didn’t do more, but did some research to find out what there was to do in the town for today.
Today’s plan was this:
- Go for an hour or two’s walk
- Try to get into the castle
- Find out what else there was to do in town
- Practice using Alan’s new camera
- Give left-handed driving a try
- If all else fails, start reading book number two
All in all, I did pretty well. I figured out last night where the castle was, and knew it was on private property and may not be accessible. I walked down to near where it was, and was able to see the tower above some of the nearby houses. However, the road ran out of sidewalk, and I’m still freaked out about the narrowness of the roads, and decided to turn around when I ran out of sidewalk and would have to go down the scary hill with a crazy curve and no visiblity. I came across a pretty Catholic church, and tried my hand at picture taking around the grounds. After that, I found a library (cause that’s how I roll) and asked them if they knew how to get into the castle. They didn’t know, but said that probably down the scary hill would be the best place to start. I opted not to do so.
After that, it was car trip number one. I started out slow, trying out my skills on the back streets of town, where there were fewer things to hit, and fewer other cars to annoy with my snail’s pace and constantly inching to the right. After a few circles of the back streets, I tried my hand at roundabouts, which are totally crazy and I’m not sure I understand how to use. I ended up at the town park near the pretty bridge, and stopped. Took some pictures there, and then went back to the VMware office to park and get some food. After eating lunch, I headed out again, going through town five or six times, eventually going over the pretty bridge and down a terrifying country road, with a car on my tail, obviously unimpressed that I was only doing the speed limit. After about an hour’s worth of driving, I went back to the VMware office again, and read book #2 for a couple of hours. Alan was an hour later getting out of the office than he said he’d be, and then we came back to the hotel and had dinner.
I’m working on plans for tomorrow’s adventure and will soon fall asleep. Alan’s already snoring, and it’s getting a bit late. Here’s my pictures from today:
this is not a castle
catholic church
more church
church fence
WWI memorial by Alan's office
gears on the memorial
pretty bridge
pretty bridge 2
ooh pretty gears
birch walk
The pictures of the bridge and the birch walk aren’t great and don’t really do it justice, but hopefully it gives you an idea of the scenery.
Shannon Patterson, filed under Life |
April 26, 2010
So we’re here. We left on Friday night at 7:00, and with time zone changes and layovers and all of that, we arrived at the Cork airport at about noon local time. We didn’t get harassed by security and everyone on the planes were nice to us. The first thing we did was go to the car rental place, where we had to take a quiz. The first question was what side of the road do you drive on here?
Alan and I are both pretty good drivers. We were quite confident that we would be able to handle the left side of the road, and the driving from the passenger’s seat stuff. Until we hit the first roundabout, and the second one, and then on the third one went the wrong way and were introduced to the terrifying Irish country roads. It was exciting. Or terrifying. I’m not really sure which. Anyways, we got super lost, and then asked a nice guy in a post van how to get to our hotel, and he decided it would just be easier to lead us there. We made it, and spent Saturday afternoon getting lost in Cork but on foot. It was a good choice.
the west view from our hotel room
the east view from our hotel room
Sunday morning we got up and went to the town of Blarney, slowly mastering that which is the Irish road system. It was raining, because that’s what it does here. Blarney Castle is cool and apparently castles don’t have safety requirements. When we got to the castle, it had been pouring rain for about 15 minutes. To get to the top, you have to go up these crazy spiral stairways with 500 years worth of visitors having made these stones incredibly smooth. And slippery. And terrifying. I wasn’t the only person freaked out by them, there were others. By the time we got to the top I was completely freaked out, but it was gorgeous up there. Here’s a whole bunch of pictures:
Alan and his Blarney Castle umbrella
climbing the least terrifying stairs in the castle
Alan looking cute
The castle and guard tower
a quaint Irish village. Possibly Blarney
In the forest outside the castle, Alan posed for me and tried to look intimidating. Or serious. Or something like that.
this was inside the castle. I suck at numbering things apparently
and now we're back in the woods and Alan's looking cute again
So then we went to Limerick for lunch. There was nothing happening in Limerick, possibly because it was Sunday, and possibly because nothing happens in Limerick. We don’t know which. The real reason for going to Limerick is because it is built around the River Shannon, and I wanted to see my river. We didn’t know where it was in the city, so we picked a highway that went along the coast and were going to veer off eventually.
And that’s when we made it to Askeaton. Askeaton is one of those quaint little villages that they seem to have plenty of here in Ireland. There is an island in the middle of town, and there’s a half-standing castle on it. We were standing around taking pictures and some old lady came by and gave us the town brochure because the tourist information place isn’t open on Sundays. On the map, the island is labeled Desmond Castle & Hell Fire Club, which certainly sparked my imagination. Turns out the Hell Fire Club was a drinking club. Also in town there is an old Fransiscan Abbey. With a horse who I had to go pet. I named him Clyde.
We couldn't get into the castle
Desmond Castle from another angle
more Desmond Castle
this one's a bit dark but the clouds are really nice
me and clyde. and the Fransiscan Friary
Inside the Abbey
Outside the abbey
Alan outside the Abbey
So the brochure the nice old lady gave us told us of the Beagh Castle, which was supposed to go back to Viking times, and be on the banks of the River Shannon, and we were off on our river hunt. When we got to the village of Balleysteen, this is what we found:
cows. in the middle of the village.
We followed a road that did not lead us to the castle, and got increasingly narrow and terrifying. When we finally found the river, after passing through a different village and never finding the Viking Castle, this is what the river looked like:
you call that a road?????
But! Here’s the river! We found it!
the river shannon
the shannon airport across the river
The old farmers who were hanging out on the pier verified that we were at the right river, and then talked to us about the weather (that’s how I knew they were farmers), and then we were off, back down the terrifying roads and eventually back to Cork.
Will tell more later, like how Google Maps sucks here, and how we’re always a little bit lost, and why I ended up reading a Neil Gaiman book in a park all day today, and about that time I got to watch Dr. Who on the BBC at its original airtime.
Shannon Patterson, filed under Life |
April 19, 2010
I know you don’t know me personally, and I know you probably don’t come to strangely-normal.com very often, but I want to talk to you.
Last week, when I first learned of your existence, I thought that it was cute. Your erupting and sending the UK and Europe into a travel panic was almost endearing I thought. You were making your mark on the work, and I get it. It’s hard to stand out in a world this crazy, so sometimes you have to shout from the mountaintops. Who doesn’t like a David and Goliath type of tale: little Iceland shutting down the airspace for most of northern Europe? It’s so cool. There’s little balls of volcanic glass in the air. How cool is that? I didn’t know you could aerosolize glass. I’m glad I learned that.
Except here’s the problem. I’m going to Ireland. On Friday. On my belated honeymoon. Cheap. It’s going to be great. I’m really excited. And I would prefer that we actually get to go.
So here’s the deal. If you could just stop with the erupting for a bit, that would be great. Get the air space above Heathrow Airport open for Friday and Saturday, and allow Alan and I to land. I’m not really concerned about the Cork airport; we can get to Ireland from London by car or bus or train or rented mule for all I care. Then, if you could erupt again, and get us stranded in Ireland for a few weeks too long, that would also be great.
If you’re able to do this for me, I’m sure we can become friends. I will even learn how to pronounce your name correctly. If not, I may have to put you on my enemies list.
Sincerely,
Shannon Patterson
P.S. I really like your name.
Shannon Patterson, filed under Life, Pop Culture |
