Ireland 2008
Before I start, I need to get clear on a thing or two…
Who am I…???...Beyond the existential obviousness, here’s what I’ll claim…
Name: Paul Jensen…
Rank: A lot like you, or not…
Serial #: 03-09-56
Hometown: Washington State (I know that’s not a town)…
What I’m up to: Traveling for weeks at a time to places with surf and other stuff…
What else: I teach how to build Hollow Wood Surfboards…
What can you expect…???...: Not just a surf blog…More of a connect the dots, at times random, at times linear, observations of things within focus… Words and pictures… Mostly true…Name of surf spots are protected….
Repeat: Not a surf blog…
01 - From There to Here…
OK let’s roll…Rewind about one day…The exact time is hard to calculate if one is sleep deprived, hungry and is in a ‘several time zones different’ than home…Exactness doesn’t really matter…Think state of mind…
The last I wrote, I was in SeaTac waitin’ fo da plane…Well the plane came and we went bye bye with me as part of the contents…I lucked out getting a window seat on an exit aisle…Mo bettah legroom, brah…The view of the top of the wing was to die for, if you’re into rivet symmetry…I was into zoning out…A book and some complementary tunes…First the tunes…I ALWAYS listen to the Rolling Stones’ “Exile On Main Street” whenever I cross the Atlantic…Call it tradition…I call it classic…So I set the i-pod to “The Rolling Stones” and hit ‘Shuffle’…Bose over the ears and I was in “my place”…What would the discriminating reader prefer to go with Keith & Mick…???..If Oprah had any guts she’d say “Hell’s Angels: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger”…To me it only makes sense...No psycho-babble, self-help, guru speaks you listen…No...Or more succinctly “No f---ing way you m---------ers…!!!...Ooops…That slipped, sorry…This Atlantic crossing was about a reality check, East Bay Style…My turf as a teen…Set in that same era…The classic Stones/Barger duo was in sync and rocking…And I was there with ‘em…I suggest you try it sometime…Or not…
As with most planes these days, they are packed...Seated to my left was Adam…Early twenties it seemed…Adam was on his way to The Big Apple for an old friend’s “Bachelor Party”…Whhooo boy…!!!...A long holiday weekend of debauchery are in several somebody’s crystal balls…Adam explained for months to his girlfriend how a trip to NYC for the two of them was so expensive, for the two of them…But that opinion changed significantly, say by 50%, when long lost buddy throws out the “be there or be square”…Up the limit on the Visa Card and hold the plane…Yeah Tiger…!!!...
The blah, blah, blah finally got around to “What’chu do”…Me, I work on houses and spread the Good News of wood surfboards…A traveling preacher on a mission, if you will…Doing God’s work…Or as Sonny used to say “Just convince ‘em…!!!...” Adam is one part of a musical duo, “The New Law”…His genre description covered electronic, hip-hop , beat, sax, rhythm, groove, fusion, rock, soul, salsa, jam, peanut butter and toast…Sound studio in his pad…Scavenged and pillaged Dell laptops…Sole function music mixing machines…Get the groove on white boy…!!!...…When asked where might I hear his music, I was told, as Adam leaned over and said very quietly “I can’t say the titles of those videos in here right now”…Wink, wink...I asked “Could you say them to say, your mother” …”Ahhemmm (throat clearing sound), No”…”Okaaaay…Hey, look at those rivets…”…Headphones back on…”We all need, someone …”
New York tarmac was soon under the wheels as was the opening leg of “there to here”…
A short connection time had me going OJ through the airport…Touched down at my boarding gate as the ’last call’ was sent out…Perfect timing…Inside the space ship, I found my window seat…Soon it was wheels up and to my delight, no one in seats B & C…Time to make like this is my couch at home…Blanket over, arm rests up and I’m laying down, bent knees, searching for the remote…Almost…No remote…But, it felt like home…And, I seldom listen to the Stones with headphones on at home…And, Pam rarely dresses like a flight attendant to serve me coffee… Hmmmm…???...The flight across the smaller big pond went fast and comfy…I like that…
On the ground in Shannon, Ireland, I was one of the first through customs…”Surfing holiday, sir”…Next to the carousel…A half hour later it was evident, all bags (and one surfboard) from SeaTac never got loaded in JFK…Whoopee…The promise of a next day delivery was less that satisfying…
To the rental car window…”Excuse me madam, could you mumble louder or just write down that you obviously can’t say ALOUD”…Soon, with keys in hand I’m on the outside looking for a navy blue Hyundai…Hyundai, that all so Irish name that translates roughly to ‘cheap’…Cheap works…
Next it was time to go face to face with fear…If you aren’t familiar with the driving customs of The Emerald Isle, it’s basically this: They drive on the wrong side…Of the road…Of the car…It’s messed up…The passenger has it worse…The angle of vision for any “wrong side” passenger, has the passenger expecting impending death with each and every oncoming vehicle…Like having your life flash before your eyes every two second…A strobe light of memories…If packaged as a pill, would be the next big addiction…But the only way to get it now is to sit on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road in any country going that wrong way…Messed up…
Once rolling, the absurdities just don’t stop…Turn signals don’t work…They turn on the wipers…The wipers turn on the turn signals…Everything is reversed…The mirrors are placed to confuse…There must be a hidden camera somewhere in here…And, the outside passenger mirror is missing it’s outer plastic teardrop…Most likely the most common vehicle damage on the Emerald Isle…Somehow, I survived the drive to my host’s home…And I did it with only a map…My GPS is still in New York, I hope, not….
When I get to where I’ll stay, everything chills out…The wind is in the trees, the cat is in the sun, the dogs are shaking out the dust and coming over to be petted…And the sweet smell of the flower perfumed Irish air is intoxicating my senses…All is right with the world…It’s good to be back…
My host, Paul (same name = easy to remember), just handed me a tres boutique beverage of “Elderflower”…The tiny white leaves Elderflower are soaked overnight in a sugar/water mix, then chilled and served… A tasteful bouquet of springtime Irish flavor… MmmmmMmmmmmMmmmm…Ireland…!!!... (Like I said at the top, this is not just a surf blog…As Sonny Barger once said”Hey punk, you don’t like it, don’t read it…” Sonny also drank “Elderflower” before rallying his troops in the Frisco / Oakland war… Page 154…)
Paul – Tomorrow I’ll get the camera out and go find the ocean…
02 – The Burren
After a dead tired night’s sleep, the sound of Coo Coo birds was this morning’s wake up call…One I ignored…At least for a few more hours…
A 9:00AM call to the airport about when I might see my bags and board was made, with assurances of a lunch time delivery…Lunch here must be at 2:30PM…
With my stuff where it needed to be, I headed over to the “new “place that Paul is fixing up and moving into…
A house built in 1815…You read that right…It’s going to need a bit of work and Paul is the guy to make that happen…
I needed to see the surf so we loaded the Land Rover and headed to the beach…
No swell…What doesn’t show (besides the swell) is the wind…Steady side / offshore at 35mph…If there was only a swell…
Plan B was to hike the Burren…
A unique geologic area...Limestone eroded by glaciers when things warmed up way back when…
About ten minutes into the hike we are up a bit…You can see in the foreground what the Burren is…Rock, rock and more rock…
Paul found some cracks to finger his way up…
Somehow his dog always found an easier and faster way up…
Here again…Look close, Pooch is waiting for Paul…
The Burren has a lot of stone… That makes it easy to build stone walls…The loose stones from the ground are dry laid and run for miles…Hundreds, probably thousands of miles…
Once the loose stones are moved off this is what is underneath…Almost polished limestone…Unbelievably smooth…
We hiked in the aggressive wind for a couple of hours then headed to town to eat…
Next to where we parked the car…
On the road back, we saw the baby burros…Soooo cute…
And these guys, fishing for mackerel and getting soaked with the splash up…The chop is not swell…It’s all local wind with maybe a five mile fetch…Steady hard East winds for days…Unusual…
9:30 at the pub…Beef and Guinness Stew…Potatoes on the side…As Irish as it gets…Coffee and Apple pie for dessert…You know it was good…
Then it was back to Paul’s place to crash…
Tomorrow – Start to get things together for the workshop…
Paul – Feeling tired…
03 – Beep Burgers and Bee Stew…
Morning today was about seeing what we had and what we didn’t for the workshop next weekend…I went to see Ben who organized last year’s event…Ben is great, in a lot of ways…Too many to go into here, maybe later…Short story is we are looking good for the class…
After seeing Ben I went to the internet café to get caught up…There I posted 01 & 02 in this series…Also found out that a workshop in France is wanted…!!!...Stoked is too mild of a word to describe how I feel about that...
With the busyness taken care of, I decided to head to Doolin for some scenery and maybe some waves…
Cross waves off the list…Still no swell…Still very windy, even though these pics don’t show it…
A look at the reef…Limestone with barnacles…Extra texture…
Above waterline there are all these flowers blooming…Right out of the rocks…
Amazing…
I needed food so I headed for some…This was on the way…
I was told this was likely a smelter…They used to “burn” the kelp and get iodine…Cool looking now…
A roadside cemetery…
Sad…
Found a pub…The menu in black and white…”Hmmm, it’s either gonna be the Homemade Beep Burger or the Irish Bee Stew…Never had either…”
I definitely need one of those…
The Beep Burger it was…I get hungry just looking at this again…
My friend in Olympia, Tom, suggested I take more people pictures…How are these Tom…???...
This guy was the only guy there when I walked in and was still there when I left…
Captions accepted for this one too…
After the fueling, I went to Ballyvaughan for the sunset…I shot these things last year…Not a lot different, but enough…
I shot this last year too…Still looks great…
No crunched ends = a sharp knife…
Roof overhang between the dormer…
This my all time favorite road sign…
Of course there needs to be the cliché shot to end the day…
Tomorrow I make sawdust...
Paul – Still praying for surf for Thursday…
04 – Surf Check…
What you missed that’s not worth detailing…Table saw cutting and planning of wood that will be used during the workshop…And looking in all the possible corners for tools that might be helpful…All dusty work…
Back to the photo journey…These wildflowers were coming into bloom on the Burren…
This cranberry color really stands out from the green and grey of the area…
After getting dusty, I wanted to see if the surf was any better in the a bit further south…There’s your answer…
No waves to ride, but plenty to check out…New paint on a warm day…
Late afternoon…Time to eat…Find a pub that looks authentic enough…
Today’s specials…Damn, I was wanting some Bee Stew…
Settling for something from the everyday menu…Cheeseburger, Chili (SPICY…!!!...), Salad, Chips and the world’s best brown bread and butter…And of course I gotta have some black coffee…
Your basic thick burgers…
On every table a time proven candleholder…
After eating, time to walk a bit and take some pictures…Blue sky, plaster wall, street light, bird marks…
I like the horseshoe…San-o wiring too…
Après meal surf check…No need to rush to suit up and get a few…
Hey, they’re talking to ME…!!!...YOU too…!!!... The clock is clicking…And you’re sitting there in front of your computer…BINGO…!!!...Click, click, click, click, click…Never too late…
Or maybe it is…Maybe I should just get with this…This golf club founded in the 1860’s… The Irish Tourism Board needs this shot… Nice evening light, eh…???...
This is on the golf course…Rumor is it was solid until the American golfers started to come over, and their hitting was so bad, that over the years they hit this building so many times it just fell apart…Death by a million small cuts…That’s the rumor…
This river’s edge is just a chipping wedge away from a fairway…
I drive on a bit; know where to park, scramble over a stone wall or two and am out to where most tourists don’t go…
Just me and these elements…
It’s even more spectacular in person…
What hasn’t been said about how incredible Ireland is…???...
9:30 PM…Solitude…
Radical is an understatement…
Obligatory sunset picture #1 of 87…
#87…
I drove on and found a surf spot…After talking with a guy who just surfed, and who also will be in the How To workshop, I decided to stay near and overnight in the car, with hopes that what they say about improving surf will be true…Have faith…
Paul – About to sleep in a compact car…6’3” x 52 years old going on 22…
05…”What I’m looking for…”
After a decent night’s sleep in the passenger seat of the Hyundai (far right), I awoke to a car park with a few surfers and a bunch of watchers…
The predictor’s were right…From flat to this, overnight…
These guys were right out front on the edge of the reef…The continental shelf here is steep…The power from the waves isn’t slowed down much…
I can now stop singing that U2 song, “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for…”
Not a lot of distance from the edge…Better make it…
Local knowledge helps…
Sunrise just happened…It’s pretty cool to look around from the line-up and see that…
The sky was changing fast…
Out front, the surf was cranking…This spot is a further paddle out…Off the edge of a small island…
There’s a guy bottom turning there…
Off to Aileen’s for some tow-in action…
Meanwhile, this far away bomb left was going off…WAY bigger than it looks, with as relentless a whitewater wall that you ever want to be in front of…A bad angle for the pictures but if you know, you know…
Ready for it’s maiden voyage…
Worth all that it took to get here…
Tt was dead flat yesterday…Might be tomorrow…
But today, I ride…
Another surf trip gone great…
Hope your horizons look like this…
Paul – Life is good…
06 – The “How To” Workshop…
I’m not going to get wordy about the prep for a workshop in West Ireland, but simply say it’s plenty…Use your imagination…Not exactly a woodworker friendly area of the world…Stone yes, wood no…
North, South, East, and West were represented…Luckily no fights broke out…
Across the board abilities on a lot of different levels…Surfers and yet to be’s…Tool experience and none…One commonality, wanting to do different…
A frame gets some balsa strips glued in place…
Glassing what will be the top of the board…They do it all…I explain how I’d do it and stay out of their way unless something really bad might happen…
Getting ready to trim the swallow tail…
Cutting the excess deck “skin” so the clamps will reach…
The deck clamped and weighed…So Irish using the stone…It’s part of who they are…I was afraid someone was going to build a wall right then and there…That could be bad for the board…
We built two boards…The lads are checking the evenness of their glue-up…
Brian Kennedy, star pupil from last year, was back to present the right way to fiberglass…See the boards behind him, those all got glassed over the three day workshop…All Brian’s shapes…
Time to remove the overhanging deck and bottom wood from the frame…
Everyone got ‘hands on’ on all phases of the process…
Some hand work to fine tune the details…
This was crazy…Their hands were MOVING…I was cringing waiting for a crash, didn’t happen…
The rails are now on and time to even out the deck and rails…Rough shaping was next, then the fine tuning will happen just before it gets glassed…
After three days, two boards are almost ready to glass…Once they are done, one will be auctioned off to benefit autistic children in Ireland…The other will be on public display at a location to be determined…
This group was a lot of fun…We joked around a lot…They all have each others contact info and will work together to acquire materials in bulk to save some Euros…
I’m realizing my purpose at these workshops is at least twofold…Most obvious, I share how I build mine…As important, I see my coming as being somewhat of a magnet for others wanting to build “greener” boards, great looking boards, boards that ride with a better feel…Once they are together they become a community of alternative ideas and realizers of dreams others can’t even imagine…They are supportive of each other and will be sharing workspaces, tool, laughs and lending hands and ideas during the harder times…Can’t get that from any surf shop…
07 – School’s Out…
Now that we are done with this year’s workshop, time for something different…Drive a bit, see what’s there, record some images and see if there is surf over the hills…First a few images from the days of the workshop…
West Ireland beach…
Someone was inspired…Not me…
Not a place to walk in the dark…
Stone fence line…Bigger and much, much longer than it looks from here…
Sunset at a 2,500 BC Portal Tomb…
Another day, another pub…My food’s on the table to the left…Irish Beef Stew, Brown bread, Coffee…
This region is the heart of ‘Trad’ music…Almost every pub has something going on live every night…
Tonight was four Irish flutes, a squeezebox and a fiddle…Just ‘cause it’s acoustic does not mean it doesn’t get lively….They were rocking…!!!...
Ok, time to roll…
Just like on the postcards…
And photo books…
Classic is a word I overuse, but how else can you describe this…???...
1794 is all you need to know…
Early June and there is color everywhere…
Two weeks growth…
Everybody needs a hobby…
Get your roofer to put one of these on next time…
Peet…As in “put another peat on the fire”…
A culvert bridge…There is a road there, but it just blends in with the background…
Travel tip #574: Use the “type in destination” on your GPS…Repeat one consonant when you type in your city…Hit enter…Drive for twenty minutes…Stop…Re-type in the correct city name…You will find the most amazing out of the way places you would miss if you went direct…
Like this place…
On a road “out there”…And there are tons of “out there” places…
Paul – Still looking over the hills for more surf…
08 – Over The Hills…
Following a hunch, I went to the end of a road…Guess what I found…???...
Uh huh…It happened again…
No one around, looking like this…I paddled out and had it to myself late, mid-day for a couple of hours…Just me…
Ireland is cool the way the peninsulas face… Blown out hard on one side, perfect for the other…
After a couple hours alone, guys started showing up and within an hour there were ten guys out…Time for me to get dry and enjoy the show…
You know the story about getting any kind of surf on a surf trip…Once again, expectations were exceeded…
As fast is it looks…Mostly makeable…
The inside racetrack…
Same guy, different wave, different set…It’s a machine…
Mid-evening , Northern Ireland…
I was talking with the lads and they say it’s been flat since, well remember that big day I surfed “Plan B’ in Portugal…???...Then…
Enter stage left, exit stage right…Elapsed time eight seconds…
Something about the quality of the light here…
Worth all that it took to get here…
By now it’s after 9:00 PM…
Turn into the horseshoe…
….and aim far…
Sets like this every ten minutes… Was flat yesterday…Might be tomorrow…
No need to go in, it stays plenty light ‘till 10:45 PM…11:00 if you push it…
Time for me to find a place to spend the night…Driving out, looking back…
Don’t tell anyone where this is, ok…???...
On the other side of the bay was this…
Needing to find a place to park and sleep, a couple KM down the main road, follow a hunch, find this place…
Close to 11:00 PM…
And this place is going off…No one around except the horses…
Same wave…
Still the same wave…I can’t believe this area…!!!...
Finally I find a flat place to park...Off to the left is this…You can’t make this stuff up…
Can you say “Wave Rich”…???...Not with that drool in your mouth you can’t…
Next morning…5:00 AM…Sun rising over the ocean…I’m on the West coast of Ireland…Get out a map and figure that one out…
Drive five minutes to this…
No one around…Time for a cold one…Wetsuit that is…
Nice peak…Check out the shorebreak…
A perfect same-place-every-time reef…Rained hard the whole morning…
After a few hours the wind switched to hard side / onshore…End of game…Time to get dry and keep searching…
As much of a hint as I’ll give…If you know, you know… If not, it’s out there, start looking…
Paul – Getting ready for some road time…
09 – Passing Thru…
After yesterday’s surf, I hit the road …
The plan is to be at the Shannon airport Saturday to pick up Pam…
The Rhododendrons are in full freak…
Big bushes, everywhere, all purple / pink…
This is a recent burn…Planned…Still smelled strongly smoky…Why…???...
Village color…
And what if I do…???...
A slice of the real world……
Explain the urinal…Sure...What you don’t see is the trampoline…
Obsessive compulsive…My urge was to random scatter…
…Tin roof rusted…Love Shack, Baby…!!!...
Upon the recommendation of a woman at a cemetery (true), this is the place…
Part of my “A thru Z West Coast of Ireland Pub Tour”,
I’m staying committed to my goal of determining the best burger out there…
Here we have a serious contender…
After that belly bomb, I needed to wind down…Found a place to park and sleep…
11:00 PM and still glowing…However it’s lights out at the Hotel Hyundai…
5:00 AM…Time to call room service…Where is that phone……???...
Groovy moody morning picture # 342…
Laminar flow…I’m always all about the science…
Why paint…???...
Little house on the bog…
In case you forgot, it’s Ireland…
No hidden message, just decent composition…
Alas, a beach…Way more windy than it looks…
So much of this stuff all over…
Big sky country…
See the pot o’gold…???...Me neither…Lying leprechauns…
This place is jaw dropping in person…
The changing light, rainbows moving in and out, the scale of the place…
Like I say, the bigness of these hills is amazing…Pictures don’t come close…
Hundreds of miles just like this…
A few of these every so often…More of the Rhodies too…
Get me a hot glue gun and some plywood…Done by lunch…
Like a scene out of a chick flick movie…
I shot this picture last year…I like this year’s better…
This year…
Last year…
Eerie..
Back to the beach…
Inside a bay…Pretty nice, eh…???...
Bushy Eyebrows…
Uh, yeah…
Meditate on that, Grasshopper…
Paul – Looking beyond the obvious…
10 – Surreality…
Another Irish Tourism Board sunset…
Cliché…
West Ireland…Funny, when I think of Vegas, it doesn’t have anything to do with baseball, youth football, or the NBA…The wailing babe, obviously Celine Dion singing Cher…That’s Vegas, Baby…!!!...But this is Ireland…Out in the middle of a big green field with cows one side and sheep on either side…Might have something to do with the emigration policy here…???...Live your dreams…
Old vivid paint peeling…
Pre-sunset on the River Shannon…
Sunrise, River Shannon…
Rationalization: You can’t get these shots if you are sleeping in a B&B…
…The Hotel Hyundai has been consistent with the best views I could hope for…Decent nightly rate too…
If this doesn’t get you calm, you need medication…
The one HUGE drawback about this time of year is the Midges (No-see-ums)…My arms, legs, and neck look like a junkie…I’m calling it worth it…Barely…
Yeah…Like that…
As you can see Earl wasn’t ‘done raving’ about his benevolence…
Looks like it squeaks…
This village was such a step back in time…The style of roof is known to the cognoscenti as the “Moe”…
The roofs here are either slate or thatch…ZERO asphalt composition shingles…
I like the posts for the beam at the door…
It just doesn’t get more quaint than this…
Forget that roofline, check out the porch…
Funny thing, I didn’t see any people in these places…???...
I had to stop and smell ‘em…
’61 Rolls and a ’62 Bentley…I asked…
The special occasion is a show-off wedding…
Dudley the Chauffeur …Odd job…
Party hats…
Isn’t it supposed to go ON TOP your head…???...How’s it stay…???... Velcro…???..and I’m betting those are real pearls…
How much you think THAT cost that lemon sucker…???...
Mrs. Dr. Seuss…
Meanwhile, steps away, Paddy was pressing the Hohner non-stop, squeezing out Oh Danny Boy (check out what it says near his left hand)…I gave him some Euro change to do the opening riffs of Sweet Home Alabama…He knew it and nailed it…!!!..If he was in the States, guaranteed he’s a redneck…Git-R-Done…!!!...Lose the hat though…
What year you think the ride is…???...WRONG…!!!...It’s a 2007 (I asked)…Usually the first two numbers of the license plate tell the year…Dudley told me he imported it from the UK last year and somehow to save huge taxes he used the plates from his previous ride…I’m not gonna turn him in…Don’t you…Dud’s cool…
Him: “Madam, are you really sure you don’t want any more chicken wings…???...
Her: “What did you just call me…!!!...???..!!!...”
One power pole town…
Subtle…
Not so…But maybe it is…Check out how they painted the wires…Color continuity…
Property line…
That, looks safe…
Finally, another sunset view from the Hotel Hyundai…
Paul – Wondering if it gets any better…???...
11- Pilgrim Spirit…
As good as place as any…
Pam flew in today and is now along…We found this place, a small man-made island from the ancient days…
Not the original structures, but built exactly as they did way back when…
Eave line…100% organic ingredients…
What’s cooking…???...Yarn…In the pot with ferns…Boil the green out and it stays in the yarn…Glad I didn’t grab a spoon and slurp…Yucko…
Thatch…Bad in the lawn, good on the roof…
Onward…We had to see Ben Johnson before we moved on…Ben is the guy who had me start this ‘get around and share what I do’…Ben invited me last year to do the Hollow Surfboard workshop in Ireland…Ben is easily a story in himself…As multi faceted a person as I’ve ever met…Rip-roaring fun too…Last year when I left Ireland, Ben was putting the concrete in the ground for the foundation of his Birds of Prey center…In less than a year it was built and is now open, achieving acclaim as the premiere center of it’s kind in Ireland…It shares the grounds of the Ailwee cave, Irelands largest cave that is open to the public...Really something to see…Above, Ben is “showing” the birds…He has dozens, with more and bigger coming all the time…Twice a day Ben goes in the show arena and flies the birds, educating and allowing the birds to show off their basic instincts…
This Peregrine has just flown for about ten minutes and made a “kill”…These things can fly at over two hundred miles an hour…They climb high, spot prey, fly straight down achieving speed, the strike, with the impact doing the killing…
Walking along, there are open perches to view the birds without a cage in front…Makes for some easy photography…
Same as above…Who’s looking at who…???... (good owl pun, eh…???...)
Magnificence…
Ben’s passion and love of these birds shows…These birds are paired and mating, producing offspring…People are getting to know about how great a thing the BOP center is and are donating birds…This place is as win-win as it gets…
Of course, Ben has to share…Here, this hawk is perching on Pam’s glove and here bare arm…
Pretty cool to hold one of these…
The bird recognizes what a treat Pam is, attempts here to take her away…Luckily, Ben has it on a leash and saves a bright future for Pam…
We said our ‘see you laters’ to Ben, and rolled on…
With Pam along, the Hotel Hyundai is in the rearview mirror…B&Bs are what we’ll do…First one, at breakfast…Typical…Traditional…Coffee or tea…OJ…Eggs, bacon, sausage, cooked tomato, toast…A Grand Slam, Irish style…Funny how it works over here…$35 per person for breakfast and they throw in a room, bed and shower…
Roadside statue…
Plaque offering its significance…
Coffee stop…
Smiling Paul Bunyan, about to push over yet another Irish cottage…Gleeful carnage is my legacy…
We had been in the car for a while and felt the need to stretch the legs…How about a hike up to where Saint Patrick spent 40 days and nights, fast and praying for Ireland…???...Why not, just follow the trail…
…up there…!!!...
About half way up…
Still half way up…See those rectangular dots along the shore…???... That’s the buildings where we started…Those islands…???...365 of ‘em…Some inhabited…
At the summit…2,510 ft…This is a Pilgrim’s hike…On two sacred weekends in July and August, close to 25,000 people per weekend do this…They follow the How To on the plaque, keep an accurate count, and make the world a better place…
Me, with earplugs in…The wind is blowing at close to 40 MPH…Completely swirling around the summit…A cold, damp wind…Without the plugs, my eardrums felt like someone was torturing me by sticking pencils in my ears…I would have turned back from attempting the summit if I didn’t have the plugs…
The real story about this place is how steep and radical it is…Here Pam’s coming down on three points to be safe…There was a bunch of fresh blood spots on the rocks…It is as steep as it looks… Both Pam and I agreed it was as challenging a hike as either of us had ever done…What is completely insane is that on those sacred weekends, a lot of the people do this hike BAREFOOT…!!!...
Deserving a prize for our tenacity and pilgrim spirit, food was our reward…Pub food…For me, Beef and Guinness Casserole, chips on the side and of course, black coffee…
On the other side of the table Pam’s having the fish, chips, salad and a Guinness (out of the picture)…
After totally getting stuffed, we walked around for a while, saw some things, found another B&B and called it a day…Life is good…
Paul – On a Pilgrim’s path…
12 – Bumping Along The Back Roads…
As it does every day so far, morning came…Crough Patrick stands clear, enticing the pilgrims to pilgrimage…We drove back so Pam could get her “I climbed Crough Patrick and have this tee shirt to prove it” tee shirt…Me, I just needed coffee…
Creating a new monument of stone was a man and his boy…Boy uses the latest, most technical scribing tool available here in 2008, a piece of stone on stone…The steel square has been there before…Repair welded in the corner...765,476 more uses ahead…Cost of a new one in the states: $3.95…
Dad and boy are building something big on the other side…The arch is just part of a bigger scheme (scheme is a good thing here)…
With coffee inside of one and a fresh claiming motto over the other, Pam and I venture out…Northwest Coast…
Castle Photo Stop # 45…Currently a private residence…
#66…
The countryside has countless structures like this…In the real estate listings they would call this “derelict”…
More than a few of these around here too…
Built in the 1200’s…
Time for something to eat…
Another four golden fork rating…
Pam goes for the colcanna, potatoes and cabbage…
Après meal, we roam a harbor…
The tide range is extreme here, thus the multiple tie off lines…
Basic boat…
They let ‘em stand dry…Note the leg keeping it from lying over…
Fat and happy, we bump along some back roads till we find this place to night over…
We had the room at the top…
With this view…Another nearly century old castle ruins below…This place get’s surf…Rights off the rocks, lefts on the hidden side…Not today at this tide…
They have a pasture where horses do this…
Down the lane is this place…
And this weaving studio…
By now we’re back on the road on our way to the northern tip of Ireland…Near there is this place…
And this one…
Someone’s everyday home…
I like it…
Classic…
On the ground…
Rolling on, another castle that has seen many stormy days…
Late afternoon, castle ruins and the Atlantic…
Something about the light here…
We parked and went for a hike out to the Giant’s Causeway…Looks like an Arizona postcard…
Basalt columns formed from lava…
Looking straight down…
I’ve never seen anything like it…
Right there on the edge of the Atlantic…
Reflection of my hand…
Tired from another full day, we found a quaint hotel with a splendid view of the coastline…Room décor…
Paul – Ready for more…
13 – Over The Center Of The Earth…
In case you forgot where over the center of the Earth I am…
The Emerald Isle…Check out the little village at the base of the cliff…Protected from the majority of the storm winds…And yes, it is that green…
Down a “no caravans or coaches” hill, is this fishing port…
A design that has no need to change…
Above the village, we found this ‘too good to be true’ shop…
Pam living a dream…
Stone bench with some rainy day paint job on a stone…
Moving east there’s this beach…Water clarity: It doesn’t get better…
Further along a trail…Kauai, The Azores, or Ireland…???...
Grab your snorkel…
80’ above the surface, this rope and plank bridge leads to a very minor harbor…
If you think it bounces, you’re right...
Us… we don’t need no stinking grab ropes…
And speaking of stinking…
Paul – Moving on…Northern Ireland next...
14 – Northern Ireland…
What…???...Me worry…???...
Not when I have consecutive burger & chips # 48 in front of me…Coffee too…
Pam goes all the way gourmet…She offered me a taste, but that would break my ‘burgers only’ streak…I got willpower…High cholesterol by now too…Don’t pity me…
By the way, we are now in a different country…Northern Ireland…Feelings are still strong…
Evidence and consequences…Business hours only…???...
Over ten years now since Sunday, Bloody Sunday...
Walking along, I see Benny the Blimp just watching his yoga master eat…Like eating in front of a dog…I saw drool…
Guess the number of bricks and win a meal with Yogi…You, get to eat…
Inside, paintings of those worth remembering…
Party cups…!!!...Why…???....
A medical trade show…I don’t even want to know…
Outside and across the very, very big, very, very green lawn…
Pam put building one of these on my “To Do” list for when I get home…No prob…
First, I need a glass cutter…
Through the formal concentrical circle rose garden…
These were all pretty cool…
I call this picture “Photo of a Rose - #143 of 852”…
Cemetery dating back to 432 AD…Seriously old…In fact, it’s The Oldest Cemetery in Belfast…
Into The Oldest Library in Belfast…
I can appreciate good stairs…
Stepping quietly through the aisles, I see Albert Einstein Jr., still alive and well…
At least I think he’s alive…???...
Look close, it’s signed Siggy Freud…
“Daddy, tell me again what you do…???...”
This was weird… Monster Euro Ferris Wheel in the freaking heart of a seriously old
and historical city…
The universality of youth…
They were refinishing the floor of The Oldest Church in Belfast… Are you seeing a pattern here…??...Stacked seats…Think of the prayers…See the “You Are Now Entering…” picture above…Makes you think…Did me…
Post Modern art or structural…
This common thread runs through Europe…Like he cares…
Paul – Slightly disappointed with Belfast…Lisbon was groovier…
15 – Love, Love and More Love…
Our way south, we thought this place might hold our attention for a bit…There too early for the formal tour, we were still allowed in to see things without explanation…
Built by a rich guy way back when they could afford to do things BIG…Pam walks down one corridor of a squared concrete pillared trellis courtyard…
One opening out of the courtyard led this way…BTW, things are bigger than they seem in the pictures…
One of many topiary…Reflects the interests and pleasures of those for whom it was built…
If you guessed a harp, you’re right…
Pam an aficionado for the green growy things, admires whatever that is…
I’m told it’s a splendid example…Perhaps even brilliant…
A sub-section of the larger garden, this is known as the Spanish Courtyard…Looks Asian to me…
Besides the pretty living things are plenty of hard groovy things to adorn the yard…
Whimsy on display…Explore the details…
You getting any ideas…???...Sure to find stuff like this at Lowes…Might have to ask though…
A hedge or two or more, and some Miracle-Grow and you too can have this…
The folks who had this built had a group of friends…Each friend had an animal nickname, reflected in a statute…More to this story, I’m sure…
The dog and the duck get nose to nose…
Every direction you looked was brilliant…
This whole garden thing is so much bigger and better than anything either of us had ever seen…Including our own yard…!!!...
We were a couple of hours too early for the mansion so………..>
>…… we got in the car formerly known as the Hotel Hyundai and keep the wheels in motion…Bouncing along the back roads, we had splendid views like this…
And this…Can you say “bucolic”…???...I thought you could…Now what’s it mean…???...
Yeah…Another one of these…”Unusual” gate pillars, eh…???...
Rambling along as ramblers often do, we were soon in the village where St.Patrick is buried…
His ceremonial burial stone…Rumor is he’s actually under the cathedral floor…
Crazy trees in the cemetery…A bit creepy…
Fer crying out loud, hire a groundskeeper…
Cathedral door pull…Seen plenty of use…
This cathedral was painted inside, made a huge difference than just the typical darker grey…
The “box-seat” pews…
Pew door hinge…That’s good work…
Down an aisle…
Some of the best stained glass there is…
Back outside, there was Love, Love & more Love…
We needed to be at the Dublin airport early the next day, so we spun the wheels that way…It was as scenic as most of the other stuff we saw, but we didn’t stop specifically for pictures, thus no final ‘warm and fuzzy big green ribbon’ to wrap up this photo journey…
As you have seen, this was another good trip…Both Pam and I are already planning on what we want to do and see next year…Much more to experience until then…!!!...
I hope you enjoyed the show and tell…
Paul