IRELAND, Rock of Cashel

Sunday August 26, 2007

The pictures are the Rock of Cashel in Cashel, Ireland. Legend says that St. Patrick arrived here in AD 432 and baptized King Aengus, who became the Ireland' s first christian ruler. This is also where he plucked the shamrock to explain the mystery of the Trinity and is how it became Ireland's symbol. This was the home to the kings of Munster from 370 AD until 1101.

IRELAND, Kilkenny Castle and hostel accomodations

Saturday August 25, 2007

Another day, another pub. Took it easy today and just walked around. Went to bed early but sometimes a hostel's great location is also a detriment which I learned as I tried to sleep with drunken party-goers rambling the streets till 2 am. Lesson learned, don't go to sleep early. When in Ireland. This is a typical hostel everywhere. The other picture is the Kilkenny Castle.

Note: I thought that understanding the language in Ireland would be easier than South America but not so much. I understand every 3rd word of the Irish speaking English and a lot of young and old speak Gaelic.

"Those who wander are not necessarily lost."
J.R.R. Tolkien

IRELAND, Kilkenny

Friday August 24, 2007

Caught the 11:30 bus to Kilkenny {Ireland's medieval city}. In Ireland the bus ticket does not reserve you a seat, it only means that you have a ticket to that destination for that day. To make sure you have a seat for a certain time you have to wait in line for the bus for 30-45 minutes before it leaves. The bus ride was 2 hrs. Kilkenny has about 20,000 people and all the sites to see are within 15 minutes of my hostel. The most famous of the sites is the Kilkenny Castle. I hope to post pictures as soon as I figure how. I am still trying to adjust to the cost of everything here. After Peru everything is going to seem expensive. I figured out that everything is about 10 times more expensive than Peru. A McDonalds happy meal is almost $8.00. So far the hostel has been fine. Having 7 roommates takes a little getting used to especially if a lot of them are girls. Waiting for the bathroom can take a while.

IRELAND, Dublin, Trinity College, Temple Bar District

Thursday August 23, 2007

Well I finally made it to Dublin after my flight was rerouted to Atlanta from Cincinatti. I arrived about 9:30 a.m. and caught the 41 bus which went straight to my hostel. Unfortunately, check-in was not until 2:00 p.m. so I walked around until then.

First I went to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. This book was written by Scottish monks in the 8th century. It is in latin and represents the 1st 4 books of the new testament. The pictures and artistic writing are unbelievable and I cannot imagine how much time it took to create that much detail. Google the Book of Kells if you get a chance. I then went to the Long Room which is their library and home to over 700,000 books. Most of them are over 400 years old and in latin.

By this time it was well after 2:00 so I checked into the hostel and caught a few hours sleep. When I woke up I went to the Temple Bar which is Dublin's equivalent of the French Quarter. With over 1000 pubs in Dublin, I do not see how they get any work done. I found a nice pub with original Irish fok music and ordered my first Guinness. It is very dark and takes several minutes for it to settle so that you can drink it. It was quite bitter but by the second pint I could see that this could become an acquired taste.

I met two girls from England and we tried several other Irish beers and Jameson whiskey. One of the English girls was drinking Jameson and lemonade. Tasted pretty good. I was told by an Irish woman on the plane that I would probably spend a lot of my time in the pubs while in Ireland because that is where the Irish spend their time. I can see that now.

The Irish like to go to the pubs and have craic (crack). The first time I heard that I was a little surprised and then I learned that craic  is good conversation and a good time.

PERU, Huanchaco Beach

Sunday June 17 and Monday June 18th

I spent a couple of days relaxing in the small coastal village of Huanchaco. The fisherman here still use reed boats to fish in the ocean. The boats are called cabillitos de tortora. Cabillitos means "little horse". Fisherman kneel on them rather than ride in them. Nice to just relax without trying to see too many sights. I leave on the bus from Truijillo at 11 pm and will arrive in Lima at 8 am.

PERU, Butterfly Farm and Sanctuary, Amazon

Wednesday June 13, 2007

Back in Iquitos and decided to go to Butterfly Farm and animal sanctuary. I caught a boat down the river a few kilometers and found my way to the site. A woman from Austria had moved here 20 years ago and began the Butterfly Farm which breeds butterflies in their natural habitat. She also has accumulated monkeys, alligators, parrots, a tapir, a jaguar and even an anteater. The woman told me that a parrot fell into the small pond and that the alligators ate it. She said the parrot fell into the pond because the monkeys like to sneak up behind them and pull out their tail feathers.

PERU, Amazon Adventure, Piranha

While in the Amazon, we walked through the forest while the guide showed me the medicinal plants and what there uses were. We would also fish, mostly for Piranha, in the mornings to have fresh food to eat. We only took two live chickens and vegetables with us to the camp for the week. At night we went looking for Caiman {alligators}. My guide, Raphael, caught a young Caiman one night and they also shot a river rat that they jumped out of the boat and chased along the bank one night.