Another week! I'm back to record my experiences. Let it begin!
Tuesday night turned out to be a night in Galway, where I visited the 'Hole in the Wall Bar' to watch the Liverpool Football game. Some less-than-sober fans were singing football rousers, and Kyle, John, and myself were thoroughly amused for a good two hours. We made our way over to Moore's Pub afterwards, where I participated in some traditional Irish dancing.
On Wednesday, we discussed poems and short stories in Gerard O'Brien's class. I was especially entertained by Frank O'Connor's 'My Oedipus Complex' and 'The First Confession,' where O'Connor narrates a young man's perspective of the world in a very particular, Twain-esque sort of way. After class, the rest of the day and night belonged to laundry, homework, and preparing for our long excursion the next day.
On Thursday at 8:00 a.m., everyone was on the bus and ready to take off for the southwestern coast of Ireland. On the way, we crossed the river Shannon with our bus on a ferry. Many of my fellow classmates had never been on a ferry before, and therefore very amused. The ferry was reminiscent of the ferry that I used to take from Galveston to Bolivar Peninsula in Texas when visiting my family.. I enjoyed the flashback.
After a few hours, our bus was finally driving through Dingle. Another reminiscent experience
occurred as we entered Dingle because we passed the hotel that I stayed at with my family 2.5 years ago! Dingle looked exactly the same... just as I had left it. While we didn't stop in Dingle, we did take a trip down Slea Head Drive, the scenic drive that passes the Blasket Islands. As we drove, we passed the ancient stone forts that my family and I had visited
before, and even stopped along the road by similar places that I had been. Slea Head was beautiful, and I was very glad to visit it again.
We finished at Slea Head and Dingle and headed straight to Portmagee, where we would be staying the night. We arrived at Portmagee at around 6:00 p.m. After a small walk, we discovered 2 very small pubs and a small grocery store (that was about it). I returned back to Portmagee Hostel (which was actually VERY nice) and made some soup. That night I got the opportunity to talk with 2 middle-aged italian men who were staying in Portmagee. For that weekend. After talking to them for a bit about Italy and the fine points of interest (I talked to them about my cruise), they asked, "Have you been out to see the Skelligs?" I told them that I hadn't, and asked them what the Skelligs were. Both gentlemen laughed, saying that they had come all the way from Italy just to go out and experience the Skelligs (small Islands off of Portmagee), especially Skellig Michael, the island that 18th century monks inhabited. It was
apparently one of the foremost Christian landmarks in all of Europe, and was even on the 20 cent Euro coin. After looking at our expedition agenda, I was disappointed to see that the Skelligs were not on our agenda. I was convinced that I would come back to see the Skelligs someday...
On Saturday morning, all of us met in a gym by the Town hall to sit in on a photography seminar put on by Dr. Davis's cousin, Ingrid. It was a moderately interesting session, but I only gained so much knowledge because I have worked with photography before (Chanhassen Dinner Theatre, CVS Pharmacy). We broke for lunch, which was supplied by the program. It was a delicious meal of fish and chips. John and I dined in fine fashion, taking any food that the girls didn't eat. After a full stomach, we were sent out to take some fine pictures.
As John, Kyle, and I were flashing photos, another Italian man approached us and asked us if we were interested in going to the Skelligs. He explained that he and his wife had come to visit and see the Skelligs, yet they needed more passengers otherwise the captain could not afford the trip. We asked him how much the ride would cost, which turned out to be 30 Euro. We said that we would settle for 20 Euro. He went and haggled with the captain, who agreed on the price. After returning and telling us that 20 Euro would be find, we sought out Dr. Davis to see if we could skip the afternoon photography session to explore the Skelligs. The catch was, however, that the boat would only hold 12 people (not everyone in our class would be able to go). Dr. Davis agreed that it was a special opportunity, and allowed us to leave and told us to take as many people as we saw around us as possible. We gathered a group of 8-9 people, and headed toward the dock.
We were welcomed warmly by the Italian man, John, and his wife, and the captain of the boat, Michael. As we commenced our expedition, I talked with Michael. He was a cheery, fun man with a very thick irish accent (very hard to understand). He was a citizen of Portmagee and had been taking folks to "the Skelligs" for 7 years. He was a typical Irishman: friendly, full of knowledge, and certainly opinionated.
The ride took about an hour. It was kind of wet and sometimes rough (the skiff that we were on wasn't the biggest boat) but nonetheless worth it. As we approached the mysterious, ominous island, the beauty of the place become more and more apparent. As we landed we knew already that our 20 Euro was well worth it. As we arrived, the clouds parted and, as if by some miracle, the sun shone brightly upon Skellig Michael. We were informed that we were the only people on the island, so we needed to be careful and stick together.
The path to the top was safe for the most part, but some places were quite treacherous. The stairs were made of stone and were placed way back in the 18th Century. Despite being on an Island that is constantly exposed to harsh sea weather, the constructions of the island are some of the most well-preserved monuments in Europe. The top of Skellig Michael was adorned by a stone-hut (called "clochans") village. It was honestly like the monks had just picked up and left- so incredibly well-preserved and ancient. I would venture to say that this experience was probably the event that made my trip to Ireland. It is without a doubt my favorite part so far.. a VERY unforgettable experience.. I feel terrible that the rest of my classmates couldn't make it, but I know that I definitely do not regret going. I would have rather had a few of us experience the Skelligs than none of us experience them at all.
On the way back we passed another Skellig. This Island was uninhabitable by humans, as it was just a huge rock, but it was covered by 17,000 seagulls (called garrats SP?). I have never seen so many birds in my life. It was quite picturesque (see photo). On the way back, Michael had me drive the boat and taught me how to make the ride the least bumpy as possible. While I was talking to him, he asked, "Would you like some fish?" As we were exploring the island, he had been fishing for mackerel. He caught a bunch of fish, and offered us 10 fish (one for each of us) for free! So, as I drove the boat, he showed the others how to clean mackerel and cut all the fish into fillets for us. As we drove back, we spotted numerous rainbows (it had been raining on and off). In short, the ride back was fantastic. It was surreal, and all of us kept on looking each other in disbelief. It honestly was one of the best experiences of my life.
As we dismounted the boat back at Portmagee, we all cheered and hugged each other. John honestly got off the boat and yelled "Hoorah! Hoorah!" and got to knees in praise. It was hilarious, but it truly was a fantastic time. We returned to the hostel and cooked up the fish together. We received many dirty looks from our fellow students, which was unfortunate. We tried to repair sour moods by offering the fish that we cooked. After dinner, I took a walk with Patrick McLoone and Matt over to a Gaelic Football pitch. A town team was practicing, and we enjoyed wine while observing the practice. Afterwards, we moved over to the local pub for irish dancing and fellowship.. another fine time.
We woke up on Saturday morning and left for Killarney. Along the way, we stopped at a few picturesque places along the road. Prior to arriving at Killarney, we visited the Muckross House. It was an 18th century mansion that once housed Queen Victoria and Prince Albert for a few days, among other famous politicians, leaders, etc. It was a interesting house, and the "backyard" was even better. After Muckross, we arrived at Killarney at 'Neptune' Hostel. It was a fairly nice hostel. We cooked up a nice meal (pita pizzas) and went out to the pubs and clubs of the area. It was, of course, another great time.
Sunday morning I woke up at 7:15 a.m. to go to Mass. The church was beautiful and mass was very short (30 minutes). After mass, we reconvened at Neptune's and took off with the bus. On the way home we stopped at the Kerry County Museum in Tralee (fairly interesting, fulfilling stop). Prior to returning to PLH, we stopped at TESCO and shopped for food. Finally, we returned at around 6 p.m., to start LOADS of homework (especially for history).
Today in history, we discussed Oliver Cromwell and why the Irish hate him so much. We also discussed a speech made by Douglas Hyde in 1986 about the necessity to "De-Anglicanize" Ireland, and bring back the Gaelic culture. Would Hyde be happy? I think so... yes and no. The revival of the Gaelic language is on the rise, and I feel as if there is a certain appreciation for old Irish culture. In Irish Catholicism, we watched a movie about Pope John Paul's visit to Ireland in the 1980's. Now, I'm about to go on a bike ride with John into Spiddal. Tonight's meal will probably be some nice pasta... and tonight.. at 12:00 a.m. (our time), I will be watching the Minnesota Vikings take on the Green Bay Packers! I can't wait. Until next time...
mahalo
thomas
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