Connemara Bike Ride

Lee Ann had found a half-off deal for a guided, half-day bike ride in Connemara near Cong with Connemara Glorious Cycle. We met our guide, Noel, in Clonbur where he provided us with bikes and helmets. Another couple was supposed to join us, but they had canceled just before.
They used to have a bike shop in Cong where they maintained and sold bikes, and organized these tours. But then the company who owned the building they were renting their shop space from, went bankrupt.

Their current address is 7 Radharc Na Sleibhte, Rusheen East, Clonbur, Co. Galway, which is weird. Addresses in Ireland are usually a lot shorter. Something like 2 The Drive, Clonee, Dublin 15, or Hyde House, Dublin 2. Outside of Dublin, there are not even zip codes.
Our GPS brought us to Clonbur successfully, but then it was at a loss. Luckily, the town is not very big. There is a pub, a hotel, a post office, a church, and a little store. Lee Ann called Noel and he appeared out of a house near where we had stopped. Since they (temporarily) lost their business premises they had to spread their inventory among friends and relatives in the little village. At least that is how it appeared to me. I'm sure the haste in which we left one of the buildings after Noel retrieved a bike from there was coincidental.

Off we went along a nature path through the forest along little lakes or loughs. Along the way, Noel pointed out sights like a bird sanctuary and the ruins of a century-old castle hidden in the trees. We stopped to descend into a cave that water had carved into the lime stone and had a great time.
For lunch we stopped at Ashford Castle situated beautifully on Lough Corrib. It is now a posh hotel and the tour included tea and club sandwiches. We, in our biking clothes, were ushered into the castle and announced by name to the Maitre De of the salon where we sat in deep velvet chairs next to a century-old enormous fire place. It was fun. For lunch the place is not quite as stuffy as I made it out to be. There were families with little kids there having their tea, and playing and running around was perfectly OK for the kids.

After lunch Noel collected us, showed us the castle grounds, and we rode back along Loch Corrib, the largest loch in the republic and the second largest in all of Ireland. We dutifully returned the bike and concluded our day with dinner at Cullen's at the Cottage; a very nice restaurant on the castle grounds where jeans are a permissible evening attire.

By the way, if you ever are in the area and want to spend the night, stay at the Ashfield House B&B. We did. It's close to the Castle and Cong, very clean, comfortable, and charming. It is also close to The Neale where you can go admire a pyramid among sheep and other curious follys.

The next day we spent some time exploring Cong and the dry canal between Lough Mask and Lough Corrib. The canal is often described as an engineering fiasco with the explanation that the porous lime stone cannot hold water and that one lough is higher in elevation than the other. Engineers of the 19th century knew of course how to deal with this. The problem was that halfway through construction railways had gained in dominance and the canal was no longer needed for shipping. It was finished as a way to drain off water from Lough Mask, but not intended anymore to be filled with water.

On the abbey grounds in Cong

In the afternoon we visited the National Museum of Ireland near Castlebar with its country life exhibit. It is interesting and situated on beautiful grounds, but a little bit too much straw for me. In Ireland, and especially Connemara, trees and their wood are precious resources. This is doubly true for the times in the past when the English drove the Irish off any land that could be used for farming or forestry. So, the people adapted and did with what they had: straw. We learned how thatched roofs are made and maintained, how straw can be used for ornaments, chairs, baby cribs, baskets, and insulating pads to hang on your front door.

Lee Ann thinks I didn't spend enough time in the other parts of the museum, but after a certain amount of itchy straw I retreated into the museum cafee where they had delicious 21st century deserts.

New York

I'm falling behind again, so this post and the next two will come in quick succession (so I hope) and read more like a travel blog.

In mid-November I spent a couple of days visiting the IBM Watson lab. I was on my way to Denver for the annual Supercomputing conference.  When booking, I had decided to spend the weekend in New York. It had been decades since my last visit to Manhattan. I wanted to see the new Highline park and ground zero. The last time I was there, the twin towers were too.

I was staying in Stamford, CT and took the train into Grand Central station.  Someone had told me that they had cleaned up the ceiling and that now you could see the artwork again. So, when I arrived I dutifully looked up. While I was standing there, a you woman broke off her group, walked over to me, asked "Are you ready?", stood next to me, shoulder to shoulder, raised her cell phone, and took a picture of the two of us.

Then she walked back to her group, they giggled, and walked off. No clue what that was all about.  I still had my billfold afterward. It was over in a few seconds. So, if you see a picture of me and some chick on facebook, it doesn't mean a thing; I swear!

On Saturday the weather was great, but I got there fairly late and by mid-afternoon it was already getting dark in the canyons of New York. The low Winter sun is great for taking pictures, but it disapears early and the tall buildings block out a lot of light early in the afternoon.

On Sunday I was there earlier, but it was raining. It was cool to see the upper stories of many buildings disapear in the clouds, but it made taking pictures more difficult for me. I like lots of color and golden sunlight. None of that was available that afternoon in New York.

As usual, the rest of my pictures are available on picasa.

Fall in Ireland

Last time I wrote about our trip to Switzerland and the Fall season there. Of course, it is Fall in Ireland too! It's getting cold, but we have had some nice sunny days here. So I thought we would go out and try to capture some Fall colors around here; who needs New England.

I asked around at work and a colleague recommended the Hell Fire Club on top of Montpelier Hill just South of Dublin. It is a nice spot with a very interesting and weird history, and a great view of Dublin. The sun kept coming and going; not very many useful pictures. There were also a ton of people up there on the three-day weekend Monday we were there. I need to go back. Maybe on a full-moon night, or when there is snow. Dublin usually doesn't get snow, but that hill is just tall enough to get a light covering once in a while.
(Edit: I just spent some more time in the comment section of this site. It seems it is a very popular place to visit by day AND night; by the living and maybe others. I bet it was busy Halloween night ;-)

One of the difficulties of getting good pictures now is that even when the sun is out, by 3:30 it starts to disappear. I tried again. This time closer, in Phoenix Park, which is just a little over a mile from our house. Again, the sun came and went, but I got the tree above when it was fully lit. Incidentally, the hill behind it is where the Hell Fire Club is (more or less).

Phoenix Park is home to a large herd of deer. They are not tame enough to let you touch them, but they are pretty used to people. By now the sun was setting, again, so I tried to stalk them and get a group picture in front of the setting sun.

Getting there, but not good enough.

Better. More light on the grass and the orange of the sunset is beginning to show through the trees.

Far from perfect, but much closer to what I had hopped to achieve. Although I complain a lot about the weather here, the sunsets, when you can see them, are often very beautiful. That evening I was maybe not in the best position after chasing those deer, but this is not bad for simply aiming your camera West and shoot over the trees.

Next week it is off to New York to visit Watson and then to Denver for Supercomputing. The weather is promising to be no better than here in Ireland, but it will still be fun and interesting to immerse myself in high-end geekishness.

Switzerland in Fall

Before: Misbehaving deer

 I'm not sure why the deer above is sticking out its tongue at its dad, but it is inexcusable. So we ate him!

After: Very nice dinner

 Well, it is Fall and deer hunting season in Switzerland. We spent a few days there earlier this month visiting my Mom, siblings, and friends. Fall, and only Fall, offers delights like Suser (slightly fermented, unfiltered grape juice; new wine), Vermicelles (a desert made from chestnuts), mushrooms, and venison.

Lee Ann liked it

 What's on the plate above is not the one in the top picture, but close. The one above lives on a deer farm run by a former butcher. The one on the plate was shot nearby in the wild. We got to meet the hunter who, the rest of the year, is a bus driver where my brother works. If you are not a vegetarian you should try it. It is expensive but very delicious with the sauce, all the vegetables and other sides.

An old house in Murten

 Speaking of vegetarians: I would be one, if I was any more involved in the process of turning picture 1 into picture 2. Being a city boy has its advantages. Salad is pre-washed, milk comes in cartons, and meat comes cut into pieces that betray their origins.

On the way back home, we missed the plane and had to spend an afternoon in Zurich

 Of course, the Swiss are also very good at living off their animals without killing them. Anika found this story with incredible pictures. I want to learn how to make pictures like that. Americans label one of the over 300 cheeses made in Switzerland, Swiss. Gruyere, the topic in the story, is also widely available in the States, but I bet many Americans think it is French. The sad part is that almost none of the other Swiss cheeses are available. No Vacherin, Appenzeller, Raclette, Tilsiter, or the incredible Tete de Moine.

Winter has started early this year in Switzerland

 The situation here in Ireland is almost worse: Cheddar of any kind, but not much else. There are a lot of small farms that produce interesting cheese, but the products are hard to find. There are a couple of shops that sell cheeses from other parts of Europe, but it means a trip into town and spending quite a bit of money.

Once a column in the huge Roman theater

 The land of cheese has other things to offer as well: medieval towns like Murten and old Roman settlements like Avenches. The latter is a favorite field trip destination when you learn Roman history in fourth grade. I think that may well be the last time I have been there.

The remnants of the Roman theater in Avenches

 We are back in Ireland, getting ready for Halloween. I've already seen a (grown up) Superman (stocking up for a party in a liquor store), a tiny (and crying) Buzz Lightyear, and a girl with fairy wings attached to her thick winter coat. The Irish celebrate Halloween with candy and costumes, but also fireworks; starting early in October!
It has gotten a little cooler, the leaves are turning, and we had some nice days this month. This is a three-day weekend and we are setting our clocks back, a week before the USA. I had hoped to get out this weekend and take some colorful pictures of sunlit trees and leaves, but right now it is raining and predictions are it will continue like that for the next few days.

Wet roofs in Murten

 The weather in Switzerland wasn't great either. When looking for shelter under the arcades in Murten with found the Irish pub below. The remaining, few, pictures from this trip are, as usual, on picasa.

An Irish pub in Murten, Switzerland.

Ireland on TV and in the Movies

Anika is 21 now!

Before we get to the title subject I have to share the news that we celebrated Anika's birthday last Thursday [if I had posted back when I had intended to.] It was a fun evening with some close friends and now she is already heading toward California; driving for the first time to college.
Lee Ann and I spent a couple of weeks here in Albuquerque before heading back to Dublin on Wednesday.
On the trip in, the flight attendant asked us over the announcement system whether we knew that we were headed for the home of Breaking Bad. She was quite a fan and found a willing discussion partner in a woman who is the Mom of one of the stunt men on the show. I had to put headphones on to avoid spoilers; I'm only in season 2.

Orion rising over Albuquerque night glow

If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. It is very well done and you see tons of Albuquerque locations, although often looking worse than they actually are. However, it is not for the faint of heart. It's gruesome, brutal, and at times very uncomfortable to watch. We started watching one about every three weeks to have enough time in between to cleanse. It is very intense and leaves lasting images that seep into your dreams. Lee Ann decided not to finish the series. Now I can catch up and watch the final season currently on.
Although this post is about movies and shows playing in Ireland, many of the pictures are from Albuquerque; some of the from last Winter, like the one above when I went out to the volcanoes to see what my then newly acquired, refurbished D7000 could do.

Sunset from the other side of the valley, along La Luz trail

In the meantime we are back in Ireland and the kids are off to their respective colleges. It was nice here too, just cooler, but the last few days have gotten really cold; sometimes dipping below 50. We're adjusting quickly, especially since our heater is broken. Hopefully it'll get fixed tomorrow. Otherwise I'll have to endure even more angry stares from the cats. Who are not pleased. Not at all!

Midsy doesn't like cold

OK, so lets talk TV shows. We got the first one, Forbrydelsen or The Killing, as a DVD set from some American friends here in Ireland. It's in Danish with English subtitles. We watched the first episode with the murder and were astonished that the case hadn't been solved at the end of the show. So, we watched the next episode. Now we have a strong suspect, but no resolution. All right, on to the next one. We have a new suspect, but toward the end, something seems fishy again about the earlier suspect. We have to know! Click on the next episode and we get more twists, new suspects, earlier cleared ones back in, and still no answer. Now it's 1 am!
An email to our so called "friends" who gave us the set, clears things up. We have another 16, hour-long, episodes to go before we'll know who done it! That was a long week of late nights with discussions afterward about new clues and suspects and what had been overlooked in earlier episodes. Absolutely cool, but exhausting.
The second season is shorter and the third season is not on Netflix yet.
Since then I have learned that AMC in the States had a similar show based on this one. Except, they didn't tell you who the murder was at the end of the first season. Then they canceled the show! People were furious and AMC brought it back on. I can't imagine what that must be like. When we were watching it, we were so glad we didn't have to wait another week, or another season, before seeing the next episode. Nothing to do with Ireland, but that's where we saw it, it is European, and we liked it.

UNM is mentioned frequently in Breaking Bad

Well, then, off to Ireland. Conemara to be exact. In Single-Handed, we saw a lot of spots we enjoyed when we were visiting there over Easter. In this one, the crimes get solved more promptly. What is interesting, besides the scenery and the people's dialects, is that it is partially based on real corruption cases and other scandals that have happened in Ireland. A little bit of history rolled into our entertainment. It is serious stuff, though. Child abuse and police corruption are covered and leave you feeling helpless.

The Sandias seen from the volcanoes

Therefore, something more lighthearted: Moone Boy, a show about a boy and his imaginary friend (the funny Chris O'Dowd) growing up in Ireland in the 1980s. It's very funny, weird, and interesting.

This "interesting" house in Clifden shows up in Single-Handed

Long before we knew we would live in Ireland some day, we used to watch Ballykissangel. The name is invented, but the town where it was filmed, exists in Southeast Ireland. We have it on our To Do list to go visit. An English Roman Catholic priest gets dropped into a rural Irish village. Of course, for us foreigners, it is difficult to say, but it feels like this is (could be ;-) how the Irish live outside of Dublin. It's easy going and fun. Until they kill off one of the main characters we liked and we stopped watching. That was just mean. On the other hand, it was not clear how the story could have gone on. Oh, well, that's life; at least on TV.

The abbey in Cong

Across the (Irish) sea is the Black Books bookstore. Well, not really. It's a fictional bookstore in a TV show that plays in London. Anika and I found it one evening browsing Netflix for something to watch. It is very weird, not wholesome (wine for breakfast), mostly plays in a single room, but is very funny and imaginative. Not Irish, but close enough and one of the characters is supposed to be Irish, although he doesn't sound like one.
Sorry for the long delay in getting this post out. Maybe I should watch less TV...

Buying a mop

When I was talking about traveling in my last post, I forgot to mention that one reason I went to Switzerland last month was to support my brother who did the 600 km (373 miles) Swiss cycling marathon. It took him a little over 30 hours to accomplish this feat and, in doing so, he toured a major portion of Switzerland (and a sliver of Germany). He also proudly represented the New Mexico colors!

The route my brother rode

Not only the distance was exhausting, but the weather didn't help either. Although it was end of June, during the night and Saturday morning it was raining and cold; below 50. I think he was close to giving up near the end. I followed him around, providing moral support, draining his car battery by charging GPS devices, and doing some sightseeing while he was sweating.

One of the cool sights along the way

Still in relation to my last post, the day after ranting about the weather and people who keep talking about the weather, I came across this comic. I felt it was very appropriate.

So, now to the title story. Saturday morning, Lee Ann asked me whether I wanted to come along to the shopping center, a three-minute drive, to buy a mop. Good husband that I am, I said yes. Just before lunch when we got ready to leave, she says, "Oh, and there is a house in Lusk I'd like to look at". Lusk is a little town North of Dublin, about twenty miles from where we live.
By the time we looked around Lusk for a little bit, it was lunch time. We drove the ten minutes to Skerries on the coast, had some seafood, white wine, and a short walk along the Irish Sea. Then it was time to head back and buy that mop. Of course now it was evening again. All those of you who thought I was not flexible and easy going, think again!

The Lusk round tower and St Mac Cullin's Church

Lusk is mostly a new settlement that serves as a bedroom community for Dublin. However, the tiny village center is interesting because the St Mac Cullin built a monastery here in the 5th century. What remains from back then is the largely intact round tower in my cell phone picture above. The square belfry attached to it dates back to the 15th and 16th century. There was a church attached to these towers before, but it must have been destroyed during one of the many raids at this site. The one that is there today was built in the 19th century.

A plaque attached to the round tower

Trying to find out when all of these things happened and how to spell Mac Cullin is actually not trivial. The plaque above has one version, while the Wikipedia entry and the church site differ slightly. Maybe the round tower is actually from the 9th century. It seems possible to get into the round tower and maybe the belfry which are now part of the Lusk Heritage Centre. According to the church site, there is an exhibition about medieval churches of North County Dublin in the Belfry. Next time we need a mop and swing by Lusk, I'll go ask Mr. Kelly for the key.

Traveling

The moon from my airplane seat

I have done a lot of traveling in the first half of this year. With Anika in Leeds, we visited England twice, toured the West and North of Ireland, I have been to Switzerland several times, a quick trip to Spain, a conference in Germany, and a day trip to Glendalough last weekend before Anika went back to the USA. She is doing a stop-over in Kansas before meeting up with us again in Albuquerque later in August. Then it's off with her to California for her last year at Mills.

Anika in Heidelberg

On one of my trips back to Dublin I took the picture at the top of this post. There were some storm clouds gathering and I thought I might have an opportunity for a cool picture. I never take pictures from out of airplanes. It is hard to get a good shot and the window distorts the view and is usually dirty. I cleaned the window as good as I could and started snapping pictures and then I noticed the moon rising. Worthwhile.

Heidelberg castle

Anika came with me to my conference in Leipzig. While I was working she explored the city and took a day trip to Berlin. It so happened that President Obama and his family were there too which meant that ordinary tourists like Anika didn't really get to move around Berlin, or see much of it. She was very disappointed.

The round tower at Glendalough

I know that there is a heatwave in the States. We have been having our own here in Ireland. Granted, it's only in the mid-70s and will probably be over before it reaches the end of the third week, but is has been amazing. Especially after the miserable Winter we have had.

At the top of Glenmacnass waterfall on the way to Glendalough

I don't watch the weather report on TV and usually don't talk about it. It's a waste of time; the weather will happen anyway and we cannot change it. Other (more normal? More sociable?) people do talk about the weather occasionally for small talk. Here it is almost mandatory and usually the same: miserable. For the last few weeks people have not been able to express themselves. They don't have words for more than two weeks of uninterrupted sunshine. What's worse: I start talking about the weather! I better stop before this post becomes weather centric.

The characteristic brown color of water flowing out of a bog

Because the unmentionable from the above paragraph has been particularly nice lately Lee Ann, Anika, and I went on a day trip down to Glendalough last weekend. It's a major attraction in Ireland and so there were bus loads of tourists there. But the site is large and spread out so it was still possible to take pictures without too many strangers in them.

 

 

Reefert Church from about 1100.

The site and its surroundings are suffused with religion, myths, and stories dating back at least a thousand years. Good catholics in the middle ages were supposed to do at least one pilgrimage to Rome in their lifetime. Of course, most people during those times could not afford such a journey, in particular from Ireland. Because Glendalough has such a rich religious history and importance, a pope declared seven visits to Glendalough would count the same as one visit to Rome. I've been to Glendalough three times and Rome once. Will I reach four more trips to Glendalough before I see Rome again?

The ruins of a church along St. Kevin's way, a trail crossing the Wicklows West to East

You can see all my pictures from that trip on my picasa album. All four of us we'll be in Albuquerque for the last two weeks in August. So far, after that, we have no more travel plans, but I'm sure something interesting will come up!