Shots of Derry, shots of the Giant's Causeway

Hello again,

So, adding to the shots I just posted of Slieve League and of surfing, here are some pics I took of the murals of Derry as well as the Giant's Causeway:

In the background of this shot you can clearly see the "You are now entering Free Derry wall." In 1969, the people of Bogside successfully blockaded their neighbourhood, protecting it from the local police and protestant mobs that they felt threatened by. The iconic wall still stands as a reminder of those turbulent and terrible times.



Here are a couple more light-hearted shots of my day at the Causeway:

That's all for now. I'm off to have a little sup...

Tomorrow, I'll be back in Dublin for my last night in Ireland. It's been quite a trip. Can't to see you all!!

Thanks to all of you for keeping me company along the way and a special virtual hug to those you wrote me messages whether through facebook, emails or whatnot...

Cheers!

-Steve

Your Man in Tights and on a Hill

Hi All!

I'm back at the internet cafe uploading some pics and vids before I drown myself further in alcoholic drink (yup, I went to the Giant's Causeway today and the Bushmills Distillery...hiccup).

Here's a shot of yours truly all dressed up for a day on the waves...I know...not leavin' much to the ol' imagination. Look away, mom!

Don't worry everyone, that isn't me bailing out on the lip of that sweet mid-sized beach break. It's some little kid I saw tearing it up while I was up on the cliff taking pictures of the surfing. This is the beach where I was surfing though. If you look closely you can see an area more dense with people, that's the surfing class that followed mine.

Here's a shot of the Slieve League posse, plus Brendan, a pretty chilled-out guy from the Aran Islands. Oh yeah, I haven't shrunken or anything, I'm crouching a bit so not to block anyone's faces with my broad, he-man like shoulders.

Here are some shots of our ascent to the foggy summit of the mountains...Dudes in the Mist!

And here's a video made to terrify all those afraid of heights (sorry to do this to you again, mom) and people that make sheep noises.





Well those were the days back in County Donegal. Check out the next post for shots of Derry and the Causeway...

Cheerio!

love Stevie

From the beautiful South-West to the tragi-comedy of the North

Oh what a bad blogger I've been! Apologies, I haven't been anywhere near any decent internet cafes until now.

I'm now in Belfast, the last stage of my trans-Ireland journey before I head back to Dublin, then home.

The second, and last, day of surfing in Bundoran rocked the hiz-ouse! Evidently, I was born to to surf. On my second day out not only was I cruising all over the beach but the instructor was coaching me on how to ride out the wave all the way to the shore to look extra pro. Alright, I wasn't riding 20ft waves or anything, nor was I doing any tricks, but some of the other people in the class came up to me later to ask, "alright, you're not a beginner like us, right? I mean, this isn't your first day surfing?" To this I responded, in the relaxed, ego-less way that us surfers respond to praise, with, "Oh naw...Yesterday was." Haha! We had two really beautiful sunny days out there.

The following 2 nights I spent out at a little hostel in Derrylahan, at the feet of Slieve League, a 600m coastal mountain range in South-Western Donegal. Just as I was about to hop on the bus with my bike to Derrylahan from Donegal town I decided that it would be nice enough to cycle the way there. The weather was great but shite was it a difficult ride: the road there was as hilly as the last 100 km to Quebec city from Montreal, which I've done but back then I was in better shape (GUINNESS FOR STRENGHT!) . I made it though I was destroyed by the time I arrived there at 7pm. The hostel probably has the best view of any hostel I ever seen. It looks out onto the mountains to the West and Donegal bay and then the ocean to the South - Awesome!

At the hostel that night, over a body and soul restoring cup of tea, ~I met who would become my travel companions for the next couple days: Gabrielle and Catherine from Germany, and Florent from France. Immediately, we hit it off telling eachother wacky stories of our adventures, odd facts about our home countries and zanny habits of the Irish that we've observed and enjoyed. As a bonus, G and C had rented a car and so even though the wind blew and the rain sprayed, we were still able to get out to the mountains without dying from pnemonia. But don't think that we drove through these mountains like some retirees (no offence retirees), looking out onto the awe-inspiring sights in between naps. Oh no! We parked the car about a km from the mountain path and hiked all the way up. The wind was so powerful up there that we were nearly blown clear off into the ocean - it was so cool!

Last night I stayed in Derry and today I walked around bogside where the tragic events of Bloody Sunday took place. I visited the morose museum of Free Derry where, in the surrounding area, many people lost their lives while peacefully rallying for civil rights.

Eep! Sorry everyone but this post is gonna be cut off a bit abruptly. I was just told that this cafe is closing now! Argh! Anywho, I'll try to upload some pictures and videos tomorrow.

I'll just add realy quick that the reason I wrote tragi-comedy is that though the events of the pass were indeed awful, the people of Derry were the warmest, friendliest people I've met so far and some degree of peace has indeed been found here.

Bye for now all !

Love Steve

I think I'll have 2 days in Donegal and 2 days surfing please...and hold the ketchup

Hey Peeps!!

So I spent two days in the motherland, Donegal or Dun na nGall (fort of the stranger, on account of it being built on a Viking settlement). Here, everyone's heard of the O'Donnells who were great chieftains of the territory between 1200-1600. The castle, near the middle of town was originally built in 1474 by Red Hugh O'Donnell for his family. Subsequent wars with the English resulted in his decendents fleeing in what many ruefully recall as the "Flight of the Earls." But before they left, they friggin' torched the thing so no English could enjoy their family's home. You see, even back then we had trouble with Kings (Doug, Arleen and that lovely spinster) as landlords, HaHA!

That night I was sitting just outside my hostel finishing up some dinner when I noticed some guys playing Hurling at the park across the road. So, I made myself a nice tea and strolled over to watch them. As you may remember from a previous post, I played a little back in the Aran Islands and fell in love with the sport. After a few minutes one of the guys, on his way to retrieve a lost ball asked me where I was from and if I played. I told him I was from Montreal, that I didn't really play but would love to try it out. The next minute I was out on the pitch with the guys knocking the ball at the keeper some yards away. Hurling is the number one tension relieving sport ever!

I spent the following day cycling around Lough Eske, which is a picturesque glacial lake just outside of Donegal town. It was a beautiful day with only a couple 'mistings.' I met a pretty cool couple traveling around in a RV. Over some much welcomed tea Martin and Jill told me how they have been living in Northern Ireland for years though originally from England. They fell in love with the place and so come to this lake once a year just to chill out. Martin is also an avid surfer and claims to be one of the pioneers of Irish surfing. I told him that I was going to Bundoran in a couple days. He said the place has some nice waves - he was right.

I arrived in Bundoran this afternoon and soon found my hostel. When I entered, I immediately felt chilled out - it really is designed to accommodate surfers: the sofas are covered in ultra-soft cushions, there are posters of surfers nonchalantly cruising enormous waves, and there's an x-box. Strangely though, not many people seem to be staying at the hostel so I pretty much had it to myself for the morning.

At around 2, I was called outside to get geared up for some surfing. Along with about 10 others, I stretched a skin-tight (yowza!) wet suit on and clambered onto a mini-tour bus to shuttle us over to the beach. I was chuckling with some of the guys because it was discovered that all of us were thinking we looked like Batman in our suits. My jaw dropped when I saw the beach we were to surf at. I had been surfing once before (we all remember that right Matt, T-Dot, Ted, Em?) in Halifax but we weren't too lucky with the waves. Here, the waves come rolling in from two angles and some of them are an awesome 10 -12ft high which isn't huge for some but I've never swam around waves that high. Kyle, our kiwi instructor, showed us some moves on the shore and then led us into the water. It was a little tricky at first but, after getting smashed and rolled around a bit by the powerful waves of salt-water (blech!), we began to get the hang of it. More and more of us newbies actually started being able to ride our boards to the shore standing. I think my joyful 'YAHOO' was the loudest by a long shot my first time riding the wave upright. My cry of 'OH SHIT' was definitely the loudest when I was tossed off my board by a monster of a wave and then rolled and pummeled around under water.

It was an awesome day and I have more surfing to look forward to tomorrow morning - sweet!

Take it easy all,

See you soon!

-Steve-o

I made out with Blarney's Stone today...

Alright, so I'm breaking a personal posting record today because tomorrow I'll be in Donegal and probably won't find a cheap internet point like this one there.

So, today I took the bus from Cork and trucked my butt over to the Blarney Castle with puckered lips and made out with the Blarney Stone. And I'm not kiddin' when I write 'made-out' - I chose my words (somewhat) carefully. Here's what went down...

Throughout the Blarney grounds and castle, there are many boards displaying factoids and quotes relating to the famous Blarney Stone. Some of them refer to famous people 'kissing' the stone while some of them, and I had never heard of this before, refered to people 'licking' the stone. I know what you're thinking, or hoping - Steve didn't...lick the stone did he?! Well, not exactly. I wondered, while preparing to be held upside down by my ankles, which was the best thing to do? Kiss the stone like everyone else or lick it like Lord Byron did? As the disgruntled man bellowed - WHO'S NEXT? - I sat, leaned back, and gave the stone a slightly restrained, somewhat nervous, french kiss (not unlike the first one I gave when I was 15). I can't believe I'm posting this for all to read but honestly, I'm kind of proud. I mean, thousands and thousands can say they've kissed the stone but can anyone (except me) boast that they French Kissed the stone?!! HAHA!

Here's a picture of your man in action:

Here's a view of the stone from ground level (yes you're dangling upside-down that far from the ground):

Here's the view if you look down before kissing the stone:

And now for something completely serious... Across Ireland, but mainly at the largest tourist attractions, hundreds of children are forced to play music, by their parents and government, for passersby. They are terribly unhappy and are fed absolutely nothing all day nor are they allowed to stop playing to use the toilet. Grouchy old people, with charming accents, closely supervise these child-workers with Shillaleighs in case they play a single wrong note. Here's a picture I took of some the these poor slaves of Erin:

HAHAHA! Really, these kids do sit around and play music at these sites all day but they make quite a good chunk of change out of it. They are paid daily by the Irish Tourist Board and they're allowed to keep whatever tourists give them. I told these girls that I was gonna make a joke out of it all on my blog, they were great sports.

Well I'm off to Donegal Town, County Donegal, tomorrow. And then...guess what...

I'm going surfing for two days in Bundoran, Co. Donegal!! I can't wait! I get two days of lessons at this spot that's famous as having some of the best waves in Europe. Cowabunga Dudes!!

Love y'all and miss you 2

-Steve

Pics and Vids to amp up the last post...

Hi everyone, So I bought some new batteries and a fresh memory card for the ol' camera so I can keep snappin' shots and taking funny videos (I think they're funny). Here are the shots of my day trip on the Ring of Kerry: Here's Thomas, the man with the animals. I'd also like to mention that next to him was sitting a man playing away heartily on an accordion. God knows that that poor man must've put in countless hours perfecting his accordion-playing skills while this guys just strolls in with some baby animals and a cat in a bucket and makes the same, if not more, money! Hahaha! These two are actually from my stroll through Killarney Natiional Park. The Leprecaun's and Faeries said I couldn't pick them but I could take a picture if I liked: Ross Castle!! And finally...Voila! Here's the video I was so excited to share with you all last time: I'm so glad it worked! Perfect!

Steve hits Ireland below the belt after a fffllurryy to the solar plexus!

Heeellllooo everyone!!

First of all, here's a video I took while at Dun Angus on the Aran islands that I never posted until now because the internet was slower than molasses in winter. So here it is but with a warning: this video is not for the faint of heart and those afraid of heights. It's a roller-coaster of a video and the person who shot it, me, risked his own life shooting it.

Ohhh crapper! My camera just ran out of batteries as I was uploading the video and preparing some pictures to post up here. No matter though, I'll use the power of words to describe what I saw and what I've been up to that last couple days.

Well, I believe I left off telling you all I was headed to Killarney (Cill Arney). Killarney is gorgeous. The city centre is made up of three streets that meet in an odd, and somewhat confusing way. But they are lined with colourful shopfronts and buildings that reminded me of the old part of Quebec. Looking to the West, you'll find yourself in awe as the beautiful Tomies, Shehehy and Purple mountains sit majestically in the distance; watching with quiet immovable solemnity (is this dramatic enough for y'all? Haha!).

I had a great time on a bus tour of the Ring of Kerry. I met this cool girl on the bus who was wearing the same bag and black rain coat as I was (no joke). Not surprisingly, we were both Canadian. the Iveragh Peninsula (where the Ring is) is a land made up of a geographically extreme landscape: there are grassy mountains (complete with herds of sheep being chased about by Shepherd dogs) with wild streams coursing down the sides to the nearby bays which feed into the Atlantic ocean and to you guys back in Canada, I suppose? :)

At this one junction, where we all stood around to take in the view of Ballinsgskelligs Bay, I noticed a crowd gathering around what looked like a man aspleep next to a van. But when I got a bit closer I saw that he was displaying, sleepily, a lamb, a baby deer, and a cat, in a bucket. Thomas was his name and the instant I sat down beside him to ask if it was, in fact, a deer he had he thrust it in my arms and said, DEER LIKE TO BE RUBBED, RUB THIS DEER! My friend Jenna took a brilliant picture of us just as it happened. I think it's so far my favourite picture I have of my trip so far. That night Jenna, Isabelle and I went out for drinks and a little trad(itional) music. It was great. My throat was feeling a little sore so I opted for Whiskey, Jameson's Whiskey! Awesome!

The following day, I leisurely walked through Killarney National Park - spect-friggin'-tacular! Alot of it I spent strolling through dense forest reading about Irish myths and legends, half expecting to see a little face peeking around a tree holding a bowl of marshmellowy cereal or something. I paid a little visit to Ross Castle before I started back and treated myself to a 35 minute tour of the 14th centruy castle, once owned by the O'Donoghue clan. It's been restored to look, as closely as possible, as it did back when. They even went so far as tofill it with period furniture. the toru guide really knew her stuff and was obviously excited about it. She told us all about the tricks and traps of the castle and what life was like during the times when it was in use.

Well, I promise to post the pictures as soon as I buy more batteries. I'm in Cork now, by the way. More on that later...

See you all soon!

Love Steve