Blarney Castle

Today we took a famous (infamous?) Paddywagon Tour! We got up bright and early and ventured to the pick up location where we enjoyed some donuts we picked up last night for breakfast. Then all aboard the wagon and off we drove -- towards the Rock of Cashel. (Note: if you ask CJ what we saw along the way, he will tell you about green pastures and herds of sheep. I slept ... but I was well rested when we arrived!!) 

According to mythology, the Rock of Cashel (sometimes calledSt. Patrick's Rock) is said to have originated from "the Devil's Bit", a cave in a nearby mountain from where St. Patrick banished the devil, causing the rock to land on the hilltop in Cashel where it is today. Legend says that it was there that St. Patrick converted the king of Munster in the fifth century. For hundreds of years, the Rock of Cashel was the seat of the kings of Munster until I'm 1101 the current king donated the site to the Catholic Church -- though it didn't stay in the church's position for too long; though while in the hands of the church, a cathedral was added to the site as well as a tall round tower. Today, the castle and cathedral are in ruins; but the view from the top is expansive, even on a dreary rainy day like today!  

Next we went to Cork, a city along the Lee River second only to Dublin in size. We were really only there to get lunch, so we stopped at a burger place called "Sun of a Bun" and had what our tour guide promised would be the best burger we would ever eat (it was definitely up there in my top three burgers). 

And finally we arrived at the main event: the Blarney Castle!! Would it have been better if most of the grounds weren't under construction and thus blocked from visitors? Yes. Would it have been better if the downpour had stopped for just a moment while we explored the roofless castle? Sure. But did we channel our inner ducks, have fun despite the rain, and enjoy our hot chocolate that much more? Why yes we did!! As told to us by our tour guide, the Blarney castle has been rebuilt three times: once from wood in the tenth century, again in the 1200's from stone that crumbled, and a last time in the 1400's resulting in the structure we see today (sounds a little "three little pigs" ish to me ...) Skip forward in time a bit and the castle now belonged to Cormac MacCarthy, a lord in the region. During an uprising, he allowed the rebels to use his land and even supplies them with armor, guns, and horses; this did not set well with the queen whose armies were killed by the rebels, and so she planned to take away all from Cormac that he valued: his land, his title, his money, his possessions, and lastly, his head. (Yikes. Don't anger the queen ...) But first Cormac had to appear before the court to have his case heard. No lawyer would defend him because it would offend the queen (which we have already established is a deadly mistake), so it was up to Cormac to plead his own case. The problem? Cormac couldn't speak in public. As his court date drew near, he prayed and prayed for a solution to his problem; a Celtic goddess appeared to Cormac and told him on his way to court to find the flattest, widest stone he could find and kiss it before he arrived. A little apprehensive, he did what she said. Long story short, he spoke so eloquently about his innocence that he was forgiven of his crime and left with no charges. He dug up the stone and placed it within the wall of his castle where today thousands of visitors bend over backwards (literally) to kiss the stone and obtain the gift of gab. 

After venturing through the castle and walking through the soggy grounds, we made our way to a coffee shop to have hot chocolate and a sweet snack before getting back on the bus and heading back to Dublin. 

In Dublin, we grabbed a quick Donor Kabab for dinner and returned to the hotel to warm up and plan for tomorrow. Here are a few pictures from today: 

Look at that donut selection!! 

My jelly donut -- "lots of jam"

Rock of Cashel

A view from inside, facing what used to be stained glass windows. 

A view of the round tower from inside the cathedral. 

A sarcophagus that also serves as an alter -- how very multifunctional. 

Cork!! 

I didn't get a picture of our burgers at Sun of a Bun, but I did get a picture of our fried pickles!! 

Blarnet Castle!! 

Steeeeeeeeep stairs. And narrow. And wet. We really risked our lives for the chance to kiss the stone! (Not really -- we were very safe the whole time, mom ...)

CJ at the top! 

He's kissing the stone!! 

I'm kissing the stone!! 

A view of the grounds from the top of the castle. 

We are huddled in the fireplace in the family room of the castle -- aka the only dry spot in the castle. 

Looking down into the family room from the dining / banquet room. 

Mmmmmmm -- hot chocolate and a merengue cookie. 

And now we are warm and dry and settled in for the night. More fun to come tomorrow!! 

Dublin

Today was jammed packed with exploration -- one church, two cathedrals, a love lock bridge, lots of walking, lunch at a pub, the Guinness Storehouse, and live music with dinner. Phew. I'm tired just recalling it all!! 

We started off the morning with breakfast at the hotel; nothing fancy, just toast and cereal and fruit and coffee and juice. We then tested our map skills and set off to find St. Mary's Cathedral. St. Mary's was a simple parish still in operation; in fact, I recognized it from the last time I was in Dublin -- I believe Tara and Alycia and I attended mass here. After a few moments in St. Mary's, we walked along the River Liffey towards Christ Church Cathedral. As we walked along the river we encountered bridge after bridge until we spotted the bridge we were most interested in: the Ha'Penny Bridge; built in 1816, it not only serves as a pathway from one side of Dublin to the other but as a host to a multitude of love locks. What kind of adventure would this be if we did not place a Love lock of our own on the bridge?! Not unplanned, we came prepared and placed our one year anniversary love lock on the bridge and threw the key into the river below, symbolizing that our love is eternal. (For those of you counting, that would be three years, three countries, three love locks <3 ) A bit of a walk further found is at the entrance to Christ Church Cathedral. 

Built in 1030, Christ Church Cathedral was large and ornate complete with side chapels, a "lady chapel", and a crypt. Though at one time this operated as a Catholic Church, it now is of the denomination of the Church of Ireland. CJ and I decided to "self guide" our way through the cathedral, which was a nice way to explore; there were helpful handouts that provided short explanations of particular areas including the musicians corner (the choir of Christ Church Cathedral was the first to ever perform Handel's Messiah in 1742), Strongbow's tomb (it was tradition for businessmen to sign paperwork or perform verbal agreements at the site of the tomb), and the baptistery complete with candles and font. The crypt was creepy and expansive, but the rest of the church was enjoyable. Though this church still functions as a place of worship for many, it seems strange (to me) to have such secular things such as tombs of prominent citizens and tribute statues to politicians, inside a church. Without a candle glowing above the tabernacle, the place loses that "sacred" feel. That doesn't take away from the immense history and age one feels when standing in such a place -- to think how many millions of people have stood inside the cathedral walls over the past 1000 years is awe inspiring. After escaping the creepy crypt, we made our way to St. Patrick's Cathedral. 

If you think St. Patrick's Cathedral would be a Catholic Church, you would think wrong. Though it has functioned as a Catholic Church at times throughout its history, it is primary an Anglican Church (belonging to the Church of Ireland). King James II returned it to a Catholic Church for a bit in the 1680s, but it was a short run and has been Anglican ever since. When we arrived at St. Patrick's Cathedral, the greeter informed us that a tour group was just beginning and that it was free (ahem, included in the price of our admission ticket), so we joined the group and enjoyed the history lesson. According to our tour guide, legend said that just outside the cathedral is the site where St. Patrick baptized the Christian converts over a thousand years ago after his escape from servitude and return to Ireland as a missionary, that a spring bubbled forth and it was there that under his influence the pagans became christians. The tour guide said that many tales surrounding St. Patrick are tied up in a mixture of legend and fact; HOWEVER, in 1901, when doing repairs to the cathedral foundation, thirteen identical stones were buried deep below the ground, one of which had an inscription identifying it as belonging to St. Patrick -- and when it was removed, the entrance to a well was discovered there. Again, this church was filled with history and interesting artifacts, but it did not feel like a place to contemplate and offer a prayer. One of the church's largest "claims to fame" is that Johnathon Swift (author of Gulliver's Travels and A Modest Proposal -- amongst many writings) was the church's dean for over thirty years up until his death. Two of my favorite artifacts in the church were the "reconciliation door" and the "fading flags". 

Two Irish families, the Butlers and the Fitzgeralds, were feuding; and not just a little argument, but swords and armies ... a LARGE disagreement. The Butlers were losing and ran to take sanctuary within the cathedral, closely chased by the Fitzgeralds. Trapped behind the door to the chapter room, the Butlers refused to come out despite the desire for peace stated by the Fitzgeralds; so Gerald Fitzgerald took an axe, hacked a hole in the door, and stuck his hand inside as a sign of peace. Luckily, the Butlers shook his hand (rather than chopping it off) and thus the Irish expression "to chance your arm" was born. The door, dubbed the reconciliation door, hangs in the cathedral, as do the "fading flags". There is a saying that soldiers do not die, they simply fade away; hanging within the Cathedral are dozens of flags that belonged to different Irish regiments that are no more, fading and rotting away. They hang just below a beautiful stained glass window of The Tree of Life. Another interesting tidbit about the Cathedral is that when it had fallen into disrepair and needed restoration, it was the Guinness family (in particular Benjamin Lee Guinness) that stood up and donated all that was needed (over 150,000 euro -- a lot at the time. He wanted no special statue or monument within the cathedral; the only tributes to the Guinness family were a stained glass window (though it does not mention the Guinness name; only those who know the woman in the glass know who it depicts) and an occasional floor tile depicting a boar, the Guinness family "animal" that appears on their family crest. 

Next we ventured towards the Guinness Storehouse, but first stopped for lunch at a pub along the way. Fish and chips and Guinness stew was on the menu for us, then back out to find our final landmark for the day. Upon arriving to St. James' Gate Brewery, we purchased our tickets and gathered for a short introduction. Arthur Guinness, founder of the brewery, signed a lease for the land on which he built his empire in 1759 at a rate of 47 pounds for the next NINE THOUSAND YEARS. (Looks like Guinness will be around longer into the future than civilization dates into the past ...) Incredible. We toured floor after floor of exhibits on brewing Guinness and ingredients and advertising; we entered the tasting rooms where we learned to use all five senses to get the most out of our Guinness; we learned how to pour the perfect Guinness; and we enjoyed a pint at the top of the Storehouse: the Gravity Bar with a 360 degree view of Dublin (well, perhaps on a day where it isn't so foggy ...). The Storehouse was definitely a highlight of the day! 

And finally, we made our way back to our hotel (utilizing the bus -- it was getting chilly and I left my coat behind at the hotel this morning). A cat nap later and we were back out in search of dinner. We heard the pub before we saw it -- Irish music leaking out the doors and windows. We went in and grabbed a table and enjoyed both our dinner and our dinner music! We also met an ex pat of the U.K. currently living in New York; but thanks to Brexit and his overseas work (and his mother's nationality), he has secured an Irish passport and thought he'd explore Dublin for a few days on his way to visit his father in the United Kingdom. 

A quick stop for gelato, and we are back at our hotel -- exhausted, full, and ready for tomorrow's adventures. Here are some pictures from today: 

Breakfast map reading ...

Ha'Penny (love lock) Bridge

Our love lock!! 

First selfie of the trip!! 

Christ Church Cathedral

Facing the main alter

Such beautiful tile floors!!! 

Bear ye one another's burdens 

My favorite statue in the "lady chapel" 

Creepy crypt!!! 

The tabernacle and challace used by King James II during the last catholic mass said at the cathedral. 

St. Patrick's cathedral 

The stone that covered St. Patrick's well. 

the reconciliation door 

The Guinness family boar tiles

the fading flags 

Outside of St. James's Gate !!! 

gorgeous wood carvings 

CJ in the tasting room ... 

... and pouring the perfect pint. 

Selfie at the Gravity Bar !!! 

I loooooved all the advertisements! 

Our dinner spot -- great music!! 

Annnnnnnnd gelato. Yum. 

More adventures to come tomorrow! 

Good night. 

Travel Day

Today was a veerrrrrrrryyyyy long travel day -- we left home at 7am on Tuesday and arrived in Ireland a little under 24 hours later. Note: it does not actually take that long to get to Dublin. We had a TEN HOUR layover in Canada; I didn't notice that when I booked the tickets (perhaps part of the reason the flight was as inexpensive as it was). Then once we got on the plane, we sat for an additional hour while they fixed the computer system that had crashed (I guess as long as it is the computers crashing and not the plane crashing ...). The flight was about seven hours long and was pretty uneventful -- and then came the line for passport checks. Oh. My. Goodness. We stood in line for another THREE HOURS waiting to be cleared to enter Ireland. While in line we visited with the Canadian Curling Team who was headed to Scotland for a tournament -- very nice gentlemen who were just as eager to get out of the passport line as we were. And finally, after moving one step every five minutes all the way to the counter, we got our passports stamped and were officially on vacation!!  

We caught a bus from the airport to city center and then walked a few blocks to our hotel. That's right, I said hotel. Though I have lived the hostel life for many years and am forever grateful to hostels for their cheap accommodations that enabled my ability to travel, I decided that this trip's lodging would be a little more comfortable and a little less crowded -- look forward to seeing our unique sleeping spaces as the trip progresses!! (You didn't think I booked us at Holiday Inn's, did you?!) For tonight, we are staying at Temple Bar Inn. We thought we would be way earlier than our check in time of three o'clock since our plane originally was supposed to arrive in Dublin at ten, but thanks to our delays we were just on time to check into our room. Originally I had thought that we would drop our bags and head back out for lunch and maybe a walking tour ... but we were exhausted!! So instead we dropped our bags and took a nap and planned out what we want to visit tomorrow. 

After our snooze we wandered around the Temple Bar district in search of somewhere to have dinner; we settled on Quays Irish Restaurant. After filling our bellies with delicious Irish food (I always forget how much I love Irish food until I'm looking at the menu!!) we walked back to our hotel and are now settling in and finalizing our plans for the rest of the week. Some of you may not know, but this trip was a surprise Christmas gift for CJ -- he has always told me that Ireland is on his travel bucket list, so back in August I decided that a trip to Ireland would be the perfect Christmas gift. I booked the plane tickets and where we are staying (including a few days of hiking ... because I'm selfish and couldn't resist ...) but everything else we do -- tours, museums, restaurants, site seeing, etc -- is up to CJ. I'll be just as surprised by the itinerary each day as you are! ha 

Here are a few (and I mean very few) pictures from today: 

Entrance to temple bar inn 

The lobby -- a little fancier than we are used to! 

That would be a free coffee station at the far end; CJ is in love! 

The first of many Irish beers : )

Food!!! CJ's fish and chips ... 

... and my bangers and mash. 

Now we are back at the hotel getting our ducks in a row for tomorrow and picking out a movie to watch. Tomorrow, let's hope for better adventures than airport shenanigans !!! 

Faro

Finesterre, literally translated as finis terrae, means Lands-End, or End of the World; that is precisely where CJ and I marched this morning. I'm not sure why all the best things require long climbs, but I suppose if these journeys were easier the sense of accomplishment at the end wouldn't be so great. So as many of our mornings do, we started our walk up up up along the coast and out onto the cliffs until we found ourselves on a secluded cliff peninsula jutted out into the ocean, standing under the shadow of the lighthouse. We had arrived at Faro de Finisterre, the 0,0 kilometer marker, the end of the world. 

Three years ago I had not known that the way continued to the coast, and I had not left myself enough time to complete the journey. Last year, again time got in the way, and we did not reach the coast. But this time; this time it was happening. This time we were trekking to Finisterre, to the end of the trail. 

On one hand, it felt like closure, like the completion to the journey I started all those years ago; as my life changes and I continue to grow, my life has become the pilgrimage -- I know that whether I'm walking the Camino in Spain with my backpack or the sidewalks in my neighborhood with Bernie, it's all about the journey, the experiences, and the opening of my heart to God's will and my feet to God's path. 

And on the other hand, I felt a little like Forest Gump after he decided to stop running: time to turn around and walk back home. And that's exactly what we did. 

CJ and I arrived at the lighthouse early enough to have the whole place to ourselves for a while -- free of other pilgrims, free of souvenir booths and music and tourists; just us and the peaceful present and the immense sense of history shared by pilgrims of the past. How many hundreds of thousands of pilgrims (if not millions) have walked the paths I have walked to stand in the very spot that I stood and look out over the ocean crashing into the rocky coast below. It is tradition to burn your boots when you arrive at the end, another symbol of cleansing and leaving behind your old self (much like the act of swimming in the Atlantic). CJ and I were adamantly anti boot burning ... so we skipped that tradition. When we had our fill (and as other pilgrims began to appear and vendors began to set up shop ...), we turned around and walked back the way we had came -- there is nowhere else to walk; we reached the end of the earth. Here are a few photos: 

We put our trust in the Lord -- and the signs He puts in our path. 

Views like this make morning hill climbing worth every step. 

Pilgrim statue on the way up. 

Selfies at the end of the world. 

There it is: faro y 0,0 kilometers. We did it. 

Breathtaking. 

Bronze boot overlooking the end of the world. 

Let peace prevail in the world. 😍✌🏾💚

Con mi amante. ❤

After we made our way back into town, we took a bus back to Santiago then walked from the bus station into the town, checked in at our albergue, did some laundry (you're welcome, fellow plane riders) and went out to do a little shopping, a little dining, and a little reflecting at the foot of the cathedral. 

And now, we are back at our albergue, getting ready for bed before a day of travel tomorrow (that starts with our ride to the airport at 4:30 am). 

Buen Camino.