Happy Birthday Papa!

It's the first year in the last 23 that I won't be there in person to celebrate my papa's birthday, so I wanted to do something special. I screened about 30 different e-cards before I came to realize that none of them were special and personal enough for him! And then it hit me... the least you deserve, papa, is a spot in my blog so my friends and family reading this can know what a great dad you really are, so here it goes:

My papa Rico

We call him 'papa' (in french) because it sets him apart from all the other 'dads' in the English-speaking world.

He's really smart!

He's a great teacher simply because he's so patient and good at describing things;

He taught me how to tie my shoes, how to ride a bike, and even how to change the oil in the car. 

He's very meticulous - when thinking of purchasing anything, he ALWAYS, without fail does an extensive amount of research, reading customer reviews and screening prices, to find the best deal and quality one can get before making a move.

Papa's beautiful hanging baskets

He appreciates the little things - watching and listening to the birds chirp in the Spring, walking on the river in the middle of the cold winter just to listen to the wind.
He a hopeless romantic - he'll sit down and watch Sissi (the girliest movie you can imagine) with me any day!
He's a Pisces, and I'm an Aries, so we butt heads ALL THE TIME and I wouldn't have it any other way.
He's an amazing cook! (missing that home-cooking right now for sure!)
He inherited his mother's love for gardening because gosh do we have beautiful flowers around our place all the time.

I could go on for quite a while, but I think you know how much I love you 'Pa, so I'll just finish by saying this:

Happy Champagne-Year Birthday!

P.S. I know how much you love your Family Guy, so I dug up this little gem! Hope you like it! xoxoxo

Newgrange (Sí an Bhrú)

Last weekend, I went to Newgrange in County Meath with Judith, Sam, and David (who I met in 

David, Me, Judith, Sam behind the entrance stone.

Paris a few weeks back). It is a megalithic passage tomb which is part of the Brú na Bóinne complex (includes 2 other mounds: Knowth and Dowth) and built around the year 3000 BC by native sedentary agricultural peoples over an estimated 30 years.

A study of its architectural layout, led by archaeologist M.J. O'Kelly, discovered     that     a     number     of

Reconstruction of Native camp

intricacies exist in the construction method, which included things such as 'air-ducts'. None of the giant stones used to create the monument were quarried and thus, most of the them are believed to have been carried many kilometers to reach the location they are in now, which is quite a feat considering this monument has been deemed to be 500 years older than the Great Pyramids, and up to 1000 years older than Stonehenge! The stones have all been lain to create an inner passageway in the shape of a cross, which stretches 20 meters, and rises up by a total of 2 meters, from the entrance stone.

Sketch of the inner passage

Triskele motif

We were told that the roof of the large central chamber is called a corbelled vault, which means that each overlying row of stones is slightly offset to project further in towards the center until the remaining space is small enough to cap with a flat stone. In this monument, there is no mortar and smaller stones were used to wedge the larger ones into place. Another special element included in the clever design is the fact that the stones forming the roof were placed at a bit of an angle (higher end in towards the center of the chamber) such that all moisture percolating through the soil overlaying them would be drawn out towards the edges of the mound, leaving the inside of the monument nice and dry... at least from an Irish climactic standpoint. Overall, the true purpose of the monument, and the intricate carvings that have been found around and within it, are anyone's guess, but one element is certain, and people are said to come from all around the world to  witness this phenomenon.

The entrance to the inner passage is placed at the south-eastern side of the monument and contains what is called a roof box, or hole just above the door. As a result of the gently upwards slope of the inner passage and the precise positioning of the door, a few days a year, around the Winter Solstice, the rising sun shines directly into the central chamber and illuminates the floor for about 17 minutes! Professor O'Kelly was the first person in modern times to witness the event back in 1967, and concluded that this phenomena was certainly not a coincidence. Nowadays, people come from all over the world to attempt to see this event first hand, but the guide said it is more of a gamble than anything else as, most days, the sun is not even visible, which comes as no surprise given that we are in Ireland! Suffice to say, we are nowhere near the Winter Solstice and so we did not get to witness it, but the tour guide did turn off the lights and skillfully simulate what the rising sun looks like when it shines onto the inner chamber floor with a flashlight! It was no rising sun, but it was still fairly magical!

Newgrange  is  quite  an  interesting  monument  to  visit  and  certainly  gave  us  a  striking  view of the Irish countryside. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the passage chamber, so if you want to experience the  'rising sun'  entering  Newgrange, you'll simply have to make your way  over  to  Ireland  and I  certainly recommend it!

Taking a stroll around the mound

Irish Step Dancing

I am doing research for one of my papers... which has absolutely NOTHING to do with Step Dancing. ☺
But actually, I'm trying to get into the St-Patrick's Day Spirit!

Leprechauns, Fairies and Giants

During one of our first explorations of the Dublin City Center, we happened to stumble upon a little gem, which we promised ourselves we would go back and visit once we got settled into our apartment and school life... This was, if you haven't guessed already, the National Leprechaun Museum! As one might expect, it's a bit of a money grab (€ 8.30) for tourists as I'm assuming the cost of putting such a place together can't have been that high, but it is definitely worth seeing in that it brings out your inner child and provides a bit of insight into the myth & legend character of Irish Culture.

Myself, Sam, Alex, Tra, and Judith
hanging out with a leprechaun

So this is how, on a partly cloudy/sunny/rainy/hailing Sunday (typical Irish weather), Judith, Tra, Alex, Samuel (from Quebec City) and myself, found ourselves standing at the entrance to the museum, impatiently waiting for the tour to start! Our guide finally popped out from behind a hidden door... and no, she was NOT  a leprechaun... and began with a brief introduction, during which we learnt that leprechauns (for those of you who don't know) are an integral element in Irish folklore, as part of the Tuatha Dé Dannan, or people of the goddess Danu. They are 3x smaller than humans, have long beards and are usually clad in green. They are also know to be mischievous creatures and incapable of telling lies. Leprechauns spend all their time making shoes for the fairies, who pay them in gold coins, which they store away in a pot hidden at the end of the rainbow. It is said that if you catch a leprechaun, you'd better hold on tight and not look away for even one second or he will vanish, along with his pot of gold. A captive leprechaun will usually grant you three wishes to gain his freedom, but as they are cunning creatures, they almost always manage to grant wishes in ways that don't quite generate the expected rewards.

Causeway Stones

To all of this was the added fact that humans are 3x smaller than giants, which explains why the first major stop in the tour is a giant's room, via the Giant's Causeway. So we followed the tour guide through a magical corridor that shrunk us down as we walked along it in order to come out at the other end and walk through some of the hexagonal replicates of the Giant's Causeway.

After crawling through every crevice and up onto every rock we could find, we found ourselves facing a dead-end wall. To our great surprise, we discovered that we had actually been exploring the inside of a giant's cupboard and were now venturing out into the dinning/living room. Luckily, the giant wasn't home, so we were free to climb up onto all his furniture and feel like little leprechauns would in a human house!  

Chilling on the Giant's couch!

Rainbow Walk

We then ventured through the fireplace and subsequently through the rain to be able to walk over the rainbow and look for the pot of gold at the end. We turned out to be lucky that day as a leprechaun agreed to let us gaze on in awe at his pot of gold for a bit and, try as we might, we could not reach far enough to grab a gold coin as a memento.

Reaching for the pot of gold!

Throughout our tour, we also learnt about fairies and fairy trees. The latter serve as links between the underground fairy and above-ground human realms and should not be disturbed or even approached as fairies are known to dislike humans and harm them at times. Apparently, there aren't enough males in the underground realm, which explains the Irish practice which consists of dressing little boys in girl's clothes to prevent them from being stolen by the malevolent fairies. 

From left to right: Alex's, Tra's, Mine, Sam's,
and Judith's drawings

At the end of our adventure, we were allowed to draw a picture and leave our mark at the leprechaun museum and, being the kids at heart that we are, we all spent a good 20 minutes with coloring pencils, working arduously to make the best drawing possible. All in all, quite a fun adventure. And from this, we learnt an important lesson that will certainly come in handy with St-Patrick's Day looming:

If you ever spot a leprechaun, you may be better off to pass him by without taking notice as you can end up in more trouble than it's worth if you decide to pursue him!

We're all wee leprechauns now! : )

Paris je t'aime ♥

Note: to fully enjoy this post, I suggest you hold down the Ctrl key + click on this link and let the music play in the background! ♫♪

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiiOC2HmBd4&list=PL484283F09A87717B&feature=plpp_play_all

Amila and I, Paris 2010

Around the same time I arrived in Ireland, I found out that my friend James, from CEGEP, who has been working as a volunteer on various farms in France for the last 6 months, would be in Paris for a few days to before catching his connecting flight back to Canada at the end of February. I know what you're thinking... how does a trip to Paris work into Irish Shenanigans?!? Well to those outraged by this concept, I would like for you to consider that, after a month in Ireland, perhaps the title could refer to the mischief I get into while I am unofficially Irish. Especially since I now have my student immigration card! ☺

Also, Amila and I spent a mere 5 hours there back in 2010 during a long layover on our way to Italy and only managed to conquer the Mona Lisa wing of the Louvre, which means that I considered Paris and I to have some unfinished business! And thus, the expensive plane ticket (as we are in the midst of 6 Nations' season) and skipping classes on Monday and possibly even Tuesday were not going to keep me from flying to the city of love ♥. I packed my bags and, after some minor hiccups, wound up at the St Christopher's Hostel in the North-East end of the City Center late in the afternoon on Saturday, February 25th.

Naturally, having been up since 4:30am, I was quite tired, but I was armed with my need to make every waking hour of the trip worthwhile, and thus after throwing my bag under my bunk, I set out on my own right away to discover the city at night... and what marvelous sights it did offer! I started at the Louvre, where we left off, and sauntered towards Notre-Dame-de-Paris, where I had a crêpe at a little café nestled in it's shadow.

The first lesson I drew from my trip to Italy with Amila, was that the most important thing to do when you get to a new city is to arm yourself with a map, tuck it safely away in your purse, and get completely lost wandering the streets, after which you are allowed to pull it back out and test your orientation skill to find your way back. The second lesson I'd like to share with you all is the fact that every city has 2 faces: day and night. If you only explore new places during one of these, take note: you're missing out on so much!

When I felt like it was getting late enough, I made my way back to the hostel and, just as I  was about to curl  up with my Journal in the dorm, one of the guys who was sitting there decided to strike up a conversation. Imagine  my surprise  when  he  introduced himself  as  Richard...  yes  from  Ireland!

Left to right around: Michael, Stephen, Richard,
Viktor, David, Nathaniel, Sarah, Therese, Emma, Eric

Dublin nonetheless! I can't help but point out how ironic it is that it took me going to Paris in order to finally meet someone from Ireland in my age group (the kids in my classes have been keeping to themselves mostly and run out of class as soon as the lectures are over). A few moments later, Nathaniel, just off the plane from Argentina, walked into the room and the ingredients necessary for a fun and beer-filled night full of new people were at hand. I met 6 others from Ireland (Cork and Galway), all newly graduated teachers, 2 more from Argentina, 1 Brazilian, and 3 more Canadians! We sat in the common-room at the hostel, singing songs and exchanging stories.

Me after my limited sleep,
breathing in the morning air!

After 4 hours of sleep, I was up and ready to make the most of my sunny Sunday! Richard, David and I made our way to Place Saint-Michel to join the walking tour of Paris, stopping at a bakery on the way for fresh baguettes and pastries! There we met up with Nathaniel and met an Australian, named Richard, who happened to be staying at the same hostel as us. The tour was 3.5 hours long, but under the animated speech of Naomi, our Scottish History Major tour guide, time flew by! I couldn't possibly relate ALL the information we processed that day, but here's a fun one:

The oldest bridge in Paris is called Pont-Neuf because it was the first bridge to be erected out of stone. It was inaugurated under Henry IV through a grand ball, at which everyone was merry and drunk, including the king. In his drunken stupor, he decided it would be a good idea to commemorate the successful party he threw by asking his royal artist to sketch caricatures of each of his guests. The next morning, he looked over them and thought it was a stupid idea and his guests would be embarrassed to receive portraits of themselves, so he ripped them apart. He then called his royal sculptor and asked him to sculpt each of his guests' faces instead, thinking they would be more durable than a simple piece of parchment. These heads were later placed all along the bridge.

We had a little coffee break during the tour, at which point David completely ruined all future hot chocolate for me by introducing me to some of the most delicious dark hot chocolate I have ever had! Unfortunately, I failed to note the restaurant's name, which is close to the Louvre. But I'm quite certain it could never be topped!

After a short afternoon nap, I got up to make my way over to see the Eiffel Tower at night and was getting ready to go when Richard asked to accompany me... with a bottle of white wine to bring to the table. How could I refuse such a good offer! And thus, I fulfilled the cliche, which is wine under the Eiffel Tower. (I can imagine that this item is likely to be on some bucket lists out there). We sat in that little park for a time, basking in the enchanting atmosphere that is Paris. Then we headed out to join others from the hostel on a pub crawl, that turned out to be quite disappointing, perhaps because my expectations were too high from all the reports I've heard from friends. At least it started in front of Moulin Rouge!

Monday, I set out to enjoy some of the best panoramic views in Paris starting with the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur and ending up at the top of Notre-Dame-de-Paris! What fun it was to see some of the gargoyles up close and personal! So much history and grand architecture is contained within that Gothic church!

That evening, James finally arrived in Paris, and we got to catch up and spend the night with all the others at the hostel, playing cards! It wasn't even close to enough time, but I enjoyed every moment of it! What a funny feeling it gave me to meet a friend from home halfway across the world. And this was the first time I traveled somewhere completely alone, which turned out to be an enriching experience!

So, till next time, j'vous kiffe!

Belfast and the North Coast

Last weekend, Judith and I made our way up to Belfast, which is about 2 hours north of Dublin, but not part of the Republic of Ireland. Instead, Belfast is part of the UK and, unlike in the Republic, everything is in miles, pounds, and Gaelic signs are not mandatory. So... It's just like going to the States! I'm kidding it's NOTHING like it, but there is some rivalry between the Republic and Northern Ireland since the latter is still under British Sovereignty and the former is not.

So Judith and I took the train from Connolly Station in downtown Dublin and were quite fortunate to have our own personal chauffeur, Aran, waiting patiently for us at the Central Station in Belfast! This does hint to the fact that we were even more spoiled with a fantastic (and free) accommodation throughout our stay. We spent the first night at The John Hewitt with Aran and a number of his friends, drinking the night away and enjoying the live music. Judith even got to dance with the most eligible bachelor in town! It was great craic (pronouced crack)*, as most would say around here!

*http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=craic

As an aside, a bit of background on Aran, whom I met when he came to Canada on a 1 year work visa and spent half his time volunteering at La Roma as his cousin (Rory) works there.

In any case, on Saturday, Aran drove us all the way up to the North Coast towards Portstewart, giving us a beautiful view of the lush green Irish countryside along the way! Aran DID warn us that we would be coming up to the North Atlantic very quickly, but nothing could have prepared us for the exhilarating first glimpse of the ocean at the end of the street once we turned that last bend. 

As it turns out, this is where Aran stayed for a few years while in university and so he took us to the Harbour Cafe, where we had our first ever Ulster Fry, which consists of an egg, grilled mushrooms (the Irish love their mushrooms), fried potatoes, fresh tomato, nice thick bacon, sausage,  and the best part: both potato and soda bread! 

We then made our way East along the coast towards the Giant's Causeway, making a brief stop at Dunluce Castle, which was built right on the edge of a high cliff, causing it to fall prey to the elements in more recent times with half of it having fallen into the ocean. And no wonder, as on our climb back up towards the parking lot after having enjoyed the view, the wind was blowing in so strongly from the open ocean that we were basically forced to RUN up the stairs!

Coming up to the Giant's Causeway, we had to go through the town of Bushmills, which gave us a glimpse of the Old Bushmills Distillery and, judging by the cold we were hit with on the coast soon thereafter, we probably should have stopped in for a drink, but we rushed on to our ultimate destination in our eagerness to get there... And what a cherry on top it was! The perfectly hexagonal basalt rock pillar formations were simply otherworldly and we were enchanted by the sight of them for the next 2 hours; just walking along the coastline and enjoying the warmth of the sun, the salty flavor in the air, and the soothing sound of the waves crashing against the shore. And, of course, the stones are well known to have been crafted by an Irish giant.

The story goes that the Irish warrior, Finn McCool, built the Causeway out of stone to reach Scotland and fight the Scottish giant Benandonner. However, after seeing Benandonner's great bulk, Finn fled back to Ireland and disguised himself as a baby. When the former saw the size of the 'infant', he assumed the alleged father, Finn, must be gigantic indeed and fled home in terror, ripping up the Causeway in case he was followed. Of course I feel like the Scottish version of this story may be slightly different, but either way, I am glad those two giants wanted to fight and left us with a wondrous place to visit. We also got to see Finn McCool's organ up on the side of the mountain.

On Sunday, our personal tour guide (and History major, which is always handy when exploring a city), brought us around the city of Belfast and we were awed by the sheer magnitude of Samson & Goliath, the two Harland&Wolff cranes used to build ships at the docks where the infamous Titanic was built. The Titanic museum is actually scheduled to open in April to mark the 100th anniversary of it's maiden voyage, which does provide some incentive to go back! We then walked along the Peace Line, which is essentially spans about 21km and divides the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods in Belfast. It was an eerie feeling, perhaps not unlike what standing in the shadow of the Berlin wall might feel (although I may be shocking some people with that comparison). Judith and I added our names to the peace messages scrawled on it. 

Finally, we briefly walked through the downtown core, with the Baroque style city hall, trendy shopping streets, and the leaning tower of Belfast: the Albert Memorial Clock.

To top off a wonderful weekend, we had our first home-cooked meal since we left Canada, with Aran and his family before we caught the last train back to Dublin.

And of course, thanks are due to Aran and his family, Caroline, Sarah, Daragh (sorry for any spelling mistakes) and Caelan for making our stay so wonderful!

Sláinte!