Hiking in the Croaghgorms

Two weekends ago was my first, and Judith's second trip with the DCU hiking club, which would take us North and West into the province of Ulster and Donegal County, to Dhun na nGall (Donegal Town) on a 4 hour bus ride with 33 other students. So, after frantically preparing 4 liters of pasta salad and packing 1 kg of tissues (for Judith who had unfortunately just started a cold), we were ready to venture forth into the Irish Countryside.

We stayed at a cozy hostel just 5 minutes from the city center and, as it turns out, the hiking club is actually composed almost entirely of exchange students, namely a large group of Germans, so I got to brush up on my Deutsch... or rather realize how little I really know, even after watching Sissi about a million times! I did understand bits and pieces however, which one of the guys soon realized as he caught the "I know what you're saying" loo in my eyes and noted aloud that he should probably watch what he said about me while I was around! ;)

But I digress... Friday night was spent getting to know a few of the other students and drinking Guiness at a local pub called The Reel Inn. At first, Mary, Fabian and I were the only ones there from our group and we felt quite out of place considering everyone else in the pub was over 40 besides the bartender! It turned out to be quite a good place for great live music in the end; so much so that we ended up there again on the Saturday night!

Saturday morning, we were woken up fairly early to get on out to the Bluestack Mountains (na  Cruacha Gorma), where we spent about 6 hours hiking to higher and higher peaks, before reaching an ultimate elevation of about 690 meters above sea level! It was a great workout and full of astonishing views! At one point, we all stopped for lunch and I went off to a little peak with Fabian such that we could get away from the chatter of the group and, as I sat cross-legged and closed my eyes to meditate a bit, I was surprised with a "baaaah", which turned out to be a sheep running

along some of the adjacent peaks! What a funny sight it was!

Johannes and Kili
jumping into
the bog!

In any case, the descent was full of slips and tumbles, as you all probably expected. We even stopped at one point to jump into a boggy area at the bottom of a slope (although it is safe to say I did NOT partake in this event as I cleverly only brought
1 pair of shoes and 1 pair of
pants for the entire weekend).

Judith, Mary, Felix

That night at the pub, I had my first superb dance with a drunk Irish man who couldn't keep the tempo! AND I was pleasantly surprised with a brief pub-salsa dance with Felix, who turned out to be quite the little dancer!

Sunday, Judith and I had signed up to go Coasteering, which involves donning a wet suit, bouldering along cliff faces on the coast (the COLD North Atlantic in this case) and periodically jumping into the water! Oh what fun it was! And my hands ended up so frozen by the end of it that it took me about 10 minutes (no joke) to simply untie my shoelaces!

Overall, this was one of the most memorable weekends, spent in great company, of my trip to Ireland thus far! The countryside is beautiful and hiking along in the wilderness is such a thrill! I would recommend scaling any of the little peaks in Ireland to anyone who makes a trip out here!

<-- Some more of my favorites! --

One last look back before leaving it all behind...

St-Paddy's in the IRE

St-Patrick's day involved a short amount of preparation, a few firsts, a bit of drinking, and a whole lot of walking! What a tiring weekend it was, but oh so worth it!

So many people!!

The firsts involved dressing all festively for St-Patrick's Day, learning to make a fish-braid, and wearing fake eyelashes! I felt soooo girly! But it was worth all the prep as Judith, Tra and I made our way downtown to meet up with Alex and Fabian at Trinity Bar on Dame street (where the parade would go right by us while we were warm and dry indoors). Judith and I were too eager to be in the heart of the action however, so we made our way outside and found some posts on the sidewalk which we could perch on. Turns out we became attractions of our own as countless people stopped to take our picture while walking by! I guess two pretty girls all decked out in green make for good pictures!

Some of the floats in the parade.

Cutest kid!

The parade was themed science around the world and was good craic. We also had our first beer of the day at 11 sharp! Afterwards, we all went to Alex's place, where Samuel joined us and played Kings while watching our first Six Nations rugby matches; first Whales beat France and then, unfortunately, Ireland lost to England. But it was still quite exciting! 

We wandered back out into the chilly night at that point, stopping to do dance along to some street performers on Grafton street, then making our way over to the Shelbourne Hotel where we listened to a rather eccentric pianist play and sing songs from Elton John to Queen! We finished the night off at Diceys nightclub with some dancing and, or course, more drinking; even getting free beer in my little cup hung on a string of beads (I knew I bought that for a reason!).

And that wasn't all as Judith, Fabian and I made our way over to the fairgrounds on the Sunday to enjoy some sunshine and toffee! Overall, what I would deem to be quite a successful Paddy's weekend in Dublin.

Beautiful sunset after a busy weekend! 

Cumann Lúthchleas Gael

A few weeks ago, Richard, whom I met in Paris, suggested I should go see a GAA match (Gaelic Athletic Association, or Cumann Lúthchleas Gael) and, as my interest in Hurling was sparked by my visit at Causey Farm, I was certainly keen on the idea! So, on a cloudy Sunday, David, Judith and I met up with Richard just outside Croke Park, where we joined a throng of people heading towards the stadium. At the entrance, we were given flags with the Dublin sports logo on it. Judith and I were giddy with anticipation and were not disappointed! 70 minutes of hurling between Dublin and Cork, followed by 70 minutes of Gaelic Football between Dublin and Armagh! I DID take videos, but am having trouble getting my laptop to play HD videos, so I can't post my own, but I posted some from youtube here for those of you who have never seen or heard of any of these sports!

In any case, being in the stadium with the crowd and watching the matches unfold before us was a great experience! Both these sports are so fast and involve a large number of players on the field at once (30)! Also, the players are so tough! They get pretty much pummeled out there and just get back on their feet and keep running... not like soccer players! Judith and I were both quite entertained at how developed their leg muscles were and you can only imagine us sharing a few giggles over it, and their white short-shorts! Seeing these GAA matches was enough to convince me to buy a couple hurleys though... so I'm currently on the hunt and hoping to play with a few people when I get home!

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! : )