Galway

Ok Galway kicks Dublin's butt !! I've only been here 3 hours and this place rocks. Within 30 mins. I bumped into these guys handing out CDs of an audio novel. Something made me stop. Well, wouldn't you know it these guys are Christians handing out these CDs, as a tool to tell people about God. Anyways, I asked one of the guys what church they attended and he said, "We are a church." How cool is that ? They weren't from town, they just move around from hostel to hostel in different Irish cities and hand out these CDs. Ok !! That just rocks !!

A little further down the road, there's a big sign that says HEALING. I ignored it the first time. Seriously, there is some weird stuff out there. But, on the way back, I saw these two people kind of leaning over a guy in a wheelchair. It looked like they were praying. Ok - that is the kind of weird I like. So, I stopped to chat with them. You see, I've been wanting a place to go to church tomorrow. I think it'd be cool to experience church in Ireland - Irish accents talking, Irish accents singing, Irish people sharing. Its definitely part of the Irish experience I wanted.

Woman's Wild at Heart - aka Day 3

Today was beautiful ! The sun was out. Wilma said that the rest of the week is supposed to be the same, something that Ireland hasn't seen in awhile. How cool is that?! I've been praying for weeks for that we'd a beautiful rain free week, a week so nice that nothing like it had been seen for years....well, well, well - God does answer prayer! Even if it is a little one. And, whether God arranged the weather for me or God arranged my plans for the weather, it doesn't really matter!

And yes ! I did get back on the bike today. My muscles were fatigued, but I coudn't not do it. And, the sun just drew me out - the scenery was waiting, and this is what I came here to do.

The ride itself was relatively flat...a new term that our guide is using. Because I seriously doubt there is any stretch of real flat in Ireland.

Onto the title of this blog - my revelation today is that this is my Wild At Heart experience. I've pushed myself beyond what I thought I was capable of. It isn't huge or record breaking, but typically - I would've given up two days ago, after all that rain. If not then, I would've given up yesterday and taken the van after about half way. And, if not then, I would've not gotten on my bike this morning. But, there is definitely something about being away from home and its like God uses times like this to change little bits of me, grow me, show me stuff about myself and others. Very, very cool.

We biked down the coast for half of our trip this morning. The country side is beautiful.

We had Seafood chowder lunch, and came back up towards Cliffden on the Bog Road

And, rode up in the van to Sky Road. Again, the scenery was beautiful.



Tonight, for supper we were left to our own devices, so I had a supper of cheese and deli meat. I'd been looking forward to trying the local cheeses, I figured today was a good time to do that. I briefly caught up on email and now I'm off to bed. My legs are sore !!!!!

Tour Ireland - Day 2

No rain today !! Woohoooo !!! We woke up to a slightly cloudy sky that just got clearer as the day progressed !

We started the day, still on the Aran island of Inishmore, by taking a short bike ride up to the beginnings of the path to the Black Fort. Now, the Black Fort, they've determined is even older than Dun Angeus, but it is similar. The entire hike, probably took a good hour and a half. And, it was worth every minute of it (which says a lot since I don't usually like walking). The view was gorgeus.

Afterwards, we got down and took the 12 o'clock ferry back to the main land, arriving by 1pm. THEN ! Then, our planned bike ride was for 35 miles. Yikes ! That translates to about 60K. I figured it would take me 3 to 4 hours, considering all the hills....

The view (again !) was beautiful. I find it amazing how grass grows on all these rocks and takes what would've been a barren landscape and pretties it right up. But, underneath the grass, the earth is really not all that thick.



So, we were headed to Cliffden - there was a few roads we took that had traffic on them, but the traffic wasn't really heavy. It was country traffic. But, about half of it was back roads - paved, but mostly empty of cars. I think there were more sheep than cars on those roads.




Ugh....three hours later - and I'm still only two thirds of the way. What's up with that ? Well, yesterday there was rain - today !! Now today there's wind. Yuck !! I hate wind ! Wind is whole universes worse than rain.



Here's the beginning of the windy-est portion of our ride - the Bog Road. What should've been an easy ride, anywhere between a half hour to 45 mins took me a good hour, hour and a half.






The 12 Bens were a beautiful site to see during most of our ride.







Here's a picture of Cliffden, just as I was taking the corner. This was a huge relief to see !! I was tempted to ask our guide to take the van up. But no !! I wanted the pride of accomplishing the 35 miles; I wanted the pride of getting right up to the hotel ! And I DID it !! Woooohoooo !! Boy - my muscles are tired, but I made it !! Of course everyone else arrived before; it took me near on 5 hours; I got off and walked at least half
a dozen times. But, I did it !!!!!!

Now, the question is....do I get back on the bike tomorrow ? We are staying two nights at this hotel - so I have the option of taking an easy day tomorrow. However, I'm starting to realize that this stubborn streak in me is really good to push me into pushing myself further than I thought I could go. So, to be honest - I'm likely to get right back onto the bike tomorrow, get over the saddle soreness, and peddle.

There is an option to take the Sky road or the low road tomorrow. The sky road is supposed to be challenging as compared to what we've already done. I've found what we've done challenging enough, but the Sky road is supposed to have an awesome view. So, I may take a ride up in the van, just for the view, and do the rest by bike. No reason to get too crazy on my first bike tour.

BTW - I really am enjoying this whole bike tour thing. I get to see stuff and experience things I never would have had I been on a regular tour. And, I get to eat really good meals with no guilt. And, it helps me get into shape :D. It is a fabulous combination. I must try this out in some other countries too !!

Tonight (and tomorrow night) we are staying at the Foyles hotel in Clifden. My guess is that it is called clifden, because it is right on a cliff. I've got a beautiful picture of the town (and other things), but I must still get to loading those onto the computer. So, I'll come back and edit later.

Tour Ireland - Day One

We met our tour guide last night. Her name is Wilma. She's German, but has been residing in Ireland for awhile now.

Our day started off wet, and stayed wet. I really don't remember much of the route we took. It was a lot of hills, and lots of driving rain. But, it was a lot of fun too !

We started off at our hotel - the Connemara Gateway Hotel in Oughterard and biked to Rossavel port, and caught the 1pm ferry to Inishmore, one of the Aran Islands. We stayed at the Aard Einne guesthouse. The landlady was totally Irish, and welcomed us. And, she kindly offered to dry our clothes, and shoes. Which was a priceless offer - I was walking in my own swamp at that point.


There had been talk of biking out to see Dun Angeus - a 3000 BC fort. But, our wise tour guide offerred to find us a van to take us up to the fort. Dun Angeus is up on cliff. It took us about 20 mins to walk up. Its beautiful. Its three walls built out of rocks that were broken from the bottom of the island and brought to the top. The walls are shapped in three half circles right up to the cliffs



It was fascinating to think of the people who lived there.

We ended the day with a lovely supper at Aard Einne. Blessed sleep......

Intro to Dublin

So, my time in Dublin was spent walking around and around and around. My hostel is right around the corner from O'Connell St, which seems to be a major shopping area and tourist info area. The hostel has a Full Irish Breakfast, which I totally enjoyed. I met three girls at the hostel - an Australian, a German who both spoke English, and an Italian girl, who really didn't. I enjoyed chatting with people - the hostel thing has many benefits if you are traveling alone. Its definitely a lot friendlier than having a hotel or even a B & B. The last day or so, two American girls joined us...they were snobby compared to the others. I don't know if its because they were together and so not really wanting to chat, or its because they were American or just because that's who they were. It just seemed weird though.

I shopped, and took the Dublin Bus Tour - hopped on and off a whole lot. I visited the National Museum and the National Library. I decided that I wasn't going to spend any money on entrance fees until I'd seen all the "free" sites. Unfortunately, shopping just kept getting in the way. Well, that and I was just so fascinated with how things and people were different than home. So, I'd walk into stores, look around and leave.

They don't have Euro stores here - they have Two Euro Stores. And, the stuff seems to be pretty decent for $3 or so. And, then there is Dunnes, which I hear is an Irish family owned store. They've got good decent priced stuff too.




Here's a quick picture of the spire in O'Connell square. It is a
stainless steel piece of art - I think it is beautiful. Our Dublin Bus
Tour guide told us it is the only art/monument that has no political
significance.















To manage cost - I had sandwiches for lunch and sit down dinners. I tried the traditional Irish Stew - Yumm! I had a Guiness - drinkable (which is high praise from me since I don't drink beer). Nothing else really stands out....

First Full Day in Ireland

Who do I blog for ? First, I think I blog for me. I blog so that years down the road I can look at pictures and read my own words and remember what I've done, what I've thought and where I've come from. If you know me - you know I've been blessed/cursed with a poor memory. So, I blog to remember. Its about my Journey. It encompasses part of what I experience. The other part is in my journal - thoughts and feelings too personal for this public a forum.

Second, I blog for my family and friends. I blog so that they can read what I've been doing and thinking. Which brings me to now ....

This morning - I woke up, too darned early for Canada, but just about right for here. My body is awake, but my brain is still asleep.

I'm not precisely sure what I'll be doing....but, I am excited ! Even more sinking in...I'm in Dublin !! Yes - it does take awhile for things to sink into me. I've had breakfast, I'm going to shower and grab some really strong coffee to poke my brain into waking up. I suspect that I'll be spending the day on one of those tour buses that take you around the city, and tell you stuff about it, because my feet still hurt from all the walking and dragging luggage from yesterday.

Dublin Finally !!

Ohh.....after a long day's traveling, some flight delay and not enough sleep on the plane - I'm finally in Ireland !! And, so happy that the locals speak English ! I've asked for directions a dozen times over....maybe I should invest in a GPS unit.

Not surprisingly - it is raining. My first order of business was to get checked in at the Hostel. Next, find food.

The hostel I'm at is very cool. I'll take and post pictures tomorrow. The entire city has an older feel to it. As compared to Egypt which has an ancient feel to it.

So, I'm tired but excited ! It is starting to sink in a little - I'm going to be exploring different parts of the world for a year !! I'm going on a bike tour !! My body will ache, but I will be seeing and experiencing things that will be worth it !

Going, going....ugh, still here.

I'm on my first adventure. All packed, bike gear bought, ready to go and at the airport in Montreal.

BANG - flight delay ! Yikes !! I'm stuck at the airport 3 extra hours. Instead of leaving at 8, my flight now leaves at 11pm. Fortunately, Air France has graced us with $25 food vouchers. So, I'm treating myself to a meal and a beer at a sit down restaurant in the Airport. I'm going to Ireland after all - I'm just prepping for the Guiness.

Lemonaid out of lemons it is !! And after all, it's supposed to be a year of adventures. A little bit of flight delay is par for the course. And, look - I've already worked on my patience :p.

I'm praying that flight delay does not mean lost luggage. Lost luggage is an adventure I can do without !!

Been awhile

It's been awhile - I just realized how long....

Anyways - rather than update, I'll just skip ahead to now.

In two days, I'm leaving to Ireland ! YES !! I'm very, very excited ! I've never done anything like this before. First I'm spending three days in Dublin at a hostel called Globetrotters, the plan is to get over the jet lag, check out the place, and maybe take a couple of tours, go see castles and dream princess dreams.

Then - a bike tour through Connemara and the Aran Islands with Iron Donkey. Then, a few more days doing something else - that I have YET to figure out.

Wow...I can't even believe it myself. You see this whole thing is so beyond my comfort zone. It must be all part of the craziness of taking a year off from work.

Uhmmm...that's all my brain is capable of blogging for tonight. I stayed up too late watching Heroes S2 and pretending to pack. Tomorrow - I pack for real. Tonight - I sleep.