Pisa e Luca

A short flight from Dublin and I was in Pisa, Italy. I would recommend to everyone to stay in Pisa Tower hostel - it's the best hostel I've stayed in yet!




Every country gives you that first wow! impression, which is usually marred by some sort of secondary impression. For example, in England, you think Wow!... it's really cold here.In Ireland you think Wow!... it rains a lot here. And in Scotland, you think Wow!... it's really cold and rains a lot here. In Italy, though you think Wow!... this is perfect. It's definitely got to be one of my favourite countries so far, with an agreeable climate, awesome food, amazing history and a vibrant culture. I am still deciding whether it is possible to live off of pizza and Gelato for every meal (for example yesterday's cuisine consisted of - Breakfast: Gelato, Lunch: pizza, and Dinner: Gelato). I thought that gelato was healthy because it isn't dairy-based, but someone at the hostel told me it has more sugar than your girlfriend's kisses. So maybe it isn't so healthy...

All dietician's advice aside, Pisa is a beautiful city. The park containing the leaning tower of Pisa has a bunch of tourists performing tai chi poses to get the perfect 'holding up the tower shot', and I couldn't resist trying the chance to look even more Brobdingnagian than I already am. Borgo Stretto, the main street starting from the centre of town at the Ponte di Mezzi, has some amazing Gelatissimos, and at dusk, the magic begins as candles come out on the streetside for every restaurant. If you peek down small alleys off Borgo Stretto, you can find hidden squares, where locals and tourists mingle for drinks and multi-course meals. The further down winding alleyway you go, the more chance you have of finding a magical venue for your evening meal. Pisa is such an amazing place that I don't want to leave tomorrow, when I head to Florence.

Today I spent my time at a small village, just a train's ride away from Pisa, called Lucca. The medieval city is walled all the way around, and when I visited it had an exhibition in the tunnels running around the city under the city walls. Paved streets and bustling piazzas recommend this city to the eyes and cement its place in your memory, especially the famous Piazza del Ampitheatro. The sheer volume of history bearing down on you from this walled city means one cannot fail to have a good time in Lucca, whether it's walking on the battlements of the city's walls, or traversing the narrow alleys, which usually lead you no place except utterly lost.

Newgrange and Knowth: A civilisation older than the pyramids

I had no idea that cavemen were such geniuses. Newgrange and Knowth, monuments older than the pyramids, are a testament to this. The sheer architectural brilliance it would have required to map out exactly where the sun would strike for the different position in the sky on one 365th of the year to mark the Winter solstice is amazing. How they did it back then, with no written language and no metals, rulers, or squares to build their buildings is just amazing. This single act of precision stunned me, especially when I was inside the structure and they showed what the solstice would look like at the end of the year. The design was so precise, in fact, that the ray of sunlight that penetrates the tomb once a year strikes to the left of the tomb, where 5000 years ago, it struck in the centre. The infinitesimally small movement of the axis of the earth over 5000 years has moved the beam about thirty centimetres from where it struck 5000 years ago. While Newgrange was built to mark the Winter solstice, Knowth was built with east-facing tunnels, which might mean it marked the equinoxes. Magic symbols surround the tombs, and one can even be used to tell the time, like a sundial.

Riverdance

Irish people are madmen. As I watched them spin across the stage as spritely as if they weighed the same as helium, I was amazed at this feat of human agility. The two main dancers, in particular, could dance so fast that their feet were just a blur, and only the staccatto tapping of their shoes told you what was happening. I was super impressed by Riverdance - there was even a dance-off between American style tap dance and Irish style dancing. I was very glad to have gotten a ticket to this amazing show, and it felt even better to be seeing it in Ireland, the home of where that style of dance was made. the whole production was very well put together, and at times made me sad and others really happy. An awesome production, I can see why it's been running for such a long time!!!

Heritage

Stuffy and underslept, I groaned out of bed the day I left Galway - and then I remembered what day it was! Nugent family castle day!! All looked like it was going to work out perfectly, until at the second last stop the bus driver told me that they no longer go to Delvin, my destination.So sticking my thumb out was the only option. On the way there, I hitched a ride with a father and son who were on their way to a bike race, and on the way back, I got a man looking to buy golf clubs that sounded so much like Gerard Butler that it was scary (yes, I know Gerard is Scottish!).

The Nugent castle in the middle of Delvin was awesome, I took a bunch of photos because I was so proud that my ancestors had a castle. Then i got taling with the salesman at the local shop, and it turned out that there were not one, but three Nugent castles - the one I saw was the first, built in 1100, while the second one was burnt to the ground in an act of defiance when Mr Nugent didn't want the castle to fall into the hands of Cromwell's forces. Finally, and most awesomelyu, the relatively newest caslte is amazing, and looks like a palace fit for kKings, not Earls as the Nugents were. It standsat the edge of town, and most of its grounds have been turned into a Galf course by the current owners of the castle.

What an experience, to see a castle named after your ancestors. It was an amazing day, abut a long one - by the time I'd caught the bus from Galway to Monegar, near Delvin, and then hitched rides, it was almost midnight by the time I got into Dublin at my hostel. What a day!!!

Galway Girls

I love finding the little nuances of speech in different english speaking countries. In England, everyone repeats themselves rapidly - when they are hanging up a phone, they go byebyebyebyebyebyebye. Or if theyre apologising, they say sorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorry. In Ireland, when something's good, it's 'class'. And a lot of things are good to Irish people, so they say 'class' about three times every paragraph.

Galway is defined by its pubs, which are such great fun that it's hard not to have a good time in Galway. I think Galway is a little Australian community in Ireland, as well, there are that many Australian toursits passing through.  In Galway I met a great bunch of Irish people who were down for the Arts festival that was going on at the time I was there. The arts fest meant that the streets were filled with buskers with really great acts, my favourite were a band standing on the curb poles and first singing 'you are my sunshine', which then turned into 'you are my moonshine' - typical of Irish to turn to the drink :P

I also 'took a stroll down the old long walk of a day', as they say - its a lovely spot and i've got lots of sunset photos there. Galways quite a peaceful town during the day, and at night it rocks - every pub seems to have live bands and the streets ae always lively every night of the week.


On my last night in Galway I was lucky enough to meet three awesome Australians, Aleisha, Troy, and Jacqui, and as Australians do, one drink led to another and before we knew it we were dancing to a live rock band in one of Galway's many great pubs. We danced for so long and had such a good night. I haven't spent a lot of time partying with people who are older than me before, and it's so refreshing - everyone just wants to have a good time, and it's not ruined by most peoples panic-crzed need to think that they have to make out with someone or the night's wasted. I will have to spend some time with an older crew, who are more after my own heart (having fun!) when I get back to Aus!

Blarney and Guinness

I now have the gift of the gab, the eloquence of poets and politicians. I'm not sure that I feel that different, although I made sure to kiss the stone well in order to get all the gifts that it could provide me. It's actually a bit gross actually, the stone has a big wet mark from all the lips that have smooched it (probably from all the lip gloss from girl's lips that has rubbed off onto the stone). The stone itself is rumoured to be half of the throne of kings, which I saw when I went to Edinburgh Castle, which kings used to sit on when they were coronated. Half was given to Ireland in exchange for their services during an allied Irish-Scots war against the English.

I was awe-struck by Blarney castle. It was ingeniously designed, built on a bed of rock so noone could mine in, and very attractively designed. The castle itself is still in excellent shape, and there are also escape tunnels from the castle from when Cromwell's forces overcame the castle and tried to take the treasure within - none of which they managed to get their hands on.

Blarney castle is only the start of the spectacular, though. My favourite area was in the surrounds of the castle, called Rock Close. In these gardens, the Blarney witch resides, who grants wishes to travellers who walk up and down the Witch's stairs with their eyes closed, walking backwards. It's a difficult feat, but one that I'm glad to say that I achieved. She gives wishes in exchange for the firewood that she steals from the house nearby. Apparently apart from giving wishes, she's really quite evil and attacks people - luckily she's trapped in the Witches stone by day and only comes out by night. I thought it was a bit harsh to trap the poor witch in a stone by day and that they should let her out - Irish nights are awfully cold, even worse than Irish days!

Amongst the wonders of the Rock Close, there is also a Fairy Glen and an old tomb from the first inhabitants of Ireland, even before the druids. There's a druids circle there, also, with a sacrificing stone and everything. Most fun place in ages, perfect for me and to take your children to!

Yesterday I travelled from Cork to Killarney, and spent the whole bus trip talking to a lovely old lady from Dublin who was headed on holiday. Killarney isn't as touristy as it's made out to be if you ignore the tour buses, and the national park looks awesome. Despite the rain, today I'm going to try and have a walk through the trails of Killarney National Park.

Last night, I met some Aussies at our hostel. The only possible eventuality when you meet Aussies is that you go out drinking at the pub. I met a Danish couple, and Irish, French, English and Dutch people, tried Guinness from the tap (really quite good!), and danced. It was a great night!

Fiddle dee dees and Potatoes

In Ireland! This is one part of the trip I had been especially looking forward to, and for good reason. I took the Megabus from Inverness down to London and stayed for one night in the worst youth hostel ever. I should have been tipped off when it was a 24 bed dorm (It was ridiculous! Bunks were piled sky-high and it looked like a library... but of people), but it was a bit grubby and unkempt. Luckily, I was only staying there one night, so it didn't really make any difference what it looked like. I spent the days in London bored and freezing cold, spending most of my time hanging out in Hyde Park like a lizard in order to soak up every tiny bit of sunlight warmth.

Both overnight buses were quite difficult to sleep on - both the Inverness to London and the London to Rosslare. I've found that the reason for this is the seat belts screwed into the bottom of the seats, meaning that if you lie down across the seats, they stab you in uncomfortable places. Luckily, for the trip to Ireland, I was on a ferry for half of it, which was extremely comfortable - probably the best ferry I've been on in my life. Turns out the Megabus wasn't that cheap after all, because they leave you at Rosslare ferry port - it costs another 20 Euros to get to Cork, while the National Express bus, while initially looking more expensive, may have worked out to be a similar price.

For some reason I find it much easier to sleep on the warm, sunny morning when riding a bus after a sleepless night on a bus - I have no idea why. It's somewhat inconvenient, as I was fighting to keep my eyes open so that I could see all that I could of Ireland from the trip between Rosslare and Cork. A young Irish gentleman at the bus station sparked up a conversation with me, which solidified my opinion that Ireland is amazing - if they even talk on public transport, they must be friendly types!

Now I'm in Cork - I'll have a look around Cork today, and probably go kiss the Blarney Stone tomorrow. If my blog posts start to sound particularly eloquent, you'll know that I have indeed been granted the Gift of the Gab by the Blarney Stone.