I got the green light, I got a little fight I'm gonna turn this thing around

welcome to Portugal.

i wasn't feeling super well as i flew out of Dublin. the altitude messed with my sinuses and i had a headache when we touched down in Porto. i was alone in a country where i didn't speak or read the language, and it was about 9pm.

what really turned my mood around was the temperature. i walked outside to wait for the metro, and it was warm. Ireland had been warming up at that point, but this was a mildness that i hadn't really felt since last summer. i rolled away across the grass...

i ran into some other Champlainers who had met two German dudes named Michael and Phillip, and while i remember some Jaggermister here and some beer there, that evening is a bit of a blur otherwise.

the next day i found some food and went exploring.

Porto is built on the side of a big hill. at the bottom of the hill is the river. across the river is a hillside covered in red terra-cotta roofs displaying the names of the different port wine cellars. Offley, Dow's Sanderman's, Croft, Kopke, the list goes on and on.

i went to Croft and drank free port while walking around the wine cellars which are shown below.

after plenty of port i went looking for something that i was told not to miss.

up on top of the hill, tucked away, is a little unassuming storefront. what is inside was breathtaking.

it has been called the most beautiful bookstore in the world, and is said to have inspired some of the magical imagery from the Harry Potter books.

it really was an amazing place. very quite yet creaky, with every little surface covered in carved patterns or gold plated stuff.

there was a cool old cart that sat in tracks in the wooden floor. they were still using the cart to bring new books from the front door to the back and throughout the shop, even though it was probably over 100 years old.

Porto was very nice, and the people there were also very friendly. i think that it took me by surprise. i hadn't expected to find what i did. the city gets its name from being one of the biggest ports in Portugal. because of its position on the sea it was developed quite a bit.......hundreds of years ago, but it also has a lot of cool little things like different food from around europe, and neat clues of its history in trading and exploration.

next was Lisbon. i got to Lisbon, again at night, and didn't really want to stay too long. this may have had something to do with the fact that there was a massive political protest complete with riot control, big fires, i heard one small explosion (like in a garbage can), and so much smashed glass on the ground that you would have wanted more than flip flops, to say the least.

Lisbon had come highly praised and recommended, and what i DID see the next morning was very nice, but i wanted some beach, and some sun, and some more beach. so i continued.

Lisbon at night.

Albuferia and the Algarve Coast

these guys were the first thing i ran into in Albuferia.

they were sick, but i just want to confirm. that man IS in fact playing both a rain stick AND flute. they are strapped together. also....really good rainstick player. didn't see that coming.

the southern coast of Portugal is one of the most beautiful place i've ever been. i have a ton of pictures, but they are all the same kind of.

this one is a good representation of how simple it was and how uncrowded it was when i was there.

i guess what i walked away thinking was, Portugal isn't as flashy as many European countries, and it's having a rough time right now politically, economically, and socially, but it really is a great place with great people. the roughness grows on you quickly if you get into it and are open to something different.

what i liked most was the simplicity of day to day flow, or the vibe i was getting from people about not taking life too seriously. it was a nice way to start spring break off slowly.

be happy.

i sure am

there's no use knowin' which way the wind is blowin'

during the week before spring break my friend Claire from Burlington and Champlain came to visit!

the Friday she flew into Dublin i was away for the first part of day on field trip to the historic Newgrange and Hill of Tara!

but! as soon as i got back, we headed out on what was to become a truly amazing adventure.

you see, Claire and i already knew what the plan was. the adventure was already in place and had been for weeks. so we grabbed a train to Belfast.

on the train we met Scott. Scott is worth mentioning because he was very funny.

he was a 9 year old that loved Justin Bieber, football, dancing, American words and accents, and not listening to his father. we really enjoyed playing the ,we call it "this", game with him.

once we got all settled in Belfast we grabbed some food. by this i mean the best meal of my life.

i'm not even joking a little bit.

the next morning we had some more traveling to do. we were headed to the Giants Causeway.

i had already been to the causeway with Champlain a few weeks earlier, but it was just as good the second time around if not better. there were far fewer crowds and for a bit we had the whole place to ourselves.

with our brightly colored rain jackets we couldn't help pretending that we were in a patagonia magazine.

made it to causeway:check

Andy's boots are dry and working in the picture above: check

Claire's boots are dry and working in the picture above: half check

having the place to ourselves allowed for some really cool photos of us perched up on the rocks without other people crowded around.

most people after seeing the causeway would get back in the car or bus and head home, or onto the next stop, maybe the castle down the road. we kept walking. see the mountain and cliffs in the picture above? yeah, well we went there.

carved into the side of the cliff wall are switchbacked paths that lead to two sets of steep steps.

climb up those and you get a view like the one below.

the picture below is actually a shot from across the cove. if you look close you can see the tent (it's blue) in the upper left hand side of the cliff. that was our campsite for the night on the northern coast of Ireland, less than a half mile to the Giants Causeway.

not camping in a bull field: check

nothing blown off into the sea: check

comfortable nights sleep: half check

strawberries: check

it was a cold night, but we woke up to a tolerable morning. after packing up our stuff we headed back down to the Causeway.

i don't often walk away from something amazed that it just happened. this for me was a really cool experience, and i'm really glad that it worked out.

also, in Portrush we got beer in one of the coolest pubs i've ever seen.

best meal ever: check

coolest location ever camped: check

awesome breakfast at the Giants Causeway: check

rain jackets:check

good trip?

good trip.

be happy

Andy

as we rode out to fennario

i am tired.

the last few weeks have been a blur, an amazing blur, but a blur.

i have a few major posts in the works, as drafts, but i want to share some stuff now. i'm realizing that huge long posts aren't necessarily the way to go because i never seem to have the time to sit down and finish them.

so for now i'm going to give you some of my favorite photos from the last 5 weeks or so with captions. sort of a highlight reel.

a few weeks ago we went to play some Gaelic Games at a local Dublin GAA club.

the first game we learned was Hurling. the fastest game on grass!!

here i am leaping into the air, the ash hurley in my hand, ready to wack the crap out of that little ball once i get my hand on it.

this game was SUPER fun, very fast pace, and high intensity. sort of like lacrosse in that you pass it back and forth, and juggle it on the end of the blade, sort of like frisbee in that you can't run more than three steps with the ball in your hand, sort of like baseball, and field hockey, and football, and yeah... it's cool.

later on we learned how to play Gaelic Football. this was sort of like soccer in the layout and the overall flow, but you could carry the ball if you kept dribbling and kick passing it back to yourself. again very quick and..well, crazed since non of knew what we were really doing.

a week later (last night we went to a real GAA double header in the huge Croke Park, a stadium used only for Gaelic sports. in Hurling Dublin came back at the last second to tie it up versus Kilkenny. we watched some of that game from the 4th or 5th row back. some of us watched the second part of that game in the upper tier because it started pouring and even hailing at times. the players never stopped. this is because they are the most badass athletes ever.

during extra time in the football match Dublin tied it up again, and then with one last push scored in the final seconds of the game to go on to win 16-13. reaction below.

we'll end up down in mexico

i know that i've been busy and posts have been few and far between.

i'm also about to leave until the 19th for spring break.

there are at least three good blog posts worth of stuff that i have yet to get online, and while i didn't have time to post a real post before i left, i know i'll spend a good amount of time catching up after i get back.

tomorrow i'm off to Portugal.

i'll let you know how that goes.

be happy!

Andy

i see you shine in your way, go on go on go on

i was riding my bike to class this afternoon, and i noticed something. it was spring. now while the "first" day of spring is still two weeks off, and many people i know are sitting under piles of snow, i believe that spring came today in Dublin.

it's not as though its been very cold, in fact the weather over the last two weeks has been great, with quite a bit of sun!

i just knew. i knew because the wind that i biked through had given up on trying to be cold and biting, and instead felt nice as i biked around St. Patricks Cathedral on my way to class.

i know it might be strange to think about, but flowers are blooming here if you look for them.

...well, maybe it's not that strange... i mean.....it's just Ireland right? it's just the greenest place ever. no big deal.

a bad day is when i lay in bed and think of things that might have been

when i arrived in Galway it was raining.

at the train transfer in Athlone it was misting, but by the time we got to Galway it was just straight up raining.

i was having mixed feeling about trekking out into the mountains.

i had about 50 minutes before my bus left for Cliften so walked around in Galway and found some great food to bring with me. went i got back to the bus station the only thing that had changed was that i had become drenched.

i figured that the worst that could happen was that i would stay in a hostel in Cliften and find another adventure.

despite the weather the bus ride was amazing, heading out of Galway into the countryside. there were amazing views and i basically had the bus to myself, so i hopped from one side of the bus to the other depending on where there were mountains or cool lakes.

once we got to Cliften, and the elderly lady at the front of the bus freaked out at the bus driver because he didn't make a personal stop at her house, i decided to get a pint. while at the bar i figured out where i would head to and where i thought might be a good place to spend the night.

when i walked outside, it was SUNNY! and warm for that matter.

i was off!

into the mountains! these are the Connemara Mts. and while i didn't climb up them or camp in them, i did camp in the valley right below them. as you'll see in a second.

after leaving Cliften i was in the country in about 45 seconds and soon found the road towards the lake on my map.

only one car past me very slowly when i was about a half mile out off the main road from town.

about 20 minutes later i saw the car again parked in the driveway of a little house that looked out over this.

two woman were standing by the car talking and i asked if they could tell me anything about getting to this lake. they told me that they where just out there looking at the house and that they really didn't know the area at all yet.

we all then turned and looked at what you see above for about 20 seconds, i then turned and said "i think you should go for it" and walked off down the road.

about five or ten minutes later i walked up to a gate across the road that had a big PRIVATE sign posted. about 100 yards past the gate there was a house. i could see a car and some windows were open, so i opened the gate and walked closer. as i got closer (and i'm not joking) i saw the car was this old-school VW Jetta, and i got this super German vibe. and when i call out "hello?", i was greeted back with "ah hallo!" sure enough there was an old german couple living there in the middle of nowhere Ireland. i explained that i had been the signs and didn't want to go any further than i should, and was told that if i asked that i could go as far as i liked, as long as i shut the gates behind me.

after getting permission i was extra charged to get out there, and my first step after first gate i sank in muck up to my ankle.

luckily i had brought along my new wellies that i picked up in Cork the pervious weekend

bringing them along ended up being a very smart move, seeing that almost everything i stepped on was sitting on a marsh and about 3 inches of water.

there were also sheep, like in the fields with me. lots and lots, and lots of sheep.

some of them followed me. it's a strange feeling getting followed through a pasture by 15 sheep.

the one in the picture below stood in the middle of the path and stared me down till i went out of sight.

over the course of the next 3 or 4 hours i hopped about 25 fences. something i finished the day being really good at, and something that i started the day being less than kinda good at.

now and then there would be one of these. which are to say the least , very helpful.

at one point i saw a body of water and thinking that it was the lake i wanted to camp at started thinking "oh great, i'm making far better time that i thought i would have been, jeeze if i continue at this pace i could probably built a watertight shelter with all the sunlight i'll have left, haHA! this is great!! sunshine! i'm outside!"

then i realized that i was looking at the wrong lake on the map, and that i still had to walk around the ENTIRE MOUNTAIN!

which i happily did, and i must say, it paid off.

also from the camp site.

just up the hill from campsite

the next morning i hiked part of the way out and hitched a ride back into Cliften for the last leg.

i spent the night in Galway watching Scotland vs. Wales rugby and drinking Guinness.

from the bus on the way back to Galway

that weekend was crazy, it left me totally wiped, and it's something i'll never forget, but there's still another blog to come from the N. Ireland trip, which may have been my favorite thing yet.

easily the best pictures.

stay tuned

be happy!

Andy

it's a low low road you've gotta roll down before you find your way my friend

i ended up in Cork on the 3rd. i was on my way to see and stay with my friends Rita and Paul! so after thursday evening's class i took my bike to the bus station, and hopped a bus down south. i stayed Thursday night in the Bru Hostel which came recommended from Rita. Bru as the name suggests is not only a hostel, but a pub as well. i arrived around 9pm and after checking in and getting a pint of White Gypsy(really yummy), i left to check out Cork City.it was a rainy Thursday night and things were pretty slow around town, but i walked around until i heard music. the first place i tried was called The Bodhrán, and it was nice enough but there was an older crowd there that night, and the band was just playing Eric Clapton covers or songs that i knew from back home. i had a Murphy's and moved on. i wandered around a bit more in the rain and just as i started to get discouraged, not to mention very wet, i heard music again. this time i walked into Charlie's. this pub was right up my alley and best of all there was a a trad session taking place.

these guys were awesome! Something that i found really cool, and very fun to watch was how new people would show up and wave to the band, then get a pint, and then pull out their flutes, or fiddles and join in. or how those already playing would just tap out when they felt like it, or when they saw a friend walk in, or that their glass was empty.

the next morning i woke up ready for a bike adventure, but first i had to check out Rita's other recommendation, The Old English Market. i loved this place. there was everything and anything that you could want to eat there, and it all looked good. the best looking meats, fish, and poultry; fruit and veggie vendors, artisan bread, cheesemongers, pastries, eggs, chocolate, gourmet sandwiches, olives and hummus stands, and on and on and on...... . knowing there was a potluck that night at Rita and Paul's i got to shop around for some stuff to bring. i got a tea and browsed the counters. in the end i picked a loaf of sun dried tomato and feta bread, and a super delicious chorizo sausage.

after the market i had to figure out a way to fit my puffy jacket, a wool sweater, change of clothes, book, notebook, laptop, laptop charger, camera cord, large loaf of bread, sausage, and i'm sure three of four more things i can't remember at this point, into my tiny little backpack. (yes i was biking with a backpack)

this is what it looked like.

anyways.

after the market i started biking south.

i don't really know what to write about here.

the pictures do a pretty good job showing you what was going on.

very beautiful, very misty, very visually stimulating.

need i say more?

on OSI maps of Ireland they mark all the cairns, and standing stones, or megalithic tombs, and at one point i tried to climb up through a sheep field to a mountain top to find a stone circle.

my attempt was instantly thwarted by a huge bog.

so instead i looked at my map to see where there where other such attractions along my route.

i found a standing stone in the town of Belgooly.

i went into a pub to get directions, but that really didn't end up helping out very much. i tried to use my map to get a better set of instruction (since there's just a dot on the map, and not a set of detailed directions), but the locals were having none of it. they gave me so many different points to look for that i soon lost track.

i've learned that Irish people don't give directions the way that i'm use to. later that weekend Rita was telling me about directions she was once given that ended in "and then turn right when you see the white horse", she responded, "well what if the horse isn't there?", "oh it'll be there".

i took a good chunk of time out of my day to take the detour and to see the stone, so after a bit of confusion and map reading skills, i found the GAA pitch, and searched around until i found the stone.

and boy am i glad i went through all of that.

not long after Belgooly i rolled into Kinsale.

this so far was one of the coolest towns i've gotten to see.

i didn't spend a whole lot of time here, but i'm told that it's been a foodie mecca of Ireland for quite some time, something to make a note of i would say.

(Kinsale)

that night i arrived at Rita and Paul's completely spent.

i had stayed up late, gotten up early, and then biked all day, but there was more. my day ended with lots of great food, a bunch of great people, and champagne by the ocean.

on Saturday we went adventuring!

Rita, and my new friends Alice, Sandra, and Valentina, went to one of the better surf spots in the area. we didn't go surfing, seeing that the wind was blowing so hard that i literally almost fell over a number of times, so hard that at times sea foam was falling like snow from being kicked into the air by the wind.

we explored the coast from Garretstown all the way down to Castlefreke if you care to look it up. below are some narrated pictures.

the wild and windy sea

Sandra, Rita, and Valentina

the sea foam on the bluff above the water.

trespassing at Castlefreke

Castlefreke in the mist

action shot: almost getting blown off my feet

this is picture is taken while standing right outside Rita and Paul's kitchen window. they said that they stand in their kitchen in the morning and decide if the waves are worth surfing while they drink their coffee. pretty amazing location if you ask me.

thank you both so much for letting me crash. i hope i'll be able to repay the favor sometime soon!

that's all for this blog

be happy!

Andy