I can’t believe it’s almost the end of September…where has this past month gone? I will say that I am quite excited it is almost October! Halloween happens to be my second favorite holiday, and we are already talking about throwing a Halloween party in London! We have been on such a whirlwind tour of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and England that I haven’t even noticed the weeks flying by, but now we are on our last week of travelling and hotel-hopping before finally settling in to London this Friday!! Needless to say, we are very excited to unpack our suitcases for more than 2 or 3 days at a time and have a dependable place to do laundry, rather than simply picking out the clothes that are “less dirty” than others when getting dressed every day. Overall, I think our group has done a commendable job remaining clean and (relatively) odor free. Although we have definitely enjoyed our travels, we are so thankful to finally be settling down! (I am sure many of you are reading this at home, thinking: “What a hard life…traveling around the British Isles, staying in different hotels in each city.”)

This past week started out in England’s beautiful Lake District, and I have to say that might have been my favorite 3 days of the trip thus far.  Small towns with quaint cafes and book shops, miles and miles of quintessential English countryside fields, lots of sheep and cows (as usual!), crystal clear lakes with rowboat rides, majestic mountain ranges….it was perfect. No wonder the 19^th century Romantic poets were inspired to write lines like Wordsworth’s famous “I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o’er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils” As a side note, it is worth pointing out that this countryside also helped give birth to Beatrix Potter’s world of Peter Rabbit. We spent a great deal of time talking about Wordsworth, Coleridge, and their fellow poets from the Romantic era who were inspired by the beauty of the Lake District to write about nature, emotion, and spirituality; several students gave their poetry recitations, and we visited Wordsworth’s home, Dove Cottage. 

The Romantic Movement itself is a remarkably interesting study! In many ways, the Romantic Movement’s fascination with nature was a reaction to the industrialization of the 19^th century. The industrial revolution not only contributed to the transformation of the world’s economic, political, and class structures but also instigated a literary rebellion. As Americans, we have our own Romantics. You can count among them Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman. (Yes, they were indeed Transcendentalists, but Romanticism influenced Transcendentalism! Nonetheless, I digress…) Even up until his 70s, Wordsworth spent time exploring nature and climbing nearby Mount Hellvelyn to receive inspiration for his writing, so we had the unique opportunity to experience this daunting hike for ourselves last Tuesday.  Mount Hellvelyn is the second highest peak in England, so we knew it was going to be a long day of climbing, but we were not at all prepared for the experience that we actually had that day. (Some folks were in shorts, others in flip flops…)  It is impossible to put into words the majestic beauty of the landscape that we crossed; it was the closest I have ever felt to experiencing the Von Trapp family’s trek in the final scene of The Sound of Music, and the song “Climb Every Mountain” was stuck in my head the whole day.  As we were climbing up the mountain, we ran into various groups in full mountain climbing gear! As one person pointed out, we may have been a wee bit under packed. However, I wasn’t totally prepared for the bitingly cold wind that we found at the top of the mountain, and it was probably the closest I have ever been to losing complete feeling in my hands and feet.  The other four girls and I made the mistake of coming down the mountain ahead of the boys, desperately trying to escape the cold wind, but we ended up following the wrong path down and actually went over another treacherous mountain peak before ending up in a small town, an hour and a half later, only to find that we were on the completely opposite side of the mountain than the rest of our group (and the bus). You can imagine that we were rather concerned about our female friends! There wasn’t too much we could do other than wait for them to come down, but thankfully they made it down safely. So to top off our crazy day, we had to find a taxi to take us back to the hotel, but all in all it was quite an adventurous experience that I will never, ever forget!  It was a day of surreal beauty, and I kept thinking of all the Psalms that say “Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains.” We experienced God’s power and love displayed in his beautiful creation, and I am so thankful for that. 

I was sad to leave the Lake District, but our next stop was Edinburgh, Scotland, which turned out to be my favorite big city visit of the trip thus far! We stayed three nights at a less-than-stellar Travelodge with really stinky towels, but it was in a great location right along the Royal Mile, Edinburgh’s main road of shops and cathedrals and castles and monuments!! Our days were filled with visits to Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood House (where the Queen stays on her royal summer visits to Scotland), a tour of the Scottish National Parliament and sitting in on a live Parliament session, a ghost tour (which was far more entertaining than scary), and of course more hiking! This time we hiked up the small mountain called Arthur’s Seat which forms a majestic backdrop to the city and provides incredibly beautiful views of the city from the top! I have several observations to share with y’all about the Scottish Parliament and some of our hiking endeavors. First of all, I would like to tell y’all a little bit about the Parliament itself. As y’all well know, Scotland is officially a part of the United Kingdom, whose capitol is London. The Parliament of the United Kingdom is in Westminster in London. Westminster still sets major national policies for the UK. However, through a policy of devolution, the Scottish Parliament was reinstated in 1998 and is now able to handle some domestic affairs. It really is a wonderful idea, and it bears some similarities to state government in the United States. It is worth noting that some folks in Scotland actually want full independence from the United Kingdom. In fact, the Nationalist party actually has a majority in the Scottish Parliament at the moment. As for the Parliament building itself, it is rather unique. It is a highly modern style of architecture, and it is designed to look like a branch of a tree from above. While I think the building is doubtlessly interesting, I think I prefer classical style for our government buildings. I also have a final story for y’all about Arthur’s seat. The view from the top of Arthur’s Seat was absolutely phenomenal. I went up to the top with Juan, Miller, and Joey. Juan agreed to guide us since he had been the day before. On the way down, Juan assured us that he knew what he was doing. With full confidence in our friend, we followed him down Arthur’s Seat. As we began to descend, Juan mentioned that he thought we were going the wrong way…We ended up going down a rather steep side of Arthur’s Seat, totally off the path. After crab crawling down the slope, we finally made it down the path. Needless to say, I am not sure that we will trust Juan again as our Sherpa. Parliament and Arthur’s Seat aside, Edinburgh was an amazing city, and I truly enjoyed it!

    

We have one more blog post before you will receive news from London!

Yours Truly,

Thomas and Julie

Galway, Sligo, Donegal, and Belfast....

Well folks, we are currently in the midst of a hurried tour of the British Isles (what some affectionately call the Gypsy tour), making our way through the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Lake District, and Scotland. At the moment, we are in Kendal, England and are enjoying the picturesque countryside in the English Lake District. We will have much to say about the Lake District in a day or two, but we first wanted to offer a recap of the rest of our time in the Republic and Northern Ireland. Oooh I can't wait to tell you all about the Lake District in our next post...I think it may be my favorite place yet! The countryside landscape is straight out of a Jane Austen novel, and it is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life. Attention Mama, Daddy, Allison and Laura: I'm already envisioning a family vacation here in the near future, so get excited. 


Our first stop after Dublin was Galway, Ireland. It was a wonderful Irish city with a vibrant atmosphere. We were in Galway for a few days and were able to explore a fair amount of the city. Although Galway was significantly smaller than Dublin, it was very popular with the group. The residents of the city were friendly. I would also like to point out that our group has taken far more of a liking to the Irish than the English. I absolutely loved Galway; in fact, I wish that we had stayed a few extra days to really get to know the city well.  On our first afternoon exploration of the city, we stumbled upon a quaint little street market where friendly vendors were selling crepes and cheese and flowers and jewelry and everything else wonderful that you would imagine at a street market.  Then, some of the other girls and I happened upon this fantastic band playing in the street for money, but they were playing many popular songs and they were REALLY good! Needless to say, we stayed around during their break time to chat with them, take a few pictures, and we all pitched in to buy a few of their CD's just because we are pretty certain that they will become the next big thing. So when  you hear the band Keywest on the radio in a few months, just know that we heard them first in the streets of Galway. :)

What can I possibly say about Sligo? To be honest, we were only in Sligo, Ireland for about a day, and we didn’t get much of a feel for the city. Our hotel was actually several miles from Sligo. Although the accommodations were satisfactory, we were mildly concerned that the hotel was haunted. We have several pieces of evidence to confirm our suspicions, and I will let Julie fill you in on the details…Okay, this hotel was seriously SO creepy and I am so very glad that we only stayed for a night. In a nutshell, the hotel was literally out in the middle of nowhere, a good five miles away from any civilization, and I am still trying to figure out why there were actual guests staying there at the same time as us, because there was absolutely NOTHING to do.  The rooms were decorated with lots and lots of red...in fact, some of the bedspreads were red and black striped, and the walls were painted red, so the whole place just made us think of The Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland...it was weird.  Anyways, that night some really really creepy things happened.  We were on the second floor, but for some reason the wind would whistle through the hallway doors and they would swing open at random times as you were walking down the hall.  Also, one of the girls went into her room that night to find the shower running and the toilet unflushed....yet her roommate had not even been there.  Mrs. Aeisi heard a baby fall out of bed and start crying during the night....yet there were no babies staying in the hotel.  Jon saw a mysterious shape dart across his bedroom during the middle of the night....Needless to say, we were relieved to leave the next morning. Sligo is a very strange place. 


Our time in Donegal County was particularly enjoyable, and it marked our last few days in the Republic. In terms of the landscape, the area was absolutely beautiful. In fact, the boys in the group decided to climb a mountain near our hotel, and the views from the summit were absolutely astounding. The trip up the mountain was a bit more complicated than we expected, and it involved walking through bogs and fields of Heather. I am sure that all of y’all at home will be happy to know that I completed the journey in loafers and argyle socks (just like they would have done in the 19th century)! Donegal was beautiful, and once again I wish we had had just another day to explore the mountains and surrounding villages...it was such a wonderful break from busy city life, and I had some pretty remarkable morning runs up the mountains during those few days!

  During one of our days in Donegal, we went to Londonderry. Politically, it is a remarkable city. The divide between Protestants and Catholics in the town is incredibly stark. The Protestants, who are typically wealthier, quite literally reside in a walled city on the hill, while the Catholics live in a sprawling community beyond it. As we have come to find in our studies, the Protestants strongly identify with the British, while the Catholics maintain their Irish identity. Londonderry is in Northern Ireland and technically under British rule. We also spent some time with the older couple that helped organize our tour, and they are tremendous individuals! Their daughter was actually the Lord Mayor of Dublin! I also may be distantly related to them! (They are sending a family tree to my home in South Carolina.)


A few other random really cool places we stopped at during our bus travels last week....
1. THE NORTHERN-MOST TIP OF IRELAND! So awesome!!! It was a beautiful view of the ocean, and it was crazy to think that we were at the same latitude as Juneau, Alaska! Also, there were lots of stones on the hill where people had spelled out their names, so some of the boys spelled out the Furman diamond "F" to forever leave our Paladin mark at the very top of Ireland!!

2. THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY- This huge mountain/rock formation along the Irish coast was allegedly built by an Irish giant who was trying to build a bridge to Scotland to fight a Scottish giant...I guess this is the kind of bedtime story that Irish kids hear about when they are growing up :)

Our time in Belfast comprised most of our stay in Northern Ireland. The city itself is fairly interesting, but the Protestant/Catholic divide was again on display. There was another wall in the city that divided the Protestant and Catholic sections of town. Belfast is famous for “The Troubles”, a period of violent unrest in Northern Ireland that lasted for most of the second part of the twentieth century. Things definitely seem to be better after the Good Friday Agreement (Thank you President Clinton), but the tension undoubtedly remains. On a bit of a happier note, I also got to see an old friend, Norma, in Belfast! This city wasn't my favorite, but I did enjoy exploring around on Saturday and I especially enjoyed our trip to the local market (I LOVE MARKETS!) where there were endless booths of local vendors giving free food samples and selling beautiful homemade crafts...it was pretty magical.  We also took a 2-hour bus tour on Saturday with this crazy tour guide lady who kept trying to tell us that there was no real political struggle anymore and that everything was okay in Ireland, and once Brian asked a semi-intelligent question about the political tension in the city and she blatantly told him to "not think so hard." She loved to describe everything as "wee," so instead of real historical or political information she just pointed out all the "wee little coffee shops" where you can get "wee little cups of coffee". It was kind of ridiculous but also very entertaining.  
Whew! Once again, we've rambled on too long. But be looking forward to more stories from our first few days back in England! Cheers!!!


Yours Truly,
Thomas and Julie

Sunday was quite possibly the best day of this trip so far, and we just though it deserved its own blog post to fully do it justice. We don’t want to hype this post up too much, but it truly was a remarkable event! We took a day trip to the Aran Islands, a small set of rocky islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ireland; there are only about 800 people who live on the islands permanently, but it has become famous for its huge rocky cliffs and its handmade woolen (super warm) sweaters! The islands are also famous for inspiring Lady Gregory, the famous playwright and Irish nationalist. She is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating figures of twentieth century Ireland, and y’all should read more about her life story. Several people in our group purchased wool sweaters, and the story or “myth” behind them is rather interesting. Supposedly, the ladies of the Aran islands would make unique sweater patterns to help identify the bodies of sailors lost at sea. Let me start by setting the scene: when we left Galway at 9:00 that morning, we were experiencing severe, hurricane-like winds and rains, to the point where our professors were doubting whether or not we should even attempt the ferry ride over to the islands.  Supposedly there was a great chance that the weather would become so bad that a ferry would not be able to return to the mainland that afternoon, meaning we would be stranded on this island for quite possibly several days. However, our youthful optimism and adventuresome spirit (what Frederick Jackson Turner may call a “frontier spirit” of rugged individualism) was enough to convince our professors that we were up for the journey, so we took the rough and turbulent hour-long ferry ride to the island, and as soon as we stepped off the boat we were nearly carried away by the gusts of wind blowing across the island. I would also like to point out that even though we were faced with improbably defiant winds, Julie and I still managed to take a nap on the way to the Aran Islands.  It was seriously the strongest wind I have ever felt in my life, and usually wind puts me in a pretty bad mood but for some reason it only fueled my excitement for our day’s adventure. We had been told that renting bikes was the best way to ride around and see the island, and so despite the rough weather (and perhaps our common sense) a group of us decided to rent them anyways and it was the best decision we could have made! Initially, we were considering hiring a horse and buggy for the day, but the bikes proved much more enjoyable! We headed off down the dirt paths, riding alongside fields of horses and cows on one side and the peaceful ocean shore on the other side- a quintessential Irish experience. Along the way, I met a friendly horse that came up to the fence to greet our group. She was a pretty horse and enjoyed our company. Julie and I also saw what could have been one of the largest cows in Ireland. If you remember from our last post, Julie recently had a fairly traumatic encounter with a cow, so this mega cow could have spelled disaster. Fortunately, we rode on past unscathed. We rode for about an hour (we think it was only supposed to take 30 minutes but the wind was SO terrible that it  took us forever!) before reaching our destination, the bottom of the huge Dun Aonghasa cliff where we parked our bikes and hiked the rest of the way up to the top of the cliff. For those of you who don’t know, Dun Aonghasa is a Neolithic fort built around 1100 B.C. Once we reached the top, our day’s battle with the wind and rain and tiring hills became SO worth it for the incredible view around us. We were literally on top of a huge rock formation, staring over the side where it dropped off hundreds of feet into churning ocean waters below. The wind seemed even stronger up there, almost physically blowing us around at times, but we felt protected having Dr. Aeisi up there with us! He gets really scared about his “kids” accidentally falling over the edge so he never let us get too close without calling us back! The view really was awe-inspiring. From the top of the fort, we could see over much of the island and vast expanses of water before us.

The ride back into town was one hundred million times better because it was more downhill, the wind finally calmed down, and the sun started peeking through. I imagined that I was in my dream life, riding my bike through the fields to the local one-room schoolhouse every morning so I could teach my little class of students on my black chalkboard. Also on the way back, our horse friend remembered us and offered us a friendly greeting as we rode past!

It was truly a wonderful day, and once again these pictures can’t even begin to do it justice:

We officially found the largest cow in the world. You can't tell from this picture, but it was SO BIG.

Thomas made a new friend along the way!

Hello family and friends!

Well, it seemed like we had just gotten settled into life in Dublin when it was time to pack up and hit the road again! Right now our trusty bus driver Seamus is taking us directly across the country to Galway, so we wanted to take a moment to fill you in on the rest of our Dublin adventures!!  For those of you who aren't familiar with the geography of the Emerald Isle, Galway is essentially located due west of Dublin.

First of all, I would like to start by saying that I really love peanut butter sandwiches. And by love I mean REALLY love peanut butter sandwiches. And let me just tell you, we ate a LOT of PB sandwiches this past week in Dublin because it was the first week that we were responsible for providing all of our meals on our own. So of course, being the thrifty people that we are, we discovered the lovely grocery store Tesco (one of my new favorite places, I’m going to apply for a frequent shopper card this week) and stocked up on peanut butter, bread, cereal, and other basic staples to get us through the week! 

However, even I can get tired of peanut butter sandwiches for every meal, so we made sure to find an authentic Irish pub one night to eat a real Irish dinner, and it was quite delicious! It was called O’Neills (sounds so Irish, right?) and you ordered your meal at the front by picking out your choice of meat and yummy vegetables, and of course, potatoes! SO delicious, and such a classic Irish experience! I would like to point out that I had some wonderful lamb and some delicious potatoes! 

Also, as many of you already know, peanut butter is by far one of my favorite foods. Although it got a little tiresome eating sandwiches, I really did enjoy them! Just a fun fact: William F. Buckley, Jr. also really enjoyed peanut butter. In fact, he enjoyed it so much, he made his own peanut butter and gave it to guests. Dare to dream, folks, dare to dream...

On the topic of food, I would like to confess that I have been really missing Chick-fil-a this week.  So if you choose to eat some Chick-fil-a this week, please do not take it for granted. Savor every single bite, because it is truly an experience to be grateful for.While I am definitely a huge fan of Chick-fil-a, I would also point out that I miss Zaxby's. Miller and I have both lamented our lack of Bojangles on the trip as well...

Okay, moving on from food to some more important things…We spent the rest of the week visiting museums, having class with Dr. Aeisi, exploring the city, and learning about Irish history and culture. 

Let me tell y'all, we were exposed to some fascinating aspects of Irish history and culture this week! Irish history is really interesting, and curiously enough, its history bears some similarities to the history of the Conquered Province (the South). Also, please don't think I am reading into this too much; Dr. Aiesi even acknowledged the common threads! We went to a few different museums, and I will briefly mention a few I really enjoyed. We went to an exhibit on W.B. Yeats, and it was really well done! I recited "The Second Coming" for the class this week, and I actually got to see an original draft of the poem! If you haven't ever read the poem, you should take a look at it. Its a wonderful statement of Modernist ideas. We also went to the National Gallery, and we saw some great work by Jack Yeats (W.B.'s brother). At the National Museum, we saw some interesting archeological finds from Ireland's early history. We also went to the Kilmainham Gaol, a former prison and an incredibly important symbol of Ireland's past. To many, the jail stands as a symbol of the years of British oppression. Prisoners included everyone from Charles Stewart Parnell to Eamon de Valera. (You may not know who these people are, and if you don't, you should look them up!) So much of the Irish identity is tied up in its struggles against the English, and it is pivotal for any student of European history to understand this fact.

On Thursday afternoon, a few of us took a short train ride to the outermost edge of Dublin, a little fishing village called Howth Harbor, and we really enjoyed the break away from bustling city life! We enjoyed walking along the waterfront, admiring the quaint village houses, climbing along the rocky cliffs, and simply gazing out at the beautiful Irish Sea. Much thanks to Katelyn Ammons for suggesting that we visit this hidden treasure- it was a perfect afternoon adventure!!!

This morning on the way to Galway, we stopped at the most beautiful place I have ever seen. It was the ancient Clonmacnoise monastery site, the remains of an old Celtic Christian church and cemetery along the beautiful river Shannon.  Not only was it rich in Irish religious and cultural history, but it was set against a backdrop of rolling green hills and crystal blue sky with perfect white clouds…these pictures cannot even begin to do it justice:

There were also lots of cows in the nearby fields, so of course I wanted to go over and say hello! This plan backfired and I had truly one of the most terrifying experiences of my life when one particular cow started rearing its head and lunging towards me when I got a little too close…oops! It was truly frightening, and I will definitely be more cautious in all my future en”cow”nters with these large animals. I actually was witness to this incident, and I can confirm Julie's terror. The cow was clearly not too happy, and fortunately for all us, Julie got away.

(photo credit and another witness to this terrifying experience: Brian Boda)

Well, we’ve just arrived in Galway so it’s time to go explore a new Irish city, this time on the Atlantic Ocean side! Be looking forward to more stories soon, and in the meantime stay FAR away from cows (unless it’s the Chickfila cow of course!)

Yours Truly,

Thomas and Julie