The one with Galicia's greatest

Our second day in Galicia, we made one of the best decisions since coming to Spain, going to A CORUÑA by train! For those of you who have never heard of this jewel of a city, which is probably all of you, it is everything that is awesome in a city, at least it was while I was there.  I have tried not to dwell too much on the negative parts of living in Spain, but one of them has definitely been the amount of rain we have experienced in Extremadura this year. It is just wrong because it is supposed to be one of the driest places in Spain, but not this year. To mix things up completely, our entire trip to Galicia the weather was phenomenal, even though it is usually colder and rainy there. Silly Spain! Back to A Coruña. This is a coastal city and isn't really known as a tourist city, but I loved it whole-hearted (ok, maybe not the wind-burnt skin). 

  

The train station was a bit more than a mile and a half away from the place to be, so we started with a nice little walk. After checking out the tourist office for a map and being complimented on my Spanish-speaking abilities, we decided to make a big loop around the peninsula to see the sights and coast. Oh man, was it worth it! The water was so pretty, and the sun felt so nice on my skin. We took at least a hundred pictures because the harbor was just so impressive. Around much of the city there is an awesome bike and walking path that lets you take in all the sites. We made good use of it, and it was nice to see so many townspeople out getting some exercise or family time. We smiled when one dad explained in Spanish to his little girl that we were from the United States.

Eventually we wound our way to the part of the peninsula with the aquarium, and GUESS WHAT WE SAW OUTSIDE THE AQUARIUM?!?! Did you guess?  There was a sort of pen that had four dolphins in it!  Unfortunately we weren’t in A Coruña long enough to have time to go to the aquarium, but the dolphins made me exceptionally happy.  There is just something about marine wildlife that makes me happy in general.

Anyways, next we hit up la Torre de Hercules, which is a lighthouse that has been used in some manner since the Roman times, as early as the first century, which is pretty epic. It is one of only a few intact, and it is the only function lighthouse left from anywhere near this era. Similar to another part of Galicia, the Romans who conquered this area believed it to be the end of the earth.  Can you imagine reaching the ocean, convinced that if you sailed off to the East, you would just fall off the earth or fail to exist or something? Craziness... Not to mention, there were some fantastic views.  It was also soooooooo windy, like hair is out of controllable, body being pushed around, afraid it will catch your bag and toss it into the sea kind of windy, but it was a nice change from cold and rainy. 

Afterwards, we continued around the point and headed back into town to find some lunch. We stopped at a restaurant, and I realized how much easier it is to understand people without the extremeno accent. It was like everyone started enunciating again and using their Ss. Marissa and I both started with a dish called delicias de cangrejo. We didn't really know what we were getting into, but we knew it was crab, which seemed like a good pick because Galicia is known for their seafood. It was a buttery crab and cheese dish (maybe small mozzarella pieces) served cold. I liked it a lot, and it was very different from what I usually get. The second dish I got was Raxo, which is a Galicia pork dish, served with french fries. YUM! We finished off with some flan and whipped cream. I never liked flan, until I came to Spain. Here flan is everything that it is supposed to be, and the whipped cream was nice and thick!

We didn't have much time left, so we made a quick trip down to see one of the old castles that juts out on what used to be an island, providing protection for the mainland. Pretty nifty. Then, because we had some issues finding the bus going in the right direction, we high-tailed it back to the train station on foot. We were ready for a rest, so we picked up a pizza and headed back to the hostel. After showers and chill-axation, we tried to tackle dinner, only to realized that the hostel didn't have an oven. So we attempted a pan-fried pizza, or something... it was, hmmmmm, edible, I guess. Not the best thing I have ever cooked by far, but it was cheap, and we ate it in our pajamas. Besides, look at the nifty cottage I cooked my dinner in, how quaint!

The one with the great Pilgrimage

Our trip started on a Thursday night after a complete day of school, homework, and packing. We decided earlier in the year that we wanted to go to Galicia, Spain, but it is the most northwestern part of Spain and not exactly easy to get to from Zafra. Amazingly enough there is a relatively direct bus from our little town. The only problem:  
it is 12 hours long and overnight. We looked into flights, but there were none that were convenient on the way there. You do what you have to do, so we settled in for the long-haul with our bocadillos.  It really wasn't bad, except for the body-odor smell, 'sleeping' in a sitting position, and the kid who was in my face the first few hours. We also had a fun little adventure with the Guardia Civil boarding the bus in the middle of the night with drug-sniffing dogs. They even had one guy get off to search him more closely. That's one dog I really don't want paying attention to me!!  Other than that we made it to Galicia not too much worse for the wear, though definitely tired.

We checked into our hostel and headed out to begin our day in the famous city of Santiago de Compostela, the end point for millions of pilgrims and home to the third most important church in Catholicism.  We decided to start the morning off easy with some museums. First on the agenda was a museum all about history, customs, and life in Galicia. It was actually super interesting, especially because northern Spain is so different from Southern Spain in everything from the musical traditions, which sounded kind of Irish with bag-pipe like instruments, to the climate, which is also similar to Ireland.  They even used to thatch their homes very similarly to the Irish way. The museum was also home to a fantastic spiral staircase that was really three sort of intertwined. I am going to have one of those in my house someday for sure!

Next on the list was the contemporary art museum, which was definitely contemporary. Sometimes it is difficult to see the validity, the point, or even how contemporary art is art, but I actually really like some of it, especially the multimedia exhibits. For example, I don't think I will ever forget the exhibit I saw last year in Charlottesville that used light and wires to create a work reminiscent of the brains circuitry.  But this wasn't really like that, lol. It had an interesting exhibit around exhibits, but I never can understand the art that is just a color on a canvas. What is that??  

After a quick walk around the nearby park that had some pretty views, we headed over to Santiago de Compostela's main attraction, La Catedral de Santiago. Ok, quick Catholicism/Spanish lesson! Santiago equals St. James, who was one of Jesus's twelve disciples. Legend states that St. James came to the Iberian Peninsula, particularly Galicia preaching the gospel and on returning to the Holy Land was beheaded, but his remains were brought back to Galicia.  Around 1075, a form of the cathedral was built as a shrine to the apostle.  This is what makes it so important. The cathedral itself was nice, but mostly appreciable in its historical context, the fact that it has been there for nearly a century.  I can only imagine the feelings of the pilgrims who finally arrive, generally after a journey of a month or so on a path that begins in the South of France. 

We broke for lunch at a cute little restaurant with elephants on the walls. I wanted something new, so I got a cream of squash soup served cold. It was good, creamy and buttery, though I am my father's daughter and probably would have added pepper.  Second course I got pollo asado, which was a roasted chicken with a sauce and served with potatoes. We finished with some Greek yogurt served with honey, a good end.  

Re-energized, we headed back to the Cathedral area to check out the museum there as well as the Palacio de Gimelez. The museum held artifacts from the church as well as some amazing tapestries and very old books. There was a signature log of visitors signed by the Spanish poet Frederico Garcia Lorca who was killed during the Spanish Civil War, which was neat to see.  The palace wasn't what you would consider a traditional palace to be, but I am sure it was quite impressive in its time. My favorite parts were the moss covering the outside and the bagpipe-ish music we could hear being played outside that I just had to dance to. We were the only people there at the time, which was also nice.   After, we headed back to the hostel to finally get some rest, before grabbing a quick dinner and calling it a night.

The one with la Virgen de Belen

I love Spain. I really do, but there are many things I don't understand about it and even more so when they start celebrating with festivals and such.  The funny thing is I am not sure that many people celebrating really know why they are celebrating either.  Not that it is that strange, when I think about the number of people in the U.S. who celebrate Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, 4th of July, or practically any holiday without knowing what or why they are really celebrating.  Again, not that you have to focus on the religious aspects of them, but I think there should be a bigger point.  Anyways, this past weekend, starting sometime last week, Zafra had some sort of festival celebrating the Virgin Mary.  When I asked my kids about it, they didn't really know why.  It just is.  The church was out in the country, but we decided to walk over and check it out.  In essence, it seemed a lot like a tailgate for the Virgin.  We didn't really see anyone we knew, so we looked around took in the countryside and walked back home.  At least we made it out of the house!

The one with Cork and Malaga

Friday was a weird day for us.  It felt like a travel day, and I definitely felt like I was really to be home, but our flight didn't leave until 8 PM.  So we had the whole day to fill.  First, we slept in, which was awesome!  After having to get up "early" for all the day trips, some extra sleep was SOOOOO NICE! Then, we decided to pay for one of the those hop-on, hop-off buses to see the city of Cork and kill some time.  It was neat to hear some of the history, but also difficult to picture.  Cork has a really long history dating back to at least the 1100s, but most of the city has been built on the ruins of the past or doesn't even exist anymore.  For example, much of the city was very reminiscent of Venice in its early existence, being marshland and navigated by small boats through the canals.  This is not at all what you see today because the marshlands were all drained centuries ago.  

The parts that are still around tend to be more modern, like the old Ford factory.  Henry Ford was an immigrant from Ireland, in case you didn't know, so he established a factory in Cork and, to this day, still gives the mayor of Cork the first Ford car sold in the city each year.  Speaking of cars, another interesting thing we learned is how license plates work in Ireland.  The first two numbers represent the year the car was manufactured.  Then there is one or two letters to represent the county it was first sold in.  The last numbers represent how many cars had been sold before it.  For example, 08-D-45 would be a 2008 car sold in Dublin that was the 45th car sold in Dublin that year.  And the license plate stays with that car forever.  So now if you go to Ireland, you will know how the license plates work :)

Finally we flew from Cork to Malaga, where we arrived in the middle of the night.  We headed back into Semana Santa madness, but we were still kind of surprised by the number of people out and about at 1 AM in the morning.  We got a good night sleep and rose early to hit up the beach before the final leg of our journey back to Zafra.  It was GORGEOUS!  After all the cold and snow, it was fan-freaking-tastic to feel the sun on my skin and shed my winter coat.  That scarf I am wearing in the picture, I didn't even need it.  I can't wait to go back to the beach.  We have some fun beach trips planned for May, so maybe it will even be warm enough to hang out in my bathing suit.  Here's hoping!  It was a great close to a great trip.  I saw so much and worked my way under the two month  mark.  Less than 2 months until I head back to the United States!! So much to do, so little time!!

The one where Sandy had a little lamb

Thursday was our last day trip for Ireland, around the Ring of Kerry, a beautiful stretch of land through County Kerry known for its coastal awesomeness and green lands.  While we did get to enjoy the coast, we missed out on a lot of the green.  We were too early this year.  Europe is having a weird year with LOTS of precipitation and a much colder Spring than usual. Because of this, we experienced no rain on our whole trip, but there was some snow almost everyday.  The scenery was beautiful, but not the green you normally see in the pictures, just to warn you.  Before we even started the trip, we had to make our way to Killarney, collecting people at various stops and even switching buses.  Finally around 11, we began the 112 mile loop that makes up the Ring of Kerry.  

The first town we drove through was called Killorglin, known for their summer festival known as Puck Fair Festival.  It is the oldest traditional fair in Ireland.  The festival involves going up into the mountains and getting a wild mountain goat to bring in to town, put a crown on his head, and name him the King for three days.  The origins of the festival are rather interesting.  Way back when, there was a shepherd who would come into town telling tall tales (kind of like the Boy who Cried Wolf).  One day, he was out herding his sheep when he came across some men plotting to attack the town.  He knew that no one would believe him and so he riled up the wild goats, causing them to stampede into town.  The townspeople came up to the hills to figure out what was going on, learned of the plotting men, and were able to prepare the town, ultimately defeating the invaders.  And so to this day, they celebrate and thank the wild goats for helping them.  I don't know if it is true, but it is a cute story.  

Next we made our way up and around the Kerry edge of Dingle Bay.  Today it is known for its diving, which is popular because of the many shipwrecks in the area.  Dingle Bay is a treacherous area because it has so many sunken islands, and historically, it was nearly impossible to navigate it safely.  It also holds Inch Beach, a large draw for surfers.  But as pretty as it was, my favorite part is pictured to the left.  At one of the stops, there was this old man with adorable baby lambs!  It was the best.  Marissa and I talked about it, and if I could have a baby lamb, I would name it Sam because Sam the Lamb sounds good, but so does Sam the Sheep.  We also had a great time because our driver, Michael, explained how the sheep farmers of the area know which sheep belong to which farmer and also how the farmers know the mommy sheep is expecting baby lambs.  It was a little graphic, but also downright hilarious. And now I know where baby sheep come from; according to our driver it involves "an interview" between the mommy and daddy sheep, lol.

For lunch, we stopped in the coastal town of Waterville.  It was a pretty little town, known for being popular with Charlie Chaplin.  That is me and him hanging out on the beach to the right.  He wasn't feeling particularly funny on this day, but we had a good time hanging out anyways.  We stopped in a fun little pub for some sausages and chips, as well as some good warming tea.  Just to clue you in, this is the hardest day trip to talk about, not because it wasn't worth it or beautiful, but because most of what we saw was countryside, without a real name, and the pictures didn't do it justice really.  Of all of the day trips, this one I felt would be most appreciated in the later spring or summer when the countryside would really be at its best.

By this point we were wrapping back around to head back in towards Killarney, so we drove past the three lakes of Killarney and Killarney National Park.  We got out and did a little hike over to the Torc Waterfall, pictured below.  The trees were all covered in a pea green moss that was actually really mystical and beautiful.  I can only imagine how green and breath-taking this area would be with all the flowers in bloom and trees covered in lush foliage.  Looks like I am going to have to go back.  Back in Killarney, we had a bit of a wait before our bus came to pick us up, so we roamed the streets and ended up in a Candy Shop.  We caved and bought some fudge but were disappointed by its flavor and texture, sadface.  By the time we were back on the bus to Cork, I have to admit I was looking forward to coming back to Zafra.

The one with the Cliffs of Moher

Wednesday was the day trip that I was probably most excited for, to the Cliffs of Moher.  I will get to its awesomeness, but first things first...First stop on the trip was Limerick city.  We nearly stayed here, but ultimately decided against it because it didn't have many hostel options.  It was a pretty city, but I think we made the right choice.  Cork, being bigger and closer to more things, was better suited to our needs, and staying in Cork the whole time meant one less time switching hostels, which was nice. Mostly we were in Limerick to pick up more passengers, but it also included some nice views of King John's castle, situated along the River Shannon.  The castle was constructed in the late 1100s and played a big role in the Catholic/Protestant conflicts.  Nifty!  

Then we  moved on to another of those dolmens I told you about, this time called Poulnabrone Dolmen.  In Gaelic, the name means "hole of sorrows," and it dates back to 3000 BC.  People used to believe that, by passing the bodies of the dead through the dolmen, the dead would move from this world to the next.  Maybe you don't care about all my little facts and such, but this is what made my trip awesome, that and the baby calves and lambs we saw everywhere :) 

Next we drove through an area of land known as the Burren.  It is difficult to describe its vastness, but it essentially a ginormous area of limestone that extends for something like 80 square miles.  Most of the area is used for beef cattle grazing because it isn't fit for much else, at least in terms of farming.  Legend says that Oliver Cromwell, when invading from Britain, said, "Not enough wood to hang a man, water to drown him or soil to bury him," about the area.  Coming down from the rocks, we hit the coast and stopped to check out the Baby Cliffs.  Marissa thought it was funny but I was terrified about how close to the edge they let you get.  I was envisioning one of us having to inform the other's family of a terrible accident.  Luckily, we all made it back onto the bus safely, and we headed on to lunch in a little seaside town called Doolin.  It was a cute town, and lunch was good, especially this soup I got that may have been a potato soup, but I don't know.  It was good for sure!

After lunch, we hit up the Cliffs of Moher. In case you haven't heard of them, this awesome bit of scenery is featured in almost every movie taking place in Ireland (this may not be true, but it is in Leap Year) because of its sheer awesomeness.  It is as Irish as NYC is American. And it is not all hype.  It is everything that you would imagine.  They are nearly 700 ft in height, complete with walking paths in both directions at the top.  The visitors center has some interesting tidbits about the cliffs and the surrounding wildlife.  From the top, you would never guess that there are sharks, blue whales, bottlenose dolphins, sea urchins, puffins, and all sorts of marine life swimming below the waves so far down.  It is pretty out of the way of most big cities in Ireland, but I highly recommend it.  I would even go so far as to claim that no trip to Ireland is complete without it; yep, it is that good!

The trip was more or less over after the Cliffs. We drove through some cute towns with interesting histories.  One of them was the birthplace of the inventor of the first U.S. submarine, Joe Holland, for whom the Holland tunnel in NYC is named for.  Last stop of the day was at Bunratty Castle for a quick picture and bathroom break.  The castle dates back to the 1400s and was a typical square fortress of the time.  One of the interesting things about this type of castle is its entrance.  Usually there was an arched door at the entrance, and when being invaded or attacked, once the first door was breached, the soldiers would find themselves in a very small entrance hall in front of an even stronger door.  Above the hall would be an open area for castle occupants to drop boiling oils, shoot spears, and other weapons at the invaders, allowing them protect their castle for longer.  If I ever build a castle, I am definitely including one of these.  It was a long day in all, but I am sooooo glad that we went!

The one full of Blarney

We started off Cork right, let me just tell you.  We walked over a mile to get Fish and Chips from the famous Jackie Lennox Chip Shop.  Never heard of it, you say?  Well, you don't know what you are missing, because for a decent price, you can get some AWESOME fish and chips. And it is totally a local hangout, based on what I saw.  This time we switched things up and got haddock (instead of cod).  It also came with tartar sauce (YUM) and traditional mushed peas.  They were...interesting?  I don't know; I heard that they are an acquired taste.  Many people eat them on their chips, but I don't know why you would want to "ruin" your chips.  Anyways, it was soooo delicious and so much food that even I couldn't finish it all, and that is saying something!  To make it even sweeter, we got a great discount on our three other Paddywagon tours that we booked through our hostel, Kinlay House.  I highly recommend both, if you are asking!


Tuesday we had our first day trip from Cork, to Kinsale, Blarney, and Cobh.  It was a good way to start this round of tours off because it was pretty relaxed and did not involved too much travel or sitting on the bus.  First we hit up Charles Fort, built in the 1600s to protect Kinsale from attack.  The weather was not very good, with wet snow falling severely reducing visibility.  We weren't supposed to stay long, but we left even earlier when someone came out and told us the fort was closed. Oops!  Evidently, you are supposed to pay for admission...maybe on a good day it would be worth it, but this way not that day.

So we headed down the road to Kinsale, which was a compact, cute little town.  It is known as a leisure town, with fishing and water sports in the summer, but in the winter and at low tide, it was quiet.  We were only there for an hour, but it was difficult to know what to do with ourselves.   The weather was not nice at all, so it wasn't much fun to just walk along the waterfront, but we did that for a little while.  The best was sitting in a small cafe with a big cup of steaming hot tea.  The owner came out and chatted with us for a bit, which was nice.  I would definitely say that as a whole, it seems that the Irish are a very friendly lot, definitely willing to help someone out and give advice.  After a little more time, we got back on the bus and moved on.

Next stop was the much anticipated Blarney Castle.  Let's be real, this is the main reason why people do this tour, and it didn't disappointment.  If you go, don't get distracted by the castle.  While it is really neat to see, there are caves, gardens, and paths to be walked and explored.  Those are what I enjoyed more than anything.  And I know,  you are wondering, did I kiss the stone?  The answer: a mostly okay with it, no.  You can't see from the picture of Marissa doing it below, but it is really high...and you can see that you have to lean backwards while looking down to do it.  The idea of it sounded painful to my joints, and let's just say, heights are not really my thing these days.  Supposedly, kissing the stone will give you the gift of gab.  The story originates from a time when English landlords were supposed to collect rent and taxes from areas in Ireland for Queen Elizabeth.  Well the one in Blarney always had a persuasive excuse for why he didn't do it, and when discussing the matter with a subject the the Queen said something to the effect of, "that is a load of Blarney," hence the expression and the superstition of the stone.  Below you can see the difference between blarney and baloney, which I thought was pretty funny.

As I already suggested, we spent a good hour or so checking out the gardens, such as the Fern garden above and walking the Lake Path.  It was absolutely deserted; we saw only one person along the whole path.  I imagine that it is positively radiant with green plants in the later Spring.  Luckily the weather had turned relatively pleasant and much warmer for our time in Blarney, which made it much more enjoyable.

Next we traveled back down through Cork and out to the coast to the port town of Cobh (pronounced like Cove, it's Irish).  We stopped at a local cafe first things for some enormous sandwiches, which was perfect timing because a sudden snowstorm popped into town and made conditions outside miserable for about 30 minutes.  Once it cleared up, we headed up the hill to check out St. Coleman's Cathedral and the views of the harbor from the top.  What Cobh is most famous for is being the last stop for ships heading across the seas to England or in the other direction to the Americas. During the Irish Potato Famine in the 1800s, over 2.5 million immigrants left through this port on their way to the Americas.  Furthermore, Cobh was also the last stop for the Titanic, taking on around 110 passengers here, of which 42 survived.  Below, you can see the remnants of the dock that was used to load ships, including the Titanic.  Finally, we headed back to Cork, tired and done for the day.

Dock used to load the Titanic

As usual, we rested for a bit and then made our way back into town for dinner.  We found a good-looking Kebab place and settled in.  Let's just say that we did not get what we expected.  With a few accent problems, the guy gave us some sauce choices.  I could only discern "spicy," same with Marissa, so we both went with spicy.  As he made up our kebabs, the guy asked if we were sure.  We hesitantly said yes, and I think from that point, we were doomed.  Maybe the guy wanted to see us sweat (literally) or maybe he wanted to challenge us, but he definitely did both.  I HAVE NEVER EATEN SOMETHING SO SPICY IN MY LIFE.  My nose was like a faucet, my eyes were pretty much crying, the sweat was dripping, my face/mouth/lips were burning and every I looked at Marissa I couldn't stop laughing because she looked the way I felt.  But I made it through and finished almost every bite (it was also huge).  It may not be an experience that I am anxious to repeat, but it was an experience.  And it was actually really delicious, if you can get over the 'burn a hole in your stomach' spiciness factor.  What a day!

Before I knew what I was getting into...