Riding a Bike is just like... Riding a Bike!

I haven't ridden a bike for more than 5 minutes in probably 20+ years. Bill convinced me to rent a bike this morning and ride the recreational trail down by Cannery Row with him. What fun! And great scenery, too!

Here I am with the rental near Cannery Row:

And by Fisherman's Wharf (minutes after this picture, we walked though the Memory Garden where they were setting up for an afternoon wedding, just like ours almost 4 years ago):

Bill at the top of a sand dune, overlooking Monterey Bay:

As you can see, it is a beautiful day today. We might even reach 75 degrees!!

Jury Duty

I have been called for jury duty several times. Every time, I call in the Friday before, and the automated voice says something to this effect "If you are in group XYZ (which I was), you are not needed. Thank you, your jury duty service is complete for the next two years."

That didn't happen last Friday. I had to show up on Monday morning at 8:15 to the Salinas court house- where the criminal cases are tried. After waiting about an hour, they had 200 potential jurors sitting in their auditorium. I was quite peeved, as I had assumed they would have boxes of donuts and a never-ending supply of coffee for the potential jurors. Maybe the sad state of the California coffers is to blame for the lack of sustenance for those of us doing our civic duty. Or maybe coffee and donuts are only available to movie-jury-duty folks. All I know is I was ticked off.

The officials announced that two court cases would need jurors; and they called 55 names for the first case. SWEET - I'm not called!! A half hour later, they say the next case needs 75 potential jurors, and start calling names. DAMN - they called my name!! As the bailiff leads the 75 to the courtroom, we see the remaining potential jurors sent home; their jury duty completed. DAMN!!

At this point, the jury selection begins. 18 potential jurors are called up to the jury box and asked question after question. And then more questions. As jurors are released for various reasons (mostly, because they're complete idiots), they call additional potential jurors up to the hot seat. My name is called. And I knew - based on the questions they were asking, that I did not have any conflict or personal history involving anything similar to this case - that I was on-board for the ride. DAMN!!

More potential jurors are let go (mostly, because they're also complete idiots), and I am moved up to Juror #3. DAMN IT!!!

By 3:00 in the afternoon, the 12 of us are finally sworn in as the jury. Only, one of the 12 then raises his hand and says his Grandma's dying and he has a plane ticket for the morning to fly off and visit her. WHAT?! He is dismissed, and the court calls more names to find the final juror. Which they find, send the rest of the folks home (I think only 10 or so people didn't get their names called to be in the hot seat), and we're on to opening statements. I'm beginning to realize that court cases move about as fast as a heard of turtles.

Three days, one hostile witness, two juvenile witnesses, several police witnesses, and one witness pleading the "5th" later, we're sent to deliberate. Sadly, the deliberation room did not contain coffee, food, windows, or air. Those movie jurors have it great!

About 4 hours over two days later, we the jury reached a decision. Aside from the legal decision, we also came to the consensus that jury duty, while important and necessary, totally stinks!

My jury duty service is now done for two years. Next time should I act a complete idiot???

This One is for Kristen

Here's a pretty manhole cover...

and a not-so-pretty "pit" cover...

Both photographed in Galway. Enjoy!

Video Clip of Galway Concert

We captured two video clips of the Sharon Shannon concert in Galway. Unfortunately the one with the better song is a bit longer, and Blogger doesn't seem to like it. Therefore, I have posted the shorter clip (of some Irish drinking song, from the sounds of it) for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Irish Signage

If you're thinking of coming to Ireland, you may want to study these roadsigns that Jennifer and I have learned through painstaking application of cunning insight to decipher. See if you can follow along:

"If this happens to you, you cannot say you were not warned."

"Danger - Volkswagen Beetles descending ahead."

"This man is falling to his death. So would you."

"Stupid people try to cross the street here. If you run them over, the road will be bumpy."

"If you continue along this path, bad things will happen."

"Irish children dress and play like Dick and Jane. Do not crush them please."

"Don't throw these rocks - they are very old."

"If you continue driving onto these train tracks, well, you will be crushed."

"Pray. Now."

Dun Aengus by Pony Cart

We're back in Dublin, getting ready to fly home tomorrow. Sitting in our hotel's downstairs pub (Thankfully, it's not Karaoke night!), drinking what may be our last Bulmers, thinking about our two days on Inis Mor. 

We got to go to the island's big site, Dun Aengus, not by car or bike, but by Pony Cart!

The Pony Cart to & from Dun Aengus was pretty cool, but the site itself was amazing. It's an ancient fort that was built in the Bronze Age, and is situated on the top, western edge of Inis More. And by edge, I mean it's on the edge, which drops several hundred feet straight down to the crashing sea.

There's no wall or barrier, so you can just walk right off the edge if you're not careful. I would only get close to the edge by laying down - and we captured the moment with these two photos. You'll notice, I wouldn't open my eyes, even when I wasn't looking down - that edge gave me a serious case of the heebie-jeebies!!

 

When in Ireland, drink what the Irish drink!

One of the things I wanted to do in Ireland was to sit down at a bar and order whatever the Irishman next to me was drinking. I figured if it was anything but Guinness, perhaps there'd be a good reason behind it. So while spending our two weeks here, Jen and I have been monitoring the beverage selections of the locals. Tourists don't count – they all order Guinness. But the locals – now that has been interesting.

About half drink Guinness. We think this is a pretty good finding, since it's the majority drink and agrees with expectations. In Dublin, Miller Genuine Draft seemed to be the most common alternative. I drank that stuff in graduate school, and it's not bad for an American beer, but it's no Guinness! Heineken and Carlsberg are also popular. Close to Kilkenny, Smithwicks was common (yay!).

In Galway, at the Volvo Ocean Races, however, Bulmer's Apple Cider was in extreme prevalence. Bulmers in bottles, cans, whatever, and always with ice. We don't know whether it was due to the weather (freakin' hot) or if it's normal. But Bulmer's is a darkly amber cider produced in Tipperary. It has a great toasty nature backed by solid apple tang. Being a fan of cider, I found it really great that the Irish embrace this ancient legacy just as they do the rest of their heritage. On Ireland's western coast, there has been an even split between Bulmers and Guinness, with pretty much nothing else in evidence. Here on Inishmore Island (the largest of the Aran Islands), it is by far the beverage of choice – well above Guinness.
I'm hoping to be able to find some Bulmer's at home, so we can see if it's as good as in Ireland. Accodring to a friendly publican, it goes by the brand name "Magner's" in Chicago.

Look - A Huiker!

Today (Sunday) we left Galway & a large majority of the Irish population at the Volvo Ocean Race. We took the 1:00 ferry to Inis Mor Island, the largest of the three Aran Islands on the west coast of Ireland. Pardon the delay for updated posts, but the Internet hasn't yet made it to Inis Mor (as far as we can tell)!

Our 30-minute ferry ride was fairly booked up (with the rest of the Irish population), it being a Sunday afternoon of extraordinary Irish weather (The last few days have been actually quite sunny & warm, of course, Bill and I packed for foggy, rainy Irish weather. Oh well.), and a 3-day weekend thanks to Monday's “bank holiday”. So Bill and I contented ourself with an no-frills, below-deck window seat.

All that said, Bill did manage to push his way onto the observation deck for a minute, and spotted what we think is an honest-to-goodness hooker! Check it out – hot stuff, right?  

No Internet!

Jen and I are on the Aran Island of Inis Mor, which, while it has great cider and sweaters, sadly is greatly lacking in the Internet department. We have saved some offline posts and pics, and will post when we return to Dublin tomorrow. Slainte!

"Tonight's Gonna Be Mental"

We've heard from a number of Galwayans that tonight's Sharon Shannon concert was the biggest concert of the whole race weekend. Everyone, young and old, were excited that she was playing the free concert, and most were planning to attend.

While walking the Saturday market today, Bill and I purchased some Green Dragon t-shirts (Ireland's racing yacht is called the Green Dragon). The young man who sold us the shirts chatted us up a bit and said he was also going to the show, and that "Tonight's gonna be mental!"

So Bill & I got there about an hour early and watched the tail end of the opening act (which was really good, traditional stuff). We were pretty darned close to the action, and there were thousands who were there to see the show. We got a few short videos of the action, but they're too big to add at this time (We're currently at an Internet Cafe on Inis Mor). So, here's a photo of the concert. I'll try to post the short video once I get home. 

It was pretty darned crowded, so we made it to "Unstable" but left before the night went all the way to "crazytown"!

Cheesemongers are Your Friends

Everywhere we go, Jennifer and I seem to run into great cheesemongers. It started in Carmel, when she and I went in for some picnic cheese and got some great advice and had some fun tastings. We asked if they ever hosted cheese tastings like wine cellars will host wine tastings, and the response was, with a huge grin, "Every day! What would you like to try?". In Bath, we hopped into a cheesemongerie and received a 40-minute tutorial about English cheeses while on our honeymoon. Today at Galway's Saturday market, we had a great experience yet again. We asked for a "travelling cheese" to go with us tomorrow to Inishmore Island. He had us taste two - a white cheddar and some goat cheese. Being suckers, we now have both (yum!). Quite friendly, he also helped direct us to a couple of places in town.
I suppose if your passion is moldy old milk, having someone interested and willing to listen is treat enough to keep you happy and engaged. Anyway, here's a big shout-out to the cheesemongers - thanks for helping us keep it cheesy!

Red Darts over Galway

This morning we walked to Galway's "Saturday Market," which is basically a farmer's market near town square. Along the walk we heard loud jets, looked up, and lo & behold, the Red Darts were flying in formation. Had we been down a few blocks at the waterfront, we could have seen the whole show, but the crowds walking that way kept us on our path to the Saturday Market. We were happy to see them zip by from time to time when they did their high-flying maneuvers. 

We learned that Galway has approximately 60,000 residents. Every year they have 3 festivals, each of which brings in an additional 65,000 tourists for the weekend. Galway campaigned hard for the Volvo Ocean Race to take place here, and once Volvo awarded Galway the spot for their event, the city spent almost two years getting ready.  They are expecting around 200,000 tourists to be in town this weekend. All B&Bs, hotels, etc. are booked solid. And here we are, gaping at our luck. It's just about as amazing as Surprise Miniature Golf!!

Connemara Bus to the Hooker Bar

Bill was surprised to find out that in County Galway, a "hooker" is a 3-sailed fishing boat. 

Connemara Flowers

On our bus tour to the Connemara, Ireland's lake district, we saw quite an array of Spring flowers. 

On the coral beach:

Along the roadside (it was warm, but windy!):

And at Kylemore Abbey - which was really more a manor house back in the day. Today Kylemore Abbey is a live-in school, Facts-of-Life style. However, I can only see Blair here, not Jo Polnecheck! Here are a few of the flowers from their formal gardens:

And a view of the scenery, Kylemore Abbey (at the end of the short video). You can also get a pretty good sense of the wind:

Conemara Scenery

Conemara is a scenic region on the western coast of Ireland, near the Aran Islands. Water runoff due to mountain rainfall descends to low-lying coastal plains, creating vast areas of bog. Welcome to the land of peat. This area is super-green, very rocky in areas, and gorgeous. We took a bus tour through Conemara on a gorgeous sunny day (hot! yuck!) and got some nice photos.
This is a coral beach on a brackish conjoining of stream with ocean. We didn't see any living coral, but the tide was low and the rockpools were full of interesting life.
This is one of the streams that feed the bogs. It's hard to tell, but the water is brown with sediment from the bog. According to our guide, the locals' bathwater comes out of the taps this way. They attribute the same healing properties to this water that people assign to hot springs and such. Gorgeous whether brown or not:
And a peat trench with a pile of peat:
Back when peat was their only source of heat, a family would have to cut 5 tons per year in order to heat their homes and cook their food. My back hurts just thinking about it.

Irish Famine Houses Shed Positive Light on Modern Egalitarianism

So back in the U.S. the Irish Potato Famine is well known and understood - that's when a flood of Irishmen abandoned their home country and came looking for a better life, bringing their colorful culture and hard work ethic with them. But as Americans we only learn about their hardships as immigrants, not what they faced prior to leaving Ireland.
Today, Jennifer and I got a glimpse into those aspects - "famine huts" are relics of that era, when indentured workers and their families rented tiny parcels on which to live and farm potatoes, eking out a meager living barely above subsistence level. Whole families (think lots of kids) lived in single-room or, if really lucky, double-room stone cottages with thatched roofs. When the blight struck, there were no potatoes, no money, and thus no rent. Oh yeah, and no food, either. Eviction ensued quickly in all cases. And to ensure that these evildoers didn't squat on the property, agents of the landlord burned the roofs off. The Irish have retained these relics of past troubles, and they stand as bleak reminders today.
Compare this behavior to what is going on today; in the face of a global economic failure centered on housing, we have banks negotiating with lenders, the Government intervening, and nobody is bulldozing perfectly good houses, regardless of their drop in value. While things are not perfect today and many are suffering seriously, I haven't heard stories of anybody's house being burned down around them. I also haven't heard of people being forced aboard "coffin ships" and sent to the New World, which only resented their arrival and abused their desperation.

So, we while we do not have a perfect society, I think it has shown signs of improvement.

Volvo Ocean Race Festivities

Galway has been quite a surprise. As I mentioned in my last blog post, we've arrived for the Volvo Ocean Race, Galway's biggest weekend of the year. This may not even be a yearly event, we'll have to ask around tomorrow. After a short nap to recoup from our accidental hike, we struck out to see the evening's free events down at the harbor. The harbor was closed for all of the foot traffic, and it was crowded, but you could easily get from tent to tent & booth to booth to see what people were selling (food, crafts, boating gear). 

The racing vessels were on display in the harbor, and the previous legs' winning yacht was hoisted up in celebration. 

I don't know much about yacht racing, but it does look cool. Everyone here seems to be rooting for "The Green Dragon" - Ireland's yacht. 

My big excitement for the evening was seeing the free Hothouse Flowers concert. I only have a few CDs from them, but I recognized most of the songs they sang. Their first song was "I Can See Clearly Now", a song I used to play a lot back in my college days. Lots of fun, good music, and a great atmosphere!

Hello! My Name is Jennifer & I give poor directions. Prepare to walk!

We arrived today after a long drive (that included a ferry boat ride!) from Dingle to Galway. After checking into our B&B, we walked the 5 minutes (down a twisty road) to the city centre. After purchasing bus tour tickets for Connemara district tomorrow, we walked back to our B&B. Well, as you can guess, I thought we needed to go left when we should have gone straight. Needless to say, 55 minutes (and one meltdown - mine) later, we arrived at our B&B. I should never override Bill's sense of direction. The man's an Eagle Scout, for crying out loud!! :) 

On the bright side, we fell ass-backward into staying two blocks away from the "Volvo Ocean Race" this weekend. Which includes yacht races, Great Britain's version of the Blue Angels, and best of all, daily & nightly free concerts. Tonight - Hothouse Flowers on the center stage!   

Dingle Coast Scenery

Jennifer is quite enamored with the construction of ancient homes on the Dingle Peninsula.  While I had a lot to say and study about the forts and huts, I'm also quite impressed by the scenery.  As any real estate agent would tell you, it's all about location, location, location! The Dingle Peninsula reminds me a lot of Big Sur, except with sufficient water to keep everything green. Exceptionally green. The locals say they don't see the sun much, so there's a tradeoff to be had; being from the Monterey Peninsula, this is a tradeoff we already understand all too well.

I caught Jen during a greenery-inspired spritual moment...

Beehive Huts Rule!

Today was spent driving the 30-mile Dingle Peninsula loop, known here as Slean Head. It is an absolutely beautiful drive, filled with seascapes, mountain vistas (covered in fog), and lots & lots & lots of greenery.  There were also fort ruins and ancient homes to explore. The fort & homes we saw today date back to 800 AD - and the homes were of the most wicked design - Beehive huts! Round on the outside, square on the inside. Once you were inside, the wind was completely blocked out (no mortar, either, thank you very much!) and even Bill could stand up inside. Here are a few of our favorite Beehive Hut pictures. Enjoy! 

Above is outside, and below is Bill & I inside our new home - we're never coming back, 'cause Beehive Huts rule!! :) 

(The tiny little hole is a bit much for Bill to crawl through, but I think he'll get used to it in time...)