Four times the scenery

Oops! Today was a bus day, I got on the first bus I saw this morning and returned 11 hours later, none the wiser and having seen the same scenery 4 times. Let me explain!
I caught the bus to Los Gigantes. A little fishing village set at the bottom of a hill (cliff) I got there, walked to the beach then decided I didn't like it so went back up the hill to the bus station where I sadly realized 2 things. 1.) I just missed the bus that went onward to another city 2.) I would have to go back the way I came to try another bus.

So back to Playa de las Americas (thats two trips) I then decided to catch a bus to a place called Icod de los Vinos. Its in the north part of the island and boasts a really old tree they call the Drago Milenario. (trip 3 past same scenery) The place was one of the coolest parks I'd ever seen. Not for what was in it so much but for how it was arranged. All of these weird narrow, precarious footpaths leading in all directions but never obviously leading you to the next thing. You'd walk to the edge before you realized it was not the path and then you'd see how to get yourself there and have to back track. I've never seen anything like it! Made no sense!! But since it was such a pretty place it really was a nice wander! I've uploaded some pictures of it. The volcano is El Teide, the highest peak in Spain and the big tree is the Drago Milenario.

I managed to get to this place Icod just as the next bus was leaving for home,so I had to wait for the bus that came two hours later. Sheesh! I couldn't find another combination of buses to speed things up so I had to wait. I was sat on a bench at the bus station ( let me explain, 3 benches outside and 50 seats inside) I had an old lady sit RIGHT NEXT TO ME! Why!? there was 2 empty benches! Then more people came and I was trying to be aware of the oldies, since I am to get up for them. So here comes about three more old ladies. All eye-ing my end of the bench? I mean, why? Go sit on the other benches? It was so weird! I still don't quite understand why in the world they couldn't take 6 extra steps and go sit down. So after all was said and done I moved and they all bunched up on the edge of the stupid bench! I took a picture of it it was so ridiculous! One empty bench and a gaggle of grandmas on the other. Ugh! So annoying!

So needless to say 2 hours later and I finally got back on the bus, headed to las Americas (4th trip past same scenery) I realized on the way home I'd spent all my change on the ride back and only had about 90 cents to get home with. Which wasn't going to get me very far! Once I got to the main bus station I still had to figure out how to get on a bus with only 90 cents or figure out where i was and walk home (miles!! and it was 10pm by then) so I walked up to a bus driver to ask him about getting home and I was trying to say "how far will 90 cents get me" but he only understood I had 90 cents and would need 1.30 to get home with so he lent me some change! Which was really nice! I made it home and ate some dinner and went to bed. Phew! Tomorrow I fly to Madrid and start the madness over again.

K

K

Pastry face creates chub rub

Oh yeah, Shelley has finally coined the phrase that I've been trying to describe to skinny girls. Chub rub. When a girl whose legs rub, walks around sweating in her favorite spanish dress and ends up with a rash. Chub rub. Its hilarious.

I am pretty sure that walking around to various Panaderia's for croissants dipped in sugar and filled iwth a custard could be the reason for the rub. Call me crazy. Or call me pastry more like!

The last couple of days have been pretty nice! I met some girls staying here and met up with them at the beach yesterday and we followed that up with tapas and drinks at this place overlooking the beach. Then after a while we rounded up another new hosteler Daniel from Switzerland and came home and had a good laugh around the table on the terrace here. It was nice. Daniel was my room mate last night and we had alot to talk about. It was nice. He is studying to be an environmental engineer and he was telling me all about Switzerland. He mentioned he was doing some WOOFFing on the island of Las Palmas and I said oh! I've learned all about that! He said there is a whole website devoted to it and you get signed up and away you go! Who knew! So we had a nice chat until it was bed time.

Today I slept in and then went to the pool that is part of this apartment complex I'm in. That was a nice dip. Cold water and no one was there! After that I decided to walk around in search of more pastry because I hadn't had enough yesterday. I bought some to take to the girls who had gone to the beach before me, but I couldn't find them. And no I didn't end up eating them all myself! I walked along the main beach and just kept on walking. You can go for miles and miles along the water front and resorts and shopping and beaches go on for miles!! It was such a hot day that I finally gave up and came home.

The pictures are of the beach, the girls Michelle and Sam and the sunset last night and my plate of tapas. It had calamari, Seranno ham, canarian potatoes and croquets.

Well, gotta run, there is a line for the internet right now.

Later,

Karen

Art appreciation, is grafitti art?

Friday August 28th 8pm ish

I am in Los Cristianos now. Its as pretty as Santa Cruz but smaller and with less green stuff. I had a pretty easy morning wandering the streets of the city and then caught the tram to the bus station and then caught a bus, eventually, when the dirver finally decided he was ready to let us board. it was a really quick trip though...so no complaints.

Once I got here though the fun really began I took a right and then past the round about then it all fell apart. Meanwhile walking up hill and around corners adn where are the stupid road signs around here!! I was so frustrated. I stopped for help 3 times before I finally gave up and called the hostel and when the lady answered she said in plain ole american "is this Karen?" I thought I'd called the states or something. She runs the place! Shelley is her name, she's originally from Ohio.

So she helped me find my way. I was only a few gates down from where I needed to be. She let me get settled in and then walked me to the beach to check things out. That was nice. She is loaded with information. She was living in Hawaii, married an Englishman and they compromised on places to live and picked Tenerife! Funny choice, but I can see why!

The beach was unbelievable hot!! Sand was so hot! I didn't try the water, I was too cooked. So I wandered home and had a cold shower and found the internet! Yeah!

Tomorrow Shelley is showing me the Panaderia!! Oh boy! Sweet yummy breads for cheap!! I forgot my camera today!! Can you believe I left the hostel without it??!! I can't!! I never do that!! So no pictures of this place. I uploaded some photos of the grafitti in santa cruz instead.

Later,

Karen

Enchanted City, Santa Cruz Tenerife

Thursday August 27th

Have had quite a day today. I didn’t want to get behind with my blog even though technically I am. I spent the day doing laundry and hanging it out to dry, on the boat, where everyone could see my undies. Very weird. Then Greg and I wandered into town and tried to find internet access. Sheesh, wasn’t easy. After trying McDonalds with no luck I asked the info kiosk and the ladies directed me to the Museo/Biblioteca. So Greg went back to the boat and I wandered on to the Museo. Which by the way was the most stunning building. I’ve never seen a library done this way. Very modern and no light and just really cool. I will walk by it and take a photo tomorrow. I didn’t while I was there L About the time I wandered out of there it was just time for the shops to wake up from their siestas so I window shopped and had a gelato. This city (Santa Cruz de Tenerife) is the most beautiful city I have encountered so far. Very colorful and full of trees and just really pretty. The Spanish people here are a lot different too. Very different types walking around than in Mallorca. Funny that so far my introduction to Spain has been on islands. Can’t wait to see what Valencia will be like. Main land Spain. Barcelona doesn’t count since I didn’t like it so much. (for those who love that city don’t worry, I’ll give it another chance some day!)

Anyways, loving this city. Tomorrow I leave it though and find a cheap place to sleep further south from here. It will be in a place called Los Cristianos. Really cheap sleep there! And tons of beaches! Yeah!

Tonight Greg and I went and had some dinner in town. Very yummy. I of course sampled the local rum (Ron in Spanish) it’s from the island of Las Palmas. Very good! I also chose to eat off the Canarian menu and had rabbit with papas (potatoes) really delish!!

Then we had a wander around the city a bit. It is such a nice place even at night. Lots of people out enjoying themselves, as is the way here. Everyone out for a stroll. Love it! Once again getting mesmerized by the Spanish way of life…

So now back to the boat for my last night sleeping here. I am going to miss it a bit. I had a hard time being in the city yesterday but after today it felt better. The transition has been hard. Back to reality. Weird!

K

From sea to shining sea; the diary

Get ready...to simplify I'm putting the whole of my diary at sea into this blog. Its broken down by day and by time too, so really should be easy reading. I enjoy it anyways :)

August 20^th what a day.

It started out with me sprinting to catch the bus as it was coming up O’Connell Street behind me. Once again I was not prepared to walk as far as I had to to catch the bus so it was a sprint to the finish. Luckily there was a line of people with luggage waiting to get on so I had time to run there and get on just in time. Sheesh. Not a good start to this day. Once I got to the airport I had to check in with Ryanair. Their baggage limit is 15 not 20kg which I forgot (every airline does it different) so luckily I was underweight (for sure, since I checked at the last airport) then I got lost trying to find the security queue. Why, you ask? Because security happens through this tiny little door and if you’re not paying attention (which I so often am not) you miss the fact that through all 1000 people (my this airport seems packed today!) its right in front of you. Oops. So, I got that figured out and then panicked because the line really had 1000 people in it and was moving one little human at a time through the magic security portal and I was likely going to miss my flight. Oh man was that stressful! I got through security and once again found myself running. I had about 80 gates to go down this long corridor of course. I made it to the gate only to discover that they were all still in their queue and that Ryanair rarely leaves on time. Yes, I flew Ryanair again. Oh dread of dread, but cheapest.

Landing late in Faro (38 degrees Celsius WOW, it was raining heavily when I left Dublin) I took a taxi to the waterfront and caught up with Greg who was to be my skipper for the sailing trip.

He basically let me sit down for a minute to catch my breath and then we were off to the boat. That was it. No gentle transition. No parked at the marina so we could come ashore and eat and drink, no, straight to the boat!

His friend Mick gave us a lift in his RIB which was nice. We pulled up to this really scary little boat…I was probably freaking out by the reaction I got from Greg but he just laughed his head off and then off we went to his actual boat, they just wanted to see what I would do!

Once we got to Gregs boat I was relieved for sure. It was so pretty and bigger in real life, I’d only seen it in pictures. So I put my bag away and we were off to another anchorage near the entrance to the estuary.

We moved to this really terrific beach and there was a great café/bar etc and we didn’t get to go to either of them L the tide was moving at about 4 knots and there would have been no way to row the dinghy ashore and make it back so we just hung out on the boat instead. I took a nap and laid in the sun a bit. Then it was early to bed.

August 21^st

2:30 am I was woken up with a thud. One of the catamarans had swung around when the tide changed and had banged into the front of us. The wind was howling. The guy onboard didn’t speak any English and didn’t’ seem to understand that all he had to do was shorten his anchor chain and we could all get back to bed but instead he just kept hollering something and waiting to see what we would do. Really annoying. So we pulled up anchor with me at the helm Yikes! and moved off away from him, reset the anchor and went back to bed. While I was up I noticed that all the stars were out. And I mean all the stars that fill a sky, horizon to horizon. Amazing! More stars than I’d ever seen. Greg decided we should set off about 6:30 am ish so we set alarms and off we went.

FROM HERE ON I WROTE NOTES ACCORIDING TO THE HOUR I CHECKED MY WATCH ETC. SO I WILL WRITE IT THAT WAY.

10AM all 3 sails up on a 240 degree course. Fred our auto pilot (literally a machine that keeps us on coures, I just named him) is in charge right now. I’ve successfully done tea and a bowl of cereal. Big whoop.

12:30pm getting used to rolling of the boat. The swell is hitting us broadside, abeam its called. So we are rocking pretty good from side to side. Greg said the swell was 3-5 meters. So far either the meds are working (for seasickness) or I don’t mind being at sea. Land is almost out of sight. Greg has taken a time out below. Scary!!

1:30pm time is going so fast. Its amazing too because there is nothing to see, nothing to do but maintain our course. LOVE IT THOUGH!!

Seeing what its like on the ocean, feeling the swell. Pretty awesome. Amazing amount of power in water! I went to the toilet. That was not easy. You have to maintain position and then commit to sit, do your thing all the while hoping it won’t splash you when a big roller hits.

2pm waves much bigger now. Not as liking this at the moment, wind picked up waves big. Container ship on our port side.

6:30 pm Huge boat eating waves!

We took the mainsail down. Greg took Fred off, I helmed into the wind and waves so he could lower it. Yikes! 20 knots of wind we are moving at 5-6 knots (Greg worked pretty hard to “slow” us down as the wind was howling past us and it was pretty uncomfortable) The sun just peeked around the canvas. Funny you notice that since its not usually there-west, means something is off. Fred took us due south for a minute, that’s what it was.

Did I mention how big these waves are? I tried to make tea (dinner) and almost fell onto the stove which was on. Not looking forward to tonight. We’ve decided to do 2 hours on 2 off. Funny I am not as freaked out as I thought I’d be by this. It’s pretty awesome really! These waves are amazing. Its like the bottom drops out from under you and just when you think its doing it again it eases you into the trough. I am not kidding these waves are swallowing this boat. Greg went and laid down and I panicked when our course changed. So I took Fred off and the boat reacted so much faster than I thought. What with giant waves and wind so I had to wake Greg up. Did I mention how blue the water is? Amazing. This whole thing is amazing. I just wish Tony could be here.

August 22^nd

Its 7:30am we made it through the night. It was pretty wild. Waves and wind were the same only in the dark. You couldn’t see them coming. We saw ships. Huge ones! Greg talked to them about the weather on the radio. (channel 16) One boat we got so close to it shined a spotlight on us to see if we were okay. He was nice. The boat was really churning too, you could hear it. It was an eerie sound for sure! Especially being we could see the man onboard. We were headed almost south, no we are headed west by south. The wind has changed and is not as strong but the waves seem as severe. Still very steep once we get to the top. It will be this way from now on I suspect. (by the way~ that’s how the ocean is all the time…who knew!!)

I am a dirty disgusting mess right now. No teeth no deodorant no shower. Its going to get pretty bad. When you’re on deck there is a lot of seaspray so you end up kind of sticky. You and your clothes.

I am so tired. I am doing the head jerk thing. Trying not to fall into or out of the boat. Just in case though I’m wearing a life vest.

3:15pm almost slipped off the toilet just now, made me laugh!! Otherwise getting used to the feeling now. Its nice, Indescribable. (not the trips to the toilet)

August 23^rd

Objects in GPS are closer than they appear. Don’t I wish.

Right now we are off the coast of Africa! I stink~ bath day. Last night I had watch from 3-5am and I watched the clouds roll in. We are overcast but the wind and waves are not bad. I hope any weather would pass by us. We are making good time. Today I saw fish jump. They are little blue ones. I hope to see dolphins soon. Just had a spit bath. It was really good. Hair is another problem it will wait 2 more days. Doing my bath I spent a bunch of time below without even thinking of sea sickness so that is good. Apparently the stink out weighed the waves.

Its amazing really I thought it would be smooth consistent waves. Life would be an easy one but the reality is that the waves are bigger and come from all sides. You just get accustomed to bracing yourself where ever you go. I can see why it helps to be prepared in all aspects because when your moving in a big swell you can’t fiddle with stuff. We just put a fishing line out. Hope we catch something. I am currently in shorts, had to let my “long” pants (sheesh) air out a bit. They are pretty ripe. Its also a new thing that there is always a fine spray on salt water. Its pretty continuous so after a while you are just kinda wet, damp maybe. I forgot to mention last night was the fist time I saw phosphorescent algae or plankton I guess. It’s the most amazing thing really beautiful. Each splash from the boat set off sparks basically. Like hundred of fire flys or something. Its really hard to describe. I’ve read where people have seen it, now I know what they mean, Greg said in the Caribbean its even brighter!

I am liking this a lot. The feeling of being out here is pretty overwhelming. The world seems a lot bigger when you can’t see any of it. It also seems to be the last refuge from humanity too. I can see why people like it. No one to mess with you. It’s just the ocean and the occasion bird (and huge tanker)

7:30pm Agadir Morocco 100 miles to our east right now. Madeira to our west. We will see land by Wednesday, possibly Tuesday if we head to Lanzarote first. I have gotten the hang of the kitchen now. Prepared dinner and did tea, dessert, like old hat. So much thought has to go into everything since its all sliding around.

One pot meals are key to this too. Dishes are a pain! So far to eat we’ve had potatoe with veg soup, potato with veg soup (part 2) with meat. Tonight we had chili in potato with veg soup and meat. Its good and hot. I made us tuna sandwiches for lunch, pretty basic but at least I’m getting around the kitchen now. I also discovered Greg bought a bunch of big yummy cheese so we had big slabs in our chili tonight. Yum! Still cloudy out but nothing else has changed, waves and wind waves and wind.

Greg wrote down notes on what to do if he goes over board. Oh man how insanely awful would that be!! Every time he goes out on deck (out of the cockpit) I try to keep an eye out. Help would be hours away. There is hardly even chatter on Channel 16. 7:30 also means we’ll be starting watches again soon.

Barometer 1010~ not dropping, no nasty weather, when it drops quick the weather is changing~bad). Misen and forsail are still up still doing 5 knots.

August 24^th Monday??

Was a rough night appeared it might storm got real splashy and we picked up speed. I ended up sleeping more that my share too. Greg is now taking extra snoozes to catch up. I slept in the aft cabin last night. So much stuff banging around was hard to sleep.

According to the calculation we should hit Tenerife Wednesday. We’ll be able to see Lanzarote soon as well. (by the way, no we won’t…who knew) Amazing we’ve held almost the same course this whole time. 220-240 degrees, 5 knots of speed roughly. Its still cloudy but the sun peeks through now and then. I can’t believe how chilly its been. Canary Islands will feel really warm. I’m thinking at least a couple of days at the beach. We’ll be there almost 1 week before my flight to Madrid. I may go see if I can get on a standby flight and go sooner.

Only 1 ship in the last four days. Greg called them on the radio but the guy neither spoke English nor cared to stop his conversation with another person on the radio. Really annoying.

11:15am just saw Pilot whales! A whole bunch, like 4-5 I think, all playing around the boat!! It was great, Greg and I went up to the bow and I attempted to snap photos of them as they swam under the bow sprit. Really cool!!

5pm day 4, by far the most “calm” sailing we’ve had the whole time. Usually about now the weather picks up and it’s a rough ride through the night only to calm in the morning. Who knows. Since we are getting near land the pattern will change I imagine.

This whole trip has been really cool. Not what I expected at all! Who knew what sailing 5 days in the ocean was like!? Should get a chance to do laundry and relax in Santa Cruz before moving the boat to another port. I will have to get underway again.

Put up second forsail so its wing and wing, though the wind died down enough to not fill both. We’ll see if that lasts.

Have been using Anne’s travel towel as blanket during night watch but still cold so I planned to use my sleep sheet as well but Greg keeps using it to sleep with in the “hot bunk” so my ingenious plan may not work. (hot bunk is a term used when two people are sharing watch, one person gets up to take over and one goes to the bunk that’s still warm and gets some sleep)

August 25 8am

Another night of relatively smooth sailing. We went from 5 knots with help from the engine to turning it off and sailing at 6 knots. The wind picked up.

I ended up on watch with my sheet and towel it was so good! I should have thought of it sooner. I think the debate today is still to go to Lanzarote or on to Tenerife who knows. We had an awesome sunset last night and a really pretty sunrise happening as I speak. Really awesome! Greg just said to write: we sailed over a volcano last night. Sea mount they call it, it has an effect on the waves and wind.

3:05 pm Lots of snoozing today. Sun is out. We’re moving at 5 knots with the engine. Almost to Lanzarote. Which we are passing by. There are 2 ships on our sights now after seeing none for so long. We will have to be much more vigilant tonight as we are nearing the islands now. We should be getting to Tenerife mid day at our current speed. Sheesh!

The big ship from behind us made a course correction and moved off a collision course with us. It was a big one. You could hear its engine booming over the sound of our engine. Amazing! Greg called him on the radio for weather, same as now he said.

6:10pm just had a mini snooze, listened to music and repacked a little. Another ship is coming up behind us. Sheesh! Its going to be a long night of vigilant watch.

I got the thinking while I was lying down that I’ve lost some of my spark. I am just a bit tired. But I am feeling okay about the upcoming parts of my trip. I’ll muster the energy and enthusiasm for it and go out with a bang. I think when I get to home I’ll keep moving alittle bit. Definitely east caost somewhere. I’ll just job hunt and try to stay involved with sailing and see what happens.

8:30pm saw another huge cargo ship. Busy place this is!

Tonight I almost got seasick. After searching for dinner, clean up, dessert I about hurled when I saw rice pudding (my pick too)

So dinners have been stew, leftover stew with new ingredients to make more quanitiy stew. Then, Chili with old stew from second night. Stew again, potatoes veg and chorizo. Tonight day 5, left over stew combined with Portuguese can of beans with pork meat. ALL types. Hold on I need to puke. (just kidding) So I am really hoping we hit Tenerife soon enough to clean up and eat out! Because there is stew left L

August 26 8:20am

We will soon be in sight of land for the first time in 5 day. Weird! I was just starting to get into the routine of watches etc.

I think an ocean crossing would be pretty cool! We are berthing in Santa Cruz first for a few days yeah! Laundry shower beach!

Then moving the boat possibly to Gomera. I have almost a week to time to kill before my flight to Madrid so if I can stay on the boat for free I will, otherwise I’ll try standby to get to Madrid earlier!

Last night we saw a lot of ships. I had 4 in sight at one time.

Greg said the Volcano on Tenerife should be visible soon. Yeah!

11am Land ho! I just woke up from a snooze to find a big island in front of us! yeah! I bet when you go to the Caribbean its as exciting, probably more!

We are only 20 miles from it and another 6 hours of sailing at our current speed. Barely 4 knots with engine, the sea looks pretty calm. No dolphins yet. Greg saw flying fish while I was asleep.

Time Unknown; I took my watch off! No idea what time it is. Guessing around island o’clock.

Why would anyone not want to do this? Why would a person keep a good boat berthed when they could be out here. I mean seeing this big island appear and then get bigger is pretty cool. I can’t imagine what the people who did this first must have felt. It’s finally been warm enough for me to put my swim suit on. Other wise the wind was a little chilly.

The sea is very smooth right now which makes it really nice for sure. Its how I imagined the sea to be the whole time! Who knew!

Wind picked up as we rounded the corner toward Santa Cruz. You should see how huge this city is! And lots of little villages tucked into nooks in the mountains. Really pretty from here! It’s cloudy and looks like rain though too bad! I got all warm weather prepped and am now cold. Can’t win. I made a sandwich for Greg and I thought I’d have a tuna sammy but grabbed the Sardine pate instead, oops! Tastes just like fish though so I went with it.

THE JOURNAL STOPS HERE

Once we got to Santa Cruz we parked the boat and stumbled to the shower room (yeah!!) Greg could hardly walk he was so tired!

I couldn’t understand why the entire shower facility seemed to be rocking. It was so hilarious! I literally found myself bracing for a big swell. It was funny.

Once we got cleaned up we walked into the city to find a McDonalds that Greg knew about. Yes, McDonalds tastes the same here too. Magic!

Then after that we had a little stroll and I was so tired that I turned in around 9 ish.

Greg is having a friend visit him here so we are not moving the boat after all.

Okay, thats it! Wow!!

The photos are of Greg's boat, Me on my first afternoon (totally unsuspecting) then a picture of my hair and then my sad face...I'm ready for a bath

Karen

Survived Trip at Sea; the return of the blogger

Its been ages. I must get caught up! Have survived my first trip out to sea. It was the most amazing thing I've ever done! Amazing! I kept a good journal every day which I'll type into here. I have had an really hard time finding internet so once I hit the hostel tomorrow night I'll start typing. I left Faro Portugal Friday morning August 21st. We left early that day. We arrived in Santa Cruz Tenerife Canary Islands yesterday August 26th at 6pm. Wow.
I didn't see land for 5 days. Imagine all that solitude and then landing in a bustling Spanish city. Its been a rude awakening!
Having trouble with the internet here. So better go. I should be all set to upload photos etc by tomorrow I would hope! Talk about technology withdrawal.
Love,
K

Off to the Canary Islands

Its Wednesday night August 19th 11:40pm

Well, this is likely to be the last blog for at least a week. I'll try to write each day in a journal and then type it in to keep it interesting.
I fly to Portugal tomorrow morning early. Greg sent a text saying to be ready to get right onto the boat. So there will be no messing around Faro until he is ready like i thought. Should be fun. I am not feeling very prepared but I am excited at least! All I really need a swim suit and sun screen!
Tony and I just got back from our night on the town in Dublin. It was really nice to share it with someone. We walked to the Guiness Brewery here in Dublin. Oh my gosh, you should see that place! So awesome! When you first walk in you are greeted by these huge screens, like 2 stories high, and all they show is Guiness being poured! Really neat! Then when you exit you walk through this room full of Guiness being poured out. I'll upload photos soon! Or not...maybe in a week.
I wont' be checking email or anything unless we run into a signal near the ports we stop in. Not sure how that will work! I'll tell you when I'm done!
I moved to another hostel tonight, that makes 5 in almost as many days. Last night was Abigails. I was on the fourth floor, no elevator. Tonight I'm at the Four Courts first floor. Not bad! My room is much nicer today than yesterday for sure!
This morning I walked around Dublin again and had a great time. I found city hall (very pretty) I found Dublin Castle, Christ Church Cathedral (closed for filming of the Tudors) and I wandered as far as teh Guiness brewery. Then I wandered back to O'Connell Street to find Tony as he'd just flown in from Bournemouth. Once I scooped him up we went walking and I showed him around a bit, he's already been here a few times but not for a while now so he was a good sport and let me lead him around. I'm going to miss him.
I'm off to bed now, got an early start tomorrow. I have to cross the bridge and up the street to catch the airport bus.
So, have a great week! Talk to you on the flip side! Whenever that is! Its going to be great!! Back to the HOT weather!
Love,
Karen

Little Catch Up

So it does work, I can put more that 5 photos on here. Hmmm. Well these ones above are some of the Tall Ships (again) The Tenacious photo is a picture of where Tony sleeps when he is on board. That just above here is the Ha'Penny bridge in Dublin. There is one of a guy on a post playing the saxophone. He balances there for a long time. Ouch!

These are pictures from the gig we went to last night. The red curtain is the place we started first. Me and a girl named Hailey from Australia. They were called Mail Order Messiahs or something. They were totally different but funny. On our way back to the hostel we found some local jam session and that was really cool! Totally traditional irish at that point! Very fun!
I took a picture of my American Cola just for kicks. It was the cheapest soda I could find.

We'll see what tonight brings I am so close to Temple Bar that it would be a shame not to head there and see what I find. Looks like everyone has trad. music playing most nights.

K

Totally unprepared and loving it? No!

Once again without photos. Its really a matter of walking up 3 flights of stairs to my room, remember everything to come back down to use the internet and I keep forgetting every little thing.
I have had the most unbelievable day. Just wanted to share the pain and frustration so that I can now walk out the door and enjoy the rest of my day!!
This morning was business as usual. I got breakfast and was happily eating and checking internet etc and then the power went out, all over the hostel. As I was packing up to leave from that situation I realized my cell phone was about to die and I hadn't written down the directions or phone number to Abigails (my next hostel). I figure I will work it out when I arrive in Dublin and the information man can help me etc...
At the train station I use my last cash to buy the ticket and then remember its a 3 1/2 hour journey and I should get water or something so I find the smallest cheapest water I could for 1.50euro (make me puke, how expensive is that!!) and am counting out literally the last of my pennies to the man behind the till. I think I had about 1.42 in change, he just waved me off. I'm sure I must have looked pathetic. So, that left me with, not a penny to my name, no idea where my next hostel was, phone dying so limiting my ability to manuever (ship joke) otherwise a hopeless situation.
I arrive at Dublin bus station to discover that the nice young man behind the info desk has no idea where the hostel is, end of story, there was no looking up or asking someone etc so I was on my own. I had no money to use the internet station there and not even 20cents to use the toilet. Sheesh!
I used up the last of my cell phone battery to call Tony who I thought might be able to look it up for me and he was in the middle of a minor (hopefully) motorcycle crisis with leaking fuel or something. So there I sat. In the bus station. Having to pee, having no idea where I was headed, no desire to walk aimlessly around with my heavy bags (though they may be 8 kg lighter they are still heavy)and no cell phone.
As I sat there I remembered reading the directions for some hostel near O'Connell Street so I took a chance and walked there and literally stubbled right into the place! Phew! Thank goodness!
Now I'm in an 8 bed dorm room, female only, and on the 4th floor. So that is the day so far. Unfolding brilliantly.
I have to figure out laundry before I hit Portugal and also groceries and necessities for sailing off for a week. When I arrive in Portugal I am anticipating something like this; arrive at the airport, find my way to the harbor, find Greg, get on boat, set sail. So, no internet, no laundry, no shopping etc...who knows!

Luckily Tony will be in Dublin tomorrow (getting ready to reboard Tenacious for his next stint) and he can help me with my last minute stuff. Should be fun to have a travel buddy too.
More later,
Karen

Onions and a Head Bang

Oh man, they say that English Cider Beer gives you strawberry nose but what about making you silly.
I had one beer (bought in the market) and leaned down to pick up something off the floor and banged my head so hard on the table. It was hilarious! I mean, come on Karen! Pay attention! ha! I'm on my second cider beer now and it may be trouble!
I walked to a pub earlier and found out that pints were 4 euros and up. Really expensive! Even groceries are expensive here!

As far as onions go the two Aussie girls I met yesterday came back from their fabulous bus tour and made a yummy dinner which they offered me and I scavenged gladly...and the dish was FULL of onions. All those who've met me know what that is like...so beggars can't be choosers I graciously and secretly picked them out and kept eating.
Right now right next to me a couple of young German boys are playing Monopoly and it is hilarious in another language!! I'm really enjoying it! A whole new game in German!
There is a man here who looks just like Robert Downey Jr. and he plays guitar and oh man, I'm in crush with him! He is very sulky though adn doesn't speak so I'll just look. But he is the spitting image of Robert Downey Jr. I'm not kidding.
I think tonight I'll go find some good irish music, most pubs offer it so we'll see. I met another Aussie who hasn't been out tonight adn I think I'll tag along with her and see what we can find. Should be fun!
Just wanted to share my head banging experience. Ouch! I thought I broke my glasses I hit the table so hard! Ha!
later
k

Oh my gosh my Galway

This blog is written in so many sections...I'll try to clean it up. These photos are from around Galway Ireland. Really pretty place, pictures don't quite do it justice! Its just a really nice place. It stays busy and is full of people from all over the place! It must be quite the destination. Who knew. I had heard from almost everyone I've met in Ireland that Galway was a nice place to visit so here I am. This will be my second night. Tonight I'll get cleaned up and head out to have a pint somewhere. There are so many pubs here it isn't funny. I mean, take your pick. Not sure what my pub strategy will be tonight, probably follow the people who sound most local to the place they go to. Who knows.

Here is part one written August 17th at 9am:

I wrote a blog on the way here on the bus, its a much shorter one than yesterday. And alas as I am currently locked out of my room until much later today so I won't have photos until later on. You should just see this place! Each stop just keeps getting better! Galway is so pretty, lots of little alleys, tons of outside seating (all under covers) but it has a little bit of a spanish feel to it! Today I'm headed out to find the water, I know its here somewhere.

I'll try to cut and paste my typing from yesterday.

This was about 3pm Sunday afternoon when I wrote this part...

I am on the bus now to Galway. I have about 1 and ½ hours left. It’s a 3 ½ half hour journey from Dublin. Sheesh!

When I got to the bus station there was a bus leaving for Galway right away but when I discovered it took that long I thought I better wait and do things like go the bathroom and eat some food. The bathroom costs 20 cents to enter and it was pretty funny squeezing all my stuff in again.

They have lockers at the Dublin station 6euro for 24 hours. They call it left luggage, now I know. I think its been everywhere and I’d been missing it. It would have been a nice option yesterday and I could have come back to the same hostel in Dublin after the tall ship stuff. The ships were supposed to be sailing out today. I didn’t stay around for that. I don’t know that they would have gone out under sail and certainly not in a big group so I left town.

The ride to Galway has been interesting. Nothing really special about these little towns. They look new compared to England and there are a lot more run down places here than there too. Not impressed so far, except for the green. I hope that Galway is not too cold and rainy. It looks pretty dark.

Ballinasloe, look it up, there is a really amazing school or something but it looks abandoned.

I think it’s the way the “sun” comes through the clouds, it makes the green seem so vivid! Its amazing! Hard to even describe. I’m listening to a band called Vampire Weekend and it seems totally fitting music for this drive! I think I’m almost to Galway now. There are whole buildings here covered entirely in ivy. Like think of a typical little English church and imagine it covered with ivy up to the top of the spire.

Okay here I am again. LIke I said I'm headed otu for a walk today. It appears the sun is coming out too which is really nice!

My room here is upstairs and the womens toilet adn shower are downstairs which means that I had to trek down to use the toilet and change then walk back through the lobby in my pajamas to get back up to my bed. Sheesh! Not really crazy about that set up!

Since I decided to stay another night I had to check out and move rooms but until they clean them I had to leave my stuff in the kitchen area. Its so weird. Me and about 15 other people from the looks of it...there is stuff everywhere around here! I am going to shower while I have a chance right now adn get cleaned up.

Then off I go again to walk around. Not alot of stuff to do here. Most people leave for ferry trips to Aran Islands or the Cliffs of Man~something. But it costs as much to do that as to stay the night here so I am skipping it. Skipping alot of stuff really. It just goes to show, traveling is one thing but touring adn really seeing stuff means, either you rent a car or pay to be toured around. Otherwise alot of stuff is hard to get to. I'm learning there really is a reason you budget for that fun stuff. Otherwise you are a slave to the bus route and other creative means and I seem to have left my creativity and drive somewhere...Where is it?? What does that mean?

I just don't seem to have the energy to go sit and a pub adn strike up conversation. That means something I'm sure of it.

So, this poor blog is a bit of a mess but now you have photos!

Later,

Karen

p.s.I just ate at McDonalds just to see what it was like and you'll never guess. Same flavor as at home. Down to the oil the french fries (chips) are fried in. Amazing!! And they salt the fries too!! Yeah!! No one salts their fries around here!

p.s.s. the photos are of the Cathedral here in Galway (they were having service so I didnt' look around) then down by the river, some of the alley ways here and thats about it. Prettier than the picture!

Tall Ships Belfast Northern Ireland

Written August 15 evening time: I have to pay for internet at this place so I’m writing it ahead of time so its done. I also can’t upload photos so I’m waiting until I get back online to do that. I can’t believe this hostel won’t allow internet. Wifi should be free if you’re sitting in the lobby. Plus it gets people sitting around.

Anyways. Where to begin. I am currently sitting in my dorm room in Belfast. Its about 10:30pm. I’ve closed the window but can hear the people outside like its still open. Amazing. I don’t even know where the sound is coming from the street outside seems dead really.

I had quite a day today! I got up and put my clothes on and got ready and then decided that the sun was supposed to be out I’ll put shorts on. I was surprised when I left the hostel at around 7:15 am and it was pouring rain. I’m guessing at some point someone in our dorm room shut the windows and curtains so I had no idea how to dress... I had to walk to the bus station to catch a bus up to Belfast at 8am. It was raining. I have no rain coat, no real warm clothes and two bags that don’t shed water. So in Europe what does a person do that early in the morning?? Hope and pray that something is open!! I finally found a store that sold umbrellas so I bought one and headed back out onto the street. It was about a 30 minute walk and my bags were getting heavier with every drop of water they absorbed!

The bus station was a piece of cake. I got on the bus and was happy to have my own seat until we got to the airport (one of the stops) and all the seats filled up…so a really nice really large German woman sat next to me. She was really sweet but it was hard to sit next to her because she was kinda pinching my flab with her flab. Not fun! When she got off I got a guy with a nervous twitch instead. That was fun too. It poured rain almost the whole way to Belfast but the sun came out once I arrived so I was glad for that. I had another walk to the hostel I found so I didn’t want to do it in the rain again.

After I dropped my bag off at the hostel I walked toward the City Hall where the shuttle buses were leaving from and realized it was only a little bit beyond that to the quay’s where the ships were so I walked. Belfast is a terrific city! I really like it here! The old stuff is pretty neat and some of it has been converted too so it’s a church becomes a shopping center, it’s a little weird but it works. I walked to the tall ships which wasn’t easy. I guess they say 100,000 people show up to this event and it believe them it was amazing! The ships were awesome! You can walk right up to them almost and they have all sorts of stuff set up for people to eat and drink and play. I walked up one side of the ships and then took a shuttle bus to the other dock to see the rest. They had the ships split between 2 quays both packed with people but they were across the water from each other so you could see almost the whole group at any one time. The crews of the ships were in full dress uniforms and the ships were in great shape. I didn’t get a chance to talk to any of them but in the brochure all of their information is available. It was worth it I think but I would have liked to have Tony with me since his ship Tenacious was there! Also his old ship the Stavros S Niarchos. I guess the Tenacious will sail to Dublin and pick him up on Thursday of this coming week. At least I got to see it first hand.

Man, what a chore! So many people!!! You should have seen the police presence there too. We’re talking regular patrol police, mob police, riot police, all sorts and they were everywhere, always walking through the crowds. It gives you a feeling of being both secure and insecure since they were all very serious about their tasks. But I approached them at times here and there to ask directions and they were all very friendly, very approachable. So that was encouraging!

I went back to the hostel after that and changed into my walking shoes and checked into my room (to make sure I really had one) and then set out again for some lunch and sightseeing. I basically walked around in circles and then headed for the ships again just to see if the lines had eased but they were closing the ships to visitors when I got there. The sun had come out nicely though so it was really a pretty night for it!

I decided not to stay for the fireworks I had about a 2 mile walk and didn’t want to do that at night. Call me chicken but it didn’t seem like a good idea. I had a nice walk back to the hostel. The city shuts down early just like in the UK so I window shopped.

I missed dinner time at the café and had not found a market to shop at so I went out looking for dinner instead.

This hostel I was at is kinda lame. The dining area is in a whole separate place and is pretty unfeeling so you don’t want to go hang out there which is too bad because that is the fun of hostels mostly. So far Barcelonas hostel has been best for that. Anyways I decided to eat a place called Benedicts. It’s a huge place. Has a bar and night club in the bottom portion and a restaurant upstairs. It’s a hotel on the other side. I ate a yummy dinner and had an ICE COLD LAGER BEER! Coldest beer I’d had in, well, since I left the states! I had a dessert that is worth mentioning because it was so good. They call it Banoffee it was served with cream and a couple chocolate swizzles. This thing was basically a graham cracker crust with a yummy soft caramel type pie filling. Oh so good. They call it Banoffee because of the one banana slice that exists on top. It was so good! I washed it down with an Irish Coffee. In Ireland they still call it Irish Coffee. It was really good. One of the waiters was from Florida. He met is wife in New York City and they got married in Ireland. He had his bachelor party in Galway he said it’s a nice place.

After that hearty meal I went back to the hostel talked to Tony on the phone for a bit and then went to bed. I ended up in a room with only 1 other roommate instead of 3 others. I was showered and in bed before he even got in.

The back of the hostel shares an echo-y corridor outside a really busy bar/restaurant and since my closed windows were as effective as open ones I laid awake listening to the Saturday night mayhem. Luckily they kick them all out around 11-12ish.

It is now Sunday morning. I got up early and walked to the bus station and am now headed back to Dublin bus station. I’m going to buy an Irish Explorer pass and head out to Galway first and then who knows where from there. I had enough pound coin to buy a coffee this morning so that should keep me for a bit. It’s a long trip between the two cities. But the weirdest part is that it’s as long on the train as it is on the bus. Weird!

There is a girl on this bus who has the volume on her cell phone keys turned up and she is typing like a maniac and we can all hear every beep. I am ready to chuck it out the window! She doesn’t even have it on the word fill in setting so she is typing three times as much. Argh!!

So, I think I’ve got everything in here. I should hope its 2 pages long in my word document. I really hope I find Wifi soon or you’ll be ready for days.

Like I said to Galway today. I pass through a town called Tullamore, which is the town from one of my favorite movies Waking Ned Devine. I don’t think its the same place but the town name is so that is enough for me.

I had a hard time cutting and pasting so who knows how this all turned out. There is another blog coming because I've gone a whole new day since writing this.....

K