The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down

Today was wet. As I have mentioned before, I have been very lucky with the weather. The few times that it has actually rained while I have been here, I have been in the car between locations. A few times, there has been a light mist while I was out exploring some ruin, but it usually only lasted a few minutes, and it seemed to add a sense of magic and charm. There was nothing charming about the rain today. I decided to brave the weather, expecting it to settle down. It did not. I don't really mind the rain. I can dry. The problem is, I have been carrying around a backpack around with my camera and important papers in it. As the rain increased, I found myself struggling to hide my bag inside my jacket. The backpack will not fit with the jacket zipped, so I had to leave the jacket open and cover the bag with half of the jacket. By the end of the day I found myself soaked, but my stuff was still relatively dry, and I managed to enjoy myself.

I have returned to the Republic of Ireland, which, for those who don't know, is a different country than Northern Ireland. I had a nice time wandering the streets of Belfast. As the capitol of Northern Ireland, it is another large city. In some ways it is very similar to New York city, which is not the Capitol, I know. I stayed in an area that is very similar the The Village. The city centre, however, lacked some of the structure and continuity of Time Square's streets. There were some very nice buildings to look at though, and I saw some of them a few times.

Back in the south, I visited the oldest site on my trip through Ireland's history. I visited two Neolithic burial mounds, Newgrange and Knowth. These sites are believed to date back to 5000 years ago, which seems like an incredible statement to me. That's 500 years before the pyramids. Now, when I think about Neolithic people, I don't necessarily think about their architectural prowess. I have to completely rethink that stance. These people were able to find, quarry and transport huge stones from completely different areas of the island, some as far away as 70 miles. That might not seem like it is too far, but they had to figure out how to transport these stones, weighing more than a ton, through heavily wooded areas.

Once they got the stones there, they actually planned out and designed the structures they were building. The structures contain large granite basins that had to be in place before any of the bios ing could be put up around them. The mound that you can still walk into has a winding passage that opens up into a central chamber. Because of the way they built the ceiling, this structure has remained free from leaks for 5000 years. What's more, this structure was constructed so that on the winter solstice the rising sun penetrates into the chamber and provides natural lighting for 5 days every year. As if that wasn't ridiculous enough, they built the passageway with a specific bend so that the earliest rays are shaped into a point leading to a central alcove in the chamber. 5000 years ago. That is crazy!

I also got to tour another castle. This one, in the city of Trim, has a keep that has been restored enough that you can tour through the different levels. It was an interesting combination of ruin and remaining structure. It is actually one of the best remaining examples of a Norman castle. While this one is too much of a fixer upper for my taste, I am definitely in the market for a castle, so if anyone is aware of one that is on the market, let me know. This particular castle was used for many of the castle scenes from the movie Braveheart. I guess they couldn't find a castle in Scotland that was cool enough. Take that Scotland.

I am back to the small towns that I have come to enjoy before ending my tour in Dublin. I had the pleasure of eating a steak on a stone, which was really cool. The chef seared the steak on two sides, and then it was brought to the table on a ridiculously hot stone, thing. I think it is something like a pizza stone. I then got to slice the steak and leave it on the stone until it was done to the exact state that I wanted it. I am going to have to try and figure out how to do this without burning myself or the house down. Just as a side note, I meant to mention this before, if you are ever in Ireland, or possibly anywhere in Europe, be careful ordering cheesecake for dessert. You might find yourself terribly disappointed. It is not the thick, and delicious treat that we get at home. It is more of a foamy tasteless thing.

While I sat cooking my steak, I realized that dinner time is really kind of bittersweet for me. I have been very pleased with the meals I have had here. There has not really been anything that I have regretted ordering. So, the food part of dinner is just fine. I realized though, that dinner is really the time that I miss having someone to travel with. During the day I stay busy and on the move, so it doesn't really matter that there is no one there. Even in the car, I have the radio to listen to, and the constant need to get my focus back on the road. But at dinner, I am just sitting there. This has been the only real negative aspect of the trip, but I still don't regret my decision to come on my own. And, I usually spend my meal time going over what I am going to talk about in my blog. I don't sit there and type it out in the middle of the restaurant, that would be really sad. I do, however, go over the events that have taken place, and remember the important moments that I want to share, and try and come up with some way to structure all of this information. So, in a way, you all have become my travel companions. You are the ones who I spend my time with. Thank you for providing me with a chance to share this wonderful time with someone else. And, if everyone has stopped reading the blog, then thank you imaginary people who keep me company. That doesn't make me crazy right?
Off to Dublin and then home soon. I will keep you posted