My trip to Ireland: part 2

I'm back! Couldn't let you wait for another week, so here comes the next chapter.
While I was in Donegal I did so much walking that it almost felt like I'd been walking to the moon and back again. And my feet ached (believe me, I still have blister-plasters on my feet...), but it was a pleasant pain because I knew what caused it and that it would do me good. And it was always rewarding to come back after a long walk and just put my feet up. I guess you don't want to hear more about my feet, so let me get back to the story.
Donegal is the most northern county in the republic and its most northern point is Malin Head (this may comes as a surprise to many: this point lies even more north than Northern Ireland!)
This point is so wild and almost magical, and when you stand there you can see the Atlantic, with the next part of land far, far away (I think it is Greenland...)

Can you see Greenland?

I hope you can excuse me for me mixing around my recollection of what went down at which time. It's just who I am, I like to tell my story with detours and extra thoughts...

Well, let's get back to Malin Head. As you might see, we had fabulous weather and almost no wind, which is fairly strange since this location is known for its harsh weather...during the 16 days I spent in Ireland, we had bad weather ONCE, and the fact that we believed that it was going to rain  prevented it from doing so.

But Ireland is filled with beautiful scenery, dark forests and wide fields with either horses, cattle or sheep, and I soaked it all up like a sponge. Even if I took many pictures, can I not fully describe the magic that lies within the Irish landscape. It's green, alright, but there's something more. Something that cannot be defined, but still leaves a mark in ones soul. It's beauty in its purest form.

The wild waves at Malin Head

Isn't this green??

I can almost expect to see a fairy or any other magical, mythical being in these hills that seem to go on forever. No mountains that block the view

All around Ireland you can find traces of civilisation, of people that formed the history, people who we tread in the footprints of. History lives in this country much more strongly than back home in Norway where people see history as dead and boring. In this country you can feel the history speak to you from every stone and tree, from walls and tombs. You hear it in songs and stories, and people show who they are through history.

This picture below show a place called Grianan of Aileach, which is a socalled round-fort. This lies on one of the hills between Buncrana and Derry, and from the top you can see so far. If anybody dared attack this place they had to be invisible, because you can see all sides of the hill, no places to hide.

Amazing construction

Right outside it can you find a holy well that has supposedly been blessed by St Patrick (I think he was a pretty busy lad, since everything that's holy in Ireland has either been visited by him or been blessed by him...)

After coming down from this we (Steven, his father and me) went over to this small forest where once in a time (last century) there was a rail-road there that was going from Derry to Buncrana. It was now a bird sanctuary, and is was so peaceful to walk among the trees that were covered in ivy. The light that barely made its way through the foliage, made me feel that we were going through Fangorn forest from Lord of the Rings. It was light green and I hope that the picture below captured some of the magic.

Steven in the magical forest

But Ireland isn't only green forests and fields, it has also some truly amazing beaches. I'm really grateful that Steven showed me these, because I haven't been to places like these in many years. To smell the salty wind and feel the waves caress your bare feet, it's almost impossible to describe. You have to experience it!

So three times while I was in Donegal, i got to experience the beauty of the ocean, and I sincerely hope that I can go back one day and just sit there.

An empty beach by Lough Swilly; a perfect place for thoughts of love and beauty

And the water wasn't very cold either....

A hidden secret; the only thing that can be heard is the waves that crash upon the shore

Steven almost had to drag me away from this, because if he hadn't i would have stayed there until the end of the world ^^

So this was the second chapter of my Ireland-story, and I guess that the next will come shortly

Until then, auf wiedersehn

My trip to Ireland - part 1

Well, hello again. I've been neglecting my blog the last few weeks and I hope you can forgive. I do have a reason you know: Ireland. Finally was I going to the land of green, rebels and poets, I couldn't believe that it was happening.
In this blog-post I will let the pictures I've taken speak for themselves, with some small descriptions and funny facts.
Ireland proved to be even better and more amazing than I could ever have dreamt it would be. It seems like there is something in the water, in the air and in the blood that makes it such a wholesome experience to visit this country.

I've started out from Bergen the 12th of July, and I hadn't slept at all the previous night. Since there are no direct routes from Bergen to Dublin, I had to make my way to Oslo first. Walking like a zombie through the airport, and I hadn't realized yet that I was going to the green isle in the west.
Even when I landed in Dublin, the whole thing was in a haze and I didn't had so much time to think about it anyway since I had a bus to catch, bus that would take me over the border to Northern Ireland and Derry (or Londonderry as some lost souls like to call it). Of course I couldn't sleep on the bus either, because every little thing seemed so interesting. I saw sheep, kettle, horses and hedges practically EVERYWHERE! Another beautiful feature of Ireland is the landscape. You can see so far, in all directions.

Anyway, I arrived in Derry without too much difficulty, except that I was extremely tired.
Most of my time in Ireland was I going to spend on the farm of one of my penpals, Steven, outside Buncrana in Donegal. And believe me when I say that this place is remote from everything, and the only thing one can hear is the wind and the occasional rain mixed with the bleating of the sheep nearby. This was a place I could think without being interrupted by anything.

The wind that shakes the grass; Mother Nature's lullaby

Wild and beautiful

A sunny morning in Upper Tullydish

Steven and Flipper

She is a petlamb and the bond they have is just amazing to behold

While I was there I got to do so much walking, both uphill and downhill. Everywhere I looked I could see something beautiful, either a view that would be fit for Heaven or a small detail that was too fascinating to just walk past. I've seen windmills up close and I sincerely hope that Norway can learn something from Ireland on this point. They were actual quite beautiful :)

My days in Donegal was never boring, and with walking-trips almost every day did I really get my fresh air. I've now seen churches,  old forts, beautiful and mighty parks and forests, endless beaches with not a soul on them. I've seen a hare, bogs, insects and a donkey. This donkey is the only creature on the emerald isle that have seen my underwear...

Isn't he cute?

I've also bonded a little with Flipper since I got the chance to feed her a couple of times while I was there. I'm kinda glad that she drank milk and not Guinness, because she's an amazingly fast drinker. She would kick very Irishman's arse in a drinkingcompetion :p and she always want to be cuddled afterwards...I cross my fingers for her and wish her all the best in life

Don't compete with this one....

So happy

I also did some sketching while I was in Donegal, and since I'm terrible at it but still wanted to try, Flipper was suddenly jumping on a trampoline in my mind ^^

This would be all for now, but next chapter in this fascinating story will be posted next week.
Until then, ciao!

News from Ireland

Hey guys!
Sitting now in upper Tullydish (I believe that is correct...please correct me steven if I'm wrong...) and cannot believe that I'm actually in IRELAND, the land of my dreams, the land I've been reading so much about lately that it has become a part of my soul. It is even greener than I imagined ^^
The silence here has been the perfect cure for my sleepingproblems lately, and to feel the wind blowing through my hair makes every dark thought fly away. I'm living a dream, and I hope it could go on forever.
I'm staying with a penpal and his family, and I must say: I've never felt more welcome in my entire life!

So my conclusion so far: Ireland is friendly, beautiful, peaceful and through some magic trick (I don't know how they do it) they make all your worries go away and release you healthy and happy back into the world. More people should definetely get a dose of Ireland, because it is good for you.

What to do, what to do?

Today it is only 8 days before I go to the green isle in the west; the Emerald Isle.

This will of course require some proper plans when it comes to packing, and as my head is buzzing all the time, the pile of clothes and other stuff is slowly growing, and i dare not say that this will be an easy task. I always bring too many things when I travel, and since this trip will be my first abroad all by myself, my mind makes up all sorts of possible circumstances and things that can happen along the way. So I cannot decide what to pack and what to leave out.

my packinglist is a mess and I always feel like I've forgotten something...
So does anybody has any tips on packing, I would be forever grateful
*WEE! Just one week left!!!!*

To all Ireland poets

Congratulation, Ireland!

You've chosen a remarkable man for the post of Professor of Poetry, Harry Clifton, and I hope that he will do you much good. You have perhaps one of Europe's strongest tradition in poetry-making and I hope that also future generation will benefit from this treasure trove. Poems manage to capture the second and make it memorable, and it does so in a totally other way than prose and academic writing does it.

The Approaches 

A childless, futureless road

And then nothing. . . Is that it?

Or start believing in a God

Beyond the temporal limit

Of westering skies, wide, melancholy,

Uncut fields and paced-out walls

As we drive towards it slowly,

The house that has us both in thrall.

They are gone, now, the hours of light

It took to get here. Might-have-beens,

Lost wanderyears. But that's alright—

We are trading it in, the seen

For the experienced, the car keys

For the end of the journey,

When distances have lost their power

And the heart beats slower

In tomorrow's cold, a coming weather

One degree north of yesterday.

High latitudes—as they say,

There is nothing up here

But wind and silence, passing clouds,

Light diminished half a tone,

A dish left out all night for the gods

By morning turned to stone.

So take a right, go down two gears

And stay in second, where the church is

And the pig farm. Only the approaches

Are terrible, only the years,

The getting here, which takes forever.

A boy in tears, a barren crone

On a bicycle, a man alone—

They're waving. . . It's now or never

For the final self, I assume—

For the shape of the house

On the skyline, the release

Into childhood, and the coming home.