Golygydd Gwasanaethau Ggwybodaeth

Gentle Readers,

It's been a while since my last post, and I know... the tension and anticipation has probablbeen killing you, but I knew I had to write something of moderate interest for the commemoration of my 20th post.

We continue the saga from the island that springs up from the North Sea like a leprechaun clutching a four leafed clover-Ireland. My parents and I have been arraigned from Holland and the USSA to visit my sister Molly and her boyfriend George in their newish house of the quaint town of Delgany. Delgany is a sweet place, as is the adjoining seaside town of Grey Stones. The rich and famous of Irish people have a penchant for living in this area as well, such as Bono (whose mammoth house/castle wall we drove by).

When you think of the Irish countryside, you don't think of dense patches of forests, but that's exactly what we ran into yesterday, as we walked down a long dual-stone walled road with sheep lining either side, we entered a wooded grotto and walked along to a magical area. A brick and mortar ancient ruin from some bygone, aristocratic age; tea room/hangout spot for the wealthy English (pics will come soon).

Since I am working backwards in my memories, a massive gale ripped through the charming coastal hamlets a couple days ago, by which we resorted to the ever trusted candles and wine to bring us back to our pre-electricity roots.

My best friend in Ireland is a little dog called Lola, who also happens to hold the auspicious title of my sisters dog. Lola is crazy and very loving, always up for being chased around or having her toys taken away from her, then to be hurled at her and chased around the house again; ambushes, assaults, feints within feints, and surging surprise attacks. And if you scratch her in the right way, she'll stop what she's doing and eventually end up splayed out on the floor, trusting you to do all that is required to make her leg kick.

On Friday, we went horseback riding through the beautiful countryside. Stunning vistas laid themselves at our proverbial feet for our eyes to gulp in a multitude of shades of green washed and mixed among themselves until they met with the aqua-turquoise-blue of the Irish sea, while all the while sheep dotted pastures and ancient, knotted lone trees stubbornly raised their branches among the fields of barley. It was great to be back on a horse again, yet my horse was quite a monkey. He was also called Monkey, and kept doing what I didn't want him to do, mainly try to eat everything in sight. But for all his independence, this powerful stallion whisked me on my way and I got a chance to quietly hum the theme from 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' and not feel totally out of context.

Having come straight from Dutch student life, and as totally fascinating/entertaining/engrossing watching older people do soduku and drink coffee is, I feel somewhat starved for a more youthful, adventurous and dare I say, slightly more hedonistic company. That being said, it's always very nice to reconnect with my family again, Molly and George making great hosts and my parents being... well, my parents, duh! Yet it's amazing how quick you can reconnect and then want to be back on your way again, eh? ;)

Today we head out into Dublin. Tomorrow we go on an cross island adventure, with the coasts and the dreaded cliffs of county Claire being first stop on our 3 day expedition. I must keep my eye out for some swimming shorts in Dublin because at one of these B&B's, there is an ocean to swim in... and cows to wrangle and milk! My god, that will be exciting. I never realized how starved for animals I was in Tilburg... the only contact I get with them is cats in random windows who think you can pet them through the glass. But alas... glass still remains a static substance in this plane of reality. (haha nice little joke for any Glass haters out there)


Love,
-e

PS Good pictures on the way...