Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Ghana Update #10 - Ireland & Northern Ireland

July 28, 2015 - 
hey there folks...well....my summer is quickly coming to a close and i am hoping to get out the two trips i took at the beginning of summer before i go....so hopefully you will get one update followed by another in the next few days....but we'll see what happens....what a great summer it has been...i have been to 4 countries, 7 states and have seen folks from all walks of my life....from family members, past students (and their spouses and babies), to people i have taught/worked with all over the world, to family friends, to college friends and high school friends....it has been a terrific summer and thanks to all who spent time hanging with me for some time in some place or another....and my trip to ireland and northern ireland (two separate countries by the way), was a wonderful way to start my summer vacation....and here are some pictures and information to prove it....if you haven't been, i highly recommend it....easy to get around and stunning to look at....simply awesome and i hope to get back some day....mainly to do the southern half of the island and revisit some amazing places....here....you can see for yourself what i mean.....

so i took a bit of a crazy route out of ghana to get to ireland and that will make my trip home a bit long....but i went from ghana to frankfurt, germany to london, england and then to dublin, ireland....i was in town for one night and then took a "paddywagon" bus to the northern part of the island....if you are looking for an easy and good way to get around the island, i highly recommend this company....the driver was great, had excellent taste in music and knew a lot about the places we went....plus, they gave you a lot of time to yourself if you wanted it....i highly recommend them....anyway....


first stop of the paddywagon was belfast, in northern ireland.....and this is the side of the town hall where the titanic memorial is located....i had no idea that the titanic was built in belfast, although now that helps me understand why most of the passengers in third class were irish....nothing against the irish, its just they were the closest people to get the third class tickets....anyway....it was beautiful building and the memorial was very nice as well....we went to the titanic museum as well, but i did not go inside of it....
 

while in belfast, we took the black taxi tour.....if you go to belfast, you really must do this....the drivers are men who were all active in the IRA(catholic side) or UFF(protestant side)....when they are driving they put aside their personal beliefs and differences and explain the history of this conflict....which as they all stress, is a political one, not a religious one.....it was wild though getting their thoughts and opinions about this set of events in time.....and they took us into the neighborhoods that are separated by a "peace wall" that still have murals on them depicting opinions of many....it kind of blew me away that this conflict happened mostly during my lifetime and that i was so clueless about it....simply amazing....
 

the mural that struck me the most is the one above....pretty crazy...it was called the protestant mona lisa....meaning anywhere you walked, it looked like the gun was pointed directly at you....these murals are on government built homes, that are slowly being torn down....so i am not sure how much longer this mural and the others around it, will be up....pretty crazy....





what you see above is the "peace wall".....which has many of its own murals on it....this wall still separates the two sections of mostly catholics and mostly protestants....and as you can see from the guy writing, people are allowed to write their own messages on this wall of peace....the wall is 30 feet (10 meters) tall....and the gates that allow cars through during the day between each side, are closed and locked every night still....even though an agreement was reached between the two sides in 1998, with all terrorist acts (the guide's words) ending between the two groups in 2005....i had no idea a wall existed in this country, separating these two sets of people.....and there was not only a wall in belfast, there was also one in derry, where bloody sunday happened (U2's song - sunday, bloody sunday, was about that conflict)...very surprising to me....as i had no idea about all of this history....
 

after we left belfast, we headed to what i really wanted to take this trip for...the giant's causeway....more on that soon....but before we got there we stopped at the dark hedges, which are trees used in game of thrones....if you are fan, you know they have been used twice...once with arya and the hound and once with brienne and jamie on horses....this was a complete surprise to me, as i didn't really read the itinerary carefully to know exactly where i was going....too cool though....
 

we also stopped at a rope bridge called carrick-a-rede....it is about 30 feet (90 meters) above the water and it carries you to this tiny island that has one boat docked on it and a ton of birds....they have gulls and puffins that nest there....and the water below is stunning....i guess it has been said that people sometimes get across the bridge, but then are really scared to cross back over and have to be taken by boat back across from the island.....it wasn't that long of bridge....so that sort of surprised me....
 

just another view from on the island.....it was great to just breathe in the clean air, while wearing jeans and long-sleeved shirt, as i do not get to wear that in ghana at all....too hot....and as you can see, everything was green and healthy....just stunning.....


the picture above, and the next two to come, were taken from the spot that i did this entire trip for....the giant's causeway....this amazing natural place is composed of over 40,000 interlocking, basalt columns....that were formed from an ancient volcanic eruption....in irish it is known as Clochán an Aifir or Clochán na bhFomhórach....and yes, people really do speak irish...in three counties of ireland, it is the main language and all students learn the basics in class....wild....
 



as you can see from this shot....all of the columns are approximately hexagonal, and fit together amazingly....this really is incredible to see with your own eyes, as it is hard to believe this huge example of this exists....originally people argued about whether this was a natural site or something created by a giant of ireland....hence how it received its name....but in 1771 it was declared to have been formed from a volcanic eruption....science wins again....but the myths are quite fun to read about and have told to you by a knowledgeable irish man or woman....

 
and...you can climb all over them.....they formed due to lava cooling rapidly during an eruption approximately 60 million years ago....the basalt lava was extremely molten and fluid and this, scientists feel, is why the columns have formed.....they do exist elsewhere in the world....but this is one of the best, most intact versions of this amazing geological phenomena....i loved it and again, it really was the main reason for me coming to ireland....even though i learned and experienced so much more....but this was just incredible for me, as a scientist.....
 

from the giant's causeway we headed to derry....the other main city for the war between the IRA & UFF....this was the town where bloody sunday happened, and this town also has a "peace wall" dividing the city in half....we had a walking tour of this medieval walled city by a man who definitely was involved with the conflicts between the two factions.....his stories were amazing and i learned a lot about what people went through....he has definitely come out on the other side of this conflict quite well...but in his words he said it was extremely difficult from one day being a terrorist and hating a group of people to the next day, not being that way.....
 

people he felt, dealt with this abrupt change in life in many ways....but there are still many who are bitter about the entire thing and as you can see, in the catholic side of derry, they are flying a palestinian flag....to give support to a group of people they feel are oppressed today, as they feel they are oppressed....very interesting history and i learned an awful lot about this conflict that occurred during my life....
 

this is the memorial in derry, for bloody sunday, which occurred on the catholic side of town...29 people were killed by a bomb blast, even though a cease fire had been signed the prior friday.....this was the worst incident during the entire conflict....it amazes me how clueless i was about all of this, even though it happened in my lifetime.....i feel better knowing now what happened then...but have seen once again what a bubble people can live in.....just wild....
 

of course while i was in ireland, i had to have a pint or two or more of Guinness....and i found out you can actually have half pints....which i had a lot of when there was not much time to enjoy a full pint of this beer.....i have to say, i am not sure i will drink a Guinness again outside of ireland....i have never had a better one than the ones i had there....they say it has to do with the water....and i think i will have to believe them :)


from derry we headed down the coast....stopping a few places along the way, but finally ending up for the afternoon in galway....now this is one city i need to return too...i walked from pub to pub, during some beautiful weather, and listened to bands all playing irish music...it was incredible....there is a medieval part of this city and there is a great spot down by the river that leads to the ocean....it was so enjoyable....here is one of the streets i ambled down in my listening to incredible music....
 

from galway i headed back across the country to dublin, where i spent four amazing days...i actually did an airbnb, which people have asked if i use...i have now used their services about 5-6 times, and i have to say, it is an amazing service...i have had outstanding luck and highly recommend it.....anyway....in dublin i took a three hour walking tour of the main parts of town with a history major from trinity university....which was really well done....we wandered through the main political section...where the town hall and main court are located...as you can see by the statue of justice over the arch....


we also walked through the temple bar section....and this is the wall of the bar where U2 was discovered....this mural had been created before the same-sex marriage vote in ireland, which passed, and they had decided to leave it up....they use it now as a land mark for this very famous bar....i guess bono and the edge and larry mullins each own quite a bit of property in the temple bar area....which is kind of cool to think about....hanging out where this band once hung out....
 

i also went on the jameson's distillery tour.....jameson's is no longer distilled and made in dublin, but this is where it started....on the tour they show you how it is processed, they have a tasting competition and then you receive a free drink...i made sure not to dishonor my irish friend val, and had my free drink straight with no rocks or mixture....as that would be a disgrace ;)
 

this shot is of the temple bar, in the temple bar area of dublin....if you look closely, you will see there are quite a few men wearing kilts, as scotland was playing ireland in a football (soccer) match the next day...the streets were filled with crazy scots, as the irish referred to them....
 

of course i did the Guinness tour...and man, does this brewery have it going on...from the amazing building, to learning about the history of the beer, to past advertising the beer has used, to learning to make the perfect pour, to ending in a 360 degree glass bar, overlooking the city, with a pint in your hand....simply awesome....




this is my favorite Guinness advert ever - "A woman needs a man, like a fish needs a bicycle"....hahahaha....the fish was even pedaling....hilarious....and Guinness makes all women and men stronger, just by drinking it....
 

dublin had some amazing street art...i loved this building with its mural...it was across the river from the apartment i stayed in, in an up-and-coming area of town...and as you can see the weather was amazing....people commented on this fact everywhere we went, as i guess it had rained most of the months of april and may....it was terrific weather for the week i was there....let me tell you...lucky girl :)
 

 the last day i was in town i met up with my friend val's sister and brother...and i was taken around the wicklow hills....this is where the Guinness family has their estate....and i loved this lake....they actually flew in the sand you see in the right of the picture to make this lake look like a pint of guinness....this is also where the spring is...at least it is somewhere on this property...which is what is used to make guinness beer.....


here i am with laurence and gill....val's family members, at their family farmland, which is now a golf driving range....it was terrific to see them both and to have gill take me around their homeland....




and of course i have to end with a traditional dani shot.....this is the tasting room for Guinness where they teach you all the different flavors you should experience from this tasty beer....i loved the tiny pint glass....but don't worry...i did have a full sized one at the end of the tour....my goodness, my guinness.....yay!!!!

and so that was my trip to northern ireland and ireland....two beautiful places that share the same island....but not the same currency, health care system or political system...it is wild and i really learned a lot about the place and its history...i also loved the natural landscpaes, the irish people were extremely friendly and how can you beat listening to bands jam in pubs with traditional ireish instruments....really, a win-win for everyone....especially me...if you have not been, you really should put this one on your list....it is easy to travel in...they know how to deal with tourists and really, it is stunning....i hope you enjoyed this update, as much as i enjoyed visiting these two countries....

again, i am hoping to get my final summer update out about my trip through france before i head back to ghana...but it might not happen....keep those fingers crossed....as i would like to start back in ghana with a clean travel slate for the blog....and travel this school year is definitely shaping up, plus i promise i will send out some more updates of where i live and what my life is like there and about my experiences in ghana ....thanks for reading or just checking out the pictures....and until we meet again....peace out.....

  

Wednesday, July 01, 2015

Ghana #9 - Milan, Italy

june 30, 2015/july 1, 2015

i cannot believe how fast time moves these days...i turn around and it has been two full months since my last post....but as most teachers know, and most parents, and most kids, the end of the school year is always insane...i think it is a bit more insane in the international setting, with all of the goodbyes to friends and students who are leaving the country you are living in, and therefore a bit more emotional...but the end of the year is always crazy....i got everything done, per normal, but it was a lot of work....and the craziness of the flooding in accra just before we ended, made the end of the year quite weird....but all is well and i think all folks i know who were effected did not suffer people loss....it was a crazy ending.....but now i am in the states and getting ready for my northeast roadtrip....i have already been to ireland and france, and will send out updates about them hopefully soon.....and now am doing the family and friends visits and such.....but first i need to still cover my easter, yes, easter trip, i took to milan, italy....reckless and jet-setting i know...i mean, who really goes to italy for a four day weekend....but i got a good deal and had to do it....so, on with the visit to a city in italy i had never been to.....milan....


one of the main reasons i went to milan was for their mass transit system...i know this sounds weird, but when you live in a city that does not have one, you miss it...it just makes life easier....and the place i stayed was on a tram line, as you can see from the shot above, and between two metro lines...simply perfect....i also went to milan because it was spring and in ghana we do not really have seasons....so i was missing some change...and of course, because the temperature was cooler.....i got to wear jeans and a fleece and a hat...it was great!!!!!


but milan is also one of those places that is small enough to wander around to see what you want and to hit up the different neighborhoods...and for most of the time i was there, that is exactly what i did...i wandered....this is la scala...with another one of those trams...this is the very famous opera building in milan...because i was there easter weekend and unfortunately everything was sold out...but it was a pretty building even from the outside....


just around the corner from la scala is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, one of the oldest shopping malls in the world...i know i am not much a shopper...but just look at that ceiling....it's pretty funny to wander through here and see the different types of people...some are actually shopping at prada and gucci, but many are just there to gawk at the ceiling, the floor, the shops and the shoppers....it is all very elegant.....i loved the architecture....


this is what prada looks like....this mall has been open since 1877...prada has not been there the whole time :)  and it was named for the first king of the kingdom of italy...after the roman rule of course....


and how about some versace....yep, all the places i would never be able to afford are here....with amazing fronts and glass above....and it was that crowded each time i wandered through to get between the duomo and la scala to start my trek home....a very cool structure....


when you came out of the mall area, you wandered into the square facing il duomo....this is the center of milan and all streets of this city radiate out from it...and man, it is an amazing structure...i was going to do a roof tour of this incredible cathedral, but it was raining the evening i wanted to go....next time....


everything about this cathedral is majestic....from the notorious red dome, to the bronze doors, like what you see above, to the gothic spires and the crazy facade, that is not seen anywhere else in the world....like most bronze doors of churches and temples, this one tells a story...and shows the stations of the cross from when jesus was crucified, according to christianity, in 3D....incredible sculpture....


i am always intrigued by the sculptures at the tops of the gothic churches....as they always have some sort of gargoyles and watchers of the building....crazy animals and important figureheads....and this cathedral was no exception.....i did wander around inside, but it was ridiculously crazy, remember i was there for easter weekend.....so i did not stay long....but the structure itself, on the inside and the outside....stunning....


another great thing i go to relive from being in europe in my past life was the roasting and therefore smell of chestnuts....these are not my favorite to eat, but boy do they smell good....and much of milan for me was about the smells and ease of life i remember from living in europe :)


milan is/was actually the host of the world expo for 2015...a month after i was there....i am not sure the airport was ready for this...but the streets had already been decked out in world flags....i saw the one for ghana and had to take a picture....it is the one on the left hand side of the picture....red, yellow, green stripes with a black star.....


to me, milan was a place of people doing their own things....and this guy sort of sums up the city for me....three piece suit, cigarillo hanging out of his mouth, no socks, expensive italian, leather shoes, on a vespa....ciao.....this is milan in a nutshell....


of course another reason i went to milan was for the food....and i was not disappointed...the coffee too...and it is everywhere.....this was my tasty caprese salad from my first night....it was just divine....


i have also learned that i really enjoy taking cooking classes in countries i visit...and this was no exception....i did a cooking class with chef aurora and her husband carlo.....funnily enough, the couple that was taking the class with me was from wilmington, delaware...just down the way from where i grew up....europe is where i tend to run into americans the most...in the class we did not make anything i had not made before.......but we did make some homemade ravioli, lasagna and risotto....finishing off with tiramisu....and of course to start the course we had some prosecco.....it was a lot of fun...and the chef and her husband were gracious hosts, who had lived in south africa, england, & chile and were fun to talk with....mangiare!!!!


one of the things i learned about milan was that it had canals...like venice....not as many, but it had them....the oldest canal....this one, the grande canal, was built in 1177....crazy that!  the reason these canals were built were to facilitate the movement of enormous marble blocks that helped build the cathedral....they lead to the outside of the city....where they then are the waterworks for irrigating fields.....i wandered here for a bit, but not much was open....as it was the day before easter....but on these canals are locks designed by leonardo da vinci.....milan is his town....tons of things here by him....including the design of the duomo, the codex, and the last supper, which due to the crowded-ness of the city, i did not see....i did see some other things by him....not the codex though, as i have already seen that....he is one of my favorite scientists and and how could you not love a guy who wrote grocery lists as pictures for his illiterate housekeeper and chef to go get things from the market....plus, he could write with both his left and right hands, at the same time, in different different directions....simply incredible....


one morning i did wander to the main castle of milan....the sforza castle...i didn't go in, as it was way too crowded, but i did wander the lovely gardens that were just beginning to bloom....it was grey and a bit rainy, but that did not stop me, or the other folks from enjoying the green all around and chill in the air....
 

this was a cute little wishing bridge located in the back of the castle.....make a wish....cross....wish comes true....i did it, but no wish come true for me yet....we'll see...keep those fingers crossed ;)


milan is a place where fashion is king....and a bunch of their art deals with sewing...this is a needle and a thread located outside of the train station....they also has sewing machines all over the city, as a fundraiser....kind of like the pigs of seattle or the apples of new york....it was something about the art of sewing....there were definitely fashionable people in milan....but i was not overwhelmed by them....then again, they may have all been at their parent's places for easter.....who knows.....
 

i was given a tip by carlo and aurora to go visit a specific monastery, that most tourists did not know about....its called the san maurizio al monastero maggiore....it was once one of the most important monasteries for the catholics, specifically the benedictines, and was attached to the most important convent in milan....now it is a museum...and the frescoes and organ in this place are mind-blowing....i am not a huge church fan, but this one was different....it has a really cool fresco of noah's arc....but i could not do that justice in a picture...so here is the front of the church for your viewing pleasure....amazing....






the final picture this time is of me and aurora....what a fun morning and afternoon of italian cooking, prosecco drinking, international conversation and eating the creations we had made...i even got to take leftovers, as i had a fridge in my hotel.....yummy....i hope you have enjoyed the trip in pictures and words, as much as i enjoyed visiting there.....not so sure i will be such a jet-setter in the future, so i had to take the bull by the horns and visit milan....for the weekend...ciao!!!!

i am hoping to get another update out in the next few days of either ghana or ireland....i hope everyone in the northern hemisphere has had a great start to summer, and those in the southern have had a great start to winter....my summer vacation so far has been terrific....peace out.....