August 1, 2015
Well, the end of summer has come up rather quick for me and i am trying to get this out before i leave the states.....what a summer it has been, and thanks to all of you i have connected with, one way or another....i have seen many people and reconnected with family and friends.....but now it is time to head back to Ghana for my second year of teaching....once again i will be teaching 6th graders and 8th graders, middle school science.....plus doing all of the other things i am involved with...it should be a good year....
i did feel that i needed to start my year off with a clean blogging slate, so i am getting out my trip through france from the beginning of my summer...i did this trip with my friend sandy and we went on this trip to visit our friends rick, thalia and their adorable dog sadie, in the drome valley of france....we started off together with a pick-up in paris, hit chablis, dijon, cassis, st. etienne, and ended in die (said dee) - located in the drome valley...then we parted ways and i spent mid-summer in lyon.....it was a terrific trip of friends, fun and food in beautiful france...on with the show.....
this was one of our very first stops outside of paris.....here we have made it to a winery in chablis....and did some tasting of chablis...unlike wine tasting in the states, you are allowed to try every bottle of wine they produce....so we had seven (?) different types of chablis alone...i think....there was a really nice woman running the tasting part of the business...but she did not understand english...luckily sandy is at a 6th grade level in french....as opposed to my 2-year old level....ha....
our next stop was a night's stay in dijon....what a quaint town dijon is....yes, its the place where the mustard is made as well...we did some tasting and buying of that....yummy....this was the main square in the center of the medieval part of town....cute, cute, cute....
just another street in the medieval section we wandered down the night we were in town....i love the architecture of the small towns in france....with the cobbled stone streets and bike paths :)
as we drove through the back roads of france, we came across many, many vineyards and grapes growing....so green and luscious....just had to take a picture.....
this is sandy and i tasting cassis....which is used to make a liquor....it can be added to white wine or champange....little did i know just how many flavors of liquor you could get....who knows which one we are trying here...but we started giving them holiday names..like halloween & christmas....the sales woman loved it.....as we hung out with her, and another couple....at one point the conversation was in english, french and spanish....i think everyone got their meaning across....cheers!!!!!!
just another one of the many landscape shots i was taking as we drove along the smaller, back roads of france to get to the drome valley....we had some beautiful driving weather and enjoyed our road trip through the small (at times desterted) towns in france....
and then we arrived in the drome valley....and i loved this old, stone building in the town where my friends live....this area is known for sheep, the glandasse mountains, clariette wine and camping....its a beautiful place for my friends rick and thalia and sadie to call home :) and a great place to visit....
here is rick and sandy with some of the beautiful mountains of the glandasse behind them....it really is a terrific spot in the world for vacation.....
here are rick and thalia in their backyard, where we had tasty meals, while watching the sun go down through the mountains.....
while visiting the drome valley, we took a bike ride to a vineyard and through the back roads of the area.....simply stunning....and yes, if you look really closely at the bike, you will see it is electric, to be able to get up those steep hills of the region.....you always still have to pedal, but it is like there is someone pushing just a little bit behind you when you get to a hard hill....it was terrific....
here is another landscape shot from the bike ride....it really is a beautiful place...between the green and mountains and farms and sky....incredible....
while we were riding, sandy spotted a lavender field...so we went back the next day to get a shot of it...here is the field, with a cool tree in it and the mountains in the back....blue, blue skies were following us everywhere we went...it was lovely....
we also visited a butterfly house that was incredible in this little valley....the shot above is actually a moth, not a butterfly and it is about 12 inches(30 cm) in diameter (wing tip to wing tip)....these moths were HUGE....and freaked sandy out a bit...i really liked them, but am not sure what it would have been like if they had been flying around....maybe a bit freaky....but there were tons of beautiful butterflies in this butterfly house....so it was a wonderful, unexpected addition to our already lovely day.....
as i stated above, the drome valley is known for its sheep....and once a year, they host the "running of the sheep"...kind of like the running of the bulls in pamplona, but a lot less dangerous and possibly more smelly....and lucky us - it happened the weekend we were in town.....this is this year's poster about the running of the sheep...more on that event below....as it was amazing!!!!!
of course on saturdays in die, there is a morning market....of course....and another thing die is known for nougat...so at the market, we came across this...yummy...i have actually posted this picture for my mom, because she loves this stuff....
and then we had the prep for the running of the sheep....first off we saw a parade of tractors....old tractors of course....the guys driving the tractors were as old as the tractors....it was a perfect way to start all of the fun of the "running of the sheep" through the town of die....
and then we had the running of the sheep....and we are talking hundreds of sheep....they run around the town twice....and we had a prime spot for the whole thing...as you can see rick and sadie were hangin' with us for the running....we were in one of the bars along the route, but more importantly, THE bar that gave the sheperds who were herding the sheep, beer.....they loved coming by the place we were in....
and....they just kept coming....i do have to say that they left a bunch of sheep poop in their wake, and they smelled quite strong....but what a day of running sheep....so many and so close....
the second time they came around, i had to take a closer look....almost had one or two of them step on my toes, that's how close i was to the sheep as they ran....me, surrounded by dutch and german tourists....it was a blast and the sheep were really cool close up....even had some goats thrown into the mix.....
here is a close-up shot of some of the sheep....cute, aren't they???? and i love the brands they use in france....colours and letters, so they don't get mixed up and go to the wrong sheep farm after the run around town....actually, after they run around town, they they run up a mountainside....you can join them....but it was 6pm when this all started....so at that point we decided instead of running up the mountain with them, to have a beer and celebrate their run.....
another close-up shot of the sheep...some of them had stylish hair cuts and amazing horns on the male sheep were spotted as well...but i did not get good shots of those sheeps....still, i hope you can see how much i loved this and just how many sheep ran through die on this lovely afternoon....
i have no idea if this movie of the running of the sheep in front of me will work....but i am trying something new with this blog....let me know if you get it to work....or not....and i will determine if the movie stays or goes.....need to give credit - this was shot by rick....hence, why i am in the shot....being amazed by all of the sheep running by me....definitely glad we chose this weekend to be there....such an added bonus to an already spectacular trip...hopefully some day i will return to die and enjoy myself all over again....sheep or no....
from die, i needed to get to lyon, france to be able to catch a plane to london....and then catch a plane back to the states...lyon is a terrific town, and i had been there once before when my good friend lea was living there....i was there for mid-summer and everyone was out celebrating....as i wandered the town for the 20 hours i was there, i came across the sculpture above....the same style as one in shanghai....i assume it is the same artist...although this version is a bit smaller than the one in shanghai....very cool....
i really like lyon for its old, medieval section of town up on the hill....and the two rivers that run through it....i was there for a beautiful day and just wandered from place to place...
one of the main things i needed to do when i went to lyon was find the above statue....i love this thing...it is called la fontaine bartholdi - made by the same sculptor that created the statue of liberty....this is amazing, because the horses actually have steam/smoke coming out of their nostrils....because it was such a beautiful day, the sun was shining and made it really difficult to see the steam/smoke....but the last time i was here at this statue, it was late at night and they were pretty freaky.....so i just had to find them again....
and for my last shot before i hit the road to ghana, we go back to dijon, where we had an amazing italian meal....yes, that is homemade bufala mozzarella - as a burrata....yummy...plus, the pasta was homemade....it was a terrific trip in france with good friends and food and fun....how can you beat it???? i think that is what i am saying in this picture.....and so, it was a great way to start my vacation - ireland, northern ireland and france....easy, peasy....and then i was off to the states....
and so i have done it....i have gotten this finished before i jump a big plane back to ghana....this year is shaping up nicely for travel in africa, including some more exploration of ghana for you to enjoy....things will be quite busy for the beginning of school, but i am hopig to be in touch after that....hope everyone is having a good summer or winter, depending on geographic location and feel free to drop a line and say hi if you wish...thanks for reading the latest update....all the best and i'll catch you on the flip side....peace out....
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.....
