Pondering: On Pembroke road look out for my ghost, dishevelled with shoes untied, playing through the railings with little children whose children have long since died. (Patrick Kavanagh)
We sure did a lot today - stopped at a lot of picturesque places as our bus drove around the Ring of Kerry. The Ring of Kerry is a tourist trail in County Kerry, south-western Ireland. This is the Ireland I have had in my mind! The Ireland that everyone should see before they die because it is just beautiful and breathtaking!
The tour started in Killarney, where we stayed the previous night. From there we passed through Kenmare, Sneem, and Waterville and then the Killarney National Park. I took tons of pictures but none of which, I think can describe the beauty of the place. No words can ever describe it as well. I just know that the whole circle made me so very happy and appreciative of my surroundings.
Pondering: Everybody likes to go their own way–to choose their own time and manner of devotion. (Jane Austen)
One of our many stops today was St. Colman’s Cathedral in Cobh, Co. Cork, Ireland. My sister and I went inside the cathedral to have a look at the altar, the windows and the overall architecture. I stayed behind for a bit while Myra braved the rain outside to take pictures of the village. Once alone, I got so overwhelmed by the solemnity and calmness of the church. I shed a tear and I don’t know why. I think I was just thankful for the blessings, the chance to enjoy such a wonderful country, such a wonderful place. I think I cried because I was just happy to be living in that very moment.
When I got outside the heavens opened up and it poured buckets. After a few minutes, the sun shone and if not for the wet grounds, it was as if it never rained.
Pondering: Think you’re escaping and run into yourself. Longest way round is the shortest way home. (James Joyce)
I’m on board a train to County Cork, Ireland. This is hour one of a 3-hour train ride. Once there, my sister Myra and I are joining a tour to visit the Blarney Castle and kiss the Blarney Stone, circle the Ring of Kerry in Killarney and much, much more. I am excited but I am also very tired. I haven’t been sleeping very well. We’ve been in Ireland three days now, and each day we have had an early morning call. Today was particulary early as we had to be at the Heuston Train Station in Dublin by 6:20 a.m., which meant getting up at 5:00 a.m. and leaving the hotel at 6:00 a.m. I wish to sleep in a bit more one of these days.
Dublin, Ireland has been great although I can’t understand the map to the city. Myra and I got lost twice in two days and she’s fairly good at reading maps. It is very much a bustling city and reminds me of San Francisco. I am looking forward to this trip to the southern part of Ireland so I can see the Ireland that it is featured in calendars and travel magazines - very green, very country.
Yesterday, we played tourist all day. We did the Hop-On-Hop-Off tour in the morning, hopping off at the Guiness Storehouse where we had a pint of stout for lunch. We also hopped off Christ Church Cathedral where a nice lady took a picture of my sister and I in the rain, with the cathedral looming behind us. We also visited the Dublin Writer’s Museum. Dublin boasts of some really good writers and poets including William Butler Yeats who wrote:
Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams.
Other notable writers are James Joyce, Jonathan Swift, Samuel Beckett, and of course Oscar Wilde among many others. It was very interesting reading their history and viewing their letters and first editions of their great works. Made me wish I too could be as great as them with my words.
In the afternoon, we shopped for a raincoat because it looked like it will be raining the rest of our days in Ireland. Alas, we couldn’t find anything we liked and so we headed home (after getting lost) bummed and tired but excited still.
Best end this entry here, the food trolley is here! Maybe a bit of food will wake me up…
Pondering: Facing a mirror you see merely your own countenance; facing your child you finally understand how everyone else has seen you. (Daniel Raeburn)
One of the greatest songs ever written IMHO, and a great cover by one of my favorite bands of all time - Keane. (Sing it, Richard Hughes!)
Pondering: Aging is not ‘lost youth’ but a new stage of opportunity and strength. (Betty Friedan)
I am trying to get into the new Coldplay CD which I have been so excitied about for the past few weeks and it’s taking awhile. There are definitely songs that I instantly fell in love with - Lost and 42 - but the other songs aren’t registering that well especially Cemeteries of London. I doubt I’ll ever like that one.
On a different note but somewhat related to being lost, I am so lost at work. There is so much to do and learn, so much to stay on top off, so many new players I’ve never had to play with before, and so many things I would like to change but can’t. I’ve always enjoyed my work, always looked forward to going to work and getting things done albeit once in awhile, I wish I weren’t working and can sleep in some more.
Lately, I’ve been swimming with my head barely above water but I know it will get better soon. I will get better at this work, will know the ins and outs like the back of my hand. This stress I am feeling will soon be an easy stress to manage because I won’t be so new and lost.
Pondering: Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn’t mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar. (Edward R. Murrow)
Pondering: Tears fall in my heart like the rain on the town. (Paul Verlaine)
Showtime’s The Tudors Season 2 ended with a bang… I mean with a beheading. Poor little Anne Boleyn’s bad karma came full circle in tonight’s episode and her little head left her body while her father abandoned her and her husband prepared for his third marriage. What a way to go, regardless of how conniving she was. It was a very powerful episode, like most episodes have been this season but not as powerful - and painful - as the beheading of St. Thomas More in an earlier episode.
Who said this show was all about sex? It’s about violence, about drama and about treason too. All the spices of life. I can’t wait for season three now. Thank god, Henry Cavill’s character, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, still has his head on. Cavill’s quite an eye-candy, if I may say so.
Pondering: I tend to live in the past because most of my life is there. (Herb Caen)
Coldplay performed for the first time, in a long time, at the MTV Movie Awards tonight. Let me just say, I CAN’T WAIT for the new CD and I can’t wait for the tour to reach our shores. I already have tickets to the Las Vegas show on July 19th and will be catching the San Jose show on July 24th too if I get lucky with tickets.
Pondering: When people meet me I think they’re surprised to find out I’m not always angst-ridden. (Martin L. Gore)
This one just cracked me up. Isn’t this just adorable?
Truly a replica of Martin L. Gore’s looks circa Playing the Angel tour in 2006. This gal created this and posted more pics in her Flickr site. Brilliant!
On Pembroke road look out for my ghost, dishevelled with shoes untied, playing through the railings with little children whose children have long since died. (Patrick Kavanagh)
