I met Meg Cabot!!! :D

Woo! So yeah, last month I went to the Baltimore Book Festival, which is always a great time. As usual, there were some fantastic children's authors and illustrators that I really wanted to see, but unfortunately, they were only there on Saturday, and I had to work. Alas, I could not see Nathan Hale or Tomie DePaola, or any of the other great people. But as you can see from my post title, a good children's librarian cannot be kept down.

First I should say that I already had planned to be at the book festival on Friday. I actually volunteered to work at the library tent for 4 hours (yes, on my day off. I am quite the philanthropist, eh?). I had a lot of fun doing that. My job was to take pictures of people holding the giant library card.

The Giant Library Card! And me.

It was pretty enjoyable. I took pictures of several book characters with the giant library card, too. I got the Berenstain Bears, one of the Wild Things from Where the Wild Things Are, and Curious George. Also a lion from a book none of us had ever heard of. Good times.

After my shift was over, I still wanted to do fun things at the book festival, so I did some research in the hopes that I would find an author worth seeing. I couldn't find anyone at the kids tent, which is where I usually go, let's be honest. But I did discover that Meg Cabot would be there! If you're not familiar with her, she's written about a billion books, most notably The Princess Diaries (confession-never read them), The Mediator (very good-I cried when I read the last book), Avalon High (my personal favorite version of the King Arthur story, with Merlin being a close second), and 1-800-Where-R-U (no words for how much I love these books). And lots of other books, too! She's also written several series for grownups, which I've never read because I almost never like books for grownups.

Other notable celebrities at the Baltimore Book Festival included Waldo.

Anywho, she was coming to the Baltimore Book Festival to promote her latest book for grownups, The Bride Wore Size 12. And she was in the Romance Writer's tent! AH! Basically, she was super delightful, and as she said herself, while there is some romance in her books,  they're actually mysteries. Unfortunately, everyone else who was presenting in the panel really does write romance books, so it was awkward and uncomfortable to listen to them talk about their books. Fortunately, they gave out free chocolates! Also fortunate is the fact that Meg Cabot's adult books are pretty good! I've read a couple since the festival, and while they definitely are more grownup than her teen books (more swears), they're still really enjoyable.

We're famous!

So yeah, I met Meg Cabot! She signed my book and took a picture with my friend Leah and me. And I think I was pretty cool about the whole thing. I am a noted spaz when it comes to meeting authors I admire, but I have been working on myself, and I think it's paying off. Meg Cabot was a success!

The rest of the book festival was really fun, too. It's a great place to buy awesome used books. I got a Czech phrase book for $1, which is going to be really helpful when I go to Prague. Have I mentioned how much I want to go to Prague? I also got the first Girl Talk book, which was pretty thrilling. Next year I'm going to try to see even more stuff. I'd really like to do the literary walking tour. It sounds pretty awesome. All in all, it was a great day. How can you go wrong with a book festival?

Answer: You can't.

The Black Lung is Coming to America. Today! Part 7: The End?

Unless otherwise noted, all photo credits go to Niki Erickson, an awesome photographer, a fantastic friend, and a really top notch traveling companion. Thanks, Niki!

Previously, on The Black Lung...Ireland ends on a sour note, but at least we can eloquently express our disappointment about it.

And now, the thrilling(?) conclusion!

The first place we went in Wales was Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. It's the longest town name in the world! There's also a shorter version of the name, but since I can't pronounce that either, it doesn't make too much of a difference. Wales is pretty fantastic in that way. Apparently the name means "St. Mary's Church in the Hollow of the White Hazel Near to the Rapid Whirlpool of Llantysilio of the Red Cave." I guess Llantysilio is a saint of something or other, I don't know, we don't have them in our church. Anywho, we liked this little town, and not just because it had a long name, but also because we got great souvenirs there. I love you, dragon spoon!

Look how long the sign is for this town name! No wonder I can't pronounce it.

 

We spent the rest of the day driving through Snowdonia National Park. I'm sure you're tired of hearing how beautiful everything was, but seriously, so beautiful! The scenery, the towns, even the giant factory we saw from a distance! There is no way for the pictures we took to show how absolutely gorgeous Wales was. So yeah, assume that any pictures of Wales are at least 20 times more beautiful than they appear. Especially the ones with me in them ;). We stayed at the Woodlands Guest House in Powys that night. Do not ask me how to pronounce the name of that town, either. It may be much shorter than the first place we went, but the pronunciation of everything there is crazy town banana pants. Really no clue. I should have taken that Welsh class in college. Anywho, it was another really lovely place to stay. I am converted to Bed and Breakfasts now. I can't go back to Motel 6.

Snowdonia. I think it might be the most beautiful place I've ever been, and that's saying something.

 

More Snowdonia. So pretty!

 

Can't handle the prettiness!

 

The next day was our big Wales excitement-we went to the International Book Festival in Hay-on-Wye! First of all, what a great town. It's called the Town of Books! I think that my entire life has led me to that place. Second of all, book festivals=love. I sincerely adore book festivals. They have the best shops (books)! They have the best attractions (authors)! They have sheep (truth. I've never seen sheep at another book festival, but they certainly had them there)! We did feel kind of like posers, because even though it was a book festival in Wales, the only panel we went to/author we saw was Jon Klassen, Canadian author/illustrator and resident of California. To be fair, all of the British people we had heard of were not there that day. And Jon Klassen was fantastic. If you're not aware of him, look at your life, look at your choices. Seriously though, he won both the Caldecott and a Caldecott honor this year, which is only the 2nd time in history that has happened. Apparently, his latest book, This is Not My Hat, was shortlisted for the Greenaway Medal, which is the British equivalent of the Caldecott. Anyhow, Jon Klassen! We met him, and he signed our books!!!! We also shared some great toursisty excitement about the UK, as well as some jokes about us traveling all the way to Wales just to see him. Basically, we're bffs now.

 Doesn't it seem like I should live in a town of books?

Clearly, I did not know this picture was being taken. But Jon Klassen sure seems fascinated. I must have been saying something cool.

 

After the book festival, we had to leave Wales. Sad face. But we were still feeling good, because we were on our way to Bath to go to the Jane Austen Centre! Let's just get this out of the way upfront. Bath is a beautiful city. Seriously great to look at. And it's was delightful to walk around as well. But we got super lost while we were trying to drive around. Clearly, this is a city that was made before cars, and even though cars are a thing now, Bath will not change! We had to actually stop at a gas station and ask for help. Funnily enough, we had driven right past the Jane Austen Centre on our first go round through town. When we drove past a 2nd time, on the advice of the gas station lady, we saw a man and woman standing outside in Jane Austen type dress and thought that we had missed it before because they hadn't been outside. Come to find out, the lady was actually a statue who is always outside. We're just really unobservant.

Truer words, Jane Austen Centre. Truer words.

 

The Jane Austen Centre was pretty cool. Fun fact I learned while we were there-it's not in the house Jane actually lived in, but it is on the same street/is the same style. The house she actually lived in is now a dentist office! You can bet that if I lived in Bath, I would go to that dentist. Another fun fact-Jane's aunt was once arrested on a false charge and held in prison for months before her trial. Jane's mother told the aunt that Jane and her sister Cassandra would come and stay with her in jail to keep her company until the trial! Luckily for them, the aunt said no. The best thing about the Jane Austen Centre was the dress-up section. Apparently, those styles are not as universally flattering as the movies lead you to believe. Of course, I had no corset (thank goodness!), which might have made a difference.  After the Jane Austen Centre, we wandered around Bath for a while, seeing the Cathedral and the Roman Baths (from the outside, because they were already closed and our money was rapidly dwindling). And of course, we upheld the grand tourist tradition of going to Pizza Hut for dinner.

 I'm definitely saying something with that fan, but I couldn't tell you what it was.

In front of Bath Cathedral and the Roman Baths. It must have been really bright. I'm so squinty!

 

After we left Bath, we off roaded/trespassed a little bit so we could finally get a good look at our favorite fields of yellow flowers. They are so pretty and they smell like heaven. And apparently they're called rapeseed. Terribad name, you guys. Luckily, they're also known as canola, as in what canola oil comes from, so we're gonna stick with that. Apparently they are another yellow flower that British people do not like, but they are a delight for tourists.

 Stopping to smell the flowers. This was not posed. They really just were that pretty/smelled that good.

 So pretty! If I ever get a house, I will have a field of these instead of a yard. And I will have Niki stand in the field to make it even fancier.

 

The yellow fields from the plane on the way home. So vibrant!

 

That night we stayed in Salisbury, and the next morning, we set out to once again try attending church. We were determined this time. Still, we drove up and down the street the church was supposedly on with no success for a little while. Then we decided to follow a girl who looked like she might be Mormon and success! She totally was! Good thing we followed her, because church was in a school, and it was not labeled in any way. Everyone was really nice to us, and the talks were great. They were given by special guests from the London Temple Presidency! I especially liked the brother's talk. He said that often when people leave the temple, they're sad that they have to go back to the "real world." He then pointed out that things outside the temple aren't the real world. What happens in the temple is, because only things that last forever are real. Good, thought-provoking stuff.

On to more frivolous things! After leaving church, we went to Stonehenge! The only bad thing about Stonehenge is that it's very old and fragile (must be Italian), so they don't let you get too close to it. Still, it's very awesome and impressive and mysterious. Plus, at Stonehenge we got those awesome double ice cream cones that have space at the top for two scoops side by side. Love.

 Stonehenge! I wonder if Teen Wolf will talk about Stonehenge since there are druids this season.

After we left Stonehenge, we had our last great experience getting lost on vacation when we tried to go to Windsor Castle. Just know that the road signs are liars, and that even though you can see the castle from the freeway, once you get close, it hides really well. Luckily, we were able to find our hotel, and those guys gave us really good advice on how to find it. Windsor was a really awesome place for our last hurrah of vacation. First of all, the castle is really neat. Second, it's a cute little town surrounding it. I especially enjoyed the historic hopscotch game with the names of the monarchs. Third, and probably most important, there were a whole boatload of attractive men there. Seriously, we saw so many super foxy fellas in Windsor!

A tiny portion of Windsor Castle. Seriously, it's very big.

 

This fantastic game is in the middle of the smallest public park in England.

 

I rule at historic hopscotch!

 

Why is the queen using a phone booth right across the street from her own house? Do royals not own telephones?

 

Then it was time for us to return our car. We felt so free when we got out! Honestly, the car was an essential part of our vacation, and we would not have had nearly as much fun without it, but it was also really, really stressful. And fyi, the guys who worked at this Enterprise were also really hot! I think only hiring really good-looking people probably is illegal, but it's still pretty good business practice. Also, they made us feel very good about ourselves, because we were able to drive for 2 weeks without crashing, whereas another American earlier that day had returned a car about 10 minutes after renting it because they had already had an accident. We're the best! Also, prayer works.

So that was our last night in London. I got to eat Sticky Toffee Pudding one last time, this time with clotted cream on it. Weird, but delicious. It tastes like a mix between butter and ice cream. The next morning, we were off to the airport. Luckily, our flight home was much easier/less eventful than our flight to London. No delays, and also it was during the day, which is a million times more pleasant than flying at night. Plus, airplane technology has improved a lot, so it was really easy to watch movies or tv, which helped pass the time. Unfortunately, airplane food hasn't improved a lot. It was nasty, but I was still grateful for it. And then we were home.

I spent a lot of time on vacation being really, really grateful to be an American, and a lot of time singing the classic Neil Diamond song, "America." That day it was true. I really was coming to American today! We had a fantastic time, but I was really glad to be home, especially once I got back to my house (drove on the right side of the road the whole way. Holla!) and saw what my roommates had made for me. Thanks, guys! It was also pretty fantastic to be able to put on clean clothes, sleep in my own bed, and make my own food. Before we left for vacation, my mom told me to make sure that I enjoyed every minute of it, because I might never be able to go back. I hope that's not true. I have a feeling I was meant to be a world traveler.

 

Awesome sign from the roomies. I took this picture myself. On one end is the British flag, on the other is the Irish one. In between it says:

We were so sad when you left.

Excited to have you back home.

Let's celebrate because Meredith came home!

3 Cheers for our lost roommate!

Oh my...we missed you!

You Must never, ever, ever, ever leave us for so long again!

Everyone twist and shout, Meredith has returned!

Hip hip hooray!

We're Over the moon that you're back!

Simply Marvelous!

England was so lucky to have you for a short while, but America is where you belong-in Baltimore to be exact!

Miss your curly hair.

Did you bring back an English man?

Rrr...for Red Head Guy!

Let's hear your English accent!

Hot Dog, Meredith came back!

I missed you!

Thou art my lady!

Hooray, you're home!

  Put together all the bold letters and you get this message-Welcome Home Meredith. Aw...

To Be Continued...Someday, hopefully.

The Black Lung Talks Real Good and Stuff. Part 6: Dublin, it's not me, it's you.

Unless otherwise noted, all photo credits go to Niki Erickson, an awesome photographer, a fantastic friend, and a really top notch traveling companion. Thanks, Niki!

Previously, on The Black Lung...we were in Dingle. Huzzah! It was great, and if you only get to go to one place in Ireland, that's what I'd recommend. Of course, it's pretty isolated, so I have no idea how you'd get there and bypass everything else, but there you go. So, with heavy hearts, we said farewell to Dingle. This is when I almost killed that biker. Sorry, guy!

At Blarney Castle. If we'd realized how extensive the grounds were, we would have budgeted in more time. Knowledge is Power.

 

Our first stop was Blarney Castle, home of the Blarney Stone. The basic Blarney Stone story is that if you kiss it, you'll be an eloquent speaker. According to the myth, this is either because the Blarney Stone is part of the Stone of Destiny (which I mentioned in my post about Scotland), or maybe because of a witch who was drowned, or saved from drowning, or a pagan goddess giving someone advice for a court date. It was unclear. In any case, since this tradition started, probably in the late 1700s, millions of people have kissed the Blarney Stone.

 View from the top. Climbing the skinny, windy stairs to get to the top of Blarney Castle is almost scarier than actually kissing the stone. Almost.

Before we went, I really had no idea what this entailed. The Stone is on the highest level of Blarney Castle (which is in ruins, bt-dubs, just to make it scarier). The internet assures me that the castle is 90 feet tall, so that's about how high you are. You have to lie down on your back and stick your upper body out of a hole and then move your head down and over to kiss the stone. If you have good eyesight, you can see the ground far, far below. If you have taken your glasses off so you won't lose them out the hole, like I did, you can only see enough to know that one false move and you'll be a goner. There's a man that holds onto your legs, and there are iron bars to hold onto, but I still felt like I might die. I was very dizzy for a few minutes afterward. It's also disgusting. There are several stones in the hole, and the easiest way to figure out where to kiss is to look for the lipstick marks. Seriously, if Niki hadn't already been sick, I would have thought I got my post-vacation illness from the Blarney Stone. Still, pretty cool to say I've done it, even if it hasn't noticeably improved my eloquence yet. I'm pretty sure that living in Baltimore is working hard to counteract any gift of gab I may have received in Ireland.

 People waiting to kiss the Blarney Stone. You can see just how high we really were/how ruined the castle really is. There's an actual picture of me kissing the stone, but I had to pay 10 Euros for it, so you'll have to see it in person.

 The Hole from the outside. That white patch near the top of the wall is what you're leaning  out of, backwards and upside down.

Aside from the Blarney Stone itself, Blarney Castle also has a lot more to offer. The grounds are beautiful, and we walked through a lot of beautiful gardens. They also have a creepy cave/tunnel system under the castle that was possibly used by inhabitants to escape the grounds in times of war. I went a little way into the caves, and they were dark, damp, and short. I think if I needed to escape from anyone using those caves, it would be a toss-up as to what would actually kill me: starvation, being captured, panic attacks from claustrophobia, or accidentally braining myself on the low-hanging rocks.

Right inside the creepy caves. A few steps further in, and there's no sunlight anymore. The horror!

 

Niki in a giant tree on the Blarney grounds. The grounds were so pretty!

 

One of my favorite part of the grounds was the poison garden. At first we thought it was a playground, because some of the poisonous plants were covered by what looked like monkey bars. But that's just to keep you from getting too close! There were also plants that warned you not to sniff them, and super fun things like Deadly Nightshade and Wolfsbane. Then they surprised everyone by also having tobacco plants and talking about how smoking is poison. POISON!!! Pretty fantastic stuff.

Go Cougars!

 

After we left Blarney Castle, we went to Cobh, which is the last port the Titanic stopped at before it's ill-fated maiden voyage. It was a disappointment, mostly because we went to the wrong place. If you ever go, make sure you go to the Queenstown Heritage Center, which we've heard good things about, and not the Titanic Experience, which sounds legit but is hecka boring. Trust us. And then we tried to go to Subway and I almost got in a fight with some workers because they were really dumb, but they thought that I was the really dumb one. How rude! I did not get in a fight with them because I am  mature, but it was a disappointing afternoon to say the least.

That night, we stayed in Waterford Castle. So pretty and fancy. It's on it's own island! You have to take a ferry to get there! It's historic! They have golfing! Also, the fanciest toilet in the world, with pretty pictures painted on the outside and the inside (ew!). The one terrible thing about staying there was that I could not figure out how to make the shower cooler, and I almost passed out because it was so hot and steamy in the bathroom. The best thing about staying there (aside from it being a castle on a island, of course) was the breakfast. So good! I got porridge, and I loved it so much that I've tried to recreate the experience since I got home. The closest I've gotten is Irish Oatmeal with a little bit of heavy cream stirred in. Delish. It's also pretty good without the heavy cream though,  in case you don't want to have a heart attack from eating breakfast.

 You can't really tell from this picture, but there are gargoyles up there. :D

 Wheeeee!!! For some reason, I felt compelled to swing on a fancy gate while exploring the island. Probably because I'm really mature. Remember how I didn't fight those Subway people?

The next morning, we went to the Waterford Crystal showroom, which is kind of insane. The first thing we saw was a giant crystal bear which cost 40,000 Euros! A Euro was about the equivalent of $1.30 when we were there, which basically means that it was a freakin' expensive bear. They had some cheaper stuff (Niki got a great bowl for a very reasonable price), but there were extremely extravagant and insanely expensive things all over the showroom. My favorite was the Cinderella coach and horses, which were 30,000 Euros. My other favorite thing was the crystal seahorse brooches all the employees wore, but those weren't for sale. Sad face. I would have bought one and worn it every time I wanted to look fancy.

 

 Why no picture of the crystal bear??? Seriously though, anyone want to lend me about $40,000 so I can get this?

After we left Waterford, we went to Dublin, which was the great disappointment of our vacation. Seriously, it was terrible. Luckily, we had only planned to stay there for part of one day, so we didn't have to suffer through it for long. First problem we encountered-no one in Dublin knows how to drive or be a pedestrian. Honestly, only divine intervention kept us from killing or being killed on the roads of Dublin. Never try to drive there. Not really sure if there's good public transportation, but almost anything would be better than driving. Second problem, it was really dirty. Honestly much grosser than London. Third problem, extreme rudeness. Our one big plan for Dublin was to see the Book of Kells, which is in Trinity Library. The Book of Kells is legitimately amazing, and I would have very much enjoyed seeing it, but both Niki and I were pushed (pushed!!!) multiple times, especially by this older lady, who is really lucky that she didn't leave with a black eye. But even though she was the worst offender, pretty much all the tourists were rude and the employees were unhelpful. If I was in charge, things would run much better, because there would be rules, and they would be enforced! Anyhow, Trinity College Library is amazing, and you should try to go at a time when literally no one else is there.

 

 The long room in the Trinity College Library. So amazing. I wanted to touch everything! But we were allowed to touch nothing.

 Don't be fooled by this picture of a street musician on a charming cobblestone road. Dublin was evil. Evil I say!

After our harrowing experiences in Dublin, we decided to forgo our original plan of going to a pub and hearing Irish music in the evening. Instead, we stayed in our hotel room all night and watched American television. It was a dark time indeed. But it gets worse! The next morning, our plan was to catch the ferry to Wales, thus ending our time in Ireland. But alas, we went to the wrong port, missed the ferry, and had to wait five hours to catch the next one! It was super frustrating. First, we drove to the wrong port. Then we drove to the right port (at least a 45 minute drive). Then we had to go back to the first port (another 45 minute drive), because that's where the next ferry was sailing from. And then we ending up hanging out in the waiting room at the port for a couple of hours. To top it all off, it wasn't the same ferry company that we used on our way to Ireland, and there was a definite difference in quality and comfort. Also, the sea was super choppy, so even though we both took Dramamine, Niki and I got really, really sea sick. And we had to miss 5 quality hours in Wales, which turned out to be one of our favorite places of vacation.

To be continued...with less whining.

Next time-the thrilling conclusion of the Adventures of the Black Lung!

The Black Lung Meets Fungie the Dolphin! Part 5: Dingle All the Way

Unless otherwise noted, all photo credits go to Niki Erickson, an awesome photographer, a fantastic friend, and a really top notch traveling companion. Thanks, Niki!

Yes, I really did just make you read a terrible pun. I'm sorry? JK, I'm really proud of myself.

Anywho, Dingle. It's a really quaint little town on the Dingle Pennisula on the west coast of Ireland. I know that quaint is a stupid word, and I hate myself for using it, but f'reals, this town. Tiny, adorable shops, brightly colored houses along the bay, bearded chefs, dolphins. But I am getting ahead of myself.

 View from the bay. Love those colored houses.

We stayed in a great hotel on Main Street in Dingle. First reason I loved it-we stayed there two nights in a row. I know there's a lot to be said for marathon vacationing, but sleeping in the same bed twice was such a pleasure. Also, they had great breakfasts there. They had the breakfast buffet, which included an assortment of fancy cheeses (which is genius. I want fancy cheeses for breakfast all the time now). And then you could also order off the menu, and if you got the waffles, they brought you syrup in the tiniest, cutest pitcher. We joked about stealing them as souvenirs, they were that cute. Another thing to love about breakfast was the American family who was seated at the next table over. Clearly the parents, who were pretty conservative, middle class looking people, were trying mightily to relate to their son, who has only taken a break from occupying Wall  Street in order to educate his parents about the hypocrisy of capitalism. I can also imagine him sitting in a coffee shop, writing sad poetry and feeling misunderstood. Needless to say, they were very entertaining.

Dingle Main Street. Look how cute it is!

 

Also great about our hotel-the guy who worked there was super helpful. The first thing he did when we got there was give us a map of town with attractions and restaurants highlighted. He asked us what we planned on doing and gave us (really helpful) suggestions to have a more awesome stay. And he told us which restaurant in town was his favorite, and unlike that lady in Edinburgh, he actually knew what he was talking about. It was an awesome restaurant, with delicious food. Also, the chef, who was a cute redhead with a beard (!!!) came out of the kitchen and asked us if we liked our food! I felt pretty fancy. But the best thing about the restaurant was what they put on all the desserts-chocolate pop rocks. Honestly, they were amazing! And chocolatey! And they popped! It turns out that Sticky Toffee Pudding with chocolate pop rocks is delightful.

We saw this dog riding a donkey near the harbor. Very mysterious/amazing.

 

The next day we explored Dingle, the bay, and the peninsula. Apparently, there is a Bottlenose Dolphin (now named Fungie, which is a terribad name, guys) that has lived in Dingle Bay since 1983! That's as many years as I've lived on planet Earth. According to the interwebs, the good people of Dingle don't give him awesome snacks to make him stay or anything. He just likes it. We also likes it, so we went on a Fungie Dolphin tour of the bay. You really can't lose, because if you don't see Fungie, you don't have to pay. But we totally saw him! A lot! He was swimming right by our boat for 15 minutes or so of the hour and a half boat ride. So awesome. We love you, Fungie! He's also ginormous. I never knew that dolphins got so big. We read that dolphins can live up to 40 years, so I hope that Fungie is in the bay for years to come.

Moi, avec the Fungie statue. I think I'm surfing.

 

 Eeeeeee! There he is!

He didn't jump (he is at least 30 years old, after all), but he did come out of the water a lot. 

 

My favorite was when Fungie swam really close to the surface like this. He's so cool.

 

After we saw Fungie, we drove around the peninsula on Slea Head Drive. The Drive is something like 37 miles long, and in 5 hours or so driving, I think we made it 12 miles. There was so much to do and so much to see! We went to several museums, including this awesome prehistoric Ireland museum, where we saw a wooly mammoth skull and I bought my super fantastic dragon. We also went to some potato famine houses. The man who worked there had the thickest accent of anyone we met on vacation. I really thought he wasn't speaking English at first. He had to do a lot of gesturing for us to understand him. And then when we got back from the famine huts, he was gone! It was very mysterious. He was probably a ghost. The other museum we went to was about the Blasket Islands, a group of islands a few miles off the coast. No one has lived there since the 1950s, but up until that point, the people who lived there had been basically an unchanged society for hundreds of years. It was very interesting, but Niki totally fell asleep while we were there. :)

 

Ta da! The guy who ran this museum/best gift shop ever was American. Why don't I live in Dingle? I'm an American!

Touring the famine huts, no big d...HOLY CRAP WHAT IS THAT???? Yes, the famine huts went for nightmare inducing rather than realistic.

One of the views from Slea Head Drive. These rock walls were all over Ireland, even up mountainsides. They really want you to know that this is their land.

 

The other reason it took us 5 hours to go 12 miles was because everything was beautiful. We kept thinking it couldn't get more beautiful, but as soon as we rounded the next bend, we were proven wrong. The views were stunning. Unfortunately, when we came out of the last museum, it had gotten really foggy, so we basically drove the last 25 miles in half an hour. Nothing to see, nothing to do (the museums were closed by then). Still really pretty, though. And then we went to eat at another really good restaurant. That hotel guy knew what he was talking about. My favorite thing about 2nd day restaurant was that I wanted my burger well done, and it was actually well done! Not just cooked around the edges. C'mon, America. Get it together! Also great was the fact that the weather had started misting. Not really rain, although we got pretty wet, just tiny little water droplets hanging out in the air. I've never see weather like it anywhere else.

 Slea Head Drive. Pictures don't do it justice.

After that, we planned to go to a pub to hear some real Irish music, but Niki was sick, so we went back to our hotel and she basically slept for 13 hours. I got the same disease right when we got home, so I know exactly how she felt. Still, even with the black lung (note the absence of capital letters) afflicting Niki, Dingle was still a definite vacation highlight.

Next time, on The Black Lung...We get some germs and do not have a great time in Dublin.

To Be Continued...

The Black Lung is Melting! Melting! Part 4: I find out how the Emerald Isle became so green (hint-it's the rain).

Unless otherwise noted, all photo credits go to Niki Erickson, an awesome photographer, a fantastic friend, and a really top notch traveling companion. Thanks, Niki!


Previously, on The Black Lung: Scotland! Also, I forgot to mention something important. While we were in Skye, we say a sign for a place (?) called Totescore. We spent a while debating on the pronunciation, but eventually decided that no matter what it really was, now it was an awesome part of our vocabulary. For example, "Our vacation was totescore amazing." Or, "That guy had a totescore intense accent, and I couldn't tell what he was saying."

Moving on, as if we ever really could, the morning after we slept in a haunted, smoke-riddled castle, we took the car ferry  to Northern Ireland. I was really concerned about seasickness, but I took some Dramamine and was fine. Mostly I took naps, read a book, and ate some Kinder Bueno, my favorite candy of vacation. Mmm...Kinder Bueno. I have a few left that I've been hoarding since I got home, and now I want one.

The whole time we were crossing the Irish Sea and when we got to Northern Ireland, it was raining cats and dogs. It was really the only day of vacation that we had really awful, typically British weather. And it was the only day that my raincoat wasn't sufficient to keep me dry. I was wet up to the knees, and I think that water actually got under my raincoat through the sleeve's and neck hole. It was kinda miserable, even though we did awesome stuff that day.

The first place we went was called The Dark Hedges. It's this stretch of road where some twisty trees have grown up and made a tunnel over the road. Even though we got soaked, I think that the rain actually made it look cooler. We met a random Irish guy who was there taking lots of pictures. We didn't blame him at all. It's another place that's so beautiful it seems unreal.

 The Dark Hedges. They were legitimately dark, and not just because it was raining.

Next we went to Giant's Causeway. I love Giant's Causeway! It's a very cool geologic formation on the coast. There are about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns. Obviously we now know that they were caused by a volcano, but back in the day, people were totally amazed/confused by them. So there are a lot of interesting legends about the giant Finn MacCool living there. I had heard many legends about Finn MacCool before, so I loved seeing the place that inspired those legends. I also really liked Giant's Causeway because there's a free audio tour that's included with admission! I learned some interesting history and legends from it. In spite how wet we were, this was still one of my favorite places of vacation.

 I'm not shiny. It was just that wet.

Niki was much braver than me. I was afraid to go out on the slippery rocks.

That's me in the red! I think the hill in the background might be one of the Giant's Haystacks.

 I took this one myself. Pretty impressive, no? You can see The Giant's Chimney and the Giant's Granny in the background. This is how the weather looked all day.

That night, we stayed at Troy Hall, a really beautiful B&B in Londonderry. I think it was the prettiest place that we stayed. Also, it's the place where we had a full Irish breakfast. We figured we should try it at least once. Never again. Grody to the max, you guys. Some of it is pretty normal-fried eggs, sausage, and weird bacon (none of the bacon there was crispy, so it was more like ham). And some tomatoes. And potato bread and Irish soda bread, which were by far the best part of breakfast. So amazingly delicious. But breakfast also came with baked beans (weird) and with Black Pudding and White Pudding. I won't tell you what those are. You can look it up if you want. But I will tell you that they are disgusting, and I have no idea why people eat them.

What happened after we left Troy Hall was the great failure of our vacation-we tried to go to church, but we never found it. The internet assures us that there is an LDS congregation that meets less than two miles from where we were staying, but we sure couldn't see it. We drove up and down that street for about 45 minutes before finally giving up in despair. No church for us. We had our own Sunday meeting later that night when I read an extra talk from General Conference to us. Sad stuff.

So instead of going to church, we went to Free Derry. It was very eerie. It's the sight of a lot on conflict with the British army in the late '60s, early '70s and where Bloody Sunday happened. There are monuments for the victims of Bloody Sunday as well as for people who died on hunger strike in prison. There's also graffiti everywhere, IRA tags, and demands to release political prisoners. The thing that was saddest to me was how young the hunger strikers and the Bloody Sunday victims all were. It's hard to believe how recently this happened.

Free Derry. There were murals depicting the violence all around this neighborhood.

 

After we left Londonderry, we headed south to the Belleek Pottery Factory. Unfortunately, since it was the weekend we couldn't do the tour, but I've heard it's awesome. We did get to see the museum and the showroom, which were both very cool. I didn't really know much about Belleek before, but their pottery is beautiful. They're especially well known for their pottery baskets, which are insanely detailed. It's hard to believe they're actually pottery.

We spent the rest of Sunday in Sligo, because Niki's pen pal lives there. It was pretty cool to get an insider's view of an Irish town. He took us to Sligo Abbey, to Lough Gill, and to the Beach. Apparently it's not safe to swim there (this according to the signs posted everywhere), but nobody thinks twice about surfing. The giant board makes it OK!

Lough Gill. Apparently it's something to do with Yeats, but I'm pretty ignorant of Irish poetry. Also, I thought one of those swans was dead, and it was creeping me out, but it turned out to just be sleeping. Whew!

 

Monday we went to the Cliffs of Moher, aka the Cliffs of Insanity!!!! from The Princess Bride. Also where the creepy cave is that Dumbledore and Harry go to in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. We made many, many Princess Bride jokes while we were there. And we heard some young folks talking about Harry Potter. It was very whatever the movie version of literary is. I would have really liked to take a boat ride at the bottom of the Cliffs, because that would have felt even more authentic.

 You were supposed to be this great Colossus, and yet he gains! 

The big disappointment of the Cliffs of Moher (aside from not seeing the Dread Pirate Westley) was that we didn't see a single puffin. This is another reason a boat tour would have been great. Probably closer to the puffins. The best thing about the Cliffs of Moher (aside from the fact that they're cool) was that Niki and I ate really, really delicious peanut butter and banana sandwiches when we were there. Mmmm... Sandwiches...Also, there were a bunch of musicians randomly performing along the path to the Cliffs from the visitor center, which was really nifty.

School crossing sign. Is it just us, or are these children deformed? Taken in Lisdoonvarna, Ireland, on the way to the Cliffs of Moher.

 

After we left the Cliffs, we headed to my most favorite place in Ireland: Dingle!

To Be Continued...