Doors of Dublin

While in Dublin we stayed at the MEC hostel north of the river Liffy. Although the South end of Dublin is geneally the area know for its Georgian architecture, our hostel was located in a Georgian mansion nestled in a small pocket of Georgian homes remaining on the North end. 

And while we were there Melinda's eyes were caught by the variety and color of the doors on the houses. 

The pictures in this post were all taken on the wee city street that we stayed on. 

The doors are colorful and unique with beautiful fan lights above.

They are a vestige of the Georgian period (~1714-1830) during which Dublin was the second largest and wealthiest city in the British Empire after London. 

Georgian mansions were built to strict architectural guidelines emphasizing symmetry and uniformity. 

Georigan homes generally have simple brick facades, in order to obtain greater uniformity when viewed in relation to other buildings along the street or square.

Thus, the regularity of the street or square's appearance was viewed as more important than the expression of the individual home owner. 

 In Georgian times, in accordance with the concept of uniformity, the doors of these homes would have all been painted the same color, although today they are the most expressive and unique element on their exterior.

Some theorize the doors may have all been black. 

Thank goodness for color!

And more color!

Because of the simplicity of their exterior, you wouldn't necessarily expect to find any great shakes on the inside, right?

Surprisingly,  many of these homes have magnificent plasterwork ceilings, as well as incredibly ornate fireplaces and stairways. 

In the earlier part of the 20th century, with a desire to erase the remnants of their colonial past, entire city blocks of these beautiful Georgian structures were demolished in Dublin to make way for modern office buildings. 

Thankfully the tides have shifted and there is now great appreciation for these gems of the past. 

It was a treat to wander the Dublin streets and look at the Georgian architecture....

And entertaining to compare and contrast the characteristics of the individual doors.....

And marvel at their personal histories....

And ponder what architectural gems may be on the other side.....

And wonder who lived behind those doors fifty years ago...

And a hundred years ago. 

And who lives there now. 

And if only doors could tell stories about the people who have passed through them...

And the things that have happened on the streets before them...

(Wow, that would be noisy! If all the doors were talking all at the same time, and they'd go on endlessly about all the stuff they'd seen... What a racket that would be! But kinda cool, too, don't you think?)

Welcome Back To Sunny Ireland!

We left rainy Spain on Wednesday morning, and headed to sunny Ireland! (Wait, what?) A short flight later we were all of a sudden in a place where people speak English and drive on the left side of the road! We're always amazed at the shift in cultures that happens over just a short distance!

We loaded the bikes on a bus from the airport to the city, spilled out all of our worldly possessions onto the Dublin sidewalk, cut open the shrink wrap on the bikes, and put the pieces back together. 

We paused for a moment when we realized that we had been here before. Back in January. When the weather was terrible. And now we're back, the weather is beautiful, and it's nice to come to a place we know a bit. Not quite like "coming home," but for these two nomads it's as close to coming home as we get! 

The ball of shrink wrap (bottom right in the photo above) was impressive! (Or, if one considers the amount of plastic that was used only briefly and then discarded, it was rather depressing...)

The scuplture above is located in the Rembrance Garden- dedicated to those who lost their lives in the fight for Irish freedom. 

We had arrived in a proud and festive Dublin. As the city is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising, its streets and buildings are decorated with many posters & informative banners about the Rising and Irish independence. There are dozens of commemorative exhibits throughout the city and we learned a great deal about Irish history during our stay. 

Above is the proclamation of Irish independence read by Patrick Pearse dat the beginning of the Easter Rising.

The Rising began on Monday of the Easter holiday of 1916, and went on for nearly a week during which many buildings in Dublin were destroyed and the lives of many, both Irish and English were lost. Although the Rising did not directly result in independence for Ireland, it set the stage for it. Ironically, at the time, the 1916 Rising was not well supported by the Irish people. Largely due to the English response to the rebellion and their subsequent retaliation/execution of the rebel leaders, the Rising and its cause gained more and more sympathy and support throughout Ireland. The Sinn Fein party was elected in 1918 and in 1919 a bloody 2-year guerrilla war for independence began. Separation from England was eventually achieved  in 1921, after some 2000 people lost their lives. The same Anglo-Irish treaty that proclaimed the free and independent Republic of Ireland also declared the northern six counties of irish landmass to be a separate country, Northern Ireland, which continues to be part of the UK.)

Here's a poster that covers the entire side of a building. 

And bus tours are available to take curious tourists around to the pivotal sites in Dublin relating to the rebellion. The Rising centered at the General Post Office (the GPO) but several other key locations throughout the city were also occupied. It was a bloody rebellion, and several hundred civilians lost their lives before the rebels surrendered to end the bloodshed. 

A famous song about the Rising, is called The Foggy Dew...

...and a pub named the same. 

Here is an excellent rendition accompanied by an action packed music video:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yaS3vaNUYgs

The song mentions the artillery bombardment of the city by the English, and that was one of the most destructive aspects of the Rising. Whole city blocks were heavily damaged, and that's how many of the civilians died. 

The Rising is is a dramatic story, and is worth a read if you're interested. The one week of the Rising set in motion a huge chain of events that changed Ireland forever, as well as Britain and Europe. 

Between museum exhibits we spent as much time outside as we could because the weather was absolutely fantastic. A picnic in the park ... What a treat!

And we had company!

We spent a good few hours in the National Museum and saw loads of ancient artifacts. These interested us quite a bit:

These are the oldest known Irish musical instruments, played like a didgeridoo while wearing a bronze-age t-shirt, as shown in this depiction:

 They were made during the late Bronze Age by a complex casting technique. The instruments were found, like thousands of other items, in various caches in bogs. All across Ireland ancient people buried treasured items in bogs, either as a sacrifice or as a means to hide the items from marauding armies. Some caches included hundreds of pieces of ornate gold jewelry, tools, and religious items. 

One of the most interesting displays was that of the 'Bog Bodies'. Out of respect, we did not take pictures of the bodies, but here's a sketch of one of them. 

The bodies were found in peat bogs in different parts of Ireland, and are in varying states of decrepitude. What they all have in common is that they are thousands of years old, and are remakably well preserved, and they all seem to have died a violent death. Some of their hair is intact, and fingernails, and even some of the stomach contents could be analyzed to determine what they ate before they died. The bodies are well preserved because of the high acidity and the lack of oxygen in the bogs. Bog bodies have been found in other countries in Europe, as well. Fascinating.

And now for something completely different ....

Souvenirs taken to new level...

After a couple of lovely sunny days in Dublin we packed up and headed for the train station. Our next stop-Bonnifinglas, a wee village south of Ballina on the west coast. Stay tuned!

Final week in España

Once we returned to Spain we settled into life at the molino pretty easily. Paul and Dawn were out of town, and so we housesat for them. Life was quiet; we put in our hours of work, ran errands, played music, and enjoyed the warm sunny weather. 

On Saturday night we walked up our nearby village- Gauín - about 1-1/2 hours up old donkey trails. When we got there we found the place fully decorated with French and Spanish flags... We'd heard there was to be a re-enactment celebration of the battle over Gaucín between the French and Spanish, and that is would be quite a spectacle. 

And the locals were all dressed up...

We fell in behind the marching band for a while and walked through the village...

And then! It happened!

The French invaded!

There were running street battles between the French and the Spanish bandoleros, and the Spanish weren't faring too well....

Quite a number of them were captured and "executed." It was clear this wasn't going to end well for the Spanish... Would Gaucín be in French hands by the time darkness fell over the village?

After much "bloodshed" the Mayor (he is the actual mayor of Gaucín) pleaded for a surrender deal with the French commander. Why should more villagers die? Why should more bandoleros be sacrificed???

The French talked a wee while....

And agreed to a cease fire.

The Mayor surrendered himself, and was locked away for the night in the carcel while the French hoisted their flag over the cobbled streets of Gaucín. 

The next morning we returned to the village for coffee and breakfast. And, Look!

The French army is joining us for coffee! 

But, wait! What's the ruckus? Is that gunfire? And the battle cry of the Spanish?

It's the bandoleros!! Charging through the fog of war, the smoke and the flames! They've come to retake Gaucín from the French!! 

More street battles ensued. Some French soldiers were captured and "executed," and the bandoleros made their way through the village, valiantly mopping up resistance and pushing the French back. 

Even the children got into it... and with glee! Look at the smiles on their faces as they go to battle! 

They finally ran the French all the way out of town. Then the Mayor was freed!

The French flag was pulled down...

The Spanish flag raised again...

..and Gaucín was once again in Spanish hands! Hurrah!

Then came the time for the French and Spanish armies to retire to a bar and party hard for the rest of the day. Seriously, that's what they did. 

All the while the well-dressed donkey looked on and wondered why there was such a fuss. 

This re-enactment happens every year, and is quite a big deal in Gaucín. The "French" soldiers are part of a re-enactment group from France, and loads of locals get in on the Bandolero army. The celebration is a remembrance of the battle in 1808 when the French invaded, and began a rather dark period In the history of the village. And it's just as much a celebration of the good relations between the two countries now. And a good reason to have a drink with the guys you've been shooting at all weekend. Why not, right?

(By the way, if you want to know more about our local village, look it up on Gaucin.com - fascinating history...)

One day we went to the coastal city of Estepona and visited the botanical garden. 

It's a really nicely done building, very modern and very organic feeling. 

Beautiful pitcher plants that trap and digest bugs... Ewww!!

Lovely orchids! 

Sand sculptures on the beach in Estepona ....

And a killer-big chess set! Here's boB wondering what the heck he's supposed to do next...

Melinda pondering her next move to crush her opponent! The game was kind of a draw, or boB barely won it. Either way, it was a lot of fun! Loads of people stopped to watch, and I'm pretty sure they were commenting on the amateurish attempt that we were making at a chess match! :-)

We came across some excellent murals in Estepona:

And some excellent art from the streets of Sabinillas, a nearby coastal town:

Quite a number of streets are named after Spanish artists, and had fantastic tile murals!

We had our last (well, last for now) traditional Spanish breakfast...

Toasted bread rubbed with garlic, drenched in olive oil, sprinkled in salt, and doused with fresh tomato sauce. And a café cortado to get fired up. Yum!! (And you kinda can't beat garlic for breakfast. Stays with ya all day and fights vampires!) And all for about $4.50 in US dollars for two people! That's a deal! Spain is a very affordable place to live!

We had a revelation that morning while we were having our wee brekkie in Estepona: we suddenly realized that we were just back from Morocco, having breakfast in Spain, planning how to get to Ireland in a few days, and then considering our plans for Scotland in July. 

Ans this after we had lived such a settled and routine life in Montana for years?

We can't think of anyone else we know who has had the opportunity to live his kind of life. And we really appreciate that we're able to. It sure is hard being away from friends, family, and home. And it's hard to live on a tight budget for an extended period of time while sacrificing careers and savings. Even so, it's quite amazing to live this adventure. 

We encourage anyone able to travel to a foreign land to take the leap and do it! To see how other people on this planet live leads to many meaningful realizations about world, culture and self. It's mind-expanding to see that there are other ways of living, and to be humbled with the realization that the way we've always done it isn't necessarily the best way. We are then no longer trapped by the cultural constructs of our mind.  

It's a big world out there. Go see a small part of it, if you can. We're grateful that we are able to, and we hope you appreciate that were trying as best we can to share a small part of it on these pages. 

Anyway, soliloquy over. Thanks for listening. 

And now for some grocery shopping...

Would you believe that you can buy white bread with the crust removed? Well, we didn't (buy it, that is), but I'm sure someone else did. It is very popular here. 

And wine! Cheap!!! boB's looking pretty happy! We bought a bottle to make sangria with. Tasty!

And one final shot...

...of Roman, the guy who also works at the molino. He's from Ukraine, lives in Gaucín with his wife and two kids, and works hard doing all sorts of odd jobs around the molino. 

We worked quite a lot with Roman, and he's a super neat guy. Great sense of humor, hard worker, and quick to smile and laugh. And he loves fires, especially the big ones. We'll miss Roman!

And dear Frankie!

Good old lady cat. What a sweetie! We  became attached to her, and we will miss her too!

And we'll likewise dearly miss Paul and Dawn. They're such great folks, and we had a great time getting to know them.

Early on the misty morning of the day we left the molino, we went up the hill to revisit the firebreak, in the rain. We were impressed by the large area that the firebreak covered- and we reminisced about the fun (and the pain) of this experience. 

The picture is awfully dark, but boB has a pretty content look about him. It was a job well done, and we're proud of it!

Leaving the molino is bittersweet for us - we have to leave a magical place, but at the same time we launch forward into yet another adventure. 

We hitched a ride to Estepona with our neighbor, Kit, picked up our repaired bicycles from the shop, and caught a bus into Málaga. We'd have preferred to have biked to the Málaga airport, but it would have taken three days to get there, and it had been raining cats and dogs for a week straight with no signs of stopping!! Who ever would have figured it? We arrived in Spain in the rain, and we're leaving in the rain, too!

Despite the rain, we had an excellent day in Málaga before catching the flight to Dublin.  We took a guided tour of the city, visited the Picasso museum, as well as Picasso's childhood home.  

Málaga has some cool street sculptures...

If you walk around this one you can see several different faces emerge and morph. 

Picasso is a big deal here in Málaga (he was born here).....

And he works the street café scene selling tapas, too!

Here's boB giving him an earful...

...and Melinda listening attentively.

Have you ever seen those people who paint themselves silver or gold and stand really still to look like a statue?

This guy held those pose for MINUTES until someone dropped a coin for him. Then he ever-so-slowly moved through a tennis swing. Amazing control! and he can make the ball move backwards too!

On our walking tour we went past the Alcazaba (Spanish for the Arabic 'Al-Qasbah'- meaning fortified city),  which is a restored Moorish fortress. The views of the city were amazing from its walls.

And the magnificent unfinished cathedral:

You can see the unfinished Romanesque columns in the upper right. Due to financial constraints, the cathedral was never finished, and it is affectionately referred to by Malagueños as 'La Manquita' (The One-Armed Lady). According to Jávier, our tour guide, even as recently as last century, the people of Málaga were asked if they wanted to invest in finishing the cathedral they said No! They'd rather have a unique unfinished cathedral than "just another" grand and beautiful well-proportioned cathedral!

Here's the cathedral from the back side. Like so many other Catholic churches and cathedrals, it was built over the site of a Muslim mosque. Part of the original mosque wall was preserved, but it's only a tiny fragment of the grandeur of the original mosque. 

These plates were embedded in the sidewalk at La Plaza de la Constitución:

They commemorate the Spanish Constitution that was written in 1978, after Franco died and the King ceded power to the people to create a democracy.

We visited to Pimpi bodega and caught a glimpse of the cubist cask art a la Picasso:

And received a wee sample of the famously delicious sweet desert wine of Málaga, poured in the traditional way:

Per Jávier, if you ever want to order a coffee in Andalucía...

The graphic shown above will help you navigate!

Speaking of navigation...

You know you're in Spain.....

when you come across this many  flamenco dresses in one place!

On our very last night we went to a wee flamenco show in a tiny bar. 

Unfortunately, the music was canned and the sound system was so bad that the music kept cutting out! The talented dancer did her best and carried on gamely, but of course it left us hungry for more. Ahh, how can you have dance without the treasured guitar? It's just not complete! Perhaps that is how it should be for now - we are leaving Spain hungry for more, and fully aware that there is much more to see and do here! 

Viva España!

Thursday morning, May 12th, we packed up and headed for Ireland. When we got to the airport we had the bikes shrinked-wrapped: 

How nifty is that?

For now, it's on to the next chapter in the adventure!