With our Ireland adventures nearly concluded, Kris and I spent our last night in Ireland, sleeping in the rental car. We awoke the early the next morning to fly to Scotland to meet our parents and their friends, Katie + Dick, Bob + Camille, and our Aunt Gail and Uncle Max. We spent the next four days in Edinburgh with them, sleeping on the floor of mom and dad's luxurious hotel room. -Room for two more? We brought sleeping bags???
Kris and mom walking above Edinburgh. Awesome afternoon hike, good compliment to the awesome 2hr long all you can eat Scottish breakfast.
Her mother's daughter.
Mom and daughter, Edinburgh castle in the background.
Stop number 8 on the audio-walking tour...
Edinburgh Castle, audio-walking tour.
Old church behind Mary's royal palace. One of the first buildings built in what is now Edinburgh.
Black and White Panoramic of Edinburgh.
After 4 days in Edinburgh, Kris flew back to Cincinnati, and mom, dad, and friends joined the Royal Scotch Railway tour, to see the country for the next week by train. They would later travel a bit more by bus, but I in fact, found myself alone in my travels for the first real time, with four more days in the country to do whatever I pleased. So, I packed my bag and headed north, into the highlands for some much needed quiet time. It was absolutely great, just what I needed. I found a nice little bed and breakfast in a seaside town on the west coast, named Ullapool. I wrote, read, slept, hiked, ate, drank good Scottish beer, watched football games in pubs and hung out at the library. What more could I have wanted? I took a few picts too, check them out:
"Scottish Light" -Bus
"Scottish Light" -Bus
"Scottish Light"- The start of the hike where I got my feet soaked because its "a wee bit boggy" if you get off the trail. I got off the trail. It was windy, full of moving light and clouds, and nothing short of breath-taking. There was one casualty however, I lost my constant companion of the last 3 months, Travis's Hat. I was sad about it, as it had absorbed so much energy from the trip. The memories it held would last a life time. But on a windy, cold day in the boggy Scottish highlands, after a 2hr hike up to the highest point around, I arrived at the top, felt the strong wind and took it off, the wind getting meaner, my head getting colder by the second. I fastened it to my man-purse, as I had so many times before, and began to climb down. After about 45min, I stumbled in the waist high brush, fell, and noticed for the first time, as I rolled down hill and my man-purse went flying, that in fact, Travis' hat was no where to be found. I raced back up as high as I could before the weather socked me in and I had to turn back because of darkness and fatigue. It was gone. "It was a good death". In the end, my "trip hat" met the same fate as Fitzy's "trip flips"... Check out the pictures Travis's Hat died to take:
After Germany, I hopped a plane to Dublin, Ireland to meet Julie for a five day trip together. It was great from the start. Green and actually sunny, and sharp contrast to both the oft-dreary climate of central Europe, and the hot dessert-mountain regions of the Balkans. Good beer, friendly people, strange accents, something called an "Irish" breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, butter, jam, friend tomatoes, cereal, yogurt, coffee, and tea... a welcomed sight compared to the usual "full breakfast" included in most of the hostel/apartments we stayed in all summer...toast, nescafe, butter if you're lucky), and peaceful countrysides made Ireland particularly agreeable to me. The best part however was seeing Julie after two and a half months apart. It was strange to see her, but stranger still that it wasn't awkward or pressurized. It felt natural. We'd missed each other, but it wasn't desperately or extremely, rather it was simply. And here in Ireland, we were simply back together again. The overall feeling I had during the five days we spent together, was just that I was happy to be with her. That's it. Such a simple feeling and yet so meaningful. Plus we were doing one of the things we do best together, traveling. Check it out:
My first Guinness.
Near the foundation we explored on our misty hike.
A Castle in Co. Tipperary
Cliffs outside of Dublin, Julie looking on, Travis' old straw hat looking a bit more worn .
Phantom limb! Phantom Limb!
Exploring old ruins on a misty hike through the Irish mountains. Fences, ha! They're crap!
After five days, Julie had to leave. I however stayed. An hour after Julie left, my little sis Kristen arrived. Kristen and I spend the next four days together taking Ireland by storm, Weckenbrock style! Watch out, here we come!! Rental car adventures, Weckenbrocks, go Weckenbrocks! Check it out:
Kristen's first morning in Dublin, after an overnight flight. Her first Bulmer's.
Kris outside of the Guinness factory, notice the closed gates... it was closed.
Guinness factory, outer walls.
Kris, on a bridge, in an Irish town we drove through... we actually got out at this one...
Same town.
Same town, public library, old sign, English printed above Gaelic.
Sandy beach, west coast of Ireland, North of Galway.
Kris and I on the Sky Road, North of Galway, so began our auto tour!!
Whose that giant in that tiny car?
Our tiny car was awesome, so awesome that it would later be our dinner spot our last night, in a golf course parking lot with a distant view of the Cliffs of Moher. It would also be our accommodation that night as well. It can fit anywhere... in people's driveways and they would never know it.
An Abby we tried to enter, it closed a minute before we arrived. Tried to sneak in the exit, got busted.
The road next to the Abby, not closed, good thing. This was the largest road we drove on during our 8hr auto tour that day. Two lanes, totally sweet.
A mirror on the auto tour.
Inishmore, without a doubt one of the coolest places in the world. It's an island off the coast western Ireland, facing the open Atlantic, and where Gaelic is still the first tongue. It's also one of the most nickle-and-dimey, tourist trap, a small (sometimes large) fee for everything you do getting to and from and while on the island, places I've ever been. If you go, and at the end of the day, I'd still recommend it, just expect to pay a lot in numerous small amounts throughout your entire trip. Everything but the air costs something.
Our ferry ride to Inishmore... just a training mission, and nice to know it's there, but is this really what you want to see on your ferry ride? Like all the other clueless passengers, we were confused and rushed to the back to see what was happening... don't think this is the right "procedure"... but hey, gotta check it out right? There's action, gotta check it out.
That's actually Kristen in the basket... kidding. ha ha ha.
The west coast of Inishmore.
Kissy-loo-loo pushing through a tough hill-climb on our totally sickbird rental bikes. It's the altitude...
Don't show this to mom, Inishmore.
Kissy loo loo taking the road less traveled, Inishmore.
6 minutes to catch the ferry, Kissy almost gets nailed by a speeding, crazy, out of control, wild horse and buggy.
Germany, reunite, feast on life's riches... in other words, spoil ourselves after a trip well done
After I left to meet Kakofon in Slovenia, Fitzy and Joel continued on for another week of riding in Romania. Later we all met back in Prague, spent one night in my old flat before leaving for Germany the next day. After an overnight bus, we arrived at the house and winery of Fitzy's friend and former coworker from New Zealand, Christian. He was a great host, and from the second we arrived, he opened up his home, which was warm, relaxing, and comforting, and made us feel welcome. He gave us a private "tasting" of all his family's wines, which were fantastic, especially a Riesling he handcrafted from a very dry year, to create a taste I've never experienced before. It was a good bottle. Over the next three days he took us to various friends and former schoolmates of his, whose families also own wineries in the region. Each one was a unique experience. Here are some highlights from the days I actually had my camera:
White wine grapes, Rhine River valley
Rose in Vineyard
Joel, Fitzy, Christian's Girlfriend, Christian's friend Jacob (who's family owns the vineyard we're currently in), and Christian.
A video from Jacob's Vineyard, a truly remarkable place, and where the best sweet wines I've ever tasted are made.
Going for a nice view, Jacob's vineyard
Fitzy, walking, tasting. Jacob's vineyard.
Another Vineyard- Bottles
The last night we were all together, Christian, Me, Fitzy, and Joel.
Germany was a brilliant way to finish our travels together. We reunited, reflected, told and retold stories. We kicked our feet up and looked back over how far we'd come, all we'd done. We shared some laughed, talked of the future, and in the end, simply counted all we'd collected and let it go. Thanks to Fitzy, and especially Christian for putting it together. It was one fine way to end the trip.
So, after reaching Bucharest, I only had one night before I left Joel and Fitzy to explore the city themselves. The the time had come for me to get off the bike, and travel the road in a bit different way. Kakofon, the choir I sing with in Prague was making a small concert tour for a week in Slovenia. So I boarded a train in Bucharest, and made the 30hr trip, first to Budapest, then back to Lljubljana, Slovenia. It was a long ride, bribing two train conductors along the way, and having a 6hr layover in Budapest, which was actually a nice chance to ride back up to the castle for a nap and some lunch, and to recount the special visit my parents and I made there just 5 months before.
I finally made it to Ljubljana at 11pm, and made the final 5k ride from the train station to where the choir was staying. Finally, the bike rolled to a stop, and I was in the arms of my friends once again. From the first night I spent on the tour, I began a process of reflection that could last for years to come. Already, I began having the life-changing realizations that would later come to mark this trip, more than anything else... The two months on the bikes, changed my life... This concert tour gave me the perfect opportunity to stop moving, breath, and begin to let it all catch up with me... what a ride. The concert tour itself was amazing in its own right, however. I sang more than I ever have in a week period. We sang on beaches, in caves, churches, restaurants, cars, on islands, and in mountains. I spent more time with a new-born baby, than in all my life. I grew closer to many of the people in Kakofon, and for this I will always be grateful. They are truly my friends, and in many ways my family here in Europe. It was wholesome, with lots of hiking, swimming, strolling, eating, singing, and walking. It was exactly what I needed, and more than I ever expected. Check out the highlights:
Adverts. around town.
Driving in the rain/sun.
Singing on the shores of Bohinjsko Jezero. "Rehersal"
Miki and Pavlinka, Bohinjsko Jezero.
Hiking in the rain, Triglav National Park, Jana, Lucka, Karol, Marketa.
Market, Papir, I and others, taking shelter in a downpour...
Triglav National Park
A magical church on a magical night. (Our last night in Slovenia)
Entering the same magical church, where I would soon hear/experience the most memorable singing of my life... perfect acoustics, 8 singers, (none but one much of a Christian, and thus not humbled by a church in the conventional sense... in my opinion however, they're very attuned to God, and with a keen gift to recognize special moments in life, as they're actually happening... or at least simply, what is special...) 1:00 in the morning on a misty mountain top, in a golden-lit room where words got lost along with time, in those lofty places where our voices rose and met, like souls to whisper and touch all those listening with life... I was moved to tears and listened more than I sang. I will never forget this night. I was simply so touched.
Svaty Jan- Kakofon weekend rehersal. This is the monastery where we practice- early-October.
Svaty Jan- Kakofon weekend rehersal- early-October.
Czech Switzerland, Julie and I- mid-October.
Czech Switzerland, Joel and I- mid-October.
Czech Switzerland, Joel and I spelling "J" in honor of Jack Fitzpatrick- mid-October.
Czech Switzerland, boat ride throughly and eerily quite, amazing, secret canyon- mid-October.
Czech Switzerland, Julie in the light, walking though a tunnel- mid-October.
