Glen Echo Park, Maryland

“Now it’s my turn!” he said as he dropped my hand and spun himself in circles on the dance floor.

That captures one of my favorite dance floor moments of all time.

To paint the picture, there is a place in Maryland called Glen Echo. They offer swing dance lessons on the weekend and if you go for the lesson usually you can get in for free.

On top of getting in for free, they have you switch dance partners frequently during the instruction, so you get to dance with a number of people who may now have more likelihood of asking you to dance more later – for one, the ice has already been broken, you know each others names and have already touched each other; and for another, people can get a feel for those who have some skill who they might not have known about before. This worked out well for me, as someone who can follow pretty well, but who rarely went with men and wanted to be able to dance.

Another great thing about this location is that there was lots of space, and usually lots of people. Plus, the age range was pretty wide, and the gender ratios were not usually that far apart.

So, I went with my roommate often enough that there were regulars that recognized us and would ask us to dance. And dancing with someone who can dance would open the door to dancing with more people.

Some of these men who could dance, and would ask me to dance with them, were between my fathers and my grandfathers age, and to put it plainly, were closer to my grandpa than my dad. And they were fun (as opposed to creepy).

As introduced above, one of these older men was particularly fond of spinning. He liked to spin the girl he was dancing with, and he frequently insisted she couldn’t have all the fun. It made me laugh every time!

There is something about dancing that I have always enjoyed. It makes me feel more graceful and beautiful than nearly anything else I can think of.

Ireland – Beautiful and Sad

My colleagues asked me about my trip when I got back from Ireland and I told everyone that it was beautiful.

And then started telling stories:

1. The black cab tour we took in Belfast learning about the Protestant/ Catholic divide in the city and all the related violence and even signed their “peace” walls



Empty Tomb at Catholic Church on the Tour










Our Cab Driver Signing the Peace Wall

2. Learning that the Titanic was built in Belfast



Titanic Chess set on Display at the Dublin City Hall

3. Going to the Famine Cottages on the Dingle Peninsula and learning about the tragedy of people starving to death while copious amounts of food were exported to England at the same time




4. The exhibit at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin that talked about Irish servicemen from WWI and how their country did not welcome them back with open arms (since they essentially fought for the British government in WWI and came home to a civil war against England)
   

A lot of sadness in those stories; But I promise it was an amazing trip – in part because of the good and the challenging nature of the experience.

One fun, and challenging, element of this trip was renting a car – and then driving it on the “wrong” side of the rode.

Countless roundabouts were encountered; 100 kph signs on tight, winding roads; and rain and fog powered through! But, most of all, renting a car enabled us to experience both nature and cities in a way we couldn't have otherwise.

Some nature/ very old highlights

Carrik a Rede Rope Bridge

This rope bridge, created by local fishermen who needed a way to check their traps on the small island and carry their catch back to the main land, was pretty cool. While being used for transporting fish it was just a plank walkway over rope netting, thankfully there are now rope railings!

While it is a very short bridge, it is over a long drop to choppy, rocky water underneath.

While it was misty and cloudy when we were walking over to the bridge, the sun came out and we had a beautiful, clear experience there.

Giant’s Causeway

The rain came back as soon as we continued on to Giant’s Causeway – an incredible natural wonder of hexagonal basalt columns.

We took a tour where we learned both the geologists and the folk lure explanation behind the beautiful area. Including the Giant’s boot that got left behind and he ran away from the Scottish giant he had just met after crossing the causeway he built.

The Cliffs of Moher

This was another sad part of the trip. The morning had a tiny rain shower and then turned beautiful and we thought our weather luck would hold, but it was not to be! As soon as we started up the hill towards the cliffs, a dense sheet of fog dropped down (can’t even say it rolled in!) making it nearly impossible to see more than a few feet in front of you. Despite waiting for a couple hours, it never really improved. So, here are the Cliffs of Moher we saw:

Sigh. Good excuse to go back, right?

The Dingle Peninsula

Inch beach was our first stop – and the most interesting thing that happened there was watching a group of Irishmen in swim trunks and speedos run into the freezing water and then perform what reminded me of a Polynesian war dance – if only video could have captured it!

Our next stop was a fort that is 2500 years old. Say what!? It was really neat to walk among the stones that have been there so long – and mind blowing that they let you do so.

At the westernmost tip of Ireland (and consequently the westernmost point of Europe) we found views of “tropical” beaches. I never expected to see sights like that on this trip. While the water looked tropical, it felt more arctic.

Killarney National Park

Being at Killarney National Park made me feel like I had been dropped in a Jane Austen novel. There were enough gardens, grounds, vistas, trees and the like to satisfy anyone. We wandered around the gardens and down by the lake until it was time for our tour of Mucross House.

Mucross House was fascinating. One of the things that stuck in my mind the most was a crystal chandelier that appeared to be made of only crystal – even the curved arms that hold the lights, which in my experience, are usually made of metal were made of beautiful, clear crystal. (sorry, no pictures allowed inside, so you’ll have to make due with one of the outside!)

After our tour, we took a little hike up to Toc Waterfall. I love the sound of running water, so this was one of my favorite parts of the day – walking up along the stream flowing down from the waterfall and spending some time watching and listen to the water cascading down the rocks.

City highlights

Belfast

This is an incredible city. It is pretty small, and very walkable, which was nice. We didn’t have much time in the city, but we made great use of the time we did have.

City Hall tour:

I loved the quilting completion with the theme of reflections on display inside:

We also found some fun, random things in the city, like the “Big Fish” sculpture:

Even if all we had done were the black cab tour, the trip to Belfast would have been worth it. It was fascinating, and sad, to learn more about the history of the tensions in that city and hear it from someone who has lived there his whole life. It is also inspiring that people are working so hard now on peace negotiations – I hope they find success.

Limerick

This is a place I would gladly come back to. All we were really able to do is walk around at night and take a few pictures. The city of Limerick did a great job of posting information about historical landmarks. They also have a beautiful castle.

Cork

We paused here for lunch and a quick walk along the quay between Killarney and Dublin. One thing I noticed (and loved!) was that they have a lot of little book shops.

Dublin

Dublin was a fun city. It was a good book end to our trip, and a good place to explore without a car. A couple highlights:

The Books of Kell on Trinity College Campus

Exploring parks in the city

Checking out cool architecture

Not sure why I like light posts to much...

And exploring their National Gallery

Enjoying the view from our "balcony room" and the fun environment

Buying Irish Yarn - can't wait to knit with it. I'm thinking of making a bag!

Walking back and forth across the bridges over the River Liffey was also great.

Delicious dinner at a Pub recommended by a local (and making friends with another American sitting at the table next to us) instead of a traditional menu, they use string to tie menu pages into old books – so cool!!

Live, local Irish music at a bar called Cobblestones

Followed by doing an Irish jig on the Smithfield courtyard outside the bar, but that’s a whole different blog post - what a prefect ending to such an eventful trip!