Newgrainge - Bru na Boinne

After my Dun Laoghaire post, I decided to take things one topic at a time. I had a hard time getting all the pictures together into one post. So here is some information about one of the more popular attractions people go to see when they're in or around Dublin. That attraction is the burial mound at Newgrainge.

Newgrainge is about an hour drive north of Dublin (just west of Drogheda). When you get to to Newgrainge, you enter the Bru na Boinne Visitor Center. You buy your tickets to the burial mound and commence waiting. When I went there was a wait of over an hour to get on the bus. However, the Visitor Center is well put together, so you have plenty to do while you're waiting. It has a short film about the site, a recreation of the inside of the site, information about the people who built the mound, information about the archaeologist who reconstructed the sit, and information on the iconic art that decorates the kerbstones and tomb.

Here's the short of it. The tomb was built over 5000 years ago. It dates back to about 3000 B.C. It wasreconstructed (circa 1962-1975) to what an archaeologist believed was its ancient splendor. They called it a tomb because the found charred human remains inside though no actual charring of the stones. Thus it is believed that the cremation occurred outside of the mound before they were laid to rest inside.

The real glory of the tomb is that it is perfectly aligned to the winter solstice. On the morning of the winter solstice, the sunlight shines in for a whopping seventeen minutes - if the sun happens to be shining in Ireland that day. While your there you get a recreation of that effect, but it's hard to see the beam of light on the floor because the tomb is packed with 24 tourists. It's kind of anticlimactic. If you plan on going during the winter solstice, think again. There's a lottery to get into the tomb on those days.

However, the price is good at 6 Euros for the whole experience. I recommend it if you're in the area. Here are a couple more pictures:

The Garda

Today I drove out to Athlone to pick up a crib for when RJ and Beth come back to the Emerald Isle with me (a co-worker had one that I could use so we don't have to buy one). Athlone is on the Shannon River about two thirds of the way from Dublin to Galway. On the way out, I christened my Illinois Driver's license with an Irish blessing . . . of a sort.

On the M4, there is a place near Lucan (just outside of Dublin) where the speed limit drops from 100 km/hr to 80 km/hr. I was clocked doing 108 in an 80 zone. A very nice gentleman from the Garda (the Irish police force) on a motorcycle pulled me over. He took my address but gave me back my license in short order, then sent me on my way. I'm not sure if I'll be receiving a ticket or a fine via mail, but I certainly paid more attention to the speed limit after that.

Done Laoghaire

For over a month now, I’ve had a sunny day contingency plan to go to Dun Laoghaire. When I woke up last Saturday, the sun was shining brightly through the windows of my apartment, warming the idea of heading south and invoking my sunny day contingency plan.

I got to Dun Laoghaire via the bus and train – costing me around 4 Euro total to get there. As soon as I stepped off the train, the clouds came. To the right is a picture of Dun Laoghaire from the ferry station.

Between the ferry station and the pier, there was an interesting looking memorial that stood tall and proud, looking over the harbor. What I found was that it really wasn’t very impressive - it commemorated the first stone being laid for the pier.

Right next to it (and much smaller) was a much more interesting memorial. See the plaque below.

Before getting out to the pier, I saw a sculpture and decided to get a closer look. What I saw is below: the Christ the King statue by Irish American sculptor Andrew O’Connor. The 3 sided sculpture is 18 feet high and shows three phases of Christ’s life: Desolation, Consolation and Triumph. The side you see here would be Triumph.

On to the East Pier! (I decided that one pier would be plenty and I didn’t need to see the West Pier) The pier is a nice long walk out to the tip of the harbor. Even though the clouds had rolled in and a little drizzle began to fall, it was still a pleasant walk. I wasn’t the only person there, the pier was pretty busy. The first picture (left) is a four-legged friend out enjoying a walk. The second picture (bottom left) is at the end of the pier, looking out toward Howth Head. The third picture (bottom right) is some photogenic driftwood.

Next I walked down to a place called the 40 foot

hole at Sandycove. This is a place just off the coast where the sea drops down 40 feet. But due to the rock formations, it’s more of an underwater cliff. Apparently it’s a famous swimming hole. Believe it or not, even in late February, people were swimming. The Martello Tower to the top left was constructed years ago to help ward off Napoleon should he come to Dublin. There are quite a few up and down the east coast. This one has been converted into the James Joyce Museum. Forty foot hole is to the right and the smoke stacks in the background mark Dublin City.

Next stop was Dalkey, which was a neat little city with some old architecture. To the left is Bulloch Castle, which is now a nursing home (no kidding) and to the right is part of Dalkey Castle in downtown Dalkey. By this time the sun had come out and it warmed up.

With some time to still burn before I was due back in Dublin, I decided to walk down the coast to Kiliney Beach. I was a beautiful walk past some garish homes. Notice the second occurrence of a Martello Tower in the distance in the first picture. That is a different one.

Finally at Kiliney Beach. The views were absolutely stunning. You can easily get to Kiliney Beach from Dublin via the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) train. For just over two Euros, the train drops you off right at the beach.

It was a grand day out. Only thing left to do was to polish it off with a Guinness in Dublin while watching Ireland beat England 20-16 in rugby and go see a foreign film at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival.

R.I.P. Kiowa

All dogs go to heaven and today, Kiowa joined their ranks. It was his last day on earth. Beth took him to the vet to put him to rest earlier today. He was a good dog.

In the end, arthritis in his back kept him in constant pain and hardly able to stand. We made the decision to put him to sleep, hoping that his suffering in this world would end.

We knew that it was getting close to the end for Kiowa. With my constant traveling, I was hoping that he'd make it through to my next trip home. We couldn't put it off any longer though.

I wish I could have said my last goodbyes. I wish I could have been there to see him through it.

Instead I'm raising a glass from half a world away to remember the dog who loved snow so much that you'd find it piled an inch thick on top of him; the dog who knew that my father always had one more treat in his pocket, the dog who loved attention and was a gentle giant; the dog who was my companion and friend.

Goodbye, Kiowa Snowbear Secora.

Rest In Peace.

Cable TV, Internet, Phones, and Banks

A broad subject for today. I'll start with the easiest: banking. As you may recall, I've been having some banking issues. I received good news today, but I had to find the news myself instead of the news coming to me.

My bank account was finally set up, but the lady that was setting up my account didn't give me a call to let me know that it had been processed. Unfortunately, I now need to wait five days for the banking information to be mailed out. That's not the mail service being slow, that is the bank being slow. Hopefully, now it's just a matter of time and I can actually start banking in this country.

In the world of cable TV, Internet and phone service . . .

On Monday, I was waiting for the cable company to call me so I could walk the 2 minutes back to my apartment to meet them and let them in. They apparently stopped by at 2:30 pm (within their 4 hour window), but didn't give me a call. When I called them up, they stated that they couldn't call international numbers. I let the Customer Service Rep know that the sales person that I talked to when ordering said that they could. Perhaps I'm not the only one who thinks its odd that a telecommunications company can't call an international number properly.

I asked if they could still send somebody out that night, she said that it wasn't an option. My only option was to reschedule. I let her know that I had other options, like cancelling the order. She asked me if I'd like to do that - I said "Let me think on it." I hung up.

I call back two minutes later and get a decent Customer Service Representative who actually sounded like she gave a damn. That sold me and I rescheduled for Friday. So, if my blogs seem to be at less regular intervals until then it's because I have to sneak them out over my lunch break when at work.

Thus far, I've found that the bank - AIB has piss-poor customer service and that the cable company - NTL has pretty good customer service. Even though they may not be as flexible as I like, two out of the three representatives that I've talked to have been an actual joy to talk to.

The Sun Always Shines on Monday

It may be a chance of fate. It may just be my warped perception. It may be a Dublin truism. Truth is, I can’t tell you exactly why, but it seems to me that the sun always shines on Monday.

I am in Murphy’s land, so perhaps this is just the manifestation of some form of his law. Murphy’s Law would state that if something can go wrong, it will go wrong – at the worst possible time. This would state that if something can go right, it will go right when you can’t use it. For lack of knowing better, from now on I’m going to call this the Sunny Monday Law. If somebody has already coined a similar phrase, let me know and I’ll give them due credit.

The Sunny Monday Law is in effect in Dublin. Yes, it rains a lot, but it’s much drier than Ireland’s West Coast. Dublin has its share of dry, sunny days (though don’t let the presence of palm trees fool you into thinking that this is a Caribbean island). So I have to ask myself: Why do the sunny days always fall in the middle of the week while I’m at work?

Here are a couple of my recently developed Karmic hypotheses:

1) Umbrella Karma: I fail to bring my umbrella with me when I go out, ensuring that it will rain (or at least threaten to do so).

2) Raincoat Karma: I bought a nice raincoat just for Ireland. The raincoat gods would be remiss if it was not put to good use.

3) Sunglasses Karma: I’ve cursed the island by bringing a pair of sunglasses through customs. It’s actually quite rare to see any locals wearing sunglasses, which makes it quite easy to identify an American with their black lenses.

4) Cliché Karma: What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger – or in this case wetter.

5) Greek Mythological Karma: I’ve pissed off Apollo by not offering him proper sacrifice and I now suffer his wrath.

6) Theoretical Non-existent Car Karma: I don’t have a car to wash, but if I did I’m sure that it would rain right after I washed it.

7) Ironic Name of the Week Karma: Sunday is named after the sun; Monday is named after the moon. It’s only fitting that the sun should shine on the day of the moon . . .

8) Karma Chameleon Karma: My Karma doesn’t blend in with the Karma of the island, thus resulting in rain (and endless loops of a certain Culture Club song going through my head)

Now the Sunny Monday Law can manifest itself in many other ways. One recent example I can point to is my exploits at one of the best steak houses in Dublin. I had the windfall of a free steak, but couldn’t eat it due to how much alcohol I had consumed.

Have you ever been offered free tickets to a game when you’d already made plans you couldn’t break or you were going to be out of town? Sunny Monday Law. Have you ever received a nice gift that you just couldn’t use? Sunny Monday Law. Have you ever been flirted with, even though you’re already involved? Yeah, you get the picture.

Sunny Monday Law.

Sans Internet

When I walked out of work on Friday night, I was without an internet connection. Last week, I returned my mobile broadband card that I was using because I wasn't getting very good connectivity. Luckily I returned it in time to receive a full refund for the hardware. I was still out 10 Euro from the access charges, but that's better than being out 110 Euro.

I'll be getting my internet connection setup at apartment today. You'll be glad to hear that I'll also be getting telephone and cable TV. The cost of all three together (note that I'm getting a fairly basic TV package with only 120 channels and no extras) is going to be 70 Euro per month. That's not a bad price. However, there are two catches: 1) There is a 40 Euro installation fee and 2) I can't get a 6 month contract. So if I leave after 6 months, I'll have to pay a 100 Euro disconnection fee. If you divide that out by 6, that's still only an extra 17 Euro per month. So all in all, 87 Euro or 120 US Dollars per month. That's a little cheaper than what we're paying back in the States for the same bundle of services.

The installation here isn't much different than that back home. They give you a 4 hour window in which they plan to arrive. Since I'm only 5 minutes away from home, they agreed to call me when they were on their way. Hopefully the message gets through to the installation technician.

I had an event filled Saturday, so I'll give you an update on that after I'm up and running on my new connection.

Here's the rest of the cartoon for your laughing pleasure: