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Published: August 3rd 2006
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So last night Laurene and I got done up and headed down town to an area called Temple Bar. We went into a few pubs and took in a traditional 4 piece band and the traditional pub decor... and as well the traditional drunks. By the time we were ready to go we had a little irish glow on our cheeks as we made our way through the crowd on the streets. It's amazinf how many people are not only living in such a small city but how many of them go out, even on a wednesday night it was packed in the pubs.
After a little stoll we stumbled, I literally ( I got a picture of the damn cobblestone that nearly killed me, will be uploaded later) upon a little busking celtic band. There were a few kids dancing the Irish style dancing and a large crowd. I happily ploted myself beside them and enjoyed the music and picked up the tamborine sitting there and thumped along with them. After they finished I discovered they actually spoke very little english and were from Poland.
Interesting yes no?
So this morning we dragged our butts out of bed and literall
ran out the door and arrived for our bus that took us on our bus tour. Our bus driver/ tour guide was hilarious. He rambled on the whole trip and was just full of info and cheesy jokes.
Our first stop was at the hill of Tara which was a sanctuary for many past royals as well a tomb. There are many legends behind the place as well as a few researched and well known facts. On the top hill is the a rock that represents male feterility and legend has it if you touch the rock and the land screams your name you are the rightful king/queen of Tara. Interesting rock... I gotta say. Past civilizations certainly had a thing for obvious symbology. The female rock had a very worn away woman with her legs around her head.. this is approx 3500 years old. Just wait there's more on that topic for later.
For a quick relief Laurene and I jumped a few hay bails and I started to do some sheep hunting.. but I got within about 20 feet of one and realized it had horns.. I think it's a good rule.. no chasing things with horns.
Oh I forgot also on that paticular hill we're pretty high up and from there you can see 20% of the island of Ireland. The reason you can't see more is because we can't around the curve of the earth.
We jumped back on the bus and cruised around and got to stop at the remains of an old castle where many scenes from Braveheart was filmed. It's unreal how many sites of half standing castles and churches are out here. The country side in some parts are littered with parts of walls etc.
We than arrived at Newgrange... Now this stuff was amazing. This is a place where uncovered a few hundred years ago an old tomb and semi-recently was excavated in the 60's. The whole thing is practically the way it was as it was built about 5000 years ago. That's right, this tomb is OLDER than the pyramids in Egypt. One they were able to uncover the entrance the entire inside is vertially untouched.. well minus the graffiti of carvings from the victorian age. "Paddy o Shea 1822 ect" are on many of the rocks inside, but what is more exciting is the
Male fertility
What happens if you lick it? way it was built. Once year on Winter soltice the sun shines up through the entrance.. now it is pitch black in there unless you bring in torches but once a year the sun lines up perfectly and as it rises on solstice it slowly creeps into the tomb which shines in a perfect line as it comes down the trail and suddenly illuminates the entire cave. A lottery is in place so a few lucky people have the privledge of being in the tomb the day it happens.
The rock in the front of the tomb is a topic of conversation. It has many interesting carvings in the rock, the sprial is carved into many of the rocks around the tomb. The front one is the most amazing. There are several theories for what the rock in the front stands for.
1) it is a map of the surronding area. 5 spirals .. 5 tombs etc.
2) it is a outline of when the sun enters the chamber
3) A little crazy but earlier civilzations did a lot of drugs and some believed that being in this "higher" state of mind was being able to talk to the
gods.. and perhaps this is them trying to convey what they saw and or heard.
There is way to much to talk about... It was so worth the money and the time. It really left me a little speechless running my hands over these ancient runes and taking in the amazing scenery around me. Ireland is amazing.
I don't wanna go home!!! There's so much to see.
-->Sarah
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