Maggie visits the Emerald Isle!

Hey everyone,
As far as the photos go for the Aran Islands, There is a link posted at the end of my last blog. Copy and paste the link into a new window or tab in your internet explorer.

Maggie visited me from Germany, and we had a blast. We toured Dublin in the warm rain, and Saturday we had wonderful weather in Norn Iron (Northern Ireland). We saw the Carrick-a-Rede ("rock in the road") rope bridge, the Giant's Causeway (legend of Finn McCool) and the city of Derry, aka LondonDerry, where Bloody Sunday took place.

The bridge spans the space between the mainland and Carrick Island, over the Northern Channel (12 miles from Scotland). It was absolutely gorgeous! The Northern Channel is clear as day, and tropical blue. If it had been warmer, I would have thought I was in New Zealand or Hawaii. So Maggie and I crossed the rickety rope bridge, and I even took a video, so you can feel like you're there! WOO HOO!! Afterwards, we stopped for lunch and hiked down to the Giant's Causeway. The story here, as geologists would put it, is that years and years ago volcanic eruptions and cooling lava formed the hexagonal shaped rock. Legend has it that Finn McCool, the giant of Ireland, built those rocks as stepping stones to Scotland to fight the Scottish giant. As Finn began his travels to Scotland, he stopped building because he saw just how huge the Scottish giant was! He ran back home, and told his wife that the Scottish giant was a-comin'! When the Scot came bangin' on the door, the baby started crying. Well, this baby was HUGE, bigger than the Scot himself. The Scot thought, "Well if his baby is huge, then I'm in trouble!" So he ran back to Scotland. Turns out that the "baby" was really Finn, and his wife saved him from a fight (as all wives do...Hey, I'm just tellin' the legend..) The Scots might have a different side of the story, but that's the Irish version. So Finn McCool is Ireland's hero!

Anyway- the hexagonal shaped rocks blew my mind, and I just think it's so cool what nature can do. After that, we went to Derry City. It was a sad atmosphere because this is only city that still has a wall separating the Catholics and the Protestants. The Protestant side is loyal to the Queen of England, and has red, white and blue painted curbs. The Catholic side has green everywhere. In fact, our tour bus was green and at one point, the tour guide wanted to show us something on the Protestant side, but he would only go so far because he feared people would egg the bus, or something. So it wasn't the most pleasant city. But, the people there are a tight knit community, and in that sense, I expected Ireland to be that way. Our walking tour guide in Derry knew everyone who passed by. It was cool.

In my photos you'll see all the murals painted in memory of Bloody Sunday and the ongoing war between the Republic and Norn Iron. There are monuments all over Derry commemorating the lives of people who died in honor of the Queen. For more details on Bloody Sunday, go here:

Will write soon, probably after my papers are all written! But the weather in Dublin is so pretty now, about 60-65 everyday, so it's hard to concentrate! Next week I will be traveling a bit through Cork, Killarney, Co. Kerry, the Dingle Peninsula, and Co. Mayo (to see my mom's family)!! I'll keep you updated!

PHOTOS --> http://s665.photobucket.com/albums/vv18/jbrauck/Norn%20Iron%20with%20Maggie/?albumview=grid (copy and paste it!!)