Triumphant Return To Galway

On Saturday we returned to Galway, this time it was for pleasure not injury.  When we arrived we all dispersed around the city checking out the sights and what not.  Most of the groups did some shopping and purchasing of souvenirs, while Trish was on a more epic yarn search which proved unsuccessful.  She did buy gifts for most of her family however.  

 

From what we had heard, there were horse races going on either during the week or on Sunday, however the large amount of people that gather crowded the city.  Nevertheless we powered though.  Because of the early start most of us had not eaten so we looked for a place to eat.  Trish had spoken Margret, the owner of a famous bar in Balleyvaughn, about some good places to eat.  

 

Margret suggestion was McDonagn's.  This peculiar restaurant was said to have really good fish and chips. The interior was pretty funny and it looked like a strange fast food shack.  Margret also suggested a great bakery where we could get a nice cup of tea and some good baked goods. So we migrated to the next eating establishment.  

This place was awesome I had a pear tart and a cup of tea. I took a picture of Julia's food to show how it looked.

Yeah you're jealous, its ok.

Next we wandered around checking out the shops and there was a large farmers market on the streets.

Look at how gnarly that fish is. I mean its no Goliath Tiger Fish, but damn would not want to encounter that ya dig?  We then finished the night by going to the Theatre and watched the Shakespearean Play, A Comedy Of Errors.

Zombie Foot

And to those curious as to how my foot looked when i first got injured here is a lovely picture. Enjoy.

Tasty.

Bar Time/Return Journey

You know how we do.  The Bar we went to was a pretty funny place.  It had a bunch of crazy signs everywhere and this small dog kept wandering inside the bar. Health codes I guess not the biggest deal if everyone is hammered on Guiness and Whiskey.

  

As we chilled I had a really delicious salmon and salad combo thing and everyone had a drink while we waited.  Below is an interior of the bar.

Our Boat finally arrived and after a half an hour trip we had arrived back to the docks, and proceeded back to our respected houses to rest and recover for another studio day.

Smallest Island Continued...

The group then decided that we wanted to be lazy so we rented two carriages and wandered the island on these which was helpful because my leg was sore from the day before. That rhymed. unintentionally. It was a pretty cool island it had some run down castles on it and this giant shipwrecked boat which was gnarly.  

I believe the castle was called O'Brien's Castle, but i could be wrong but it was really tight from a distance. We did not get a chance to go to it because we did not want to hike to it but the boat that we went to was really cool.

 

This is a view of the back of the island once again proving that everything in Ireland is photogenic.  The carriage then proceeded over the ridge to the left of the picture and to the shipwreck.

 

The shipwreck was pretty cool it was completely rusted out and you could go climbing in it and what not. Due to my leg being injured I was not able to enter, but I got Emily to take some good pictures for me which was sweet.  Here are some photos of the inside.

 

 After our ride, everyone was needing a break and we were pretty hungry. So we headed to a bar on the island to hangout until our ferry ride back to the mainland.  Fun fact they call some boats hookers. Ponder that one. Maybe they let people ride them for money maybe that's the connection. Never mind I just solved that dilemma for you. You're welcome.

Aran Isles (Smallest Island)

Our second day on the Aran Islands was a bit more lax.  After everyone was awake we proceeded to get some breakfast at a small place next to the Spar(grocery store) and then got ready for another boat ride.

 

The Boat ride was about forty minutes to the second island. We has to stop at the middle island so it took us a little longer then initially planned. But we finally reached the island around 11:30/noonish and were then able to do what ever we wanted.  

 

For some reason everywhere on the island there were dogs just wandering everywhere, so we got to pet a lot  of them. here is one of them.

 

Our next move was to get some food so we went to a small place called Fisherman's Cottage.  I was not feeling too hungry so I has a Bullmers and just relaxed before we went exploring the island. Emily said the fish was good.

Aran Isles (Largest Island)

After an extensive rain delay, it was finally time to head out the Aran Islands.  It was a bit of a rough journey on the seas, more then we expected, but I guess we were on the tail end of a storm.  The boat ride was about an hour and when we landed we immediately went to the hostel/bar where we were staying. 

After the group dropped off their stuff we went and rented bicycles, because of my leg condition, Emily and I rented a tandem bike so it would be easier on my ankle.  Well Emily and I were champs because we powered down the coast which was absolutely amazing and beautiful.  We then ran into this small village before the ruins that we were riding too.  

 

There were a bunch of yarn shops here. According to Trisha, one of the girls from our group that is really into knitting, this was the spot to get yarn because most of the stuff is made by little old ladies or something like that. It was a nice rest before we started the about a mile hike to the ruins.  Now i don't know if anyone knows this but it is really difficult to do this on crutches haha. However, we made it to the top of this badass semi fortress build back during ancient times. 

Here is a nice image of me being all crippled at the fortress. It was really amazing to be at and walk around, although it seemed a bit of a stupid idea because of you had been attacked you were stuck on the edge of a cliff.

  After our time at the fortress, we then proceeded back to the town where we had started our trip.  Emily and I were flying and made it back to the town in about 17 minutes. We then decided to become a professional tandem bike team.  The day ended in drinks and dinner, but we were all pretty tired from the day so most people passed out around midnight.

12th Day continued...

I have started a new painting based on the Cliffs Of Mohor. Here is the foundation of that painting.

I think the sky is my favorite part.

And On The 12th Day...Max Painted...

The weekend had been interesting.  We were unable to go on our scheduled journey to the Aran Islands due to the severe weather that was occurring. As disappointing as this was, it allowed me to watch the Women's World Cup final only to witness the USA loose to Japan. However, the week started out well and is the central week in which to focus on our work.  The first one I will show is the painting I have been spending a lot of time on.  If you want to see an earlier version look at one of my previous post you should notice it for sure. 

Its turning out pretty well and I feel that the picture does not do it justice but it will have to do for now. I also have been messing around with this stone that I found in the scrap area behind the school. I am not sure how I feel about I might work on it more.

Spider

I had a thought when I was back in Denver, about this spider that has been trapped in the bath tub in the basement of my dad's house.  I am not a fan of spiders, and in an act of nonviolence I let it exist as if I am some god allowing it to be there.  I then had an interesting time pondering just to how to kill the spider.  Apparently normal methods would not do for that insists on touching some creature that I have no desire to interact with.  I then thought why not turn on the faucet, but only a little bit, slowly filling the tub until the spider was drowned.  I then realized how sadistic that was and partially startled myself at the dark places ones mind can go.

Day Five

Day five saw a return visit to the Galway clinic to I guess decide my fate.  If it was indeed torn ligaments it possibly meant a premature return to the states in order to receive surgery to reattach them so we were hoping for the best. Luck was apparently on my side. The doctor that we saw stated that he did not think it was a torn ligament rather just extremely stretched which meant a removable boot instead of a half cast which I had worn for the previous 24 hours.  Below is when Richard, Susan, and I returned to the college from Galway.

 

When I returned to the studio I could not get an image of the Burren out of my head. So I decided to do a landscape painting of the area which is not my typical style but why not. Here was my initial layout of it.
 

This is just another image of the studios, and in the very back you can see the start of the gallery.

Day Four

Day Four was more of a relaxed day. I was in a half cast so my movement was not the best and it was a studio day so it was mainly about getting some work done.

The Studios are pretty nice. They have high ceilings and I share mine with my friend Julia.

 

Here is mine pretty empty in this picture but it was the first day and I have a more extensive amount of stuff now.

This it the first piece i have worked on here. I am not totally sure if I am finished with it nor do I know if I even like it but we will see where I take it from here.

Galway Clinic

Galway is about a half an hour to forty minute drive from Ballyvaughen we then reached the clinic and sadly you were not able to take pictures but i snapped two before we got in.  I was pretty impressed by the clinic it had a grand piano in the center and was more like a hotel when you walked in then a hospital.

Here is Susan and I as we just arrived i was in a wheel chair for most of the day.  In the process of getting to the hospital I was injected in the hip with a pain killer, had some X-rays done, and then had to get a half cast put on my leg so I have some lovely crutches that i had to travel on.

Day Three A.K.A. Me being an Idiot and Injurying Myself

So it is finally to that point that everybody wanted how i injured my ankle.  We had just taken a tour of the college and myself, Julia, and Jenny decided to take a walk.  We started on the road and as we were walking down in a field we saw this car and decided to investigate. 

 Well the car was down a bit of a steep and unstable rock hill thing and i decided to climb down. just as i was doing that the rocks underneath me gave and I fell down into a thorn bush, scraping my thigh and gaining some nice cuts on my hands.  I was pretty much stuck and my three options were to either, climb up through the unstable rock (which I tried to get a good grip and could not and I was pretty sure it would have fallen again), walk through the thorn bushes (which would have been extremely unpleasant), or jump into the field below avoiding that whole dilemma. I chose the third. Little did i know that there was a decent sized divot in the ground and as i feel rolled my ankle really horribly.  It then was a messy amount of getting me back to the school which Jenny and Julia helped a great deal.

This is Jenny and I walking through the field. I then was carried by the Manager of the college, Robert, to the car where i then iced my foot waiting to o to the Galway Clinic.

Feeling really cool at this point.

Cliffs Of Mohor

This was probably my favorite part of the trip as in places to see.  The Cliffs of Mohor are amazing so beautiful and just all together brilliant.  There is a section that they caution you not to go on but you only live once so Jenny, Trish, and I decided to enter and travel to the are with no safety railings.  It worked out because I was able to get some great pictures of the cliffs. I also dangled my feel over the edge which was pretty dangerous but I am still a live so successful visit? I think so.

Just as we entered the cautioned are there were these German guys taking shots. So in the Spirit of the Ireland Trip we took shots with them. The picture below is Jenny taking one with them.

This was the view of the studio looking back from the cautioned area.  It was really beautiful and so cool the castle was originally built I believe by the O'Brien Guy who was in the tomb two posts back.  Just so people could get a better view. 

This is a view of the other area of the cliffs when you go to the left of the entrance instead of the right. (Picture Below)

Legend Of The Corpse Eating Eel

While we were at the cliffs of more information center they had a section dedicated to myths related to the area. The one that really interested me was the one about the giant corpse eating eel. I took pictures of the myth to show so here they are.

Shrine/Tomb Of O'Brien

So the next place we went after lunch was this shrine dedicated to a saint. Apparently back in the day when the pagans were around they had a bunch of shrines dedicated their gods. So when the Catholics swooped in instead of destroying the shrines they converted them to shrines to saints or something like that.  For some reason I could not remember the name of the saint this was dedicated to but here is the initial shrine are.

 

The Shrine Also had an alcove for offering to the saint, usually the normal wants were in it but our guide said that there was a picture of an ultrasound that was thanking the saint for blessing them with a child which I thought was pretty cool. 

This is an image of the alcove previous spoken of it was pretty chill and had this nice fountain at the end of it. I don't know if it was holy or not but it did not give me too much luck for the next day but i digress haha.

 

Just above the shrine was the tomb the the guy that made the are prosper. His family name was O'Brien, from what we were told it seems like everyone who worked for him hated him, but he established the area and recognized the beauty of the land and allowed for it to be preserved and not disturbed.

I got a good picture of some cool flowers.

Kilfenora

After traveling around the country side or the Burren area we then decided to stop in Kilfenora to walk around and grab some food. What was cool about Kilfernora was that it had a well preserved amount of Celtic Crosses.  Some were extremely tall one which was I think 24 feet tall was located in a field not far from the church where most were preserved.

I think this was the behind view that entered into the cemetery.

This was the cemetery as you can clearly see.

The Celtic Crosses were pretty old and because they were mad of lime stone some of the much older ones were moved under a glass sort of display area to protect them from weathering.  Most depicted some sort of religions story from what I had learned and had some amazing imagery as you can see in the stone above.

This is the large Celtic Cross in the field, they warned us not to go in if there was a bull but luckily there was not and the group could get a closer look.
After we looked through this village we stopped in a nice pub to grab a bite to eat and then proceeded to go through the country side to an area that contained a bunch of golf courses.  We did not stop there to take picture and immediately proceeded to a a Shrine/Tomb area. The Tomb was of some man with the last name of O'Brien and the Shrine I am not totally sure some Female Saint but not sure.