Parting Shots

The time has come to say farewell to Greenisland, Northern Ireland. It's a bittersweet affair: we're leaving behind many good friends, quiet green hills and clean air, and returning to many good friends (some who have had kids since we last saw them!), brown (and hopefully not burning) hills and hot, brown air. Then again, we're leaving Northern Ireland just before parade season begins. We'll also be missing some remarkable bonfires (here's an artsy one).

Six months seems like a long time until it's almost over. When K and I first arrived, we didn't know anyone, or where to buy groceries, or even how to operate the shower... (and our hair was shorter, too -- see pic). But the folks at Greenisland Presbyterian Church welcomed us in, showed us around, and tried their best not to laugh at silly questions like, "How can you hold your fork like that?" and "Where do we get coal for the fireplace?" (answer: the local grocery sells 25kg (55lb) bags for about GBP£7 (US$13) -- lots 'o fun to bring home on the bicycle).

But now our hair has grown long, and those same folks who first welcomed us are now good friends. Our last week here has been one long goodbye session, starting with an announcement in church on June 10th. We were at a church dinner last night, and several folks were genuinely surprised to find that we were still here. It's been great to have a full week to visit with folks one last time and say our goodbyes in an unhurried manner... but we're ready to stop saying goodbye, now, please! I mean, closure is good, but c'mon... talk about long goodbyes!

So what has six months of holiday away from the office done for Mr. Tumnus? Well, it's given me some good perspective on time, for one thing. The time's going to go, whether it goes over hill and stream, or over desk and screen... there's no slowing it down, not like when we were kids. Also, it seems to me that I experienced about as many "moments" here as I might have experienced in six months of working life. What are these "moments", you ask? They're those little experiences that manage to touch deep, making one pause... for me, these "moments" are associated with a non-intellectual knowledge that there is a deep order and goodness in the world, that there's hope for good, even in the midst of tragedy. Maybe you experience such "moments" differently, or maybe you haven't any idea what I'm blathering about. If I haven't experienced many more "moments", I have found more time to reflect on them...

So what's next for Mr. Tumnus? Good question! Work, certainly... and K has another year or so of school to finish, so we'll be focusing on that effort. After that, we'll start saving in earnest for a house, and... who knows? One of my own goals will be to keep time in my schedule open for reflection. Riding a bicycle or walking around town; getting up in the mountains (and out of the heat and smog)... easier said than done?

Thanks to everyone who's kept up with my ramblings. I may continue to update this blog, but if so, updates will likely be even less frequent than they have been these past six months! If you're planning a holiday, I wholeheartedly recommend Northern Ireland; if you're planning on going, feel free to contact us* and we'll be glad to pass along a few tips!

Cheers and So Long,
Mr. and Mrs. Tumnus

* If you don't know how to contact us, then you probably shouldn't. We're not altogether safe. Try this resource instead.

Deutchland in May

K and I have returned from 10 days in Germany, visiting with some of K's relatives in Dresden. We had a rocky start, as K misplaced her boarding pass and was nearly not allowed on the plane; the plane was delayed an hour (for reasons unrelated to K's boarding pass)... but things went from bad to worse. We landed in Berlin, and had intended to spend a day doing sightseeing there, before driving south to Dresden. Instead, we spent the day navigating Berlin's public transportation system (which is quite good, by the way). Here's what happened:
We had booked a hotel online that we thought was close to the airport in Berlin. However, when we told our taxi driver the hotel adddress, his nav-computer told him hotel was across town to the north, when actually it was in a neighboring town to the south. Recent events suggest that taxi drivers aren't altogether keeping up with the latest technology, and after a 40min, 50euro ride, we arrived at a small dark building which did indeed have a "Hotel" sign on it... but ringing the bell failed to produce any reaction from within the doors. Now almost midnight, we asked a passerby if the hotel was the one named in our itinerary -- she had no idea. Our taxi driver volunteered to take us to another, much larger hotel nearby, where we might find lodging for the remainder of the night. We agreed, and another 10euro ride later, we checked into a (smoking) room in a ritzy health-club-slash-hotel. Dinner was a hurried search through cold, dark, wet streets until we found an open liquor store, where we bought their last loaf of bread, some peanuts, and a bottle of chocolate milk.

The next morning we ate a much better breakfast at the hotel (it came with the price of the room), we walked back to the "Hotel" and confirmed what we'd expected - and set out to go back to the airport, where we needed to pick up our rental car. Rather than spend another 50euro, we decided to take public transportation, which ended up costing only 10euro, but took 2hrs. We got the car, found the real hotel, and konked out in our room. So, the only thing we saw in Berlin (besides train stations and backyards) was the Gedachtniskirche (Gesundheit!), all lit up at night, from the taxi.

After that, our visit to Germany went much more smoothly. The drive to Dresden was uneventful and fast on the Autobahn. Dresden is a beautifully-restored city that still bears many scars from World War II. We spent two full days exploring the old city center, and our relatives also took us to some places where we could appreciate the surrounding countryside.

Many thanks to Traute & Deiter, Danni, Katja, Brigita & Deiter, Dirk and Frau Pellmann for making our stay in Germany a wonderful one!

Sorry... no pics this post. My next post will be my last one from Northern Ireland - we'll be back in the States in just under a fortnight. ...

Ireland in a Week

Just to prove it can be done, our friends Rob and Julie visited with us last week for a whirlwind tour of the Emerald Isle. Our weather was cloudy, cool and wettish, but they said that was a welcome change from the already oppressive Southern California heat (pushing 90F!) and smog. Here's hoping for some "June Gloom" upon our return...


We spent a few days in Greenisland (the true center of the Known Universe, according to my friend Charles) before driving up to Bushmills for a couple pints, and then down to Dublin for a couple more. Did I say pints? I meant nights, of course... Along the way, we saw several places that K and I hadn't been before, including a windmill in Skerries, Ireland, and the Jameson Distillery in Dublin.


We also saw quite a few places that we had seen before, and are beginning to know like the back of one's hand... Giant's Causeway, Dunluce Castle, the Guinness Storehouse... Rob and Julie left with two more suitcases than they came with! Actually, only one was half-filled with souvenirs... the rest of the space was taken up by things that K and I won't need between now and the end of our stay, a mere 4 weeks away...

Next week we'll be in Germany, visiting distant some of K's distant relatives. I'll share pics when we return to Greenisland...

Cheers,
Mr. Tumnus

At Long Last...

No, not world peace... Pictures!

These are a few shots from when my parents came to visit last month. This first one is of a megalithic tomb, aged roughly 5000 years, found in The Burren, a unique limestone landscape in south Ireland. Old stuff!

Considerably more impressive was this ring-fort, though I forget the exact location... perhaps one of my folks will be good enough to leave a comment with it's name and other tidbits of information... Click on the picture to see a larger panoramic view.

And lastly, here's a picture of some truly ancient... cliffs. The Cliffs of Mohr are a popular tourist stop, and are quite spectacular. Made me wish I'd brought a rope.

Touring Ireland With the Hine Parents

First off, don't get too excited. There's no pics in this post. I don't know whether it's the internet connection here at the public library, or the fact that the server is on the other side of the globe, but I've had a difficult time getting pics onto my posts lately. Don't worry, I'll keep trying.

My parents have been visiting with us this past week. They flew into Shannon and we were to meet them in Galway on Monday. They were a bit late meeting us, due to some of these on the roads they were travelling.

We eventually all got together and rode in their rental car up and down the west coast of Ireland. Our first stop was the Cliffs of Mohr, which you've probably seen in advertisements for travel in Ireland... very picturesque. Weather was good, all things considered - windy and cloudy but not too much rain.

We toured our way up the west coast, through Galway and up to Sligo, staying at various B&B's and hotels. We ate lunch in the famed walled city of Derry (aka Londonderry). We then drove up the Inishowen penninsula, past the ancestral home of my mother's family (she's of the O'Doherty clan). We took a ferry across to the mainland and drove to Bushmills, where we visited impressive Dunluce Castle and toured the distillery (my 2nd time, K's 3rd).

The last few days of my parents' visit were spent in Belfast and Greenisland, kicking back and enjoying some of the best weather we've had to date. Today, however, it's back to more typical Irish Spring weather (don't believe the soap commercials!) -- grey, cold, and wet!

Long Time, No Post...

Here come the excuses: First, K's family was visiting with us for a couple weeks, and we were going here and there, including a week in Scotland. Second, I've been ill (feeling much better now, thanks!). Third, there've been technical difficulties in getting pictures ready for this post. Fourth, I've been spending most of this week thinking up these excuses.

Despite Excuse #3, I do have some pictures to share. We visited the highlands of Scotland and I neglected to take my digital (still) camera! These two pics are from some digital video footage we shot. They're from Glenfinnan, Scotland; one shows the great curved viaduct featured in one of the recent Harry Potter films, and the other shows the Glenfinnan Monument to Jacobite leader Prince Charles Edward Stuart.

NOTE: I just realized that I never transferred the pictures to my wee USB drive. I blame me wee brain. Well, I'll release this post anyway and hope to add the pics in the next couple of days. Sorry!

Scotland was great - we spent most of our time exploring the west highlands area between Fort Augustus, Mallaig and Oban. We visited several castles, including Uruquart and Dunstaffnage. Of course, no visit to Scotland is complete without a visit to a whisky (scotch) distillery - we enjoyed being shown around (and tasting the product of) Oban Distillery which has been in operation since 1794 (it's relatively young!).

Back in Northern Ireland, we travelled with K's family up to the north coast, to Bushmills and several nearby sights such as Giant's Causeway and Carrick-a-rede rope bridge. We also toured the (truly ancient) Bushmills Distillery (click here for their official website). Personally, I preferred Oban's 12-year scotch to Bushmills' 12-year irish whisky... but after the third draught, it gets pretty hard to tell one from the other. ;-)

Visitors, Guinness, Bathtubs and Tombstones

The past week has been an interesting one. First, we've had our first visitor from the states, K's friend Hannah from Vermont. Hannah had been over in Northern Ireland with Kristina in 2000, when they were both here as part of their respective churches' youth volunteer programs. K and I have been waiting for our visitors to arrive - it's good to see friends from home, plus it gives us an excuse to visit some of the more touristy bits of the island. While Hannah was here, we visited the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, visited the Ulster Museum in Belfast, and had dinner with Doug (the volunteer coordinator who had worked with K and Hannah back in 2000) and his family.


The week was made even more interesting by a puddle of wetness that appeared on our bathroom carpet one evening. We found that the leak was coming from the pipes beneath the bathtub, and had to turn off the water to the entire apartment in order to stop the leak. The next morning, I phoned my trusty friend Charles, and he determined that the leak was coming from the tub's cold water tap. Getting at the nut required the purchase of a special wrench, as there's only a couple inches of space to work in back there. We persevered, and a mere 2 hours later, we'd succeeded in changing a washer, reconnecting everything, and voila - no leak! Now, if Charles' home network would only behave so well...

Last weekend Charles and his wife Gillian invited me to visit Friar's Bush Graveyard, the oldest in Belfast. Our guide was quite good, though I don't recall his name; perhaps Charles will provide it in a comment. At any rate, he's the fellow in the black coat. The oldest remaining headstone is dated 1717, but the graveyard is believed to have been in use since before Christianity arrived in Belfast. The memorial visible in this photo was for one of the wealthy publicans. The graveyard also includes a mound where lies more than a thousand victims of the Famine (click for brief or detailed info). The graveyard is now open to the public, and the gatehouse has been converted into apartments for college students (spooky!).