the pros and cons of Killarney

I can say that generally, I like Ireland. But I hadn't yet found that place that would call me back after I've left for the States. Then I visited Killarney National Park. Wow! We stayed in Killarney, just a 5 minute walk from the park. It's really easy to rent a bike to explore the park and most places will have a basic map that you can bring, so we made two bike trips through the park. The first day, we visited Ross Castle and the (overrated) Mining Trail. We also got to see some Irish deer (I knew they were hiding here somewhere!). The mountians and lakes provided breathtaking views--I was simultaneously thinking of Wisconsin, Yellowstone, and Minnesota. We had a great afternoon! The next day was a different story. It started out beautifully; the weather was perfect for a good bike ride; the goal was to ride through the park, heading back to Killarney through the Gap of Dunloe. The first site was Muckross Abbey; I just love old churches and graveyards! Then we saw Torc Waterfall; it wasn't necessarily the tallest waterfall I've ever seen, but I loved it all the same. The Meeting of the Waters was also an excellent place for a break, very peaceful. And you always had those mountians in view, which never got old! Then we decided to tackle getting to the Gap of Dunloe. We got directions and headed off, with the warning that it wasn't going to be easy. We'd already had some rough roads that day, so we laughed it off once we were on our own. We were mistaken. At first, it started out nice, but then the road began to steadily ascend at a not-so-comfortable rate. After miles of up-hill biking, we took a break near a castle. After discovering that sheep do not like taking pictures with tourists, we went on and reached the Lady's View, an absolutely glorious view of Lough Leane (Lower Lake). We also found out that we first had to get past Moll's Gap before we reached the Gap of Dunloe. That couldn't be too far away, right? Oh, yes it could. After more uphill biking, we finally hit Moll's Gap (yay!!) and proceeded on to the Gap of Dunloe, which turned out to be a lot farther away than expected, but there was some absolutely fantastic downhill coasting before that. Followed by more hills. I began to enviously look at people driving past us, some with passengers who relaxing and eating or reading, completely ignorant of our struggle with this horrible beast of a hill. Then, our moment of triumph, we made it up and through the Gap of Dunloe!! More coasting downhill, enjoying the lack of effort. and, hey, we'll make it back just in time for that last bus back to Limerick! Huzzah! Alas, our efforts were thwarted by an unfortunate flat tire. We ended up walking to Kate Kearney's Cottage and calling a van/cab to bring us back to Killarney, but they wouldn't get us back in time to get back to Limerick. So, we were stuck, but thank God (and I'm not using that phrase lightly), our hostel had space for us and we had a free night anyway. So, here's a shout-out to Paddy's Palace. If you every stay in Killarney, the Aussie twins who run this were very friendly and extremely helpful; I would definitely recommend staying there. And you do automatically get a free night when you make a reservation there. After an epic fail of a day, Rachel and I decided to treat ourselves by going out and buying Chinese and some diet Coke. And that's the story of the Killarney bike ride.

I miss Italy

My resolution was an epic fail apparantly. It has been over a month since my trip to Italy and I have still not even sent out my postcards!! Rather than try to explain the epicness that was Italy, I would trip to post pictures, but unfortunately, this trip was also educational in that I learned that "format your memory card?" means "erase all traces of the best spring break you will ever have?" So the credit for most of the pictures I may or may not post must go to my very dear friend, Rachel. Thank you, friend! Also, there is just way too much; I am not talented enough to put Italy into words. It is a country entirely beyond my verbal or written skills. And since it's the Friday after my ecology final, my brain does not want to function properly, so we'll try something new. Here's a haiku summary of my vacation in Italy:

Ah, Brussels airport
No chocolate, no waffles;
Soduku and sleep

Long hike on the coast
Lemons, oranges, the sea
Steep ascents, sharp drops

Florence! we are lost.
Art, Madonnas, and David
good pasta and wine

Rome, brilliant, awesome
the Forum, Colosseum,
we're leaving so soon?

That's a quick summary. The Cinque Terre was gorgeous; it was hard to believe we were actually there! We stayed at the mar-mar, which was probably the best hostel we stayed at all vacation. The town had a few streets and they all had severe increases in elevation--you could not live there with bad knees. One thing I especially loved, though, was the three grocery stores right outside our house. The town shut down around 8pm, though, but we were usually so tired from hiking or travelling that that didn't really matter. Florence was nice; you definitely have to get up early to visit the Uffizi or the Accademia. One thing that's very disappointing about visiting Rome and Florence is the amount of Catholicism that's visible in their art. I have seen enough Madonnas and saints to last a lifetime. We went to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and while it was beautiful for the initial 10 minutes, the hypocrisy became very apparant. This is religion that pretends to venerate God and Jesus, but everything I have seen was made to honor and glorify man. Sure, there were a few paintings and pictures of Christ. But very often, there were saints or artists' patrons also being presented. I was able to visit a catacomb site, though, and after all the gilded angels and images of popes and saints, assumptions of Mary, and annunciations, the image I would rather carry is that of a fish carved into the wall of the catacombs. Christian worship services had been held there when it was still illegal to be a Christian. I'm not sure how much false doctrine had crept into Christianity at that time, but for now, I choose to think that it was still in line with the Bible. It's still very hard to see how much people exploit the name of God to make money or to push doctrine passing as true and saving. It made me realize how, too, how valuable fellowship with everyone back home at Messiah is.