Glastobury, England

I spent the past few days in Glastonbury, England. It was a fascinating place full of contradictions. It is the rumored dwelling of Arthur, Guenivere and Lancelot as well as the first Christian settlement in the British Isle's. The place is definately spiritual with it's Christian influence but also the ancient Druidic beliefs and worship of the goddess still prevails. Some of the shops tended to a bit creepy with wiccan symbols but most of the place was beautiful! I climbed up the Tor, a geological structure of sandstone that has a Christian structure on top. You could see for miles from the top. I also walked around the Glastonbury Abbey. It was destroyed by King Henry VIII's tirade against the Catholic churches but I actually thought it more exquisite than many of the well kept cathederals. The massive open walls were surrounded by the wildness of nature. It was haunting and beautiful. I also went to the Garden of the Chalice Well. Legend has it that Joseph of Arimithea brought the cup or chalice that caught Jesus' blood and sweat from his crucifixion (aka the holy grail) and burried it in this garden. The water flows red, now know to be from the amount of iron in the soil, not from Christ's blood but it is still a place for pilgrim's to come. The garden was so peaceful and beautiful. The well had been adorned with garlends of fresh lillies, daffoldils, roses & ivy. There were signs in certain places to refrain from speaking because they were place of reflection. I loved the place.

Tomorrow I am off for Edinburgh. :)

Dingle, Ireland

After I left Cashel I went on to Dingle, Ireland. It's on the west coast and one of my favorite places I've traveled to. A huge part of the experience was owed to the B&B I stayed at. The owners were wonderful. They picked me up from the bus station, gave me maps and advice of the area and hooked me up with another couple that were staying there to go on a taxi tour with a great old character. The couple I met, Michael and Laura were from Santa Barbara and so nice. I ended up hanging out with them for most of the time I was in Dingle. It's funny how you start to observe manerisms and accents. My guess from their first, 'hello' was that they were from the West Coast. My kind of people. We went to some great pubs walked all around the town. On the tour we got a history lesson of the area as well as a little filmogrophy. Far and Away was filmed there much to the chagrin of the townfolks. They thought Tom Cruise's accent was horrible and couldn't figure out where his phrase, 'You're a corker Shannon,' came from for it certaintly wasn't Irish. But aparently a movie called Ryan's Daughter was filmed there in the 60's or 7o's and it's a big deal in the town. The wind on the cliffs was incredible, I could see how you could literally get blown off into the sea. The Spanish Armada was dashed to bits there in a storm. One of the things I love about most of Europe is that they don't block everything off with railings. If you are stupid enough to go next to a cliff and fall off, well you should have used a bit of common sense. It seems much more practical and doesn't obstruct the scenery. I was sad to leave Dingle and would go back in a heartbeat!

In Ireland

Hello all! I know, I've been bad about doing my blog but things tend to go a little crazy when traveling. Sorry! Anyway, I am in a little town called Dingle on the west coast of Ireland and it is beautiful and charming. I traveled from Dublin to a small town called Cashel for the night and than onto Dingle yesterday. Ireland is gorgeous! It looks like the postcards and films with green, green hills and quaint bordered hedges. Mixed among the sheep and cows are their little lambs and calves grazing on the fields.

I've had a nice blend so far of the calm countryside and the crazy fun of the city. Dublin during St. Patrick's Day was so, so great! The whole town got decked out in green & gold and everyone was in a boisterous mood. I met up with my friends Heidi & Mark & a few other people from Napoli and spent several days together in Dublin. Sunday was funny in it's variety but seemed very Irish. We went to church at St. Patrick's Cathederal and on the way there, right in front of the church we saw a girl dressed up in a sparkly silver skirt & high heels obviously doing the walk of shame home. The service was extremely beautiful and I felt very lucky to be able to spend Palm Sunday in a place that people have worshiped at for 1,000 years. After church we walked over to the Guiness factory and took the tour. The views from the top of the factory are wonderful and you can see all over the city. That evening we went on a literary pub crawl with two funny actors taking us around to the haunts of Dublin's author's. I'm glad I've come over here and most of it has been extremely enjoyable. The other day was frustrating because I left my guidebook in the internet cafe and when I came back a half an hour later, the clerk said he gave it away to an older couple. Thanks. Nowhere had Rick Steve's book so I ended up having to buy a lonely planet one instead. Ah well, what can you do? :) I'm going to walk a bit after this around the town and countryside. Cheers!

The past two days have been calm & unhurried. I spent most of my time in Heidi & Mark's apartment reading, writing and listening to music. As you can see from the pictures of their interior & sunset view, it is a beautiful place to do those things.

I have been thinking about perception quite a bit since I have been in Europe. The other night when I was in Firenze, I was sitting on my bed journaling and I looked out onto the facade of the Baptistry. The entire building is shrouded in green, white and rose colored marble. It is a beautiful structure. But the walls are also stained with ugly, sooty streaks coursing from the arches and window frames.

What is it I see when I look at it?

Do I see an exquisite creation? or do I see a dirty, old facade?

How do I choose to see?

Bella Italia

Ciao everyone,

Well this is my first blog entry (blog created courtesty of my awesome brother!) and so far it's purpose is to share a bit of my travels for any of you who want to follow along. So far it has been wonderful to be able to get away from the familiar in light of everything that has happened in the past month and a half. My friends Heidi & Mark have been amazing to me, opening up their home and lives to anything I want and need. I've had time to see and explore so many beautiful sites, but I have also had time to read and reflect as I try and figure out what life looks like now. I still face time in increments of days, not weeks or months...and I can handle a day. I am blessed to be able to come here, to this place, with these people while I am musing through all of this. Italy has such vivacity- ancient beauty, crazy drivers, "caio bella"'s called out, delicious food and wine, ugly graffiti, ultramarine sea, angry honking. I love it.

The first weekend I was here we went to Capri and it was everything you would imagine it to be. The other pictures are from my week in Napoli, our weekend in Tuscana and the last few days I had in Firenze by myself (the view of the Duomo is from my little hotel window-great view huh?). The pictures from the museums are mostly from the Archaeological Museum. I love it, they let you take pictures of almost anything as long as you don't have the flash on. Unfortunately some of my favorite pictures from Toscana can't be found on my memory card but I'm hoping I'll be able to recover them. Also, the one of the door looking out onto the balcony is literally the view from my bed at Heidi and Mark's flat. I hope you enjoy these! I miss you all.

Erin's first Europe blog

Hi Erin,

I created this blog for you to post journal entries, pics or whatever from your trip to share with your friends and family. It is really easy and fast to post on this site so don't be worried about this being to time consuming, I know you'd rather be out enjoying the EU. :)

Anyways, I just made this just in case you wanted to use it!!

-Bryan

P.S. Just delete this entry when you make your first entry. And as always email or call me if you need any help or have any questions!