Dingle

I am in Dingle now, a small town on the west coast of Ireland, and I am in love with this place. It is my favorite location so far on our trip because it has a beautiful landscape, a quaint homey feeling, and although it is very small, it has a thriving music scene. I have gone out the past two nights to listen to traditional Irish music which has been great fun. The first night here I hit up a pub called "The Small Bridge" with some friends and listened to a lively twosome who played fast, upbeat tunes on the penny whistle, guitar & fiddle. Last night I went to a different location and heard a more mello set of sentimental, romantic love songs. (Dad- I am continually surprised by how much of the music is familiar to me. I think the entire population has you "Celtic Tides" CD memorized...) In contrast with the bar scene in America, the pubs here really are the center for social life in Ireland. Music, town gossip, dancing, and storytelling are all snuggly crammed into the local tavern, or rather one of the many pubs on the same street. Pubs are like coffee shops in Seattle: they are everywhere. Dingle has a population of about 1500 and has 52 pubs. And going to out to your favorite pub can be a multi-generational experience as well; old men, women, and even children file in an out of your local pub to hear music and chat over a pint of Guinness.

Yesterday we went on a bus tour around the peninnsula and explored a museum about the Blasket Islands, which focused mostly on the writers and literary history that came out of remote island villages. Peig Sayers, for example, a well known storyteller, represents part of the Blasket tradition.
The coastline was beautiful. The hills were bare, save innumerable colonies of sheep and baby lambs, and dropped off to the sea in a very dramatic way which reminded me of the rocky and windbeaten cliffs of Big Sur. We walked along the cliffs, considered to be the western most point of Europe, and climbed out on the rocks to gaze at the Atlantic. It was enlivening to feel the wind against my skin and to sit in the crevices of the rock, listening to the thunder of the waves smash against the coastline.
Today I am sticking closer to home (we are staying in a hostel) to bunker down with my books and tea (I do have to do homework you know!) but am planning on hiking around the next two days we are here because the wildness of this place keeps calling me outdoors. All for now.