There Are Beaches in Ireland

The smooth, whipped breeze of salty air embraced my senses as I walked around Kinsale, Ireland yesterday afternoon. Kinsale is a small merchant marine town on the Southwest coast, only one hour's bus ride from Cork City. It's a nice break from urban life and all of the stone, conrete, and bricks found in the city centre. The greenery surrounding this town was lush, and definitely rolling; it was packed with summer travelers, but all I could feel was the enormity of the Irish landscape, in its farming, its sea, and its grass-inhabited foothills.

Apparently I came just in time for an Irish summer I never knew existed. As the taxi driver explained as he drove me to Farranlea that first afternoon, the past summer has been anything but; it's been cold and rainy instead of the Ireland I have experienced over the past week. The weather has been quite warm, upwards of 65 degrees Farhenheit on the better days, but no cooler than 50 in the lower temperatures of the evening. The sun has been out most of the past week, with the exception of some cloudy, misty mornings and sometimes late afternoons.

I never expected such wonderful weather, especially considering all of the warnings about rain. Of course, I don't know what I'm going to do when it rains except look at all of the nice, sunny pictures from my time in Kinsale and along the River Lee in the past week.

What has surprised me even more than the weather is that there are, in fact, sandy beaches in Ireland. Maybe I'm crazy, but I always thought of the Irish coasts, especially in the South as though they were lined with towering cliffs that loomed like doom over the Atlantic. I had no doubt about the beauty of the coast, but I surely wasn't expecting a plush, sandy beach covered in people tanning, families swimming, and football (soccer) games.

It was quite rewarding to find after the 30 minute walk from the main road in Kinsale, and it was even more wonderful to sit on the edge of the not-so-towering, dooming cliffside above the beach. I enjoyed nearly an hour just sitting in the long, cushy grass with some of my new friends from Virginia, overlooking the breezy, salty bay in the sun. I even walked down onto the cliffside, mostly smoothed out by water erosion and just simple nature...probably for centuries.

Yesterday, in all its wonderful weather and breathtaking scenery, was beautiful. There's no other flowery way to say it...it was simply beautiful. And, it was only one little town, one little piece of the Southwest coast. I can't wait to see more of the coast over the next month and more of this incredible country.

I started my Early Start Literature course this morning, and we are going on a Curator's tour of Cork's most popular cultural establishment: the Crawford Art Gallery. We will then be enjoying an early dinner near Paul Street (where there is also a Fair Trade Store). I'm leaving with friends soon to explore a bit more of the area before meeting up with the class. I'm already excited for this, and even more for next week's trip to the Aran Islands.

In the meantime, I've learned some interesting tidbits about Irish politics and events, including attitudes about the Iraq war. Apparently, Ireland is a neutral country when it comes to the war, but the people have become more Anti-war in the past year or so, especially in the Southwest. I heard a very interesting story from the bartender at The Thisty Scholar that I'm looking into, and will report back on soon:-)

Otherwise, I'm off to the Crawford!

~MJ

Pictures are from Kinsale, where I visited with Allison and Elizabeth (who go to school in Roanoke, VA); below are some pictures from my walk along the River Lee on Saturday (25 August) afternoon.