From Ireland to Wales and England

We spent yesterday wandering about the crooked streets of Dublin. I was rather impressed by the public transit system and the wide pedestrian thouroughfares. However, it is amazing to me that such a large modern cities streets are not clearly marked however it does not matter really where you go in the city you will find a steady mix of pubs and churches which seem to dominate the place. Luck be with you if you want to find anything specific though. The architechture of the city is a patchwork of building styles and historial eras from the 11th Century up to the most modern inovative design.
We were able to secure tickets for a Literary Pub Crawl which took us to some of the favorite watering holes of the Irish literary giants. The guides acted out some scenes from various works and gave us some local history. My suspision is that for most in the group the drinking rather than the literary commentary was the focus of the night.
Today we began by climbling abord an Irish ferry bound for Wales which from much that I have read is the location where some of my European heritage comes from (Hall, Ward). Being completely exausted from the harried pace of the trip most of my fellow passengers passed out on the 3 hour ferry trip. I hope to catch up on some much needed rest tonight to prevent London and Paris from being a blur in my memory.

Update:
Wales was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. The mountains of Snowdonia rival almost anything I saw in Ireland and remind me of pictures that I have seen of the Rocky mountains. No wonder it is told that King Arthur is buried at the top it would be a most proper place for such a valiant and noble figure. We stopped in a small town just outside of castle build by King Edward I. The town and the people seemed very kind and familiar I could see my lineage originating out of this place. We stopped in at a small local foods cafe and had a delicious sandwich. Apparently Welsh food does not fall into the same category as other British food.

We did go on the search for the English geocache. We picked up a few other searchers grabbed the flashlight and headed into the woods on a walking path. After a few turns into the woods and off the beaten path we found the metal ammo canister covered in bark no more than 15 ft from the paved trail. This will make the first of hopefully many international geocache finds.

Tomorrow we head into London and it should be non-stop until we leave Paris on the 4th of July.

From Killarney to Dublin

We have had a good craic these past few days in Ireland. There is so much to describe, the history, scenery and people are just phenomenal. We landed in Shannon on Friday and went directly to Killarney where we spent two nights.


While there we visited a few pubs and traveled round the Ring of Kerry, and visited the bog museum. Today we drove through some small towns on our way to Dublin.

There was a dramatic change in landscape from the hills, abandoned cottages, and the sea to the urban expanse that is Dublin. Dublin with its winding streets and relaxed nature seems to echo the feeling you get from this small village agricultural nation.

Pictured above is Sweet Molly Malone as she sells her mussels alive alive o' on the streets of Dublin.

The Game is Afoot and Afield

In the morrow we shall fly into the land of Éire. My crippled suitcase borrowed from my father is packed tight with a mixture of early spring and midsummer wear. It is amazing to me just to conceive that you can be on one side of the globe one night tucked into a hole in the side of the mountains and the next day you can be on the other side in diverse surroundings. I don't know how I will contain myself for 10 hours on a plane. Typically I am a worm in hot ashes. After perusing my bookshelf for a time I determined that Sherlock Holmes would be the best book to accompany me on this journey. Till the morrow.

Cheers!

Ireland, England, Wales, and France

The whirlwind journey to Europe begins in ~9 days. I will be gone for 11 days and view the cities of Dublin, London and Paris. This is my first time crossing the Atlantic and the first time that I will venture outside of the Americas. Up to this point my world view has been rather restricted. I am certain that this first small taste of Europe will not be enough. For all of my friends and family following I will make an honest attempt at keeping this blog while on my trip. However, time constraints, the frustration of trying to find a Wifi connection, and shear exhaustion may prevent me from actually blogging while in Europe. Time to throw caution to the wind and go somewhere I never dreamed I would go.

Flooding and Ice Dams in the New River

It has rained close to an inch here in Grayson County over the past 24+ hours. As a result of both the rain and the recent prolonged period of cold temperatures we have had an unusual flooding event. The recent rains have caused a 6-8 inch ice pack to break up on the New River. This ice began to build up in the bends of the river causing ice dams. As the rain continued the ice dams burst spreading large pieces of ice onto the flood plain. As of 3:00 the ice and flood waters were continuing to build up along the Carrico Bridge (built in ~1936). I will post on the outcome as soon as I hear further information.

The ice and flood water continued to build.

An iceburg in the New River? My best guess is this is what remains of an ice dam which broke sometime today.

My Appalachia

The purpose of this blog is to chronicle my experiences and discoveries in Appalachia as I constantly compile information for a book on Appalachian Self-sustainability and culture.
As a product and a resident of Appalachia I am constantly trying to determine my origins, what makes up Appalachian culture and its origins, where and who are the Appalachian people, what stories should be retold, what do the mountains and the mountain culture have to contribute to the global society, and what sort of future is in store for this region. The exploration of Appalachia and analysis of my region will take me into almost every academic discipline, into every hollow, and cause me to cross paths with some very interesting people. The final goal is to produce a book which give a taste of what it is to be Appalachian and some of the basic knowlege that can be applied to create a sustainable Appalachia.
My hope are that this blog may firstly be entertaining and informative to my family, friends and colleages and secondly that it might afford me an opportuntiy to gain some much needed feedback on my work in progress. Please feel free to comment and if you have any information, resources, or ideas that might assist me in my endevor I would greatly appriciate it.