Last day in Limerick

The interplay of light and clouds on the distant hills today has been really breathtaking. Also breathtaking, and a little bit stinging, was the hailstorm I got caught in while walking back to my hotel from King John's Castle. When I left, the sun was shining, and not five minutes later I was being pelted mercilessly with ice granules. By the time I got back to the hotel 15 minutes later, the sun was out again and I was soaked. The cold and exercise were invigorating, though, so I'm none the worse for the wear.

This morning, we finished up the conference with some more on-target, well presented, very relevant sessions. LILAC has been one of the best conferences I've attended. I hope I get to trave to more in the future, especially if they're in cool places like Ireland.

This afternoon, I finished up my shopping. I visited Debenham's, an Irish department store, and some other places along the way. I resisted the temptation to purchase every woolen or knitted item within reach. I never did find a yarn shop here, but that's just as well as the last thing I need is more yarn.

In my walk, I ran across St. Mary's Cathedral, the oldest building I have ever set foot in - built in the 1200s. It was, again, another breathtaking place. Photos can't do a building like that justice - the texture of the walls, the stillness of the air, the silence. While it was beautiful, and there was some color shining on the walls from the windows, I couldn't shake the feeling that it was completely and utterly dead. It felt like a tomb, not a church. It was a bit sad. The rest of the places in the city are so vibrant, and this place was like an old shell of something that had long died. I'm very glad I went in; it gave me a sense of what "post-Christian Europe" really feels like.

I'm ready now to go home. It's been a wonderful trip, but I don't want to come back without my family. I'm really glad for the perspective I've gained here, and even for the bit of a reality check for all my romanticizing about Europe. Praying that all the flights go smoothly tomorrow and that Justin and Ellie are waiting at the airport.

Discobrarians

Being wined and dined in a castle is apparently standard treatment at conferences here; it's quite posh. Listening to slightly tipsy librarians giggle uncontrollably at the long-windedness of a British awards ceremony was actually pretty funny.

Dromoland Castle was the the site of our conference dinner last night, and while I was disappointed that I didn't get to wander around in the much older part of the castle, it was still really cool. The first shuttle bus didn't leave back for the hotel until 11PM, and it took that long to get through cocktails, dinner, and the presentations. The disco music was just starting up when I left. Disco in a castle, I know.

Nancy and I presented our paper yesterday morning and it went really well. This conference has been great - so many quality presentations, and lots of fun people. On a side note, it actually snowed here, briefly, two nights ago. Strange for Ireland. It's been raining ever since, and I'm hoping I won't get poured on during my walk over to the conference hotel this morning.

Rain, scones, sausages, and Riverdance

It's been raining all day here, but as a London librarian told me it's good "working weather." It's nice, the moss is greening up everywhere and seems to be waiting patiently for the sun to come out again. The light here has been amazing, peeking in and out of the clouds, absolutely perfect for an HDR photo, which I have no idea how to take, nor could I with my iPhone.

My stomach has not been feeling the best, so I've kept away from the traditional Irish breakfast, though I'm really curious to try the black and white pudding. I did have two simply amazing treats today - a scone with jam and what I thought at first was whipped butter. I couldn't understand why people were spooning it in heaps onto their scones - who wants to eat a solid scoop of butter? Although I recalled my lavishly buttered ham sandwich from Saturday and thought maybe it was just an Irish thing. So, I followed along and put a scoop on each side, only to find out that it was the most delicious cream I have ever tasted - light and airy and just fabulous. Wow. I'm hoping we have more tomorrow. I've also been staying away from the sausages, but I couldn't resist trying a small, particularly crispy-looking one tonight at our reception. Wow. The outside was carmelized and delectable, and the inside was so flavorful it almost didn't even taste like meat. I may have to venture down the sausage route a little farther, if my stomach will let me.

The origin of the sausages was a conference reception tonight at the Limerick College of Art and Design, in a really great old hall. They brought in a small troupe of Irish step dancers to do a show, which was so fun as I've never seen that live. Being an old lady who has to present in the morning, I left early to come back to the hotel despite the pleas of a bloodshot-eyed, suspiciously garrulous Irish conferencer who said he and his buddies been up till 4AM the night before and I'd be missing out on the music. Thanks but no thanks!

A flexible day

Dear rental car company, when your car battery dies twice in two days, you may want to double check your car. Thanks. Needless to say, we didn't get to the Cliffs of Moher today, which was really disappointing, but we did discover a lovely new part of Limerick. Near the bus station was a beautiful park full of daffodils and an art gallery, as well as some lovely older buildings. I wasn't feeling all that well today, but all the extra walking and fresh air helped out. I'm taking it easy in the room tonight while Nancy is out and about. I ordered room service for the first time ever, and am checking out Irish TV, which is, well, pretty bland. Conference starts in earnest tomorrow, so the rest is needed.

A very Irish day

Having a bus barreling at you on the right side of a narrow road and a sheer rock wall on your left is a little disconcerting, to say the least. Although I really did enjoy the Irish countryside driving challenge today. I don't want to count the number of times that Nancy or I hit the windshield wipers instead of the blinker, but it was a lot. Overall, I think these Americans did pretty well and didn't get in any trouble on the road.

Galway was fun today - intense shopping. It's not even full tourist season yet, and the place was mobbed. Reminded me of Mystic in July. Picked up lots of souvenirs, heard random music playing in the streets, and even caught a bagpiper playing the Star Wars theme at one point. I did have an interesting cultural miscommunication moment today, when I thought that the lady making my ham sandwich asked me if I wanted mayo or mustard, or so I thought I heard. I told her mustard, and then watched her go over to a literal tub of butter and slather it on both sides of my ciabbata bread. Mmmm, ham with butter. Good thing my Jewish grandmother wasn't there!

Dinner tonight at the local pub - fantastic, cheap food. I had mussels and fresh veggie bruschetta and Nancy had the freshest fish & chips I've ever tasted. The traditional live Irish music was starting up just as we were leaving, at the early hour of 10PM. And now, as it's apparently Irish daylight savings time and really almost midnight here, I need to get to sleep.

Welcome to the Emerald Isle

So here we are in Ireland, after a very long overnight trip via Lansing, Chicago, and Heathrow airports. Heathrow was pretty insane - we must have walked at least a mile to get through the maze of metal tubes - very gerbil-like - to get to our connection. I've now "been to" London (I think seeing Parliament, London Bridge, the Thames, and that bridge that the dementors snap in Harry Potter from the airplane count) albeit for only about an hour.

Luckily Nancy helped me out by driving from the airport to Limerick, tackling the roundabouts lke a pro. It's my turn to drive today - this should be fun. It's pretty freaky when you see a car coming at you on the right. The Garmin with the irish accent is a nice touch, as it soothingly says "Enter roundabout. Take third exit." We made it here, had a nice lunch and a nap, and walked around town last night. We figured that there was something going on when the traffic started to get congested and hordes of people all wearing red were walking over the bridge. Turns out this is the home of the Munster rugby team, who won in a regular season game. We managed to get back to the hotel before the celebrating started! Figuring it was probably not the night to visit a pub, we ended up at a French restaurant that had really truly amazing food. And the coffee here is fantastic.

Limerick is a really nice-sized small city. I'm looking forward to seeing more of it, as all the old mossy buildings that I see from my hotel window are so cool. We're headed off to Galway this morning to do some shopping and sightseeing. I'm thinking about a nice tweed cap and walking stick for Justin to match his windpants. :-)