Calling all world travelers! Would you like to guest post?

It’s been a while since I’ve added to my Wandering Bard series, and I miss talking about traveling. It’s one of my passions, and I’ve learned so much from all of the places I’ve visited.

But I’ve only been to handful of countries outside of the United States, and I’ve already shown you some of my best pictures and told you some of my best stories. There’s certainly more where they came from, don’t worry, but variety is the spice of life, right?

Right.

So, I’m offering you a chance to tell me about your experiences. The rules are pretty simple: It must be somewhere you have not been before. That can mean the United States if you’re from the U.K. or Russia if you’re from Brazil. It can also mean California if you’re from New York. The point of this series was to educate people of other cultures and share what I’ve learned in my travels, even if I didn’t go far from home. I learned about a whole group of women called the Hons when I visited Maryland, even though that’s a fairly short trip for me.

The posts I write are usually between 500 and 1,000 words. You must provide YOUR OWN pictures. Preferably, it’d be nice if you chose one aspect of that country or place to talk about (ie. my first post was about La Pieta when I visited Italy). Not only will the subject matter be more manageable, but it means you can keep coming back.

If you’re interested (and I hope you are!), please e-mail me at Roughtkm15 at hotmail dot com, with the subject line “Wandering Bard Guest Post.” We’ll get all the details ironed out then. You also don’t have to have a post done when you e-mail me, so don’t feel pressured! I’d like to get a feel for the demand and who exactly is interested so I can keep tabs.

If you want to see my previous posts, visit my Wandering Bard category.

Looking forward to hearing from you guys!

P.S. I’d certainly be up for a post swap if that’s the case. Just mention that in your e-mail!

Wandering Bard: Delphic Ruins (Greece)

Ah, it’s been a while since we traveled anywhere, hasn’t it? Well, you’re in luck! This week we’re heading back to Greece and sometime very soon we’re heading somewhere even more interesting and new! In fact, even I haven’t been there! More on that later.

Last time we were in Greece, we hit up the Acropolis. This time we’re at the Delphic ruins – my second favorite place after Athens.

This is the archaeological site at Delphi where the Delphic oracle once lived. The oracle was a priestess at the temple of Apollo and was famous for reciting prophecies handed to her by the god himself. She was the most prestigious and well documented oracle in Greece, and a whole host of authors and famous historians have documented their meetings with her.

The mountains around this area surround it like a fortress.

The most prominent attraction in the navel. The story goes that Zeus took a rock and threw it, saying wherever it landed would be the center of the universe. It, of course, landed right here in Delphi! People would touch it and get a boost of energy and power.

The above rock is actually just a copy, but the real one is in the museum just off-site. You can see it below:

Here’s a temple to Apollo.

This wall was like a newspaper. There’s Greek written all over it and people would go to it to get their news!

Here’s an ampitheatre.

And cuties like this were everywhere!

What question would you ask the oracle if she deemed you worthy enough to see her?

Mushroom Foray #3: Can I get a bigger basket?

You may remember that my last mushroom foray was a little bit of a disappointment. It’s not that it wasn’t fun, just that we didn’t find too many mushrooms. The year had been dry up to that point, and that doesn’t bode well for fungi-obsessed folk.

But this foray was incredible. We found so many mushrooms, it filled two entire tables. And they weren’t small tables. I love searching for mushrooms because it’s like a treasure hunt for me. How many can I find? How many types can I fit into my basket? There’s always a little spike of excitement every time I see something I’ve never seen before.

And this foray was filled with tons of those moments!

I started the trip off right away with this beauty:

No idea what they are, but the tree was just covered in mushrooms. It was too neat not to take a picture of it.

You know what else we discovered right away? A beehive in the ground. That got our blood pumping early in the morning! It’s a good thing I can run faster than most of the other people in our group.

One of my favorite finds was this cool purple mushroom. (Disclaimer: This time around we found so many mushrooms that I can’t even begin to tell you what most of them were. About 99.9% of them were inedible anyway.)

We also found tons of Russula’s. This one is a very nice specimen (don’t I sound smart!) because it was still quite young, very vibrant, and hadn’t already been partially eaten.

About the time I found this one, one of the guys from our trip showed me another mushroom. It was white and he cut it open, then told me to touch the tip of my finger to it and taste the liquid that came out of it. At first nothing happened, but a few minutes later my tongue started burning just a little bit. It tasted a bit like pepper and was just a tad spicy. That stayed with me for a good half hour at least. It was kind of neat!

It’s a wee bit blurry, but this one is called Old Man of the Woods. This is a young one, which is quite light still.

Here’s a picture of an older one that’s a bit darker.

I liked these because they were really soft and fuzzy!

We also found whole patches of Crown Coral mushrooms.

And here’s just a neat picture of two different colors of the same (?) mushroom.

Here’s a nice picture of the gills of a mushroom:

And these are some GIGANTIC puffballs. I’ve never seen them this big before! Some varieties of puffballs you can eat, but not these ones.

These are chanterelles, which is what we were really after. I didn’t find any (bummer!) but we got a nice handful here. No tasting-testing this time though, because I had to leave early.

I also found this crazy mushroom on a tree. No one was really sure what it was, but it was HUGE!

And Dad found these itty-bitty guys. Aren’t they cute?

One of the guys in our group found this thing. No, you’re not seeing some strange new mutation of mushroom. That’s a skull. I think it fell out, but the reason why he picked it up was because a mushroom was growing inside of it! Anyone have any idea what it could be from? They thought it was a raccoon at first, but if you look along the bottom portion, it actually has a tusk!

Wasn’t that just loads better than the last foray? I walked away feeling proud and satisfied by how much I found. And considering there were about 20 people in our group, we came backs with TONS of mushrooms. Check out these tables:

I didn’t get a picture of it, but the best part was when the president of the mycological society showed us a “blue staining mushroom.” It’s whitish-yellow on the inside for just a split second when you cut it open, but then it turns blue! I’m not even joking!! You can see it in real time in a video on YouTube right here.

Now tell me that’s not about the coolest thing you’ve ever seen?

So, what do you think? Quite the haul, right? Which one did you like best? Have you seen any of these varieties before?

The New York State Fair

Well, I didn’t get a blog post up yesterday. You’ll just have to forgive me for that one. It’s actually a good thing though – on the one hand, I’ve been very, very busy. Good busy. And on the other hand, I let myself off the hook, put my phone away for a good chunk of the evening, and just relaxed. I’d almost forgotten what it feels like.

So, no blog post yesterday. But you get one today! Here’s a short post on my time at the New York State Fair.

I went to the state fair a lot when I was younger, usually with my dad. The highlights were always the same three things: the Native American village, the butter sculpture, and the food. (Not necessarily in that order.)

As of late, however, it hasn’t held the same charm for me. I just don’t like crowds, especially in the heat, and the fair is smack dab in the middle of August. And with all those rides and stands? Yeah, you’re going to draw a crowd.

I didn’t go last year because there really was nothing there to draw me in. It probably would’ve been fun, for a little while, but it’s a two hour round trip and it’s just not worth it if you’re not going to be that into it.

But this year Karmin was going to be there. Yeah, yeah. I know. I talk about them a lot. I’ll save you the pain and offer up one SINGLE picture:

Unfortunately I was really, really far away this time because it was so hot out and we wanted to stay in the shade!

(By the way, they were great even the second time around. My mom said they were “better than excellent,” so you know it’s not just me being biased!)

So that’s what made me want to go, but I was surprised by how much kept me there. The stands were great this year. First we had this one:

This guy had just about every old-time movie or TV show you could think of. Mom was ogling the Jerry Lewis DVDs like they were made of gold (and you can’t find most of this stuff anywhere – in stores OR online – so they might as well be). I offered to split the cost with her as part of an early birthday present. She was THRILLED.

There were tons of jewelry stands as well. Usually I don’t pay them much attention, but I got two pendants made of glass that had flowers inside of them. They’re gorgeous. I have NO idea what I’m going to wear them with, but who actually thinks about such trivial things like that when they’re shopping??

And they had something that got the nerd inside of me jumping for joy. Posters and souvenirs for just about any movie or TV show you wanted. I picked up the poster below – it was the first one that I actually liked from The Hunger Games. The combination of the different stills and the matting really drew me in.

I saw some Doctor Who posters and almost passed out, but none of them were perfect so I didn’t settle! I also picked up an early Christmas present for my BFF, but just on the off chance she reads this (which is about slim to none, haha) I’m not saying what it is.

Next up was the sand sculpture, which had an Olympic design. This thing was massive!

And then there was the cream of the crop – the REAL reason why I go to the state fair every year. (And no, that’s not sarcasm.) The butter sculpture!!!! *fanfare*

Isn’t that just about the coolest thing in the world? Every year they have a different one. This was actually one of the least exciting ones I’ve seen (but it was still awesome!). Sometimes they get really intricate and detailed.

After that I had to have some gelato. It was so good. It brought me straight back to when I first had it in Italy. Yum.

That’s wildberry on top of chocolate. Crazy!

Next, we went to this candy stand. They literally had a maze of boxes filled with old-time candy. You took a basket and mixed and matched them all. Mom and I ended up going a little overboard and spent way too much money. But it was so fun! I tried Zotz candies for the first time and I think I’m addicted now…

And what would the NYSF be without the animals? Mom got to see a cow up close and personal for the first time. (THE FIRST TIME, PEOPLE!!) We also saw ducks, chickens, geese, turkeys, a peacock, bunnies, and SO much more. Check them out below:

Not sure how I feel about this, but they were beautiful. Remember those chicks I took pictures of in Morocco? I guess this would be what they’d look like once they grew up a little bit.

These ones were weird! They’d puff their chest out so much you could barely see their heads. And then their tails fanned out like that all the time too.

Look at all that hair!

So, last week I talked about the Renaissance Festival and this week I brought you a state fair. What festivals do you attend each year? What’s your state fair like? Do you have anything there that can ONLY be found in your state?

How to travel back in time (A.K.A. I went to a Renaissance Festival)

Two years ago I went to my local Renaissance Festival for the first time. It was quite an experience. I didn’t realize how immersive and truly amazing it would be. It was one of the highlights of that summer and I knew I had to eventually go back.

I didn’t get a chance to go last year, so I made it a top priority this year. It’s a couple of hours away and it’s a little pricey to get into, but it’s absolutely worth it. No other festival or fair I’ve ever been to comes close to the time and effort these people put into a presentation like this.

Let me walk you through it, using pictures from both 2010 and 2012.

There are essentially three highlights to the Ren Fest, the first of which is the immersive quality. Right off the bat you’ll notice signs like this:

(2010)

And objects like this:

(2010)

These things are everywhere. Even signs for napkins said something like, “sleeve alternative for the gluttonous.” Everything looks like it came straight out of the Renaissance, with the various wooden objects supported by pullies and brute strength. Even the rides are built in this way.

(2010)

And that’s not to mention all the stands! Jewelry, clothes, accessories, food, herbs – you name it, they have it. Not only do they have it, but they’ve put a Renaissance spin on it. Jewelry is made of chain mail. Purses are leather or suede. Clothing is all in the style that was fashionable in the 1500s.

Don’t laugh. I’m sure this was all the rage back then. (2012)

And what would a festival be without the food? (Dad and I pretty much go to these things just to eat.) I can’t go to the Ren Fest and NOT eat one of these:

The vendors ask you, “Wouldst thou like that saucy or naked?” The look on my dad’s face when he was first asked that was hysterical! (2012)

Yep, that’s 1 lb turkey leg. I might not be able to eat the whole thing myself, but that doesn’t stop me from trying! It’s so worth it.

And while they do have things like Mountain Dew and plastic spoons for your ice cream, you can pretty much guarantee everything is going to feel like you just hopped in the TARDIS and landed in the Middle Ages.

The second highlight for me comes in the shape of the actors. This sort of falls in line with the immersive quality, but I feel like they go above and beyond every year.

I mentioned that the festival is a little expensive to get into, but I also think it’s completely worth it. The entire place is like one big show. Everyone speaks with English or Spanish accents and they never, ever break character. Sometimes they even perform little skits right in the middle of a road or outside a shop. Two years ago, someone came whizzing by us, holding a bag of money in one hand. A few seconds later came his pursuer – a man with a very, very large axe! It was 30 seconds worth of entertainment, but it was really funny.

If I remember correctly, the guy on the right told the man in the middle (who was just an attendee) to direct the girl on the left as if she were fighting off invisible monsters. It was pretty hilarious. (2010)

They even have camel rides:

(2010)

And a stockade where people can throw tomatoes at ruffians!

This guy was brutal! But it was really fun to watch and everyone cheered whenever he got pegged in the face. (2012)

Each year at noon, the Queen and her entourage make their way down the main road:

(2010)

The third (and best) highlight of the Renaissance Festival is the shows. They have several of them, all throughout the day, all over the village. They’re all free to get into (another reason why that entrance fee is worth it) and they have some really, really spectacular performers.

The main attraction is usually the jousting. It’s full-on contact, and they wear real armor and everything. A whole crowd gathers and you can cheer for your champion and boo for the opposing side. Here are some pictures:

Two years ago they had some prince watching the show. This year, they had the Queen (who looked much more believable than the one pictured above from a few years ago). (2010)

Dad and I happened to pick the right side in 2010 – we got Sir Orion, who ended up being the champion! (2010)

This was the bad guy, sir William. (2010)

And this guy was the moderator of the joust. Look at that sweet mustache! (2010)

He had to put the knights in their places on more than one occasion. (2010)

This year things got switched up. Our Sir Orion from 2010 became the moderator (I miss the guy with the ‘stache!) and a new knight (still dubbed Orion) took his place. There was even a third knight that illegally entered the dual! (2012)

We were on the bad guy’s side this time (and it felt so good). He ended up losing, but it was fun while it lasted! (2012)

Another show that I’d highly recommend (because these guys travel all over the place, so they might come somewhere near you!), is Don Juan and Miguel’s. These guys are right up there with my all-time favorite comedian Gabriel Iglesias.

Don Juan is on the left, and that funny looking guy on the right in Miguel. (2010)

Two years ago I just sawthe end of one of their last shows (I found out this year it was “The Weird Show,” which is probably the best one). They played with whips and swords and it was dangerous and hilarious. Plus they have cool Spanish accents. You really can’t get much better than that.

When they work with swords, they usually use the sabre – and they’re real! They also do tricks with whips, which is a lot more dangerous and a lot more exciting! (2010)

“Just keep squeezing until something happens.” (2010)

This year I pretty much went to the Ren Fest in order to see them again. We can to see their show called “The Renaissance Man,” which wasn’t nearly as funny as the one I saw before, but was still great!

The shows star Don Juan and his sidekick Miguel, plus Don Juan’s daughter Esmeralda. My dad asked her if she was new because we didn’t see her two years ago. She said she wasn’t and that she had been doing this for 18 years (Wow! She couldn’t have been much older than me!). Come to find out, she’s only ever missed one show…and it was two years ago! She was just as talented with the whip (sometimes even more so!) than her dad.

Did I buy a shirt? Is that even a question? (2012)

But the absolute best part of the whole Ren Fest was when I actually got to take a picture with these guys. They were great!!!

(2012)

This place is definitely inspiring as far as writing goes. I wanted to head home and begin working on some novel set in the Middle Ages. This would be a great place to do some light research and really get the feel of the Renaissance.

Have you ever been to one of these before? What’s your favorite part?

Treasures from Around the World

Wednesdays are usually reserved for art, but today I’m going to stretch that definition just a little bit. I want to show you guys some of the cool things I’ve picked up from my travels over the years.

Now, I’ve been known to keep everything from my receipts for chocolate (because I can’t go to a new country and not try their chocolate) to my tags for luggage. But these souvenirs are more beautiful, and all picked out to represent the country I was in.

First up is a gorgeous plate from Morocco. It’s all hand-hammered metal, inlaid with different colors. It was so hard to pick out just one because they had a million of them! I love the colors in this one though, and it was the perfect size. I gave it to my Mom.

This vase on the left is from France. Normandy, to be specific. They had these things all over the place. They’re handmade and so beautiful! On the right is a mini Eiffel Tower. Both were also gifts for my mom. (Although she was a little put off when she saw the size of the Eiffel Tower that I got myself, haha.)

My mom loves the ocean and the beach, so naturally she’d collect sand. These are from my various trips. Sometimes, when I’m lucky, I can find a bottle with the name of the country on it too.

Here’s my Eiffel Tower. Mom’s is about 2” tall. Mine is about a foot tall. She was a little jealous, haha.

I actually didn’t pick this up on one of my trips, but it did come from another country! My friend from Argentina gave it to me. It’s used to hold mate, a type of tea. (I tried the tea. It was really gross.)

These came from Greece. They’re two of my favorite goddesses – Artemis and Aphrodite. I wanted a whole set of them, but that would’ve been waaaay expensive.

Yes, yes that is a chocolate frog box in the background…

Here’s another gift I’ve received. This is a keychain/cell phone charm from Korea I got as a present from a friend who went there for a Karate tournament.

These are also from Morocco. We went into a giant store full of awesome mosaics and neat pieces like this. I know they’re miniatures of some traditional dishes in Moroccan culture, but I can’t remember exactly what they were for.

This one is from France. I love the original painting, and it seemed only fitting to get this neat clock! Only…it’s really, really loud. So it stays in our basement.

Lastly, this is a beautiful fan I brought home for my mom. It’s from Seville, Spain. These are the big thing over there and I have a weird affinity for fans anyway, so I had to get one! They’re hand painted and made of wood and cloth.

What kinds of things have you picked up from your travels? What is the one thing you would have to pick up if you got a chance to go to your dream country?

Wandering Bard: Italy (Pompeii)

Pompeii was one of the most incredible and surreal places I’ve been to. Not to mention one of the strangest.

Just in case you’re unaware (or have forgotten your high school history class – and there’s no shame in that), Pompeii is a city located in Italy. More specifically, it’s a city located at the base of Mount Vesuvius. That name should sound familiar.

Mount Vesuvius is the volcano that blew its top in 79 A.D. and literally buried both the town of Pompeii, and its cousin Herculaneum. The stones, ash, and lava flows killed roughly 16,000 people and hid these towns for hundreds of years.

Here’s the unassuming entrance:

But, little do you know the secrets hidden within this quaint little town.

First, there’s the sacrificial alters (for animals only):

The dog, it seems, is a brave fellow.

Then there are the bodies. The picture below is a just a cast, but you can see (in horrifying and realistic clarity) how so many of these people died. This particular person was huddled in the corner, unable to escape the hot has that descended upon the town.

Then there’s this lovely shot that I took:

It doesn’t seem like much, but I guarantee it was also deadly. The caption I put on Facebook for this photograph seems to sum it up pretty nicely:

“The Pompeiins were very smart and ingenious people…except for two things: They lived at the foot of a volcano…and they used lead pipes.”

But the biggest (and dirtiest) secret of all is put right out in the open. If you know what you’re looking for, you should have no problem discovering it. (Why do I have a feeling Natalie/Natalie’s husband is going to love this part?)

If you’re new in town and don’t know where to go, there are clues all over the place to point you in the right direction:

(And, yes, that’s exactly what it looks like.)

Then there’s the sign:

This is a sign warning of a Lupanare. That’s the Italian term. You might be more familiar with the word “brothel.” It was referred to as a Lupanare (the base of that word being “lupus,” which is Latin for “wolf”) because the women used to howl to get the attention of their customers.

Then there’s this beauty:

Imagine doing the deed on that thing.

Not sure what you want? Don’t worry. They had a menu:

The vendors outside the walls of Pompeii sold all sorts of trinkets that probably are not appropriate to bring home to the kids. Nonetheless, they were pretty funny.

And although it completely shocked me when I realized some of the places that were within the walls of Pompeii, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. History happened here. A tragic history, yes, but one that you can feel in your bones when you’re there. It was an amazing experience.

Enter a totally embarrassing five year old picture of me standing in front of Mount Vesuvius (in one of the nerdiest shirts I owned at the time, no less).

Ever been to Pompeii? Ever seen a place as explicit as this one? What’s the nerdiest shirt you own? (I’ve stepped up my nerd-game recently. Now my nerdiest one is definitely the Doctor Who shirt I ordered just the other day…)

Wandering Bard: Spain (Córdoba)

Back in May, I did a post on La Alhambra, a group of palaces built by the Moorish people in Granada, Spain back in the mid to late 1300s. My awesome blogging buddy Julie Glover left me a very excited comment – I had mentioned Córdoba, she said. Apparently, her aunt was from there and Julie would love to visit some time.

Your wish is my command!

Here’s something to gaze at while I give you a little history lesson. Córdoba is a city in southern Spain and was – at one point in time – one of the largest cities in the world in terms of its population. Having been under Islamic rule for quite a while, it was only in the mid 1200s that it came under Spanish/Christian rule.

Shortly after, new churches were built within the city. However, some mosques were actually converted into churches, such as the one that goes to this bell tower.

This is called the Great Mosque of Córdoba, and it actually has a more interesting history than that. It was first a pagan temple. Then it was turned into a Christian church. Then it was converted into a mosque, and later a new mosque was built on the same site. Following that, it became a Roman Catholic church.

Whew!

Talk about an eclectic building.

Maybe you’ve never heard of this building before – at least you think you haven’t. Chances are, if you’re into architecture or art history, you’ve seen this shot at some point in your life:

This building has what is called an arcaded hypostyle hall. That sounds complicated, but it’s not. “Arcaded” simply means arches (as you can see in the picture), and “hypostyle” just means that the roof is supported by columns (hypó meaning ‘under’ and stŷlos meaning ‘column’). The famous red and white striped arches are made of limestone and brick, except for the section you see above. They were a little short on cash, apparently, so they just painted the red parts in here to make it match.

The columns are made of jasper, onyx, marble, and granite. In the picture below, you can see that one of the artists signed his name on this one!

Our guide then took us to the Street of Flowers, which provides a classic view of the bell tower.

And that was a little slice of Córdoba for you! Hope you had a great time!

There you go, Julie! Hope you enjoyed it. Can’t wait till you get to go there for real! Did everyone else enjoy the trip? I know I did. I don’t want to go to work now.

Aquariums, Museums, Hons, Oh My!

Before I get into the meat of this post, I just want to direct your attention to Julie Glover’s blog post where she interviewed me! It was my very first interview and it was oh-so-fun answering all of those questions. Now, this isn’t your typical interview – in fact, it has pretty much nothing to do with me as a writer. Julie actually interviewed me for her Amazing Words Wednesday post because on my work blog I post a “Word of the Week” on Wednesdays (we both seem to be a fan of alliteration!). She asked me all sorts of fun questions about antiques and collectibles, so please do me a favor and check it out! And if you could pop over to my other blog and poke around, I would really appreciate it.

Okay, where was I?

Oh, yes – Baltimore, Maryland! In my last post, I talked about how I got to go see Team Starkid in concert (I promise you guys this is the last time I’ll mention them for, like, a whole week!). Well, I’m the type of person who truly enjoys planning and organizing things – and I like being as efficient as possible when I do it. One of my closest friends moved to Maryland once she graduated from college. I was so terrified that we’d never see each other, but we’ve been doing a pretty good job of keeping in touch.

She was kind enough to let us crash on her couch, and we planned out a whole weekend of Baltimore sightseeing and catching up. It was a lot of fun! Check out some of the really neat things we saw and did:

(P.S. I know these pictures are BIG, but I wanted to give you closeups of everything I encountered. Let me know if they’re TOO big, and I’ll scale them back next time.)

We started the night off right once we got back from the concert: we had ice cream cake at midnight to celebrate Deidre’s 24th birthday!

The next day we went to Inner Harbor and found the National Aquarium! It was pretty expensive, but it was on Lilly’s bucketlist, so we couldn’t pass it up.

We saw this GIANT sea turtle and all three of us fell in love. It was so beautiful!

Peek-a-boo!

We all had an obsession with turtles that day.

Then we went to see a dolphin show!

This was my favorite part! We saw all sorts of jelly fish. These were just sort of bouncing around everywhere.

Look at all those jellyfish!

This one was my favorite!

My first Hard Rock Cafe experience! (And believe it or not, I resisted the B&N store!)

Then we went to the Baltimore Museum of Arts! This is a sculpture of Medusa’s head – the hand is Perseus’!

One of my favorite painters, Seurat.

Here’s a Picasso!

I get excited whenever I see a Jackson Pollock because I can usually recognize his work.

This is a Georgia O’Keeffe

This Greek-style pizza was criminally expensive, but it was SO GOOD.

Then we went to the Honfest. It’s a Baltimore thing, apparently. This was a group of singing Lucille Balls. They were amazing!

A lot of people were dressed up as Hons – meaning they wore awesome ’50s-style dresses and had their hair up in beehive ‘dos!

Wow! That was a lot of pictures. I probably took over 300 that weekend, so you can just imagine how hard it was to narrow it down to the ones I have here. Hope you enjoyed them!

Here are some questions for you: Have you ever been to Baltimore? What’s your favorite zoo or aquarium? Have you ever heard of the Honfest before? (And are you like me and when you say “Honfest,” you think of the Huns from Mulan walking around eating cotton candy and funnel cakes?) Do you have a local festival that you attend regularly?

Wandering Bard: Ireland (Giant’s Causeway)

As I’m writing this, it’s raining outside and I can hear the water on the road as the cars drive by. It drums up memories of my soggy (but oh-so-enjoyable) trip to Ireland. What better place to write about for this Wednesday’s Wandering Bard post, right?

Grab a jacket and an umbrella – you’ll need it!

Today we’re heading here:

That’s pretty much the color of the sky here too. And you know it was wet and cold – just check out my professor all bundled up on the left!

This is the Giant’s Causeway. Now, before you scroll down and sneak a peek at the pictures I have of this place, I want to give you some background information. Here’s the legend behind the creation of the Causeway…

There was an Irish warrior called Fionn who had heard about another Giant that resided in Scotland. In order to prove himself (as men so often feel the need to do), he began to build a bridge across the water. (There are several different versions of what happens next, but I’ll give you the one I like best.) When he saw the size of the other Giant (who was much, much bigger than he was), Fionn ran away. Hearing of the challenger, the other Giant made his way across the bridge and into Ireland. Fionn’s wife – being the creative an intelligent person she was – decided to disguise her husband as a baby. Upon seeing the size of the baby, the other Giant figured that the father must be enormous and decided not to risk a fight with him. He turned around and fled back to Scotland – destroying the bridge as he went.

There’s also a scientific explanation – about 60 billion years ago there was a lot of volcanic activity in this region. The lava was made of molten basalt, which found its way through beds made of chalk to form a lava plateau as it hit the ocean. When it cooled rapidly, the lava turned to stone. Due to the nature of the rock, it formed pillar-like structures. Most of the pillars are hexagonal in shape, but some have more or less sides.

Sound cool? It was!

This section was probably 30 feet tall.

It just seems to go on forever!

I wear a size 11, so you know that’s a big rock! Gosh, I miss those shoes…

The BFF. I’m on top of the hill you’ll see in the next picture…

At one point we were both up there and had to crouch down and hold onto each other. That wind was strong!

And then our bus broke down…

It wasn’t too bad of a wait. I busied myself with eating some Irish chocolate.

After our discussion on found art, a few of you told me you like natural-made art. This place is like nature’s Sistine Chapel. It most certainly is art in my eyes. What do you think?