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26 May 2017

Castles, Castles and more Castles #HogsAbroad in Germany

Hi All,
Summer has begun! I am slowly making my way to Germany for my last study abroad program in undergrad. The program is through the University of Kansas (I am officially a Jay Hawk now!) and is based near Munich. I will graduate from the University of Arkansas (I will always be a Hog) in August. The first stop on my itinerary is Ireland. I arrived Friday and after some much-needed beauty sleep began exploring.

Latin Quarter
I spent Saturday in Galway, visiting the farmer’s market, the cathedral, and moseying around town. I stayed in the Latin Quarter, which has tons of quirky shops, street performers and is full of vibrant characters. I also walked out to the bay and one of the nearby parks. In the evening, I got to do my favorite thing—visit castles!

As you all know, I have a thing for castles. My thesis was over Marksburg in Germany and I go to castles whenever possible. My research portion of this summer will even involve castles (or at least the tourist industry which surrounds them).

I went to both Menlo and Terryland Castle. Menlo dates to the sixteenth century and was destroyed by a fire in 1910. It was known for fairs and festivals during it’s heyday. Terryland, only about a thirty-forty minute walk from Menlo, has had more archeological research done. The current structure is from the sixteenth century as well but there is evidence of a previous castle from the thirteen hundreds on the same site. I find the dates of the castles in Ireland to be really intriguing. In Germany, not many castles were built after the middle of the fifteenth century. This was because the more modern military weapons made the structures obsolete. I looked it up, and it took much longer for those weapons to reach Ireland. This meant that castles had a much longer lifespan here.
Menlo Castle
Terryland Castle
I also managed to get a terrible sunburn on day one. See the top photo for how red my face is… I thought I was prepared with a hat and cloud coverage, but I was not. However, I have had the hardest time finding sunscreen. Went to several stores, apothecaries, etc. Finally found one with SPF 20, it was the only one the store carried. If I layer it, its SPF 40, right? I can only hope. Also, not sure if there is a filter I don’t know about turned on in my camera, or if simply being in Ireland brings out the red in my hair, but I look like a serious ginger! Most people here seem to think I’m Irish until I start to talk.

From Galway, I made my way to Clifden. The bus ride was beautiful! It went past Connemara National Park, which was breathtaking. I got off in Oughterard, and surprise
Connemara National Park
—visited another castle. I went to Aughnarre Castle, which was also built in the sixteenth century. The name translates to field of yews, which were important in Irish mythology. There was only one left at the castle, since the wood was desirable for building. At the castle, they made the distinction between Normans, Norsemen and Vikings. It turns out that although all were Scandinavians and roughly the same gene pool until the tenth century, Normans were those who settled in France and who mixed with local populations, while Norsemen covers traders and Vikings were farmers and part-time warriors. They had a map of the genealogical names and the clans they established in Ireland, broken down by origin. I found our family name on the map!

After visiting the castle, I hiked to Connemara Lake and then made my way back to the bus stop.

Family Name! Labeled as Viking.
When I arrived in Clifden, I was unable to locate the place where I had booked for the night. I asked several other hotels and then was finally able to get an address, and then when I got there it still wasn’t the right place (and it was a really long walk). I finally found a local who knew where it was and they were kind enough to give me a lift. The whole experience took about two hours and with jet lag and constant exploring I didn’t have much energy left in me by the time I got to the right place.

The most ironic part, is that it was located only about 400 feet from one of the hotels I asked initially… I felt really smart after that. On the plus side, I met a Hulk-Hogan look alike from Colorado who owns a taco truck. So that was different.


After the trauma of finding my hostel, I decided to go to bed early and then attempt the hike I had originally planned for that evening in the morning. While this seemed like the best solution at the time, I did not think to check the weather. But by the time I got up, I was committed. I woke up early (a little after five—which is a miracle for me) and hiked / walked (it wasn’t much off road) for three or so hours. I got to see two more castles! However, it started pouring only about twenty minutes in and didn’t let up until I had about twenty minutes left. I was soaked through; the temperature was fifty and the wind was strong. I imagine it’s kind of like a car going through one of the automatic car washes. I’m now on my way to my next destination, and will hopefully post again soon.
Abbeyglen Castle
Clifden Castle
Claire






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