Maybe the only thing as impressive as standing at the top of the Cliffs of Moher, is being in a boat going slowly along the bottom of them. OR maybe going in the ocean in a kayak...or diving....to take a close look at what lives there....(thanks to Lauren for the kayaking pic of Jim...one of our fearless and funny guides.)

dublin

dublin, originally uploaded by lesliefedorchuk.

Been meaning to post this image....and I have a couple minutes now...waiting for a bus in the internet cafe in Doolin. Went on a boat to the bottom of the Cliffs of Moher earlier today. Will post those later.

The doors in on this island....are some of my favorite things....so many painted bright colors. Often containing tongue in cheek humor....such as this one......

Here is a little peek into the book I am making this summer. Recipes from the people who are cooking for me on my travels.....starting with Maurizio.

Sea Bass with Olives and salted Sardinian Capers
(and rosemary and garlic)

Buy fish......

WILD sea bass (line caught...and bought in Galway at the open market the same day)
you can see ours as we bought it...in the video above.....

clean if it isn't clean, dry it with a paper towel

put aluminum foil in a tureen, lay the fish in it

In the meanwhile....

strip leaves from fresh rosemary and toss on top of the sea bass -
along with black olives (also from the market)

Pour on top of this....olive oil with capers and garlic that have been sauteeing. Splash of white wine....

Close aluminum foil

Put it in the oven at 200 c. / 400 f ..."hmmm...I have no idea if this is right...just CRANK the oven up then after five minutes reduce it to 375 f"

"You realize that all of these things cannot be repeated in Milwaukee, right?"

A fish like this (maybe three pounds) maybe an hour, or 45 minutes.

Serve with freshly made bread, also from market. Chilled white wine. Salad.

Newtown Castle on the Burren in County Clare, Ireland

Newtown Castle on the Burren in County Clare, Ireland, originally uploaded by raymond digital.

Traditional music at the castle the other night. Mary called when I was working in the studio - so over I went, climbing the stairs to the top. There was a roaring fire and everything was decorated with flowers - earlier in the day there had been a wedding. An Irish woman and a Japanese man - in full Samuri regalia (him). Long trails of ivy hung from the balcony - red and white roses glowing in the light of the candles. The wedding had a visit from the strawboys - a west coast tradition - dressing up in straw disguises and crashing the party to play tricks.

But tonight - some of the best musicians around - traditional Irish harp, concertina, pipes and fiddle. Background and stories for every song they played...and I am reminded again and again how rich in tradition and history this country is - how proudly it is kept alive.

The lights of Galway flickered across the bay (is it a bay?) as the outside light faded and the fire and the candles flickered. We were a small but passionate group - of mostly locals.

Jim (an uncle of Micheal Green - founder of the college) tells me a wonderful story about celebrating the millenium at the castle. A party was held on that new year's eve....the lower floor reserved for the young people...the middle floor for refreshments - and on the upper floor people were asked to come as someone they had most admired in the past 100 years and present a talent of some kind. By the time they all finished performing for one another...they were well into the new year...the new millenium.

Wonderful images to have....even second hand.

Dancing at Kilfenora

Between the Jigs and the Reels

Between a jig and a reel
what is there?
Only one beat
escaped from a ribcage.

Tunes are migratory
and fly from heart to heart
intimating
that there's a pattern
to life's pulls and draws.

Because what matters to us most
can seldom be told in words
the heart's moods are better charted
in its own language --

the rythm of Cooley's accordian
which could open the heart of a stone,
John Doherty's dark reels
and the tune that the sea taught him,
the high parts of the road and the underworlds
which only love can brave
to bring us back to our senses
and on beyond.

Moya Cannon

Low Tides.

Field trip this morning.....in the harbor right outside our cottage...low tide.....8:30 a.m.

Maurizio challenges everyone to find as many different seaweeds and critters as they can. Winning team gets a prize. Everyone has their "wellies" on, their equipment - books, pens, cameras, journals....and is moving slowly around the seaweed covered rocks. We are all trying not to slip and fall. So far I don't think anyone has.

Working in pairs, students spread out across the harbor and you see them bent over and examining stuff. Tanya and Sarah found the most stuff. Nick and Kyle - hmmmm.....enough said.

Last night we went to Kilfenora for set dancing. I believe that everyone had a good time. How could you not? Someone told me (when they got there) that there had been a bit of resistance to the trip. "Why didn't you tell us that it we would be going to the dance on the Titanic?" ... referring to the movie, of course.

Interesting to think about a time when all of our history comes from these kinds of re - creations. Is this just a normal unfolding of events? Another (well a new) way of passing on information? Will movies and such soon be our only point of reference??

Writing about Gibson's Neuromancer, Jack Womack says, "The past lingers on in unexpected and unavoidable ways long after we believe it is gone....Our cultural and historical past is readily accessible to everyone today, so long as you choose to turn it on, or download it. Today, as never before - the information media having become to enlightenment as the cereal aisle is to the supermarket - if you choose not to access the past, you are de facto free to rule it out of existence, as least so far as you might be concerned...."

So time collapses here....and it is something that can bother you horribly if you don't give yourself over to it. You are a better person - and far more likely to see more --- hear more --- feel more --- if you can allow it.

I told you that I went to hear the dawn chorus the other day. What I didn't tell you is that my father-in-law showed up. Granted...he no longer with us physically, but I have found that the great mystery of life is that no one ever really goes....at least not for me.

So I was at the tail end of the forty or so people that were out on the walk. I was dawdling....taking pictures, looking at things. And I was wet. I had locked myself out of the cottage with no raincoat - and there was a fine off and on mist. I couldn't hear Gordon, and I was trying to take notes. Suddenly a white-haired gentleman in a fishing hat leaned over and whispered, "just go on then....you had better push your way to the front so you can hear what is being said now...." I did. I didn't talk to him again. Later, I was thinking about it, and I thought, "...that was so familiar, why?" Then it hit me. It was just the kind of thing John would have said to me, in just the way he would have said it. Nice.

But. Being married to the oldest Fitzgerald son, and having the pleasure of being in the clan - I see all ten of his brood, and their broods - our collective brood - everywhere I go here. Yesterday I swore that my son Joe sold me my copy of the Irish Times. But no, that was just Robert, who is also nearly 14 and likes rock music rather than Moby (free Moby cd's were being given away with the paper....). And this morning, I swore that Teresa drove right past me on the road. I did a double-take. Mary's twin works at Monk's Pub, and Liam has a clone down in Lisdoonvarna.

The green....is what I love, and what I always really forget. I mean, not in the sense that I don't remember GREEN....but the intensity of it. That is what you are reminded of. Lost three students for a bit - as their initial flight was canceled. Hoping to see them later today. The rest are buzzing about...in the ocean, climbing to the tops of the hills...all seeming to be doing well.

The quiet here ... makes me quiet.

home - tide out

home - tide out, originally uploaded by lesliefedorchuk.

...here we are, number 5...just a short hike down the road from the village....cows at my bedroom window when I wake up, roses on the trellis - starting to open, swans honking sweetly in the distance.

Up at four thirty this morning to join about 20 folks led by Gordon D'Arcy http://www.burrencollege.ie/faculty/gordondarcy.html to listen to the dawn chorus....a wonderful walk about the area...followed by a champagne breakfast at the hotel in the village.

ascophyllum

ascophyllum, originally uploaded by lesliefedorchuk.

this is a brown seaweed....you are looking at the gas blotters.....little built in flotation devices. (hahaha....I had to come back and edit this....they are bladders, not blotters. Gotta love that Italian accent.....)

Marsh's Library in Dublin

Marsh's Library, originally uploaded by lesliefedorchuk.

Built in 1701 byt Archbishop Narcissus Marsh...this is the first public library in Ireland and one of the earliest in the islands. There are four main collections consisting of 25,000 books relating to the 16th, 17th, and early 18th c.'s.

There are about 300 manuscripts...including one on the lives of the Irish saints that was written in 1400.

We spent a pleasant time there....you can't actually TOUCH anything without permission ahead of time....but there was a wonderful display of books related to China (EAST MEETS WEST)....and Maurizio had a lovely chat with the librarian about beer while I LOOKED and LOOKED and LOOKED.

We drink a Guinness every night. We drove by the brewery in Dublin...but did not stop - as Maurizio was driving .... and giving the Roman Empire salute at the same time.... (his own particular Mecca) .... it was probably for the best.

...with Maurizio in front of Temple's ... Dublin

...with Maurizio in front of Temple's ... Dublin, originally uploaded by lesliefedorchuk.

....also should introduce you to Maurizio....who I am teaching with for the next month....

He has got me looking at kelp in an entirely new way....also loves to cook. We are having a blast. More on this later....

Ireland

Coming back to Ireland is like getting a present that you didn't think you would ever have the like of again....and here it is. Right here.....just as you left it.

This of course is the view from outside our cottage (with the obligatory cows who are there in the morning) and the view of the burren or the ocean or the village....depending on which way you want to turn and look.