Europe Update - Ireland

We're home! We arrived safely back in Seattle last night, after a long, grueling, and accident-packed travel day. But first…

Ireland was absolutely magical. We arrived in Dublin last Saturday, and it promptly began raining as soon as we stepped out of our hostel. It was actually a welcome change from the hot weather we had had during the rest of the trip. We had received advice to only stay one day in Dublin, as it is a city and you can find cities anywhere. So we did, and it looked to be an uneventful day at that, as I was being pummeled by a cold and Thayer and I were both exhausted from travel.

We wandered into a nearly empty pub to have our obligatory pint of Guinness. Because of my cold, I could not taste it at all, which was probably the better since I don't like beer. We were nearing the end of our pints and getting ready to head back to the hostel for an early bedtime. That's when we met Kirsten, Aisling, and Alan. We discovered they were from Dublin, and they were surprised to find American tourists in a non-touristy pub. As soon as we finished our Guinness, Kirsten bought another round. We were there for the rest of the night for excellent live music and excellent company.

The next day, we drove across the country to Doolin – a tiny town on the west coast. We were greeted at the door of Daly's B&B by Susan, a cheery, red-headed Irish woman who immediately offered us tea and biscuits. She showed us to our room and we almost cried with happiness. After 6 different hostels, drunk roommates, uncomfortable beds, and cold showers, this place was heaven.

Here's the thing about driving in Ireland. It is terrifying, confusing, and frustrating, but also beautiful and (if you are able to laugh at yourselves) really funny. Street names are basically non existent, maps are inaccurate, and two direction signs for the same place can point you in opposite directions. Fun! Not to mention, they drive on the left, the driver sits on the right, and all the car switches are on the opposite side of what we're used to. The roads are in poor condition and far too narrow for comfort. To add to the road claustrophobia, there is usually an old rock wall lining either side of the road that prevents any extra breathing room that would have been helpful at times when, say, a large truck or tourbus is coming toward you at full speed. Somehow we were able to find The Burren – an expansive area in County Clare that is almost completely covered in limestone and rare plants growing in between the rock.
There are also a number of ancient monuments in the area that date as far back as 4000 B.C. Later, on our way back to Daly's, we came upon a very wide beach and watched the sun set there.

The next day, we made it to the Cliffs of Moher. We followed the advice of our fellow B&Bers and when we came to the sign that said "DO NOT GO BEYOND THIS POINT", we went beyond the point. Being at the edge of the cliffs felt like being on the edge of the whole world. If we turned around to face the land side instead of the ocean, we could see at least 4 individual rain storms over different parts of the land, far away. Facing the ocean, we could see a rainbow that ended right in the water. Magical sights.

We went to our favorite pub, McDermott's, every night that week for their incredible chicken curry and lively traditional Irish music played by different local musicians every night.

Our last two days in Doolin, it rained day and night so loud it sounded like rocks on the roof. We were okay with that, because we were able to spend our time shopping on Doolin's "main strip" or cozy in our room drinking tea and reading.

After 5 fabulous days in Doolin, we headed back to Dublin for our last night. We met up with Kirsten, who we'd met our first night in Ireland, and her boyfriend, Peter, at the pub across the street from their flat. Again, it was supposed to be an early night, but we ended up having some wine and playing some music over at their house and eventually made it back to our hotel at 4 a.m. Just enough time for 3 hours of sleep before a 20 hour travel day!

Travel day mishaps:

1) Hayley loses the beloved wool hat she bought in Doolin for 35 Euro and wore for 4 days.
2) On 2nd flight, Thayer spills water in Hayley's lap.
3) At baggage claim in Seattle, we discover "the Whiskey Suitcase". The large bottle of Irish whiskey that Thayer bought at the duty free store in Shannon did not make the flight. Instead, the whiskey decided it would much rather be all over Hayley's clothes and souvenirs.

Mishaps aside, Ireland was most lovely. We cannot wait to go back someday. In the meantime, though, we are thrilled to be back at home and to see the cats and our friends and families. And to those of you who are not in our immediate vicinity, we hope to see you soon, as well!

Thanks for reading the updates, and we hope you enjoyed them!

All of our trip pictures are on Flickr. Be sure to check them all out at http://www.flickr.com/photos/thayerf/sets/72157594295194492/

All our love,

Hayley and Thayer



**Memorable Trip Quote**

[as Hayley and Thayer finish their Guinness]

Kirsten: Now, do you two want another Guinness or do you want a proper drink?

Europe Update - Hamburg

Hey everybody! Short update!

After Clausen, we took the train up to Hamburg and got to hang out with a friend from HOME, Tracy! We went out for dinner and brew and good conversation, spent the night in the lovely flat she is living in, and then had breakfast the next morning before catching our flight to....

Ireland! We saved a few pennies on the first 2/3 of our trip so that we could really treat ourselves on our last week. We are staying in the dreamiest B&B - Daly's in Doolin. We have our own queen sized bed, our own bathroom with our own shower and bathtub, along with what feels like our own gravel road, our own moon and our own field of cows. A major improvement on the hostels of the last 2 weeks.

More coming soon.

Love,
Hayley and Thayer

Europe Update - The Clauser Haawe

Hi everyone! This update includes only one day, but a very special day it was!

After Interlaken, we took the train to a city called Pirmasens, where we were picked up by a very sweet man named Manfred Sand. He lives in a neighboring town called Clausen and owns the guest room that Thayer and I would be staying in that night.

Clausen is a tiny town in Germany near the French border, just north of the Black Forest. It has a population of about 1600, one restaurant that you need a reservation for, one bakery, one church that the whole town attends, one cemetery…etc. Everyone knows each other. No one speaks English.And, funnily enough, the dialect of German they speak (Platt Deutsch) is one that even Thayer could barely understand.

Also, Clausen happens to be the town that my forefathers came from back in the mid 1800s. When we got home from the train station, a traditional German lunch was waiting for us. We sat down with Manfred, his wife, Hilga, and their son, Peter, to a lunch of bratwurst, potatoes and peas and carrots. At every meal we ate with the family, Hilga made it clear that we were expected to empty every plate or dish before we got up.

After lunch Manfred took us for a walk around the town to see the "new church" built in 1903, the footprint of the old church which is likely where my great-great-great-great grandmother and grandfather were married. After that, he took us to a church meeting attended by about twenty women over the age of 90 who were a-buzz with excitement over our presence in their town. They all wanted to give their stories to us, but of course all at the same time and all in the same unintelligible (to us) dialect of German. Our heads were spinning but we did get to meet Frau Müller, whose son Franz Josef wrote a comprehensive book on Clausen families between 1466 and 1806. Since the Sand family also had a copy of the book, I was able to match the information I had with the information in the book and even trace the family line back two more generations. Very exciting!

Manfred also took us to the town cemetery where we expected to find graves of my ancestors. We found plenty of Germanns but we couldn't find any prior to the 1900s. Manfred didn't seem sure, but he thought perhaps the old graves just "went away." Thayer and I thought this was ridiculous so we continued the investigation on our own and found a tiny chapel up a mountain in the woods with all the stations of the cross but no graves.

On our way back home, we ran into Frau Müller and we thought if anyone would know where the graves were, it would be her. She confirmed what Manfred had said. Apparently the old graves were simply done away with when more than 30 years had passed since their deaths and new people were willing to pay for the land for new graves. We found this terribly disappointing but at least we had a definitive answer. We also came to understand that the cemetery in Clausen is less about history and more about immediate family being able to honor and remember their dead and also to show their family pride by impeccable upkeep of the gardens above their plots.

Manfred and Hilga treated us like family, and we felt like very special guests in their home. The day we left, Hilga was feverishly searching through her kitchen. She brought out a clay pitcher, what is known in Clausen as the "Clauser Hawe" (KLOW-zuh HAH-vuh). It is a unique symbol of the town. In fact, there is a fountain on the main street with three pitchers pouring into each other, and Manfred and Hilga even have these pitchers on the metal gate to their driveway. She gave us a hawe to remember the town where my family came from, a gesture so kind it brought tears to my eyes.

We had an amazing time, and hope to return again someday, as Manfred and Hilga told us we would always be welcome.

Another update will be coming soon!

All our love,

Hayley and Thayer

**Memorable Trip Quote**

Manfred: [telling a story… takes a pause so Thayer can translate to Hayley]

Thayer: Something about the devil and paradise and Adam and Eve and it's funny, so laugh when I finish talking.