CONNEMARa - "love" of my life... well, one of loves of my life, for SURE!!!

sneh na vrcholcoch irskych kopcov...

no ano!!!
bola som v galway, zase!
s maminkou.
bolo SUPER!!!
po viac ako mesiaci stradani a byvani hore dole, v suterene Dal Riady, na poschodovych posteliach, v domceku bez vody na umyvanie riadu, ci sprchy, nam vam to padlo celkom dobre... coby dobre?!?! VYBORNE!!!
no a tu je par foteciek - tak posuddte sami...
v sobotu, 23. januara, sme sa vybrali na "okruznu" cestu do connemary... tuhla par fotiek...

kylemore abbey

killary fjord

maminka na vyhliadke pri killary fjord-e

toto hla nie je connemara, ale pohlad z nasej spalne v Siol Dochais, Barna, Co. Galway
krasne svetlo...

OXEGEN a' la catholica!!! Clonmacnoise

Fantastic Youth Festival in the middle of Ireland (Co. Offaly), in a middle of nowhere - huge fields, filled with music, laughter, praise and prayer, tears of happinness, forgiveness and love... That was my last week-end. Went with Kay, my friend from work, and truly enjoyed it. People still know how to have fun with no drugs, no booz, no sex... How uplifting!!! Go Youth 2000, go!!!

Food marqueese (do you say/spell it like this??). With Kay. And hundreds of other young(-er) people.
These are all SLOVAKS... Could you believe that? There were 7 of us there!!! As everyone knows - 7 IS the perfect number. And even if it wasn't, it was, for us, there and then! L-R: Monika, muself, Emil, Maria, Daska, Fr. Patrick, and ... oohhh, I forgot his name... Juraj?

Unlike majority of particiants - Kay and I stayed in a lovely cosy little B&B (€36 per night and b-fast), close by - in Shannon Bridge. If anyone of you wanted to spend time in those parts of Ireland and is looking for a good place to stay and a great food to eat - let me know!

BRAY s Davidovcami

Dalsou s nasich "destinacii" bolo BRAY a GREYSTONES - juzne od Dublina / Blackrock-u. Je to primorske mestecko irskeho charakteru, mile a farbiste. V den ked sme tam boli - tam boli "trhy" - kolotoce, husenkova draha, banji-jumping, atd. - cize kopec ludi (hoci nie az taky kopec aky by si clovek predstavoval... mozno bolo este na Irov priskoro...). Dali sme si po peknom kolaci, Matko so mnou horucu coko, Karin s Davidom po Irskej kave... A vybrali sme sa na prechadzku popri plazi (vid na fotke - Davidko pekne bosky... :-)) While here, my bro and his family also went to Bray and Greystones (south of Dublin and Blackrock) to see the sea... So these are a few pics from that afternoon. As it was Sunday, I went with them...

Tuhla Pecovka to pereput, more v pravo, v pozadi domy popri brayskej plazicke (mimochodom - je kamienkova...)
Toto je pohlad na Bray z cesty ktora vedie az do Graystones - teda zo zaciatku casty. My sme sa vydali nie popri plazi, ale cez kopce (strmo bolo coz by ani tak moc nevadilo - len - nechcite tade schadzat po tom ako vydatne sprchlo... to ak, tak sa treba pripravit na smykacku po zadnici, a preventivne ziadne nobl nohavice...).
Toto su chalani s v pozadi zatokou pri Bray. Celkom sa aj vyjasnilo kym sme vysli, akokolvek - kym sme dosli do Graystones, boli sme aj zmoknuti do nite, a aj naspat vyschnuti... To irske pocasicko, vsak ano!!!

No a toto je aby ste nezabudli ako vyzeram aj ja - veru veru, taku krasu si netreba nechat ujst! Hi hi hi hi hi!

Glendalough 3 - Miners' Village (used-to-be)

No - a tuhla par fotiek od osady banikov. Komentuju sa dobre aj bez komentara, nie?

Glendalough 2 - vychadzka popri jazerach

Tuhla - par fotiek z "vystupu" popri jazerach. David bol uneseny raseliniskami ktore sa tam dookola rozprestieraju, s raselinikom vsade okolo. Voda v potoku co tade preteka, ako aj v jazere, je velmi tmava - vraj preto, ze je tam vsade raselina. Tak sa spolieham na spravnost informacie a vysvetlenia :-)

Pohlad na dolinu zhora - odtial kde sa uz voda padila (cize - od vodopadu). Skoda ze sa nam nepodarilo dostat az hore... Nabuduce...

Glendalough s Davidovcami

Otec Michael hovori ze je to hriech ze som sa dostala do Glendalough-u az teraz... Ja hovorim ze je lepsie neskor ako nikdy :-)
V sobotu 2. augusta sme sli na pol-dnovy vylet do Glendalough-u. Je to vo Wicklow-skych horach, na juhozapad od Dublina. Starodavne mnisske miesto (Sv. Kevin), na irke pomery celkom majestatne vyzerajuce crchy, dve jazera, prechod popri starej banickej osade a vystup popri vodopadoch veduce nevieme kam, pretoze sme ho neabsolvovali...

Na tejto fotke Martin s Davidom s v pozadi kostolom meno ktoreho som nezaregistrovala...

Davidovci s v pozadi znamou Glendalough-skou vezou. Pocasie, ako mozete vidiet, bolo take - velmi "irske" - slnecno/oblacno/dazdivo vsetko v jednom. Aspon nebolo prilis horuco...

Od zrucanin kostolikov a veze sme sa vydali popri mensom jazere a potom popri vacsom jazere hore smerom na osadu banikov (Miners' Vilage) a k vodopadom. S tym ze uvidime kam az dojdeme - cas bol neuprosny a mali sme na to vsetko asi 4 hodiny.

my SHORTEST EVER visit to the UK - DoWnPaTrIcK

June 19th 2008, Thursday. Allarm gone off at 5:30am (I was wishing for more sleep as it wasn't long before that I went to bed that night - sorry - morning), quick shower, quick cup of tea, some food prep done for my trip and then - gone to the bus station, heading to the airport. Aircoach was actually pretty much on time, only have waited for 10 minutes, and I made in to he airport in perfect time - even 5 minutes before our scheduled appointment with my 2 priest-friends at 7:30am. And this is how our day started. Journey was lovely, as was the morning and - we had "brilliant" time!! :-)

Vo stvrtok 19. juna som bola na mojej najkratsej (doteraz) navsteve v Spojenom Kralovstve - v Severnom Irsku. Den sa zacal skoro (o pol siestej rano - joj, ako sami este chcelo pospat, lebo do postele som sla az okolo pol druhej - sa mi nechcelo spat...), ale stalo to za to - o pol osmej som uz bola na letisku, kde sme mali zraz - Erik, otec John a ja - a kratko po pol osmej sme uz frcali dialnicou M1 hore smerom na sever, do mesta zvaneho Downpatrick, kde je pochovany Sv. Patrik. Den bol krasny uz od rana :-)

Arrived to Downpartick, Co. Down, having realized only shortly beforehand that we, indeed, were in Nothern Ireland already. 't was a nice "wee" surprise, as I have never been to NI before, nor was Fr. John, so - that was cool... Country side, roads and even villages and little towns were "brilliant". Or shall I just say - lovely?

The three of us, on our way up thill, to visit the graveyard.

Once in Downpatrick, we parked by St. Patrick's Centre, had a cup of tea and a nice wee breakfast in their Caffee, and then went on for a nice wee tour - following in St. Patrick's footsteps, listening to the story of his life, and enjoying a very well done A/V presentation and a very interesting i-max movie about his legacy. I-max was cool... Or, shall I say "brilliant"?? :-) Afterwards we went up this nice wee hill, to visit St. Patrick's grave, and to pray for our close onew, and also for the whole of Ireland (who did so well in that recent referendum I mentioned a few entries before). The sun was up and high, the skies were up and blue and we were up and happy (or at least so was I!!) to be there...

Ked sme dosli, zaparkovali sme pri Centre Sv. Patrika, naranajkovali sa v jeho kaviarnicke, a vybrali sme sa na "turu" po jeho slapajach - audiovizualna vyprava do minulosti a musim podotknut ze to bolo velmi dobre spracovane... Sranda - boli sme aj na mini filme - I-MAX (trojdimenzionalne prevedenie), ktore malo predstavit dedicstvo Sv. Patrika v Irsku. Citili sme sa akoby sme leteli helikopterou ponad jazera a hory (ci mini-hory) Irska, a ono to tak aj skutocne vyzeralo - normalne sami aj hlava sem-tam zakrutila... Bolo to super!

St. Patrick's Grave stone. Very simple. Quite big. Nahrobny kamen na hrobe Sv. Patrka. Jednoduchy. A poriadne tazky...

This is me (obviously...), with behind a Church of Ireland (C of I) church by which there is St. Patrick's grave. Lovely weather, was it? Toto som ja na ulici s v pozadi kostolom (neviem ktoreho svateho - bola to Irska cirkev, neviem ci ich pomenuvaju - myslim ze ano ale nemala som sa ako dozvediet ze ako sa volala)

The Saul Church, C of I now. Saulov Kostol - jedno z miest o ktorych sa domnievaju ze tam Patrik pristal (nedaleko je zaliv) ked prisiel evanjelizovat Irsko.
By the Saul Church, with countryside around and a sea-shore behind. V pozadi (len velmi malinko) zaliv kde mala pristat lod so Sv. Patrikom ked prisiel na misiu na ostrov.

Afterwards a short de-tour to visit a Saul Church, one of many places St. Patrick is supposed to have arrived when returning to evangelize the island of Ireland many many years ago. Afterwards we took off, had a lovely wee lunch in a town of.... hm, I forget, and returned to Dublin later in the afternoon. Went down town, had a pint of beer and a hint of song in a wee pub in Temple Bar area, and then a bite of hot chicken wings in yet another pub, before we said our good byes and returned to our dwellign places - me to my wee little cottage and my friends to their wee little B&B, from where they were to leave the following morning.
And THAT was my shortest ever visit to the United Kingdom (and Northern Ireland as such), but - one more time - quantity was not what made it so special and so great (and so "brilliant" again :-). It was the company of friends and of Saints instead...

LISBON TREATY - non-treaty...

Before I forget - there was a REFERENDUM over here in Ireland, just a week ago (June 12th 2008) regarding this "famous" Lisbon Treaty (a.k.a. "European Constitution under-cover" I'd call it, as it is nothing else but "it"!), AND - surprisingly (or maybe not all that surprisingly after all???) it's outcome was a large "NO" - the Irish decided against it (just as, 2 years ago, though it held different name then... did the French and the Dutch, too).
Is it not strange - religious belief in ressurection is often (and more and more) looked down upon and ridiculed, and wanted to be put out of people's minds (or at least out of public affairs etc.) and/but - here we go (went) once again - "it was dead but it rose again" or something like that could be said about the Constitution really. Or??
Post-Lisbon-Treaty atmosphere here in Ireland (or better, in Europe?) is... really only a "pre-something-else-Treaty", I suppose. And, as they said on TV this morning - the Irish will be asked to vote until they will have said "yes" to it... not fair! Not fair at all...
And so - though all this could be just a poor attempt of mine to "comment" on what was/is going on around here, it surely is to mark this event and to retain it (just in case, you know, for in "2-3-years-time-campaign" [or maybe even sooner?]). Hence - the picture (for, "seeing" they say, "is believing" - - - )

Hovorim ze predtym ako na to uplne zabudnem (a predtym ako budu vsetky putace odstranene z ulic) so este chcela, hoci neskor, "zdokumentovat" to co sa tu - v Irsku - udialo minuly tyzden - 12. juna 2008. Referendum o Lisbonskej zmluve. Jedine na uzemi statov EU. Iri sa rozhodli a vyslovili proti (kiezby sme boli mali tu isu moznost aj my na Slovensku - hoci - ktohovie ako by to bolo byvalo dopadlo tam, vsakze ano? Mozno by som sa musela aj hambit...). Akokolvek - tu to je, fotka to potvrdzuje a ked sa opat bude niekedy hovorit o ratifikacii davno zosnulej (tak sme si mysleli, ale - treba byt pragmaticki - preco by eurposki politici mali drzat slovo a dohody, ked to miestni politici nerobia, alebo len velmi zriedka) a predivne z popola sa pozdvihnuvsej Europskej Ustave alias Lisabonskej zmluve alias - "na mene nezalezi, a ani na veku" - tak sa budem mat na co pozriet a povedat si - nie nesnivas, je to opat - tu...
Ahojte doma!!!

GaLwAy...

Toto je par fotiek z pobrezia pri Barne, kam som si vysla na Bielu Sobotu. Pokochajte sa sami...


These are a few photos I took over in Barna, Co. Galway, during these last couple of days. Enjoy...

Velka Noc - PASQUA 2008

Velky Piatok 2008 - cestujem z Dublina do Galway - Barny, kde mam stravit piatok, sobotu a nedelu spolu s komunitou - fraternitou Marie Neposkvrnenej Kralovnej (Mary Immaculate Queen). Autobus odchadza o 10:00 rano, do Glaway prichadzam o hodinu neskor ako mam, t.j. o 14:25. Otec Nigel, ktory patri ku komunite, ma tam trpazlivo caka, a odvaza autom do Barny (asi 4-5 km od Galway?). Prichadzame akuratne nacas - o 14:45 sa zacina modlitba korunky milosrdenstva. O 15:00 Umucenie... Jednoducha liturgia, precitena, vyspievana krasne - velmi "francuzska" (coz sa dalo ocakavat - komunita je povodom z Francuzska, a i v tejto barnskej "bunke" su 3 zo 6-tich francuzky...). Potom kratka pauza, a potom, o 18:00 Krizova cesta vonku v zahrade domu. Pocasie nam praje, a nebo vobec neslzi... ani trosku. Krizova cesta sa konci v kaplnke, kde na oltari lezi tato trnova koruna... A vecer sa konci dobrou teplou polievkovo-syrovou vecerou, jednoduchou ale o to srdecnejsou. Odchadzam do hajan o 21:30.
Biela Sobota - tichy den. Rano ranne chvaly - spievane. Potom volno az do 12:30 - vyberam sa na plaz a - fotim... Cestou spat celkom dobre co? No - zmoknem :-) Potom modlitba ruzenca. Opat kombinovana so spevom. Potom obed - vydatny. A vyberana spolocnost - sestry z komunity, Nigel, otec Michael (z Liverpool-u; byvaval dieceznym knazom, teraz sa stara o veznov v liverpoolskej veznici... je strasne "srandovny"...) a par dalsich hosti. Potom dalsi ruznec, o 15:00, a potom, az do vecere, volno. Siestujem. Vecera je studena, typu svedskych stolov, a pomerne ticha. Potom zaciname vigilnu Sv. Omsu. Na dvore pred domom. Tentokrat nebo place - pomerne vydatne. Ale len prvych 10 minut... So svieckami zapalenymi od sviece odpalenej od vatry na dvore, vchadzame do kaplnky a slavime Sv. Omsu. Krasna. Spievana. Jednoducha. Velkonocna... Aleluja!!! Myslim na mojich doma...
Velkonocna Nedela - ranna modlitba trosku neskor ("az" o 9:00), potom ranajky a radostna nalada. O 11:00-tej pozerame Urbi et Orbi z Rima. O 12:00 je slavnostna Sv. Omsa. Po nej - slavnostny obed - jahniatko s neviem kolkymi prilohami a chodmi. Dobra nalada, dobra spolocnost, srdecna a - spokojna. Myslim na mojich doma. A aj si zavolame... Poobede volno, trkoce sa, oddychuje sa, vecer sa ide "na pivo" - ale vlastne lepsie je povedat - na muziku. Do mestecka ktoreho meno som si nezapamatala, ale - nevadi. Spievaju po irsky, hraju na huslicky, gitaru a bendzo, aj pistalka je tam. Krcmicka je plna. Rozpravam sa s Nigelom a miestnym fararkom, a s otcom Michaelom. Dohodnem sa na vylete do Francuzska v maji. Hmm hmm hmm, ak sa mi bude dat. Odchadzame okolo 22:00-hej. Neskorsia vecera (lahka) a potom este trkotacky, takmer do polnoci. Och, a ozaj, je jasne ze odchadzam az zajtra - pondelok, a nie v nedelu, ako som povodne mala... Je tam jednoducho dobre, viete?
Velkonocny Pondelok - ranajky, rozlucky, a cesta do Galway - odtial busom o 10:30 - spat do Dublina.
Bolo dobre...
:-)

Sobota 8-ho marca - 8th of March

Takto sa nas sobotny vylet skoncil - popoludni tiez trosku sprchlo, ale len malinko, a potom slnko opat vyskocilo a predtym ako zapadlo este svietilo zivo a radostne... Taketo popoludnia mam rada - nostalgicke a zive...

tak, len tak - par fotografii... hadam sa j vam budu pacit...

Dun Laoghaire - more pics

Tieto su niektore dalsie fotky z nasho vyletu do pristavu v Dun Laoghaire.

Na tej prvej sa mamuliacka vytesuje z toho ze sme tie hodiny - slnecne, jasne - nasli, no a ja sa s nou. V pozadi su stale tie plachetnicky...

Na tej druhej fotke - to som ja (ako nak a - kto iny?)
No a posledne tri fotky - to sme zas a opat len my dve - pri majaku a uz cestou spat.
Tato sa mi paci. Z tohoto pohladu sa to vsetko javi akesi vacsie, ale - ono to aj naozaj dost velke je...

Vylet do/Trip to DUN LAOGHAIRE

No - tak v sobotu 26. januara sme sa s maminkou KONECNE vybrali k moru do Dun Laoghaire [dan li:ri], alebo lepsie, na molo do pristavu Dun Laoghaire. Pocasie sa zdalo fajn, tak sme to riskli a - hla - stalo to za to! Den vysiel ako vysity - ani moc jasno, ani zamraceno, ale jasnucko a teplucko (to keby nefical ten "vetricek bratricek", ktory by mohol odviat mansie decko - to teda urcite...)

Na prvej fotke vidno za mnou skupinku plachetniciek (takych malych, pre dve osoby) - mali tam asi trening, robili osmicky a obratky, hore-dole, a - boli dobri!!!

Na tej druhej fotke sa maminka "lepsie prizera" na to ze "kolko je to hodin?" - na zaciatku mola su taketo slnecne hodiny. Su tam mesiace a potom este vselijake vlnovky a ciselka atd., no a ked tam pridete a postavite sa na mesiac v ktorom sa akuratne nachadzate (my sme v sobotu boli - tak ako vsetci ostatni na Zemi - v "januari"), tak kam vas tien dopadne, tak tolko je hodin. Priadavau alebo odpocitavaju sa aj minuty, ale - to by mi musel niekto vysvetlit ze kedy sa kolko odrata alebo prirata...

Akokolvek - boli sme tam okolo 3/4 na dve, a pozrite - tien je presne "niekde tam" - medzi 1//2 a 3/4 na dve popoludni... :-)

Toto je pohlad na pristav od majaku. Ten majak sa nachadza na konci mola, po ktorom sme sa promenadili - trvalo nam to asi tak hodinku. Celkom dobra prechadzka. sa nezda taka dlha, ale - je. Vietor a cajky nam robili spolocnost, a - samozrejme - mnohi dalsi ludkovia ktori sa vybrali si prevetrat pluca... Bolo to pekne popoludnie...

Tato fotka sa mi paci - kvoli svetlu, farbam a maminke.

A tato sa zase paci maminke. Myslim si ze kvoli tomu istemu - kvoli svetlu a farbam... Bol to - pekny vylet...