Tag: church

Nuns and monks

SDSpivey

Novodevichy Cemetery is the final resting place of some of Russia’s most famous, much like Père Lachaise in Paris.

The problem is, they might be Russia famous, but they’re not US famous. Plus all the names are in Russian.

Tomb of Boris Yeltsin

I found Boris Yeltsin’s (it really stands out), I saw Khrushchev’s but did not transliterate the name, at the time.

Author Anton Chekhov and Mikhail Gorbachev are also are buried there.

Next door is a convent. I was uncertain whether I could enter, but after seeing a couple of men exiting, I decided to go ahead.

It was very lovely, the buildings were painted nicely. The lawn was not mown, but it looked “kept up.” There were workers laying down a new stone walkway.

I felt wrong taking photos, but I saw others doing it too, so I suppose it was okay.

I’m uncertain if it was a working convent or not, so many churches were closed during the revolution. Being Sunday morning, I suppose any nuns would have been in service while I was there.

Next I headed to the art district.

There is a small plaza with a bunch of galleries, all were closed, being Sunday. The buildings are designed and made up to look unique. Not only do they allow graffiti, but they probably encourage it, if it is artistic.

I had nothing else planned in this area, so I see a small park on the map. It shows a toilet, not that I need it, but always good to be near.

I cross a small river, yellow from pollen, and climb a steep hill. I followed the googled directions, but it led me to a construction tunnel. They have these 2×4 and corrugated steel protective walkways around all sorts of construction sites, meant to be a safe passage. Problem is, this one doesn’t go anywhere but to a locked gate.

Being daring, I push open the construction wall a bit and pass through. It should be okay, there is a gap between the fence and storage containers.

Oh crap, I stepped in it. I will presume it was an animal’s.

Then the only way out was to climb a very thin, hand made ladder, over a concrete barrier, onto the road. I don’t mean onto a space next to the road, but into one of the lanes.

It had rained last night, so there were some puddles that I could walk through, hoping to remove some of the mess off my shoe.

Climbing another hill, I reached the small park. Then I see the sign for the building next to it. It was a monastery.

I went in and browsed around.The convent was way better looking, but this had a fat, lazy cat.

They had a display of “pieces” of tombstones. I guess they were damaged in the revolution or perhaps some war.

People were going into one of the chapels, but I was not going in with dirty shoes. I was hoping that the crushed granite walkways were working it clean.

OK, I didn’t actually see any nuns or monks, but I did see a priest walking outside the convent.

I walked to the next station to head back for lunch.

I went to the supermarket and had a fairly hefty bag of food. But I can’t cross the road because there is a freakin bike race going down the street between me and my room.

I’ve been crossing roads with really fast cars for decades, I think a few bikes is no danger at all.

Normally I would just walk through, but there are police all along the road. I don’t think there is a tunnel cross walk anywhere close, so I just go for it. As I reach the other side, I’m facing 3 officers, they don’t say anything, so I just go around.

I cook and eat then head to my room to charge the pad. Alright, my roommates have both left, I’m solo. Maybe I can get sleep tonight without the snoring.

Moscow at night

SDSpivey

I wanted to go back to Red Square, to get some nighttime photos. I figured it would look great with the lights on.

As I step outside, I start feeling drops on my head. I had just looked at the weather app, it said there would be some light rain at 1am. I wouldn’t be out that late, otherwise I’d be locked out of the hostel.

It is light rain and I won’t be out long, quick photos and back.

I come out of the station, and I see few lights. Dang.

I had wanted to do the same in Saint Petersburg, but never made myself do it.

On the way to a different station entrance, a guy stops me and asks something. I respond with, “I don’t understand Russian.”

Oh, he knows a little English. I’m standing there in the rain and he wants my life story.

After a few minutes, he asks if I was going to the Metro. Then he walks with me, pushing a rental bike, through a tunnel under the roadway. He parks the bike in its cradle and walks with me into the station.

At this point, I’m not certain if he’s being friendly, or going to rob me. Big city, out of towner, it happens.

Then wants to know if I have phone number in Russia. He wanted to call me and invite me to go to church with him.

Oh vey!

Highs and Lows

SDSpivey

The Rock of Cashel is an 12th century church, built upon a large rock outcropping, high above the surrounding area.

We started out towards the Rock of Cashel, but I’ve had problems with Google maps directions not working properly. This was the case this morning. I headed in the general direction, with the hopes that it would work a bit later.

30 minutes later, still no directions. I turned onto a semi-important looking road, since I knew we’d have to go that way, but wasn’t the right one. Fortune did smile down though. I spotted a reasonably nice looking castle just off the road. It looked like someones home, but there was a sign that said open, so I pulled in. The sign said it was Farney Castle.

We rang the bell and an older gentleman, Cyril Cullen, came to the door with a big smile. He invited us in for a tour of the house, starting off in his gift shop, where everything was made by himself.

Lots of porcelain figurines and statuettes lined the shelves. Most were superb quality.

Then he led us into the next room, filled with wool sweaters, caps, blankets, etc.

Rule number 1: never buy something that you are going to have to carry.

They were not pushy at all, allowing us to browse, while they would tell us about each piece. Many of his designs were worn in adverts and by models.

He even donated an inauguration dress to a family friend, Jackie Kennedy.

The walls in the round tower were over ten feet thick at the base, wide enough to hide a staircase inside.

There were many artifacts from the castle’s history, as well as his own. This was the best preserved old building we’ve seen so far. If only they allowed pictures inside the house, but it was their actual home.

After the tour, we were once again in the gift shop. We browsed some more. There were so many items I would like to get, but no possible way of them surviving the trip home in my suitcase without breaking. We did get a couple small figurines that looked sturdy enough.

Now we have been to Blarney, Killarney, and Farney.

I reloaded the maps, and they were working, so we continued to the Rock of Cashel, still about 20 minutes away.

I rounded a curve and it was visible in the distance, sitting high.

The church is under restoration, but the grounds are beautiful. The views around weren’t too bad either.

I think it would have made a better spot for a castle or fortress than a church, but for some reason they didn’t wait the 8 centuries to ask me.

We really were not looking forward to climbing into a dark, wet, cold cave, but we were close by and Mom’s maiden name is Mitchell, so we had to go to Mitchelstown.

On the M8 motorway, I saw a info sign for a castle in Cahir, so we diverted. The rain had stopped, for a bit, at least.

Unlike many castles, so far, it was right in the middle of the village of Cahir, with houses and shops within 100 feet or so, we had to park in a grocery parking lot.

It was very well preserved or restored, but it was just a museum piece, no one lived in it.

Many (all) of the roads here are narrow and have walls or hedges nearly right next to them, but the road to the Mitchelstown Caves was the smallest, almost wide enough for an American SUV, but intended for two cars to pass. Yikes!

The entrance was unimpressive, just looked like a concrete stairway to someone’s basement. Upon actually going down these stair, they quickly became steeper (and wetter), taking us down over 300 feet. The caves travel over 3 kilometers, probably more, they have not yet been explored fully, even after nearly 100 years.

The guide pointed out interesting formations, many that kids had named, and get a history and information about the cave system.

They occasionally have concerts or movie nights in the cave. Once they had a sushi chef prepare and serve a meal in one large room.

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There once was a man from …

SDSpivey

As much as we hated to, we had to leave the warmth and tranquility of Wexford and the Round Chalet.

Our next stop was near Limerick, a 3 hour drive, but first there were a few items yet to be seen.

In the middle of the town of Wexford, there is a ruins of an old church, Selskar Abbey, so we headed over.

It was a bank holiday, so I was uncertain if we had to still pay for street parking, so I did. Better safe than sorry. As we walked up to the gates, there is a sign stating that tours are given daily, at 3pm. is was only 10, so we could not go into the grounds to see it. Oh, well.

We then zipped up the highway, back towards Dublin, to Enniscorthy. There is a castle that is listed on all the brown “informational” highway signs, so it must be something to see. It is now a government office, and closed on bank holidays, of course.

Spying a steeple, we walked up (and I do mean up) the hill to St. Aidan’s Cathedral, an actual functioning church. Most old churches we had seen were no longer functional or had limited services. We went in and luckily there were only a few parishioners inside. Still, I didn’t want to be rude, snapping pics everywhere, so I just grabbed one from the back, as we were going out the door.

Driving down yet another skinny road, mom needed to pee. There was obviously no stores or petrol stations. I spotted another church ruins and was able to do a U-turn and park close to a wall, for privacy, there wasn’t anyone about, except a terrier across the road that just sat and looked at us.

We found the place easy enough. It is right next to a small park, with a small river running down beside it.

It is a 2-story, and a lot more room than the two of us need. We even have a spare bedroom.

I had received instructions from the owner that we needed to call the local manager, but we don’t know how. Since I wasn’t able to check my email for a few days, I didn’t know if I could send one or not. Fortunately, his wife was on their computer when I sent is, so he was able to get there in about 15 minutes. We weren’t going to have to sleep on the grass. Hurray!

We had dinner reservations (yes, like civilized folk) at Bunratty Castle, so we changed and head out.

The dinner was “by hand” no forks or spoons, only a knife to cut and pick up the food. Or using your fingers. It was served in 4 courses, a soup (good), short ribs (good, but messy), chicken and vegetables (juicy meat but not much flavor), and a small cheesecake (yum).

Period songs were sang and played on violin and harp throughout the evening by the hosts and hostesses, while we sat on benches at a longtable.

The castle was about 100 feet tall, but only 3 floors. Very tall ceilings. Very narrow spiral stairs. Mom loved those.

After returning, it was almost midnight, off to bed.

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Ruins and Famine

SDSpivey

Finally, a good night’s sleep.

We prepared breakfast and then headed out to New Ross, a town near the borders of counties Wexford and Kilkenny.

I found a brochure in our house for a old church, St Mary’s Abbey, that looked interesting. It had no roof!

Okay, most of it had no roof, but it was still a functional church in one “wing”. Supposedly, the functioning part was well maintained. There was no service today, so we were unable to go in and verify this.

A block away was a church of the Augustinian Order, but also not open today. <grumble> <grumble>

The other item I wanted to see was a bit far away, over an hour. It was an old copper mine and smelter, right on the southern coast. I do mean right on it, the drawing of the original buildings showed some that would now be down in the sea, as the cliffs have receded.

We were there at about 1pm, but the fog was rolling in from the sea. We couldn’t see anything more than a mile or so away. There was sun here in Wexford when we left.

Strangely, this was a popular spot. There was a couple already there when we arrived, and 2 more cars while we visited.

We cruised around the area, not having any destination, stopping into a pub, looking for some sandwiches to go. They had none on the menu, so we left. There was too much manure in the air to enjoy eating anyway.

I was trying to get far enough away that we could travel back on a different route, but at one point I noticed I was back on a road I had already seen. So much for that plan.

With nothing else in the area to see, we headed back to the house, coming right through New Ross again.

I hadn’t really want to see the Dunbrody, an 1840’s transport ship during the Famine years, but since we had time to kill, and we were driving back right by it, why not. Especially since we were rained out from the Dublin ship, Jeanie Johnson.

We took their little tour, which was pretty cool. They said the quarters were sparse and cramped, but I think they had more room than most airline flights nowadays.

New Ross is only a few miles away from the Kennedy Homestead, where JFK’s grandfather came from.

We spotted a Tesco and went in, hoping to find ready made sandwiches, but failed, they had no deli. We did find some salads (including forks) and we ate them in the parking lot before heading back.

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