The Adventure of Skellig Michael

Skellig Michael . . . one place in Ireland I have wanted to go since the first visit and yet one place I had not been able to experience.  This time, however, this time was different.  We were visiting in the summer you see . . and the boats to Skellig Michael only run in the summer :-) It was the number one priority for me.  After reserving our boat fare (had to change our itinerary completely in order to accommodate for the boat being fully reserved the day we had initially wanted to go) we then had difficulties the day before the planned trip.  I was supposed to call and verify that we were indeed going to be a part of the expedition but did not have phone access until that night.  After a few e-mails to the company and about 45 minutes of panic and depression the company was nice enough to hold our spots even though others had wanted to go in our place.  I am eternally grateful to the Casey family (Casey's boat trips to Skellig Michael) for making one of my dreams in life come true!

The fog and mist were rolling into the small town of Portmagee, Co. Kerry as we boarded the small vessel which would take us to our destination.  Twelve was the designated number in our boat.  The village was small, brightly colored and slightly windswept.  The country surrounding Portmagee was emerald and somewhat wild in appearance.  The wind was picking up pace ever so slightly as we headed out to sea.  This was going to be a fantastic day!  A one way trip to Skellig Michael took roughly 45 minutes in which the rain and wind increased throughout our journey.  Wet and exhilarated, we finally landed on the island at the base of 600 roughly shaped slate steps leading to the 8th century monastery located at the top.  The trip up was tedious, one wrong step could have you plummeting 600 feet to the sea below.  A few breaks were in order to catch our breath and take in the beauty surrounding us.  It was hot on the island and scarves, hats and jackets had to be removed on our ascent.  The steps also seemed to get smaller, less sturdy and more precarious the higher we climbed.  At long last we made it to the top.  The views were out of this world! It was well worth the climb!

The monastic site built on the island was developed somewhere between the 6th and 8th century. There are six beehive cells, two oratories as well as ancient burial sites marked by stone crosses and slabs.  These burial sites are thought to be the oldest structures on the island.  There was also a system of collecting and purifying water for the use of the small number of monks who would live on the island at one time.  The island was the perfect site for such a colony as the seclusion and height would bring them closer to God.   The monastery was continuously occupied until roughly the 12th century when the monks abandoned the island and took up residence in an abbey on the mainland of Ireland.

 

(the island had puffins a'plenty . . . what cute creatures they were)

The experience was unbelievable!  I would highly recommend this trip to anyone going to Co. Kerry, Ireland . . . unless you have a severe fear of heights.  The boats only operate in the summer months and are weather permitting.  The company we used was the Casey's Boat Trips to Skellig Michael and I believe was 50 euro for the round trip price.  There are guides that take turns living on the island who are there to assist you as well as give information about the site.  I found them very helpful and full on information.  I was a happy human being this day :-)

Skiing the Alps ~ Finally did it!! (check!)

One thing I have dreamed of since I learned to ski at the age of 5 . . never thought possible . . . kept trying to get my family on board with the idea . . . will forever cherish the memory . . . SKIING THE ALPS IN EUROPE!!

I had to move thousands of miles away and to a different continent but I finally did it . . . got my dad to come visit me and ski the Alps for Christmas!  Oh what fun we had! Oh the beauty! The Splendor! The vastness!  I probably will never be able to paint a picture pretty enough to describe it in words . . . kinda like when you take a picture of a beautiful sunrise or sunset.  A picture just doesn't capture what you are seeing through the naked eye.

On December 17, 2013 I was able to finally check a pretty high item off the ol' "bucket" list.  Dad and I headed up to ski the Jungfrau region of Switzerland.  Although not even half of the lifts were open yet the three combined ski resorts offered almost too many lifts to take for one day!  I think we did it though . . I think we hit every single one that was open.  This was only possible by the fact that we didn't want to stop for any reason other than attempting to capture the beauty on a photograph and therefore only stopped to share a bottle of water and eat a nutrigrain bar apiece for lunch. Dad kept making statements such as "This is AMAZING", "This is UNBELIVEABLE!", "I can't believe I am skiing at the base of the Eiger!", "Look!  It's the Eiger!" etc. etc. I have to say, I have never skied at the base of glaciers before and it was pretty stinking awesome!!

The EIGER!!

The Jungfrau ski region contained 214 kilometers of slopes against the backdrop of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. It is a combination of three ski resorts all connected allowing us to ski from one to the other . . and back again. The three resorts are Kleine Scheidegg-Männlichen, Grindelwald-First and Mürren-Schilthorn.  The Jungfrau is the highest summit at 13,642 feet and is know as "The top of Europe." According to Wikipedia, "Together with the Eiger and Mönch, the Jungfrau forms a massive wall overlooking the Bernese Oberland and is considered one of the most emblematic sights of the Swiss Alps."  Yup . . that is where we skied! :-)




Not more than a few weeks later I was able to ski the Alps once more . . . this time in Austria AND Switzerland with my buddy Sammy!  We were able to take a bus from one of the Army bases nearby . . . boy was that an experience!  We arrived at the bus stop at 12:30 AM only to freeze our deriers off until the bus showed up around 1:00 AM.  There were only four females on the trip (including us) and the chivalrous military gentlemen allowed us the get on the bus LAST!!!  What in the world?!??  They all rushed to the bus pushing and shoving . . like a bunch of 7 year old children!  When we were finally able to board the bus we were met with the smell of alcohol (although strictly forbidden) and a rowdy bunch of males.  Sigh . . . we made it through the 7 hour bus drive and arrived at Ischgl, Austria.

Ischgl is a town in the Austrian state of Tyrol and its ski resort is connected with the ski resort of Samnaun, located across the border in Switzerland. We were literally able to ski back and forth in between the Austrian and Swiss Alps . . how cool is that?!? With both of these resorts combined, it is the largest skiing resort in the Alps. Its 238 km of groomed runs are accessed by over 40 mechanical lifts including cable cars, gondolas, detachable chair lifts and some T-bars. (The T-bar was one lift we were not planning on taking . . we were forced!  Ohh boy . . I am not good at T-bars)  Again, the beauty was amazing!  At one point me and Sam popped off our skis/board and sat down on the tip of a snowy cliff to enjoy the sights along with some well deserved snacks.  We ended up taking a lunch break this day (as the runs were so long and wonderful that we were plum worn out and needed to rest the poor knees) and the lunch was fantastic! We shared a plate of some sort of pancake casserole served with apple sauce and a plate of noodles that reminded us of really, really good mac'n cheese.

 

 

If I had to compare the two resorts I would have to say that Ischgl/Samnaun was definitely larger than Jungfrau but the views were not as majestic.  Don't get me wrong, they were still amazing and beat any views from Tahoe . . . but there is just something about skiing with glaciers to your back.  Both resorts had pro's that the other did not have . . .they were both wonderful!  Since this is my last winter here in Europe I am attempting to hit the slopes a few more times.  YOLO, right Sam??