Tag Archives: Archery

Sep7

I went archery shooting!

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Wednesday, 22-April-2026

Hot on the heels of throwing axes, I went back to my roots with a wee bit of archery.

I’ve shot bows for so long… even making my own (very rough) bows when I was young. Something about wanting to be Robin Hood, or one of the characters from the Redwall series maybe?

<Okay, I actually stopped writing this for like 30min while I researched Redwall, just to see what’s actually happened with it. I mean, I read ALL the books when I was younger, and it turns out that a few new ones have been released! I may have to track them down, now… especially since it turns out that the author hasn’t been accused of anything horrible! Which is kind of miraculous, these days. Anyways, back to your regularly scheduled blog post>

The core here is that I enjoy archery, and I’ve wanted to try it out here in Ireland for a while. The problem has been that it’s a circular requirements loop – “You can’t shoot at an archery range unless you have a permit”, followed by, “You have to shoot at an archery range to apply to get a permit”. I finally got sick of it, called them, said I knew what I was doing and that I “had a permit from a previous club in the United States”. Which is technically true, since I’ve shot at a ton of clubs in the USA after going through their quick safety briefing.

Well, it worked. A good reminder that trying to follow detailed rules is silly, and that just reaching out to the club is the right way to deal with things around here.

I went, I mentioned the person I’d spoken with, people had never heard from them, I said “that’s fine, I know what I’m doing just give me a bow”, they looked unconvinced, I stayed quiet until they gave me a bow, and then I safely shot arrows at targets. I mean, it’s not rocket science, and once I was able to start shooting everything went beautifully smoothly.

I chatted with people, got some interesting advice from a former Olympian, tried it out, decided that I preferred my own style of shooting (with no offence to those standards, I’m sure that technique was the best back when it was originally taught), and I had a grand old time.

Jul6

Exploring Latvia, in the city of Riga

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Monday, 10-June-2024, through Saturday, 15-June-2024


I liked Riga.



It felt a bit smaller than Tallinn, and didn’t have the strongly-defined (and walled off) old town, but the old town was definitely there, and was absolutely lovely to wander around. Whereas Tallinn was built around the walls of the old town, Riga seemed to be built around the river – beautiful parks running along both banks, with amazing sculptures throughout.

Lots of beautiful buildings, and I definitely spent quite a bit of time just wandering and appreciating the architecture that surrounded me. It definitely felt like it was newer than Tallinn’s old town, with buildings that seemed a bit more… sculptural? Maybe? I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there was definitely a subtly different feel to the city. Neither good nor bad, but definitely interesting.




In all candor, I was also starting to burn out while I was in Riga. This marked my halfway point for the trip – it was my sixth week traveling, and I was starting to feel it. Museums became a bit more monotonous, and I didn’t quite have the endurance to see multiple galleries in a single day. I was still walking a ton (between 5 and 10 miles a day), but I was taking it a bit more slowly… and needing a bit more down time in the hotel in the mornings and evenings.

There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s part of anything – six weeks of vacation and museums and walking can wear on a soul similarly to six weeks of work… it’s a better type of wear, and I’d choose it every day over going back to the chaos of work, but it’s still there.

I took some days lighter than I normally would have. I rested a bit more, watched a bit more cartoons, and finished the book I was reading. I did laundry at a laundromat downtown, and relaxed at a cafe while the machine tumbled. I didn’t take a hard-rest, but I definitely slowed down a bit… I can’t tell you if it would have been better to fully stop, but I can say that slowing down definitely helped quite a bit.



Ohh! One extra fun part!

I found an archery range! By “range” I mean “a few cloths draped between trees, with some targets set up and a very overworked guy trying to keep the kids from shooting each other”. Like… seriously, how was this legal? I had fun plonking a few arrows into a target… but dear god it was concerning being around there.



Now, the part that everyone loves – Food! Where did I eat while adventuring around Latvia?

  • LIDO – A sort of cafeteria-style place, grab your tray and pick your food. Interesting, and I believe it was fairly authentic Latvian fare?
  • Rozengrals Vinarium Civitatis Rigensis – Very fancy spot, in an old wine cellar, with a strong medieval theme. Fun, but… I don’t know. I went on a Tuesday, and I think it’s more of a “go on the weekend” kind of place.
  • Big Bad Bagels – Awesome and simple. The bagels were great.
  • Portofino – Delicious italian spot… though their website was out of date, which meant that the meatballs that I was craving weren’t on the menu. But still, good food!
  • Caffeine – Awesome and simple coffee shop, beautifully welcoming for me to spend some time blogging.
  • This Place Doesn’t Need a Name – Ehh. This was okay. Wouldn’t really recommend, though the decor was really cool.
  • Cherry Fix – I spent an evening purging my system of this dinner, and then three more days recovering. Do not recommend. This’ll get its own blog post soon enough.
Feb22

Biscuits, Archery, Tea, and a walk

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Saturday, 03-Feb-2024

I’ve missed doing in-town adventure days with friends… you know the type, when you have a kind of scavenger hunt planned out, going from one spot to another? Adventures, excitement, and exploration!

Well, a friend of mine mentioned that she’d be interested in Archery… so we planned it up and found a weekend day we could check it out!

The day started at Pine State Biscuits, of course, with a beautifully inspirational little inscription in the sidewalk next to where I parked. We ate, chatted, and I finally got to meet her dog!

Then archery, where I stepped up and didn’t do too poorly with my aim… though, honestly, nothing too exciting of note went down. I did try and see if I could contend for the Guinness World Record for fastest 10 arrows shot (currently held at ~39s)… but it wasn’t quite as easy as I expected. Not surprising, though I did come close… I could probably do it in 50s without practice, so… maybe something I’ll work on over the next month or two. We’ll see.

From there I split ways from my friend, taking a wandering tour of the small town we’d found ourselves in. That’s something I realize that I’ve missed, from previous lives… just wandering and exploring an unexpected area that I find myself in. I mean, why would I wander downtown Milwaukee, right? But I was there for the archery range, and because of that I found a beautiful little tea shop with exceptionally fancy drinks on offer.

I ordered up a pot of Chai, with some pork buns, and sat and reflected on what comes next in my life. Tides are shifting and changes are coming, so those quiet moments of reflection are becoming more and more critical. For now, though, I just enjoyed my new surroundings and an excellent cup of tea.