Sunday, 31-Aug-2025 and Monday, 01-Sept-2025
<Slightly out of order, I know… bear with me!>
Plovdiv was a quick stop on our adventure – specifically a drive from Sofia to Sinemoritz – but dear lord it was beautiful.
Ancient ruins, amazing food… just such a great time all around, with amazing times and good friends!
Thursday, 24-October-2024
It’s pronounced “Sell-Win”, by the way. Not “Sam-Hay-ne”.
I learned that pretty quickly, as we drove out into the Irish countryside, on our mission to find the roots of Halloween, buried beneath the earth of the Emerald Isle. I was on the road with my friends Brian and Megan, heading West toward the midlands of Ireland, enjoying the quiet and good conversation as the highway passed beneath the wheels of our rental car.
Megan had invited us out to explore the Cave of the Cats, or Oweynagat Cave in its native Irish, in the town of Rathcrogan. She’d first heard about it years back, when she was first getting interested in Ireland, as the origin of Halloween – according to myth, this cave was where the spirits of the otherworld would enter ours one evening per year. That evening, people would stay indoors, or dress up to avoid being taken captive and dragged back underground to the otherworld… an evening that evolved over time into what we call Halloween.
It was an excellent adventure – I can’t say that we passed into the otherworld, or that we did battle with any ancient spirits… but we did get an excellent tour of the land, heard stories about its history, and even had the chance to step foot into the cave itself. We didn’t go particularly deep, of course, as who knows how long it could have taken us to get out…
On the way out, we stopped in for lunch, and a bit of exploration, in a town called Roscommon. We grabbed a bite to eat, explored Roscommon castle, and I even flew the drone around a bit!
Nothing of major note, but definitely one of the fun parts of Ireland – being able to stop into small towns, tour a castle, and then get back on the road. Good times!
Rathcrogan itself found us stopped at the visitor’s center, meeting our tour guide, and then descending into history and myth of Samhain. Our guide was absolutely amazing – as the guy who literally wrote the book on the area (we definitively got copies), he regaled us with myth and story from all across Ireland, focused on those tied in with the cave that we were exploring. We listened, absorbed, learned, and let ourselves be transported back in time… to the days of Celtic heroes and monsters.
Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathcroghan#Oweynagat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathcroghan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain
Saturday, 14-Sept-2024
While I really loved the hike out in Glendalough, it was a bit far outside of town… since I don’t have a car here in Ireland, I’d need to rent something, or get a bus, and… man, it’s just a lot of work. I was missing the park near my apartment back in Wilsonville, and needed a replacement.
Bushy Park was perfect – I can’t quite walk to it, but it was a nice and easy bike ride… which makes it kind of special, you know? It’s got a river running through, some ruins scattered around… and seriously. Just look at the lighting through those trees.
There was even a farmers market! Granted, it didn’t have any veggies or other produce, but… great grilled cheese, and a cool book vendor whose shop I absolutely adores exploring.
