Water sculpture

:)

Water Sculpture from Shinichi Maruyama on Vimeo.

Dalkey last weekend

Alright, it's a little late... but I wanted to share this cool initiative going on in Dalkey:

The local shops are showing cards made by kids :)

And this is my town covered in snow :)

Weather in my favorite places

Surfing on the West Coast - slideshow

Alba a Co. Sligo

Overnight in Strandhill.

Beautiful sunrise by the ocean and early morning drive to Easky with the typical warm-colored light from the rising sun.

Check out the album I just created in Picasa Web Albums:

Sunrise hill, this morning.

Sunset waves, last night.

Free like a bird!

On this bank holiday weekend I did my first trip with Tarrumòbil, the well-aged Toyota Corolla I just bought from a colleague who is moving out of the country.

It's so nice to be free to travel around wherever I want, whether it is to have a surf solo session at a reef break or to join my friends for lunch at the beach bar after their surf session.

On Friday I left the office and headed backt o Dalkey to pack my car. Surfboard, wetsuit, sleeping bags, blankets and food. I took of a little after 7pm and drove to Sligo. Only a few minutes earlier I was planning on going to Kerry instead, because the surf forecast looked slightly better over there. However, some friends were gonna be in Sligo and I figured that, since it was the first trip on my car, I'd go to the area I'm most familiar with and enjoy my friends company in the water or outside.

First session: Easky left all over the place

Friday I car-camped in Easky and I surfed Easky left in the morning. The first few surfers went out while I was going to buy some coffee and was debating whether to drive to Enniscrone instead. By the time I came back, drank my coffee and got changed, everyone'd come back in, so I had a solo session. The waves were between should and overhead high. Some looked really nice, but they were breaking all over the place and there was a strong current to the right, which made it hard to make it all the way to the left of the lineup and wait there for the best waves. Chris got changed while I paddled out and he was very nice stick around in case something happened to me (I was surfing on my own).

When I came in Chris informed he was joining our friends from the East Coast surf club at Aughris for a mellower surf. I also headed there afterwards, but I didn't go out because the waves didn't look too good. We all had lunch at the Beach bar and then split into two groups to go surf in different areas.

Second session: Memorable sunset surf

Chris and I had a memorable session in Enniscrone, both thanks to the waves and the magnificent sunset of which we became spectators. Thank god we didn't leave without getting wet, as we were about to! Enniscrone is always hard to judge for us: looking at it from the hill that leads to the harbor, the downhill perspective is a real teaser. Looking at it from the beach, the waves are so far that it's very hard to tell how big they are, unless someone is actually catching the set waves (often times, the are plenty of beginners who are hanging out closer to shore, so there is no reference to assess the size of the waves).

In Enniscrone that night, not only I caught many very nice, long right-handers, but I just can't begin to express how awesome the sunset was! On the left hand side, a big cloud covered the sun but let some rays through, softened as in a hazy morning. An intense orange color tinted that haze and the top part of the cloud. On the right hand side, above the summer houses, the cute white cotton clouds became dark gray at the bottom and bright orange on top. That lasted awhile. Then, as the sun continued to set, the cotton clouds lost any orange trace, merged into bigger clouds and remained gray. The left hand side was still spectacular. I wanted to stay in the water until dark, but I caught so many waves that my arms lost the strength needed to paddle and to push down the surfboard at take-off. I caught one more head-high, nicely peeling wave into shore, riding it smoothly up and down the face, watching other surfers paddle back out smiling at me: What a nice ride and what a nice session at Enniscrone.

Glendalough

Summer rain in Dublin and Sabadell

Looks like rain might be desirable in Catalunya, but wait!, today's low at 9º in Dublin?!

From my iGoogle weather gadget.

Spring-summer update

Yeah, I know, I haven't been posting much lately... I've been trying to spend my free time outdoors or socializing, rather than in front of my computer, since I've been quite busy at work : )

Since I last posted, I've taken some time off to travel and surf in California and Mexico and in early June I volunteered for Surf2Heal in Tramore, Ireland. That week I also moved from my apartment in Charlotte Quay with amazing views to Grand Canal Dock to a house in the very neat sea town of Dalkey.

A friend had offered her old car to me, but the transfer ended up not happening for different reasons. Now that I put the idea in my head that I would get a car, I'll probably buy one anyway. I need freedom to travel to the West in the search of waves : )

The move to Dalkey

Starting my day in a quiet and beautiful place like Dalkey is great. I'm quite settled in at this point, although I still need to get a small piece of furniture for my room, a clothes rack to dry my clothes inside and shoe rack for the house.

Dalkey has some amazing places within just 5-10 minutes from my house. Walking 5 minutes to the NE, you get to Bulloch harbour and a pebble beach. From there, you can see Howth and the East end of Dublin. Walking about 6-8 minutes S of my place, you get to an incredibly cute little harbor called Coliemore Harbour. From there, you could swim to Dalkey island --that's how close it is to it. The first time I walked there it was sunny and the water was calm and of a bright turquoise color. The harbor was empty, but I guessed i'd would only fit a handful of small boats. I continued walking on that road, following the coastline and, in just a few minutes, I got higher up on the hill and was breath-taken by the views across Britta's bay. It was just a little after 6am and the sky was clear, the sun shining on the flowers that filled every spot of the coast that hadn't been built up on. I knew I was close to Bono's house, and I understood why a rich and famous musician would want to live there! : )

More about Dalkey is to come in future posts.

Highlights of the last few weekends

July 23-25

Friday: Socializing

- TGIF: Food, drinks and relaxed conversation with colleagues.
- Paul's farewell drinks at Scruffy Murphy's.
- House-warming party at my old place on Charlotte Quay : )
- The MOST INCREDIBLE experience I've had in Ireland so far!!! This needs a paragraph of its own!

Not knowing the train schedules, I walked back to Trinity College from the house-warming party in order to catch the NiteLink. I slept through the bus ride until Dun Laoghaire, where I realized I didn't have my house keys. I got off in Dalkey and texted my housemate, hoping that my text message would wake her up and I wouldn't need to knock on the door at my arrival. She didn't reply, but as soon as I screecked the gate open, I heard my name from across the street. She was at a neighbor's trying to top up her phone credit to reply to me!

I was tired but accepted her invitation to go to a local pub, where her friend was at the moment. Oh my god! As we walked in, we didn't hear loud drunkard conversations but sweet singing voices! A bunch of 45-65 year-old men, a handful of 25-35 yo and three women sang beautiful songs with a Guinness in their hand.I was truly impressed by the singing skills of the people in the pub. And yes, they had a few beers at that point, but they were singing real songs, not drunkard ones! I had a real Irish experience, just like that, because I forgot my house-keys at work :)

Saturday: Trip to the West

- Headed West to surf in Co. Sligo with Marcus. Strandhill.
- Beautiful pre-sunset at Strandhill.
- Jazz concert with David Lyttle Three feat, Soweto Kinch (GB) at Tobergal Lane Cafe, on Sligo International Jazz Festival.
- Accommodation: We stayed at the Harbor House hostel (Sligo). Very friendly staff, huge self-service kitchen, linen includes towel, but no breakfast included.

Sunday: Surfing, Music of the World, Cinema

- Early session at Strandhill (pix by others)
- Dun Loaighre World Cultures Festival. It was great! I walked around streets and parks, checked out the market with food and crafts from different countries, bought music CDs, listened to Irish traditional music, watched a very nice parade formed by cultural group of differente backgrounds...
- Baraka at IFI.

July 17-18

- Surfing in Co. Sligo with two wonderful people, Karin and David. Enniscrone and more.
- Surf conditions were just alright by the time we got there, but we still had two fun sessions at two different spots that weekend.
- Accommodation: We stayed at the Railway hostel (Sligo), a very conveniently located youth hostel run by an extemely friendly couple. It has a computer with wi-fi and free cereal, milk, tea and coffee.

July 10-11

- 1 milion heads at a demonstration in Catalunya to claim respect of our people's decisions.
- Balkanarama: fantastic Balkan music live show at the Button Factory (Dublin).
- Spain won the soccer World Cup with mostly Catalan players.

Respect our people!

This blog post in English (by Miquel Marzabal Galano) summarizes why last Saturday more than 1 million people demonstrated on the streets of Barcelona. Want it or not, Spain is giving us more and more reasons not to be with them.

• Following is the beginning of a letter I really liked:

"Letter to my friends in Spain 

Dear friends, 

I would like to share with you a feeling, though I'm sure you are already familiar: in Catalonia are sad, deeply disappointed and, of course, also outraged.

I know you are many and many of us want to Catalan, which I like to come to Catalonia that you feel well treated here and, even, I like to talk in Catalan may understand but not always. I know you are many and many who respetáis our national feeling, but not what you share.

To all of you to say that the Constitutional Court ruling is an unprecedented turning point and determine a before and after our relationship with the entire Spanish State. It is sad and should never have happened. The statute was drafted and voted in the Parliament of Catalonia, then refined in the Congress of Deputies (which hurt us deeply in Catalonia), and finally was ratified overwhelmingly by referendum, even if for many represented a lesser evil.

[...]" 

(Original text in Spanish, click on "In English" to read in that language)

• This article about the demonstration on Saturday starts:

"A human tide of more than a million people has swept the streets of Barcelona.

Led by the present and two previous presidents of the region of Catalonia, the huge crowd came to express its anger at a Spanish Constitutional Court ruling trimming Catalan self-rule." (Includes video)

I'm proud of my people. I'm glad that people from different colors and ideologies in Catalunya are now bonding together, realizing that what we have in Spain is not a pure democracy. Glad they are speaking up.

Great weekend!

Thank you all for the good times we shared in Kerry!

Check out my set of pictures of the trip on Flickr.

2010-04-02 20.49.19, originally uploaded by martapiqs.

3 sessions in Kerry

It's Sunday evening, and the wind has been hauling since about 11 today. It might be it for my surf sessions this week, but my Easter trip is not quite over yet!

Today I didn't surf, but it was nice to hang out at the beach and relax at home, have lunch with my roommates and take a little walk in the afternoon. We also had a couple individual reading sessions were everyone was reading their own thing (paper, book, magazine), chatting about it every now and then. After some rest and snacking (berenar), we are now heading out to dinner at the pub, and then a fancy dress party, theme E! I'm Easter decoration.

Saturday I had a great time with Úna. We had a nice and slow start at the house, and ended up with a fully packed day! While we were checking the surf at Dumps we got a report from another beach in the Brandon bay nothing was working due to the wind. Given the direction of the wind, L. suggested we head toward the tip of the Dingle peninsula to find more secluded spots, or spots that would get offshore wind. Exploring new land sounded like a good plan, and if we couldn't find waves, we would still enjoy the visit of what we heard was a beautiful area.

We crossed over to Dingle on Connor pass on what was a windy and foggy morning (videos). We left Dingle behind and continued on R559, a loop road that takes you along fantastic places. We were amazed by the views and kept repeating ourselves that the drive was worth it, despite being longer than expected. At the edge of the mountain range, where the land meets the ocean, the road was narrow and winding, and the weather miserable.

I tried taking pictures from inside the car, without much success. I then stepped out and took a few shots, while U. stayed in the car, and I think I killed my Nexus One with the rain :(  Later on the sun would come out and would make the scenery look even more amazing. From that view point, I spotted a perfect looking wave and a beach with lots of white water. We drove over to take a closer look at it. We were before a gorgeous little beach at the bottom of tall cliffs in front of the Basket islands. U. said she wasn't going to surf because the white waters had no power and the waves were too fast for her, and she was happy to walk around and be on her own while I surfed.

OMG, I had my best waves of the weekend, practically on my own, in that paradisiac secluded beach. Two guys were out but they weren't doing much. I changed, did two sun salutations, paddled out and caught a fantastic right. It was long and it had power: so much fun! After that first wave, the conditions started to change and I shifted over to the rocks by the cliff, to try and catch the wave breaking further to the right. I noticed there were two different swells, and because of the incoming tide, waves were becoming less consistent. I caught another fantastic wave, and only another couple of okay ones.

The sun was coming and going throughout the session, the color of the water turquoise. In spite of the small number of waves I caught, the setting, the quasi-solo surfing and the quality of the waves made that session the best session of my trip. U. had a good time watching the surf, walking on the shore and chatting on the phone. I got out of my wetsuit and we continued our route.

We then stopped at the Interpretative Center of the Blasket islands, which focuses the life in the islands, and Gaelic (Irish) language has a significant weight in the center too. Quite a few people used to live there, they had a school and everything, they fished and farmed. A video showed one of the younger kids to have lived there until the age of 5, and he recalled that they had everything they needed, but it was a solitary place and the weather was very rough --they sometimes had to stay home for a week at a time because the strong winds would have just blown out the house door had they opened it. They moved away from the islands at the beginning of WW2. The center is located in Dún Chaoin.

We had lunch at the cafe of Louis Mulcahy pottery studio and shop, looked at the art, and continued our route. We crossed through Dingle, bought produce for dinner, and headed back on Connor's pass, where we stopped to climb up to a little lake near the road. The sky was very clean now, with clouds flying passed by, letting the sun shine every now and then. The scenic views down to the valley were now incredible.

We got back to the house and cooked dinner for everyone, including roast beef (for them), roasted veggies, caprese salad and apple pie with ice-cream (dessert was from Frank). We hang out at the house a little longer and headed to the pub for a drink or two.

On Good Friday I'd surfed Inch reef, a famous spot that can get really good and form perfect right-handers that roll down for over a minute. It wasn't working great then, but there were some waves to be had.

Inch reef and the spot I surfed seem to be very tide-sensitive: when I got to Inch reef it didn't look great --two of the guys went out and caught a couple of waist-to-shoulder high rather fat waves, but that was it for quite a while. The good side of it is that there were only a handful of people out. Then the push of incoming tide and possibly the swell we were expecting kicked in and it started to look much better. I decided to go out and a bunch of locals arrived --of course, they knew when the wave would be at its best! Some went out before me, and those who arrived just after I'd made my decision to surf got ready at the same time I did. I let them go first on the complicated path down the cliff, which involves muddy stretches and a rock climbing section that you can do grabbing a rope. I followed them on the rocks to get out. The rocks were very slippery but I made it without breaking my board, or my head.

Paddling out from that angle was easy if you timed it right. I let the first wave go for one of the locals to have it, and I waited for the next set. I caught a nice-looking over-head wave, started going right, but unfortunately it closed out on both my sides, so I had to go straight for another couple seconds, until it broke behind me. It was exciting because it was massive, but it didn't last long... I jumped off my board trying to avoid being dragged by the white waters too long, but I got caught inside anyway. I duck-dived many waves in a row and I was continuing to get pushed down; I realized it would be very hard to go back out paddling at that point, so I caught some white waters to go back to the rocks at the bottom of the cliff and I walked back to the starting point (if you can call rock skipping 'walking' :)

I only caught one nice long wave, powerful but not too steep. I rode it for a while and pulled out when I had to. This time I came back out paddling with no problem, but soon the wind picked up and chopped the surf, plus the incoming tide started to make it less consistent. I got cold and went back in quite satisfied after a challenging session in a well-known spot.

We got back in time for another surf on the north side of the peninsula, but I was tired and plenty satisfied with my surf in Inch, and the evening session wasn't very promising wave-wise. I went back to the house with Gearoid, stopping at the grocery store in Castlegregory (thanks!). We had a super nice dinner prepared by Judith, and Don and company let us know that they were having a party at their house. Most of us headed over there but I was super tired! To my relieve, Conor said he was very tired and achy as well, from the session at Inch reef :D My roommates wanted to come back early too, so we drove back together, to get some sleep before the next session on Sat.

Easter surf trip

We are staying in Fahamore, near Castlegregory, in Maherees, Co. Kerry. It's so beatiful!!! There are several peninsula-like points, and you can drive along, with water nearby on both sides. Dry long grass on the side of the road... so cool! :)

The drive down here was very nice. Mostly sunny, and beautiful views. Hardly any traffic because we left before 2pm. I got a lift from Marcus, and I really enjoyed it.

Checking the surf at Dumps

When we were in the vicinity, we went straight to look for surf because sundown was approaching. We surfed nearby, surrounded by snowy mountains and moving dark clouds, and we caught nicely peeling waist-to-chest high waves under a gorgeous sunset.

It was dark when we finished changing and we took off at 9:15, starving! We went back to meet with the rest and found our houses. Dropped stuff off and headed to the pub. More and more people joined us at the pub, as they were arriving from their cities at different times. Since it was the night before Good Friday and it is forbidden to sell alcohol in Ireland on Good Friday, the pub closed at midnight (last drinks call at 11:30), so we continued chit-chatting at Marcus, Florian and Paul's place.

First light, Sunday

First light, Sunday, originally uploaded by martapiqs.

Waiting for my surf buddies to come pick me up this morning.

Killiney hill

Killiney hill, originally uploaded by martapiqs.

Recommended!! Killiney Hill: 360º scenic view from Howth and Dublin down to Bray. The views from Killiney hill are gorgeous and people know it, because it was almost as crowded as Las Ramblas (ok, I'm exaggerating because my view of what is crowded has changed since I've become an adopted Irish).

The top

Dalkey, Howth and Sandycove



Dalkey island



Bray bay

I headed down to the DART station cruising down from Killiney hill. When I was about to buy my ticket, a voice let me know on the speakers that "No bikes are allowed on DART". WTF!!!!!!!!!

I had to cycle back to Dublin!! Of course, the weather changed in a couple of minutes: it started to rain (while the sun was still out). But Ireland being Ireland, the rain stopped a couple of minutes later, and, although the ride back home was a bit painful (my legs are not used to this much cycling!), the atmosphere was clean and crisp and the sun shone incredibly beautiful through dark clouds :D

Dalkey on a cruiser

A pub

I'm sitting in a pub in Dalkey. I came in at around 1:15 and it was quite empty, but it had a nice atmosphere. From what I've gathered since I moved here, most pubs are closed in the morning (though the one in Cliffoney was open on Sunday morning when I was there, I thought probably because there is no cafe or other restaurant to go to --interestingly enough, though, they don't serve coffee in the morning!)

The pub has a good amount of natural light on both ends of the big room even when the sun is covered by clouds. The central part has been nicely splattered with those small bulbs that consume lots of energy and look cool --those are above the tables running along the long bar.

There was a couple stitting by the windows, and another couple further into the pub. I first sat at a table near a guy who was eating soup, just cuz I liked the lights on the tables in that area. I waited for awhile and since noone came to take my order, I got up to use the restroom. I then discovered another part of the pub --three steps higher, there is another area with more side tables and a pool. It gets loads of natural light, and since it's sunny, I decided to move.

Mmmm, I like my new location. My chowder order didn't seem to come, but it was all good because I was relaxed drinking my turkish-pressed coffee. Several members of the staff apologized for the delay and offered me a free drink to make up for the wait. I ordered a tea and the chowder came.. mmmm delicious! Not thick, full a yummy seafood and smoked salmon! I really enjoyed that and the tea :D

Today being Saturday, there are a bunch of men drinking pints by the bar.


Great Vibe

The lady who served me at the pub was super nice, and so were the other staff.
After paying, I went outside and sat at the picnic tables on the street to pick up the cafe next door's connection. The server joked about it. Then a few men from the area addressed me. I told the one guy that I may be moving into that area and asked him where I could find out about flat openings, but he couldn't help. A minute after he went back into the pub to join his lads, a young fella came out and offered help, because the old man had talked about me --and he couldn't really help me, but it was nice to talk to a younger local XD

Everyone else that I talked to or crossed paths with in Dalkey seemed really nice. Like in Santa Cruz (California), if you look at people's eyes when you walk down the street, you'll end up smiling to or greeting everyone.

Ringsend to Dalkey by bike

Today I went from Ringsend to Dalkey on a loaner cruiser bike from work. My intention was to come back home by DART...

Sunset in the West

Sunset in the West, originally uploaded by martapiqs.

Co. Sligo

Co. Sligo, originally uploaded by martapiqs.

Strandhill on Saturday

This weekend I went surfing with three fantastic guys. They've been surfing here for a long time and they do most of their surf trips in camper vans. What a blast!

Estimating the surf, originally uploaded by martapiqs.

On Saturday we surfed Strandhill with strong rip currents and lumpy waves, but if you manage to catch a wave, it was fun! I was surfing with no booties so after catching one really fun wave I went back in --I couldn't feel my feet. My wave was nice and long, kinda fat but with power, and I loved my new fish!! It was a left (my back side), and I was able to cut back without any effort, and to go down the line choosing whether to be at the bottom or the upper part of the wall. I bought a new pair of booties (on top of the two new pairs I had in Dublin!)

On Sat. afternoon and Sunday we surfed Easky. It was nice and mellow. Today I got stoked, catching quite a few waves and manouvreing my little fish with no problem. Oh my god, my surfing level would be so much better if I'd used a similar board years ago!! Anyway, what is done is done, and now it only remains to train outside of the water during the week, and rip it on the weekends :P

Today, the wind was offshore and the waves waist to shoulder high on the average sets. The second session of both days I was exhausted and could barely stand on my board by the end of the session (I've hardly exercised in the last 5 weeks!). Other than surfing, I had a great time hanging out with the guys in their vans and in the local pubs :D

More photos on my Flickr page.

Changes on the blog

Between yesterday and today, I've made some changes on this blog:

- I've changed its design and layout, using the new Template Designer (español), launched on Blogger in Draft this week.

• Both the post field and the right column are wider - that allows me to use larger pictures in the posts, and some more text in author's description and the interesting links.
• The color combination now turns around different shades of blues, rather than greens.
• I changed the font of the title and the author's descriptions, and I made the publication date smaller than the one that comes as a default for this template.

- I've added a Google Translate gadget so that my family and friends can read the blog in their own language --I have to admit that the automatic translation into Catalan is still quite poor, but hopefully with our feedback Google will continue to improve it.

- I've added another links list, Check it out, and, generally speaking, I'm planning on adding more info on the column.

I hope that work will eventually (sooner rather than later!) be less time-consuming and I'll do both more leisurely activities worth relating here, and will feel like posting more regularly than up until now.

Hiking in Howth

Last week I went to Howth and I hiked inland on the peninsula, rather than taking the trail that goes around it. From DART, I went West and took the road to the Golf Club. I continued pretty much straight on, leaving the golf courses and facilities behind me. I was amazed by the variety of bird songs I heard, and by the views one can see from the top of the two hills I climbed.

From Howth - click to see the photos in Picasa

Big waves

C-SKINS presents - Fergal Smith - February http://vimeo.com/10086044 Seen on one of the blogs I follow. Crazy, huh?

blue, turquoise, green

Today I went from Greystones to Bray on the Cliff trail. Beautiful hike!

Most people do it Bray to Greystones, but the other way around makes more sense because the sun is behind you and you can enjoy the views as you walk. It was a last minuted decision, and I thought about it because I needed to be in Bray at 4pm and wanted to enjoy the gorgeous sun before then --I googled Greystones to Bray hike, looked at this page and did the same route. Another site said the hike takes 3h. I figured it would take me less time, so I adventured on the first DART train I could catch. (I found out later that 3h must be the whole loop, because it only took me 1.5h with detours included)

From DART station in Greystones, turn south and then toward the beach under the train tracks. You'll get to the boardwalk of Greystones beach, a fantastic place for families and elders to stroll along. The whole trail is supposed to go along the coast, although the currently is a big construction site on the way: the Greystones harbor.


Past the harbor there are very muddy sections of the path, but the views are just gorgeous! First high cliffs with turquoise water on dark sand. Then a narrower path between natural walls of trees and plants. Later, in the shadow of the hills, more cliff-top views over the rocks with sea life. Down below goes the rail, and there are some ruins of old buildings that I didn't figure out what they used to be.



(to be continued...)