Ghostblog Hantu dan Mitos

In late August I took a drive over to the West Coast of Norway. The scenery was magnificent, but since I'm a lazy slob I didn't really stop to take pictures in a lot of places. These are from the Bøya glacier, as are the videos. Cows walking in the middle of the road, a few miles to the south.

Our last touristy thing of the trip was a quick visit to the Hill of Tara, one of the most important crowning sites for the ancient kings of Ireland. For the last time, TripAdvisor: "You can truly feel history in the earth at Tara; this is where the kings of Ireland were crowned for centuries. The site contains several burial mounds and large fields perfect for assembly, even some Christian sites. Also, some very good views of the surrounding countryside." Old burial chamber. Some heathen, or possibly papist mumbo-jumbo. It looks like one of those clootie wells I've seen in Scotland. This sloping field was reportedly the actual place of crowning. Naturally, I was skeptical of Tara (my buddy & travel companion Massimo in the back).

After the ancient history, we drove off to see some more recent stuff. The Battle of the Boyne was a decisive Protestant & English victory over the Catholic & Irish and this and some other skirmishes of that era is what the Orangemen of Northern Ireland are still marching for today. TripAdvisor: "Visited here with a friend to see where the papists were decisively beaten and the foundations were laid for a modern, democratic Britain (and Ireland). We both learned something new from the exhibition in the visitor center, and there's a good audiovisual presentation, both at the center and in a building outside. Also, friendly staff and nice surroundings. What I did not get was a proper sense of the battle in the context of where I was. As far as I could ascertain, there was no audioguide, no map you could take with you to stroll the grounds and imagine troop movements and such, which I am used to from especially American battlefields." The battle was fought on this fi...

We then went back to the bus stop and got on another drive, to famous Newgrange. Again, my TripAdvisor review comes in handy: "Newgrange was built more than 5,000 years ago and is one of the largest neolithic structures in the world. There are several theories about why it was built and interpretations of the surrounding artwork; most likely it served a religious purpose at least partially to do with burials. You're allowed inside the burial chamber itself, but only in the presence of a guide and once inside, photos are "verboten". A fascinating moment is when you're standing in the burial chamber and the lights are turned off and you witness the recreation of the sunlight hitting the chamber during winter solstice." The mound in all its glory. This big stone was placed in front of the entrance and originally you'd have to climb over it. The ritual probably served some religious purpose. Putting artificial, pointless hindrances in the way of human progre...

Our fourth and final day was spent in four different places - five if you count the visitor center where we started. It's called Bru na Boinne and has lots of facts and some models of the famous Celtic grave mounds of the area. From my TripAdvisor review: "The visitor center has very informative exhibits about the neolithic structures in the Boyne valley area and prepares you for the trip out to Knowth and Newgrange, indeed I would deem it essential that you go here before getting on the bus to these places. The ticket sales are well organized in that people will come and ask you where you want to go (and when) before you reach the cash register and bring you the necessary stickers, which I can only surmise saves quite a bit of time. Good bathroom facilities and a very nice shop with a wide range of products." We actually visited the center in the afternoon of the third day; as it was too late to go out and see anything, they let us walk around the exhibits for free. I wo...

Thursday started out with a visit to Giant's Causeway, possibly the most famous and intriguing place on the island. According to legend (aka bullshit), it was built by a giant who wanted to fight a Scottish giant; there are several versions of the story, some incorporating the similar stones over at Staffa, an island off Oban on the Scottish west coast. Again, I'm just going to refer you to my TripAdvisor review: "Went there with a friend. Interesting rock formations, great scenery, good transportation and facilities up at the informative visitor center. Extra plus for a good range of products in the shop." Yeah, I was slightly underwhelmed, possibly because I had built it up in my head to be this yuuuge thing and when it turned out to be merely good, I was disappointed. Do have a look at the pictures: I believe this one was called the Giant's booth. Video from Giant's Causeway: Naturally, I was skeptical of Giant's Causeway. We continued towards Ireland b...

We then continued our trip up to Giants Causeway. It was too late to enter when we got up there, but we did get in some pictures of the nice surroundings. Along the way, we saw several buildings such as this. The Orangemen are still very strong in parts of Northern Ireland. There were some road closures due to repair work, so we took alternate routes that probably prolonged our journey with several hours. We're stupid. But the scenery was nice. If a bit wild and isolated at times. The small, white dots are sheep. The following pictures were taken very close to our hotel in Ballintoy, Ballycastle, and less than ten minutes from Giant's Causeway. The scenery out by the coast is at times very pretty, with the shifting interaction of light, land, clouds and waves. I also have video: Birds on a wire. I believe this formation is known as The Elephant.

We never really noticed passing into Northern Ireland. Possibly, there was a small sign somewhere, but if so, it completely escaped our attention. I started noticing slight differences in the signposting and the license plates, and that was that. We made a brief stop in Enniskillen, but the "castle" we were going to look at was extremely disappointing from the outside, and traffic & parking was a nightmare. So, we pressed on towards our intended destination for the day; Giant's Causeway. However, just outside Omagh, we spotted a sign for something called the Ulster American Folk Park, and since we're both huge fans of the US, we decided to check it out. Well, it turned out to be the clear highlight of the trip. We spent several hours walking around in the rain, looking at tons of old stuff and reconstructed buildings, talking to craftsmen and volunteers who'd given up time and resources to come talk to tourists like ourselves about things they were passionate ...