To my mother.

Welcome to the Mother's Day edition of my blog! I've been pondering all week what I'd be posting about today and I was drawing a lot of blanks. Then a few days ago people started changing their facebook profile pictures to shots of them and their mom's. I thought this was a nice gesture, and it got me thinking about how legitimately bummed I am that I'm away from my mom today. I sent her a card (hope it got there on time!), but that really doesn't feel like enough. 'What can I do?' I asked myself, and then (as a bit of an inspiration from the facebook thing) it occurred to me that I could dedicate today's blog to my amazing mom. I set out on the town yesterday with the intention of capturing images of the things I see here everyday that remind me of her, just to let her know that even though I'm half a world away, I am still thinking about her all the time.

My beautiful mother.

So, without further ado, I present: things around Galway that remind me of my mom!

The first thought in my mind was flowers. My sister and I usually buy flowers for our mom. If I remember correctly, she really likes white roses and lilies. I had hopes of finding a flower shop or patches of blooms around town. I was met with severe disappointment. There's a low brick wall down from my house, and every seven feet or so there's a square section filled with dirt and a small flower. So, sorry mom. No nice flower pictures for you. I hope you can accept this mediocre thing instead.

Fortunately, I believe that the rest of the blog will more than make up for it :)

While I was bending down to these flowers, attempting to capture something nice in the harsh light, I was accosted (in a friendly manner) by the most gregarious stranger-cat that I've ever met.

At first I was apprehensive, I don't know for sure that he's owned by someone else and I'm not too keen on fleas and rabid strays (ha). I see him in the backyard all the time and he likes to meow at the sliding glass door. It's tempting to let him in, but I never have.

After he proved to be a big softie who just wanted to love me, I decided that he definitely reminded me of my mom. She is, after all, practically a crazy cat lady <3

It's really hard to take pictures of cats that stay within a foot of you.

Guess I'm his property now.

Looooove meeeeeeeee.

Shortly after I took this he actually ran *into* my lens.

He heard a noise. Or perhaps he saw a bird. Either way, this is about the time he lost interest in me.

I had a really nice time snapping away at this pleasant feline. I bid him a good day and, with renewed spirits after the flower let down, continued on toward town. The flowers were really just a generic idea, because I had a few other things in mind as well that were a bit more personally relevant.

After a Friday night.

Just at the edge of my neighborhood I spied this. No other glasses. No alcohol containers. This thing didn't even appear to be broken in anyway. Wine glasses automatically make me think of my mom. She's an aficionado in my mind (but maybe that's because I know nothing about wine), but I'm pretty sure she'd never drink in the bushes on a patch of dirt. ...pretty sure. 

Only twenty feet away. Coincidence?

I paused in front of this laundromat. I wasn't sure why, really, because I haven't gone to one in a long time. And we have definitely had a washer and dryer at the house for as long as I can remember. I know that back in the 90s my mom (along with every other adult at that time) had a serious issue with shoulder pads and dry clean only fabrics. So she was frequently dropping in and out of the dry cleaner for her business clothing needs. There was a laundromat next door to it. 

That's when I realized why this building really made me think of my mom. It's story time!

When I was around... six or seven I got very sick and threw up all over the room that I shared with my sister. I mean, truly all over. Exorcist style. (fun fact: I still vomit this way :D) So obviously all of the blankets on our beds needed to be washed. The next day my mom and I went to the laundromat to get the washing all done at once. I still wasn't feeling well, and I remember falling asleep on the newly washed blankets that were folded up in one of those rolling baskets. :] It tickles me to think about being that tiny. Sorry about that mom, but it makes for a fairly nice memory for me, hehe.

Not just nationwide, but worldwide.

I'm pretty sure that no one actually enjoys Dominoes, but people certainly still eat it. I didn't know it was international, but there it is.

Anywho! When I was... I don't know, maybe twelve or thirteen my mom worked at Dominoes as a third job. That's right. Three jobs at once. She didn't do it for very long (that I remember, anyway), and she certainly used that time to beat (verbally, of course) into my sister and me the importance of tipping the delivery person.

One day my sister and I were home in the evening. There was a knock on the door and we asked who it was (because we knew not to open the door to unknown persons!). We hear a response, 'Pizza!', and we open the door to find our mom standing in her Dominoes finest holding pizza and soda. That memory always makes me smile.

Again, I had no idea this was international!

TJ Maxx, TK Maxx, different letter but totally the same company. Also, one of my mom's favorite places to shop! She is one high class lady, and, like all sensible humans, she loves a good bargain too! Family trips to TJ Maxx are always a lot of fun. My sister will invariably find a jock strap that has a picture of a man's ass on the back of the packaging (true story), my mom will look at the most hideous purses that I've ever seen and insist on asking for my feedback even though she knows I think they're ugly, and I will bemoan the fact that I can't buy fun cheap bras because no one ever has my size.

We always leave the store with a cart that is far fuller than it should be, and all of us eyeing the packages of Moose Munch that are in the impulse section.

I love family trips to TJ Maxx.

I've never ridden in a taxi as many times in my life as I have since being in Ireland. Now that I live in town I don't have need of them, but last summer I used them almost every weekend. It got expensive. 

But this isn't about Irish taxis. This is about Seattle taxis and their terrifying drivers.

In December 2006 my mom, sister and I spent a weekend in Victoria B.C., just us girls. We had a great weekend, and after riding the Clipper back down to Seattle we needed a taxi to take us to the ferry to get home.

Now, there are a lot of things that could have contributed to why this driver was so crazy, but the simple fact remains that he drove straight past the ferry terminal and when we pointed that fact out to him, he flipped a U turn and proceeded to drive straight past it again. My mom yelled at him to stop and he simply slammed on the breaks in the middle of the road. My sister and I sprang out of the car and grabbed our luggage from the trunk as fast as we possibly could. It was both terrifying and hilarious.

Brown Thomas

What we have here is an extremely expensive and high class department store. Even if I could afford something from in there, I still wouldn't buy it because none of it is my style. I went in there once while it was raining just to look around. Stuffy. Expensive. Maybe even pretentious. Brands that are exorbitantly over priced and popular. 

It's the kind of place that my mom would go into just for fun, just to look around. She'd think it was a good time to check out the Coach purses and admire the (fugly) shoes. And she's right, with her it would be fun :) She'd egg me to try and find something to try on, maybe even something to buy for me if she were feeling squirrely enough and we were on vacation.

I was confused the first time I saw this.

I don't wear Tommy Hilfiger, and (to my knowledge) have only once owned something from this company. That something was a pair of shoes.

It was Christmas when I was maybe... thirteen or so (somewhere between eleven and fourteen, I can't remember!). I unwrapped a package to reveal a Tommy Hilfiger shoe box. I stopped, concerned that I had accidentally opened someone else's gift. I looked up at my mom and said, 'Is this for me?' and I was completely serious! I didn't wear any big brands, not really. Turns out it was a pair of black and white shoes that looked very similar to Converse. They were indeed for me. Cracks me up every time I think about it.

 Expensive shoes and purses.

I'd never paid any mind to this store before yesterday. I was walking down Shop Street with hawk eyes, locking onto anything that immediately said, 'mom' to me. All it took was one glance at the leather purses and 115 euro shoes for me to stop and take a few pictures.

My mom is a classy lady. I don't think I'll ever subscribe to her taste in shoes and/or purses, but she certainly has a sophisticated style and taste all her own. Well, when she's not rocking band t-shirts and jeans, that is <3 Mom you are so diverse and awesome.

Last summer I was scouring the city to find a nice gift for my mom. I popped into every single shop in Galway (that may be a hyperbole) to find something for her. This shop had a lot of great things, but it was too expensive.

It was filled with all manner of lovely clothing, purses and shoes. Jewelry, dishes, glasses. Figurines and trinkets. I wished very badly that I could have bought something for her here, but most of the things that she would have loved were 70 euros or more, and I couldn't afford that. Still can't, actually :( But, when I pass this everyday, I think of how much she'll enjoy looking around in there when she and I get to be in Ireland together for a trip someday.

This one is pretty simple. Just a wine bar. It looks classy and almost dive-ish. It makes me remember when she briefly worked at that tiny wine bar in downtown Poulsbo. 

One time (was I in junior high or high school...?) my friends and I stopped in and visited her while she was working. We sat and chatted and drank soda. That little restaurant was right on the water in Poulsbo, and whenever I take the boardwalk for a stroll I pass it and remember that day. Mom, you are everywhere.

I will miss this food so much.

Alright, so this one is a little strange.

I don't think my mom is really that big of a fan of french fries (or 'chips' if you're not American), and even though she likes seafood I don't know how she feels about fish and chips. I should ask her. Mom, let me know, 'kay?

McDonagh's reminds me of my mom because of something that happened the first time I ate here last summer. I was on the hunt for delicious french fries, and a friend told me to go there and order fish and chips. I told him that I didn't like fish, and he informed me that they served chicken too.

Feeling positive and hungry, I marched into the famous McDonagh's. I was not prepared for what happened next.

Anyone that followed my blog during my stay in Ireland last summer will probably remember the first time I ate chicken at McDonagh's. I waited for my food in the crowded restaurant, looking around nervously at the tables overflowing with people and wondering where I would sit. My food was handed to me and I looked down in horror at the on-bone chicken on my plate. I don't do well with boned chicken. I prefer my chicken boneless. 

I edged onto a table bench and stared at my plate some more. I was hungry, alone and nervous, surrounded by strangers and completely clueless as to how I was going to eat my food. I thought of my mom and all the times she's helped my sister and me remove meat from the bone and how patient she's always been with our squeamish natures. I don't know how she's dealt with it for so long. I gathered that positive, motherly nature energy and began to hack away at my chicken, determinedly removing the uh-mazingly delicious chicken from the bone. I made a huge mess and I was so proud of myself.

So whenever I pass McDonagh's (or go in and eat) I think of how proud my mom would have been to watch me eating all by myself. I can't wait to take her there someday.

This one is pretty self-explanatory as well. I've already stated that my mom is a classy lady; she loves her some diamonds and gold. Although, I'm glad to say that she finally 100% migrated to platinum instead of hideous yellow gold. Bleagh.

There are a lot of fancy and expensive jewelry shops here and every single one makes me think of my mom wearing her jewelry, glinting in the sunlight and smiling. She worked hard for her pieces. It may just look like something expensive to other people, but I remember when her diamonds were tiny and clouded. I know their progression as we went from quite poor to the nice (but not extravagant or rich) life that we have now. They're a testament to how hard she works, how determined she is and how far she's come.

As far as wine goes I am just a lost cause. Mom loves wine (as previously stated), and whenever she gets something new she asks if I want to try. I pretty much always refuse. They all taste the same (horrible) and smell the same (gross). I know that they don't actually taste and smell the same, but they do to me. It's odd because I have a fairly keen sense of smell, so perhaps the delicate differences are lost in the general overpowering 'wine' scent. Either way, it's not an enjoyment for me.

Although, this brings me to another story that was scarring and could perhaps explain my disdain for wine scent.

This takes place when I was younger, probably sometime in junior high. My mom was enjoying a glass of wine in the evening and I was sitting with her. I complained that the wine smelled bad, and to demonstrate I decided to take a really deep inhale through my nose. She, on the other hand, chose that moment to give a tremendous exhale through her mouth to share the wine scent in all of its overpowering glory. For those that are paying attention, this means that I received a blast of wine breath into the vacuum that was my nose. 

It was horrible.

'XL' bag my ass. I already ate them all.

The last photo I have for today is a bag of Easter edition peanut M&Ms. My mom, well my whole family really, is a huge fan of M&Ms. They're in the house fairly often, and the frequency has increased ever since my sister had her son over three years ago. Elijah really loves them. However, they're most notable around the holidays. My mom seems to have a soft spot for the Christmas edition M&Ms, and our cup runneth over with them during the month of December.

While grocery shopping yesterday I was on the hunt for some M&Ms and I came across the last of the Easter bags. I smiled as I pulled a bag down, thinking about my mom excitedly coming home with holiday colors during various months of the year.

During my walk back to the house I tore open the bag and began popping them into my mouth. I smiled and thought about how much my mom loves them. And then I cried. And cried and cried. I must have been quite the sight, walking down the street with grocery bags, headphones, M&Ms and tears. Pretty sure if anyone had asked, a simple, 'I miss my mom' would have had them nodding and sending me on my way.

So, happy mother's day, mom. I hope you enjoyed the best gift I could come up with considering the ~4500 miles that are between us today. I love you!

-MJ

Andrew should not read this!

We'll see if I can fill in a paragraph or so of words, just in case Andrew doesn't heed the title and remembers before he reaches any photos that he can't read this entry yet!

There's a reason that he can't read this though! Normally I'd be very upset if he didn't read my blog. He says he's my biggest fan,  been reading since I started it. I didn't know this. Either way, he can't read this blog for another... month and a half or so because it contains photos of his birthday present! It's something small and fun that I thought of a few weeks ago. Nothing big or fancy or even particularly special in the traditional sense. I have no idea what to get for him (and really no money to speak of) so I was pondering what I could do or make that would be thoughtful and personally relevant. Then I thought of something that excited me quite a bit!

Many years ago, probably 2006, Andrew gave me a gift of a papercraft Dreamcast. I believe it was after he returned from Japan. He and his brother had been making them. (I may have a few exact details slightly incorrect here, but what I do know for sure is that the first time I ever saw or heard of a papercraft was when Andrew gave me that tiny Dreamcast)

I recall thinking it was strange, but neat. Fast forward to March of last year when I visited him in California. His housemate is big into papercrafts, and had some very large and intricate ones on his desk. I was impressed.

Now, getting ever closer to the relevancy of this blog, Andrew and I have kept in constant contact since Christmas of last year. That's a whole other story. The point here is that one of the ways we used to keep in contact was by playing Minecraft. It's, in its own humble way, an MMORPG. We could play together in a virtual environment. That coupled with phone conversations was as close to hanging out as we could get, seeing as we were in different states. This has carried on over to my being in Ireland too.

Within Minecraft there's a special little mob called a Creeper. It's green, it chases you, it hisses and it explodes. Your dogs won't fight them for you. They'll destroy your structures and your possessions. They're a bummer. And they have the added entertainment value of making me scream and jump when I turn around a dark corner and they're suddenly there taking up my whole screen. True story. Andrew gets to see it on the webcam.

For all of these little bits of information combined, I decided to make him this:

A tiny papercraft Creeper. I'd like to print out some larger versions to transport back to LA with me and then assemble them once I arrive. I'm going to do my best to get this one back to him in one non-flattened piece, but that seems highly unlikely.

It was a bitch to put together; I used tape, clear fingernail polish and super glue. It's just so small! I'm happy with it though, it's my very first papercraft :] I decided to take it on a little photo shoot too. It inspired me so very much. Here are the rest of the pictures of the Creeper enjoying a sunny spring day. Enjoy!

-MJ

So far I'm not doing a very good job.

A few weeks ago, at Andrew's suggestion, I decided that I would do a blog post every Sunday. It's important to me to keep this blog going, and having a set day is certainly a good idea. Currently I have weekends off and I spend Sundays doing, well, nothing. So it seemed like as good a day as any to set as my blogging day. I think I was successful one, maybe two weeks in a row and then I forgot yesterday. Fail.

I suppose I have reasons, if it seems worth it to post them. Although, my reasons are a tad depressing :\ I've probably mentioned it already (but I can't remember), but this year's trip to Ireland has seen me riddled with homesickness. It seems like a fractional off-shoot of basic depression. I feel mopey and I have a difficult time motivating myself to do anything. In fact, I haven't taken a single photo since my post last week. Oh sure, I've seen lots of things worth taking photos of, and I've absolutely had the time to take and edit photos. But, the motivation! The sweet, sweet necessary motivation; she is lacking, you see?

Although, I'd really like to post about something positive and productive so I may be grasping at straws here but oh well, I've been spending an awful lot of time on Pinterest, that website I mentioned last week. I touched briefly on my photo collections that I've created, but I believe I have more to say on the subject now!

In an effort to make sure that my constant internet browsing and clicking remains even slightly productive, I make sure to add photos to my various photography boards on a regular basis. If you're curious, here is my profile and all of my boards. Anyone who is interested can see what I've been up to and what I've been collecting. It feels really good to cruise through all of the boards and poke around into other peoples' collections. I feel so inspired whenever I scroll through my own boards, and it's exciting to find another user that has a really strong photo collection.

It's actually been very helpful in causing my brain to churn ideas and catalogue inspirations. All I need now are some willing models and more AA batteries for my flash. Also, I had no idea that I liked black and white portraits so much. My portrait board is almost entirely black and white. That was a fascinating discovery. A useful one, I think. Perhaps converting more photos to black and white, or shooting them with a conversion in mind, will open new creative doors for myself and change the way I think about a setup. Either way I'm looking forward to shooting people again.

So even though I haven't been taking any photos, I've been doing a lot of research and inspiration combing. That's something that I've never really done enough of, and I can say I'm proud of myself for finally doing it. Ryan was always encouraging me to look at other work and to be inspired and broaden my horizons. Why do I have to hate studying so much? I'm getting better though :]

-MJ

Nothing to see here. Not really.

Alright, so I've hardly taken any photos this week. I have a new schedule at work that is conducive to sleeping in and so far I am completely taking advantage of it! I have a few random photos of my week so I suppose I'll post those and get on with it. I also have some photos that I've taken with my cellphone, so those might be handy as well. The camera on my phone here is 5 mp, which is impressive to me because my phones have only ever had around 2 mp.

I have photos from the inside of Ashford Castle, but only on my cellphone. While I was in there I didn't have my Nikon with me, so I snapped as many shots with my phone as I could. I was in awe. The ceilings were so tall. The detail was so great. 

This fireplace alcove was fantastic. Two high benches, large table and seriously close proximity to the fireplace. I wonder if they ever use it?

When did mirror frames stop being so elaborate and insanely awesome? I would love something as detailed as this.

Outside one of the front windows of Rosleague Manor in Letterfrack. The wedding here was so fun, the bride and groom were incredibly happy. Some couples are happy, and then some couples are happy. It was inspiring.

Another great frame and old mirror inside of the bridal suite.

The front right side of Rosleague Manor. Inside of those windows is the dining area.

I feel like I've photographed the opposite side of that hill from Connemara National Park last September. Rosleague Manor is quite close to the National Park, so I guess that's plausible.

I've been watching this tree for the past eight and a half weeks. Its blooming has been quite enjoyable! The fluffy clouds don't hurt either.

My birthday envelope from Andrew :] Excellent handwriting and a lot of lovely words and drawings inside.

A stack of letters that I dropped into the mail box last week. Cassidy gave me a stationary pack so I could write letters. I do love colors :)

So yeah, a low key week. Things are trucking along at work. I stay after closing to work on the computers, clearing out old files and urging them to run faster. I'll be doing clean installs soon, I'm just prepping things and making sure all important items are backed up elsewhere.

There was a wasp in my room today. It was horrifying. 

I apologize for this atrocity of a blog. I'm attempting to stay on a regular blogging schedule and this week I have absolutely no subject matter.

-MJ

Ashford Castle

I don't know where to start.

The beginning, I suppose, but Ashford Castle was so incredible that my thoughts about it are all jumbled. Let's just start typing and see where it gets me.

Peter had a wedding there on Friday. The family was from Canada and they were very well off. Total coverage of the day included four photographers (two from America and two from Ireland) and a staff of two videographers from Ireland. It was a small wedding in terms of party members; only four including bride and groom, and the guests numbered around 30 or so. Peter was hired on as a secondary photojournalistic type job, and he asked if I wanted to go with so I could see the castle. I agreed enthusiastically.

Ashford Castle is a five star hotel. When you enter the sprawling 300 acre grounds you see a posting that says 'Ashford Casle 1228 A.D.' 1228! My mind started reeling from that second and it didn't stop for another eight hours. It was turned into a hotel in 1939. Apparently it's amongst the top hotels in the world. It's definitely the nicest place that I have ever been, inside AND out.

When we arrived we drove across a small bridge and through excellent gates, up to the front of the building. I followed Peter in to the reception area and it was extremely difficult to keep my mouth closed.  He bustled around meeting relevant people and I stood off to the side with some of his equipment. The second that he walked away I pulled out my phone and wandered to a few different rooms. I snapped pictures and kept reminding myself to close my mouth because I was in a nice place and it's unattractive to walk around with my mouth open. The rooms were unbelievable. High ceilings, detail out the wazoo, ornate old intricate wooden rich beautiful. After I took in those few rooms as best I could I turned and looked out the windows. At that point I made an audible noise of shock and awe while I looked upon beautifully manicured grounds, rock walls, outlook posts, a smooth lake and far distant islands. I wanted to scream from excitement, but fortunately I did not.

I fidgeted nervously in front of an intensely decorated mirror, trying to get my hair into a nice ponytail. When Peter finally came back I followed after him and we were set to start photographing the bridal party along with the rest of the photographers. The videographers were instructed to go with the guests onto a toured boat ride that takes a circuit around the lake. So elaborate!

The family really couldn't have asked for more gorgeous weather. A slightly cool late morning gave way to a comfortably warm, borderline hot, afternoon. There was a slight haze to the sky that kept the rays from being too entirely overpowering on the eyes. The time was slow going while we all swept around the castle, inside and out, snapping literally thousands of photos of the bride and groom in loving poses. This afforded me great opportunities to catalog locations that I would come back to later when I was allowed to frolic off on my own with my real camera.

Once we got out to the back of the castle where the fountain was we were greeted with bird trainers. The father of the bride (a talented hobby photographer and wedding coordinator) had arranged for the falcon and owl trainers to come out so that the bride and groom could have photos taken while holding the birds. Ashford Castle has a falconry on site, and this is an event that they offer to guests. Now, I don't like birds. In fact, I hate birds. They freak me out. However, these were absolutely gorgeous. I've never seen a falcon before, and I've certainly never been that close to an owl before. They were stunning, bold, intense. It was enthralling and I am so sad that I don't have any good pictures of that, just one small shot from my phone. Ah well.

By two o'clock I was allowed to cut loose and spend the rest of the day on my own. We were scheduled to be there until seven, so that gave me five glorious hours to explore at my whim and leisure. I was bursting with excitement as I bounded to the car. At this point it was pretty hot outside, so I took a moment to relax in the shade of the car and drink some water. I snatched up my headphones for some upbeat ambience and set off to the fountain area.

I hardly knew what to photograph first. I ended up taking around 300 photos, which was nice. I could have taken so many more if I had had some people with me. It was practically painful for me to be among so many striking locations, perfect for portrait photography, and to be completely by myself. A few times I derailed into taking goofy pictures of me smiling since I was having such a great time.

I revisited a few places that I had already been with the bride and groom, and then I wandered past where we had all sat to have lunch. It has been a long time since I've been outside for that long, and it has certainly been a while since I've had that much warm sunshine. It was never that hot when I was here last summer (which is ridiculous), so yeah I was pretty out of practice with dealing with the heat. I also seemed to have forgotten how quickly I can run when I hear a bee near my face! I found myself quite alone along a very long stretch of pavement. I passed a lot of very fun and quirky trees, they all had faces. At one point I stopped to send a message to Andrew and a bee landed on my finger. I screamed extremely loudly and scared some birds out of a tree.

Eventually I came to a fork in the road. I picked the left because it was sunnier and I could see a building off in the distance. The building turned out to be a small schoolhouse, which looked as though it had been turned into a small cottage for people to stay in. For this reason I didn't take any photos of it, it seemed fairly private. It had a lovely little garden in front of it though. The road continue to curve past this building, but I had no idea where it led to so I turned and went back to the fork. I didn't have a water bottle with me and I recalled Peter saying the grounds spread over 300 acres. It seemed best to stick relatively close to the castle.

The opposite direction took me through some shaded type walking areas and eventually past an equestrian paddock. I passed more animated trees, lovely tufts of grass and scattered fields of flowers. Before too long I popped out in front of the castle, along a field that was next to a winding brook. This field had lovely patches of daisies all over it, and I decided that this would be the day that I made my first complete daisy chain. I have tried in the past, but I could never find enough thick stemmed daisies to make one that would go around my head. To my delight, Ashford Castle was rife with thick stemmed daisies. I found myself covered in pollen and smelling of fresh flowers, with a lovely daisy chain around my glowing red hair. I was the prettiest this day.

Seeing as I found myself next to the car again I decided to sit and rest and drink more water. I took this time to review all of the photos I had already taken. Then, and I'm quite proud of this, I did something I hadn't thought to do before: I looked through the photos to see not only what I had already captured, but what I hadn't captured enough of. I used the time to think about what I'd wish I had taken more photos of. I feel absolutely ridiculous for never having done this before, because there have been plenty of times where I review the photos once I'm home and go, 'Darn I should have taken more shots of {blank}'. It proved to be extremely helpful because I ended up getting a slew of new photos after that.

Feeling reinvigorated and quenched, I set back to the fountain side of the castle and took a different direction. I found a lovely staircase and some fun doors. I also gained close access to the lake and found a beautiful stretch of reeds. But my most rewarding find of all manifested itself in the form of a small dungeon area. I really don't have the words to describe how I felt when I came upon it. At first it looked simply like a small holding area with an ornate gate. I took a few pictures and wondered whether or not I wanted to go in; it seemed awfully dark and wet and creepy. I poked my head inside though and found a spectacularly lit (and fabulously colored) staircase. I immediately ran in and dropped to my knees in the dark and started to take photos. I felt so full, so satisfied, and then I turned around. The door that I had just come through was presenting me yet another gorgeous photo opportunity. Sunlight was pouring in through the open door, and everything else was near blackness. I felt thankful, overwhelmed, and was cursing the fact that I was in such a breathtaking place alone.

It was nearly six o'clock at this point and I was feeling quite exhausted. I had been out in the sun since eleven and was running around just about that whole time. I thought about how tired Peter must be feeling, since he was the one actually chasing people around. I spied a crooked staircase next to a tiny parapet type outpost, so I sat down in the shade. I watched hotel guests go for jogs, walks, photo excursions and I was even visited by a small and adorable dog. I smiled and absorbed and thanked and thought and sighed.

Eventually I decided that I wanted more water and I also wanted to read my book a little while I waited for Peter to wrap up. My plans were foiled though, because he had taken his car to head off to the church! No matter, I thought to myself, for I have Harry Potter on my ipod :] so I found a comfortable staircase near the entrance gates with a nice view of the brook and I read Harry Potter while listening to music. It was bliss.

There are so many more things that happened, but that's how my brain has conjured up the story. I have to go back someday, and I have to have people with me. It's a private establishment, so one can't just waltz in to look around. Suppose I'll have to save up money and stay there a night ;)

-MJ