Enniskillen Castle

Hi ... Made it back from Northern Spain and now I'm back in Ireland ... Northern Ireland to be exact, where I'm standing in front of Enniskillen Castle
And here's a little geography/history lesson on Ireland ... Northern Ireland and Ireland are distinct political entities. Although they share the same island, Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom (which includes England, Wales, and Scotland) ... It uses the British pound for money. Ireland ... Or sometimes referred to as the Republic of Ireland ... Is its own country, uses the euro, etc. I know, I know ... Probably a little boring, but most Americans don't understand that when you say "Ireland" ... You might be talking about the whole island, the republic, or the province.

Camino ... The Pilgrimage of St. James

Hey, sorry you haven't heard from me in awhile, but I was in Galicia - a province in northwest Spain ... quick go find it on the map.

Why was I in Galicia? Well, it turns out I was handed off to one of Wade's work friends, Gerry, who was going on a vacation to do the Camino, otherwise known as the Way of Saint James.

As you can see the views were absolutely spectacular. And it must have been amazing sharing a 1000 year old trail from people from all around the World.

Dublin, Ireland

Now I'm in Dublin, Ireland ... capital of Ireland itself. This particular picture is of Clontarf Castle, which is just inside the city limits. It's actually a hotel now, and WE STAYED IN IT !!! So cool.

We were only here for a day, so we didn't see much ... we went to Temple Bar, walked by the Jail, and did some shopping downtown. But probably the coolest thing we saw was the Book of Kells ...

Sligo, Ireland

Hey, Shrek, here. I'm officially an international traveler now. I made it from Indianapolis to Sligo, http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifIreland. And just so you know how hard it is to make it from Indianapolis to Sligo, try asking Google Maps how to get there from here ... even those guys can't do it.

Technically speaking it was a plane from Indianapolis to Charlotte, North Carolina to Dublin, Ireland - followed by driving a car to Sligo. Yes, if you look on the map Dublin is on the east side of Ireland, and Sligo is waaayyy on the other side of Ireland. Fortunately the drive is scenic.

Sligo is actually a pretty fun place. You can see that is has a river - it's actually on the Atlantic Ocean - so the locals do a lot of sailing, surfing, and fishing. In fact, although it rains often and it's not very warm, the surfing on the west coast of Ireland is actually considered to be World reknowned.

Speaking of warmth though - it's all relative ... Sligo is on the same latitude as Labrador, Canada, which gets pretty cold - but thanks to the warm currents that hit Sligo, the temperatures can be somewhat mild for its location - in other words, it seldom snows in winter even though it's almost as far north as Anchorage, Alaska.

Indianapolis, Indiana

Hey, just arrived in the mail to Indianapolis at Wade and Patrick's House and home of the Indianapolis 500. Wade is actually going to Ireland in the next day or two, so I thought I would hitch a ride with him. Since we're leaving in a few days, I didn't get a chance to visit the Indianapolis 500 or the Circle ... maybe next time.

No telling which places I'll go, so I thought it might be a good idea to make a map ... check it out.

Introduction

Hi, my name is Shrek and I am traveling the World thanks to Haydon, a 5th grader at Wallace Grade School in Ottawa, IL.

Sorry for no pictures yet, but I'm in FedEx envelope and it's really dark. No telling where I'm going to end up.