The Sound of Music is a timeless musical starring Julie Andrews as the young Austrian woman Maria who leaves a convent to become a governess to a Naval officer’s seven children. Of course, she and the widowed officer fall in love and get married before getting caught up in the politics of the beginning of World War II.
Through the course of being a governess, Maria teaches the Von Trapp children about music, and they proceed to entertain their father throughout the rest of the film. In one scene, the children put on a puppet play and sing The Lonely Goatherd, a song about a young goatherd finding love. One stanza of the song goes as follows:
One little girl in a pale pink coat heard
Lay odl lay odl lay hee hoo
She yodeled back to the lonely goatherd, lay odl lay odl loo
Soon her mama with a gleaming gloat heard
Lay odl lay odl lay hee hoo
What a duet for a girl and goatherd, lay odl aly odl loo
A great friend of mine teased me with this song when I told her about going to Ireland, saying that I needed to find myself a goat boy to marry. While I didn’t find the boy, on our trip to the Aran Islands last weekend, I did find a goat.
Through the course of being a governess, Maria teaches the Von Trapp children about music, and they proceed to entertain their father throughout the rest of the film. In one scene, the children put on a puppet play and sing The Lonely Goatherd, a song about a young goatherd finding love. One stanza of the song goes as follows:
One little girl in a pale pink coat heard
Lay odl lay odl lay hee hoo
She yodeled back to the lonely goatherd, lay odl lay odl loo
Soon her mama with a gleaming gloat heard
Lay odl lay odl lay hee hoo
What a duet for a girl and goatherd, lay odl aly odl loo
A great friend of mine teased me with this song when I told her about going to Ireland, saying that I needed to find myself a goat boy to marry. While I didn’t find the boy, on our trip to the Aran Islands last weekend, I did find a goat.
I’m even in a pink coat!
This was taken at a goat farm that the group stopped at during our 8 mile bicycle ride on the Aran Island of Inishmore. We got to hold the kids and tour the facility where they produce goat milk and cheese. It was definitely the highlight of the bicycle ride.
To begin our journey to Inishmore, we took a ferry from the mainland to the island. This was my first boat ride, and I absolutely loved it. I’ll have to seek out chances to go boating again in the future. Once on the island, we stopped and dropped our stuff off at the hostel before renting bikes from a local shop. Then we took off on a bike tour of Ireland.
Now, being as un-athletic as I am, I did not enjoy the bike ride as much as some of my peers. But hey, at least I can say I did it. We cycled all the way out to Dun Aengus, a prehistorical fort on the western edge of the island. The fort itself was not what I was expecting. I should have done some research on it before we went. While it was amazing to think that it had been built by hand however many hundreds of years ago, I was expecting something more like a building falling to ruins than just a ring of stone walls.
The cliffs the fort was standing on, however, were breathtaking. The steep drop to the ocean below was both mesmerizing and terrifying, since there was a constant wind threatening to knock us off balance. After exploring Dun Aengus, the tour guide led us across the cliffs to a puzzling natural structure. The Wormhole is a completely natural rectangular hole in the rocks that has been there for hundreds of years. I’m sure there’s a geological explanation for how The Wormhole came to be, but I firmly believe the leprechauns made it.
This was taken at a goat farm that the group stopped at during our 8 mile bicycle ride on the Aran Island of Inishmore. We got to hold the kids and tour the facility where they produce goat milk and cheese. It was definitely the highlight of the bicycle ride.
To begin our journey to Inishmore, we took a ferry from the mainland to the island. This was my first boat ride, and I absolutely loved it. I’ll have to seek out chances to go boating again in the future. Once on the island, we stopped and dropped our stuff off at the hostel before renting bikes from a local shop. Then we took off on a bike tour of Ireland.
Now, being as un-athletic as I am, I did not enjoy the bike ride as much as some of my peers. But hey, at least I can say I did it. We cycled all the way out to Dun Aengus, a prehistorical fort on the western edge of the island. The fort itself was not what I was expecting. I should have done some research on it before we went. While it was amazing to think that it had been built by hand however many hundreds of years ago, I was expecting something more like a building falling to ruins than just a ring of stone walls.
The cliffs the fort was standing on, however, were breathtaking. The steep drop to the ocean below was both mesmerizing and terrifying, since there was a constant wind threatening to knock us off balance. After exploring Dun Aengus, the tour guide led us across the cliffs to a puzzling natural structure. The Wormhole is a completely natural rectangular hole in the rocks that has been there for hundreds of years. I’m sure there’s a geological explanation for how The Wormhole came to be, but I firmly believe the leprechauns made it.
Unfortunately, our trip to the Aran Islands was cut short due to a storm moving in on Sunday. (For some reason, our professor didn’t want to get stuck on the island. Weird, right?) But that just gave us Sunday to relax and prepare for a short week of classes. We didn’t have class this past Thursday in honor of Cait’s birthday, so we had a four day weekend, which has been lovely. I was the only one here this weekend, and I’ve taken the chance to get caught up on my alone time. I’ve gotten to know everyone on this trip, and I get along well with all of them. But it can get a little tiring to live in such close quarters with four other people all the time. A little alone time is sometimes necessary to keep my sanity.
Thursday, I went into Galway and spent the day exploring the city center on my own, which was a great experience. I got a pre-paid phone, which I highly recommend. Now I have a way to contact taxis, my professor, my peers and emergency help if the need arises (I’m hoping it won’t). It’s well worth the money just to have the reassurance that if I get lost, I have a way to contact the group.
Next weekend we head to Westport, and the weekend after that is spring break! I've been here for four weeks, a third of the whole trip. It feels like I just got here and like I've been here forever at the same time. Time will do nothing but speed up in the next few weeks, so don't forget to check for my updates!
Until next time!
Thursday, I went into Galway and spent the day exploring the city center on my own, which was a great experience. I got a pre-paid phone, which I highly recommend. Now I have a way to contact taxis, my professor, my peers and emergency help if the need arises (I’m hoping it won’t). It’s well worth the money just to have the reassurance that if I get lost, I have a way to contact the group.
Next weekend we head to Westport, and the weekend after that is spring break! I've been here for four weeks, a third of the whole trip. It feels like I just got here and like I've been here forever at the same time. Time will do nothing but speed up in the next few weeks, so don't forget to check for my updates!
Until next time!