Ireland-Sweden 2003 (1)

Hej! I arrived to Gothenberg, Sweden five days ago or so.... Lemme back track a bit...

Ireland was a blast! At first, I thought I would spend my time running around this great new little track next to my aunt's house... a nature reserve through a bog... ya know, stay in shape in lieu of the fact that I wouldn't be climbing that much... haha oh how things didn't happen that way... It was nonstop traffic through the door, meeting cousins I never knew before... the newest of which is 18months old and cute as a button... and reacquainting with those that were only babies last time I came to the emerald isle... It's amazing to have so many cousins that you lose track of - who you know and who you wouldn't recognize if they were customers in a bar you worked in... But, I bonded again with those that are close to my age.. mostly over many pints of Guinness, Harp Lager, German beer (brought back by my Uncle Gerhardt who drives trucks back and forth from Germany... which he insisted should be drunk with Schnapps) and shandies and wine and gin and tonic.. and well, the Irish are almost as bad as the Russians for not taking 'No thanks' as a real answer... so, no fitness acquired or even maintained on that 2 week trip... but oh, what a time it was!

I spent four days in the south, Wicklow town, and the rest in Belfast... times were as always there... threats in certain parts of the city to those that are flying the wrong flag from their apartment window, marches down certain neighborhood streets to acknowledge the anniversary of the Hunger Strikers that died for the 'cause' on the Catholic side years ago... Bobby Sands and the like.... And marches in the protestant areas to protest the habitation of Catholics in one of 'their' apartment complexes.... as real as ever and as out of the news as Iraq will dictate... Speaking of which, I wonder what the news at home is like... I wonder if you see the images that I see in the newspapers in Europe... Shocking and unacceptable... I saw the movie Cold Mountain and it made me reflect on the war in Iraq and ... I can't say much more than how much I abhor it and how much I fear that Bush will win again and how much I think they will attack the US around election time to send a message like they did in Madrid... which, much to their liking, had the result they hoped for as far as the political situation in Spain is concerned... positive reinforcement in the worst way... with the potential for gnarly action in the US soon to come.... I hope I'm wrong...

Back to fun in Ireland.. I went climbing one day on some sea cliffs on the north eastern coast of Ireland... check out the link about our weekend and see some pictures of my crew and the rock... http://www.fairheadclimbers.com/pages/latest_news/meet/meet.htm I actually got to plug gear again for the first time in many many months... add to the time off the fact that the rock was moist and mossy and voila! Scare factor goes up... but, was super super good time and finished it off at... you guessed it .. the pub! My climbing contacts weren't family, but an American guy, a French gal and an Irish lad that I met in El Chorro! Yeehaw!

Taht's what brought me to Sweden too! In between Ireland and my trip back to France I decided to visit new friends in Sweden.. so here I am! It'a amazing.. The people are beautiful inside and out! The climbing has been fun... I've only been crack climbing at Utby (trad, short routes, great granite ... not as easy-cheesy as this site shows, but a good time.. http://www.mountain-environment.com/gothenburg.html one day and bouldering on one of the islands, Honö, the other day... but what I've done has been rad. The bouldering in particular was amazing.. waves crashing, blue sky and sunshine with a bit too much wind, but rare rock and seashells all around! It was super! One of the friends I made in Spain is in a reggae band and he mentioned they would have a show when I was here... and they did... but I had no idea they were a 12 piece band, including sax, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, bass, guitar, percussion, two vocalists, keyboard ... and other odd instruments in between.. ie - sheet of metal that makes a wild sound... I am staying with Henrik, the bassist and two of his roomies are also in the band, which is making for a super cool experience! Others that joined are Cissi, Johan, Magnus, Panda, Martin and all their significant others... I've met the local climbing crew and hope to have a Swedish invasion in Salt Lake City at some point in the future!

Justin is having a much better time now in Fontanbleau right now with some of the hometown possee... Eric Harrison and girlfriend, Jaima as well as Dr. Topo from Canada.. so they are cranking in the forest and Justin gets to be with folks from home, which trust me, at this point is a super super luxury! We miss you guys back in Utah (and Carolina).... Looks like mid June at this point... could be sooner... houses on the market in SLC right now are very nice and I want to get one and get in before school slaps it to me.... fingers crossed on that one.... Well, off to ride a big roller coaster.. supposed to be the steepest wooden roller coaster in Sweden.... in Europe? in the world???? I dunno... Tomorrow, more crack climbing and Monday... farewell to Sweden!

Take care! Live it up and share the memories!!