Favorite Spaces

Throughout my time in Ireland, some of my favorite places have been spaces that were small, such as a sign or a window or a doorway. I won't tell you where these spaces are... it's up to you to explore Ireland and find your own favorites!

Beautiful County Mayo

We had been looking forward to our trip to Westport,  in county Mayo, and it was worth the wait. Again, the weather was perfect! We spent a day driving through the Connemara (stopping at the Coffin Ship famine memorial and Doo Lough along the way, first two pictures), followed by a trip to Clare Island in Clew Bay. One of my ancestors was an O'Malley, and my grandpa Jack would visit Westport every year. A highlight of the trip was seeing the Clare Island castle of Granuaile/Grace O'Malley (gray tower in 3rd picture), the 16th century "Pirate Queen" of Ireland. Aargh!

A Perfect Day on Dingle Pennisula

Dingle and the Dingle Pennisula are among our favorite places in Ireland. We couldn't have had better weather on a recent drive there, with incredible views of Slea Head, Blasket Islands, and Dunquin Harbor. I'll remember this place forever.

Jacob's Page: Favorite Parks in Germany and Austria

Most Scenic Park: Hallstatt, Austria

Words cannot describe how pretty it was here!

Most Interactive Park: Mirabellgarten in Salzburg, Austria

"You speak German, I speak English" and now let's play!

Mom and Dad's Favorite Park: The Sternbrau Beer Garden in Salzburg, Austria

A quiet and shady spot under the chestnut trees and away from the crowds, complete with a slide for Jacob.

Most Thrilling Park: Dinosaur World near Abersee, Austria

Now what could be more thrilling than life-sized dinosaurs among the Bavarian Alps?

Germany and Austria, Part 3: Garmisch-Partenkirchen

May 11-13 we spent in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany, the site of the 1936 Winter Olympics (yes, we did visit the stadium). We hiked and explored the surrounding areas, which included a visit to some of King Ludwig II's castles (such as Linderhof in picture 5) as well as the Ettal monestary and brewery. We stayed in the Partenkirchen side of town, right on the historic street named Ludwigstrassse, where homes and businesses are beautifully frescoed (including our hotel, Gasthof zum Rassen shown in picture 2). A highlight of our trip was a hike through the Partnachklamm gorge (picture 6) just outside of town.

We had such a wonderful time on our holiday, and we can't wait to visit the Bavaria region again! 

Germany and Austria, Part 2: Hallstatt

May 8-11 we were in Hallstatt, an incredibly beautiful and friendly lakeside village in Austria. Hallstatt has a rich history dating at least 7,000 years ago, when Celtic people began mining the area for salt. We gained an appreciation for living "vertically" here, where homes may be five or six stories tall, and many "streets" are really footpaths that climb up along the mountainside, between rows of homes decorated with colorful flowers. It was truly charming and peaceful here!

Germany and Austria Holiday, Part 1: Munich

We recently returned from a week-long trip to Germany and Austria. We took 474 pictures altogether, but we promise to show only some highlights! The weather was warm and very sunny (a nice change from Ireland!).

May 6-8 were spent in Munich, enjoying the sites of Altstadt (Old Town) including the Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall, picture 1) and its Glockenspiel (picture 2; think of this as a massive, animated cuckoo clock). Another highlight of Munich was the gorgeous church named Frauenkirche, or the Cathedral of Our Lady (picture 3, taken from near the top of Neues Rathaus). For John, Munich was a city to enjoy Bavarian lagers in the outdoor beer gardens, as well as a pretzel or two!

Earthworm Burrows and Drilosphere Soil

My UCD colleagues and I sampled the field plots April 28th and 29th for earthworms and soils. By this time, more than 90% of the residues we had added to the plots had disappeared!

Imagine me kneeling on the ground (in the sun the first day, and in the rain the second day), searching through the blades of grass for a nice big earthworm burrow, like the one pictured above. Look, you can even see some of the mustard residue sticking out from the burrow opening. This was a good sign that this burrow was inhabited by Lumbricus terrestris, an earthworm who lives in deep in the soil but comes up to the surface to feed on plant litter.

For my research, I am particularly interested in the microbial communities that live within the walls of Lumbricus terrestris burrows. Why? There are several tons of bacteria and fungi in an acre of soil, but microorganisms are active only in certain soil "hot spots" where food and nutrients can be found. The lining of earthworm burrows (the "drilosphere) is such a hotspot because of the earthworm mucus and poo which are deposited along the walls, and so here you can find greater numbers and activity of microorganisms compared to other places in the soil. We don't know much about the diversity of microorganisms that live in the drilosphere, however, or how much carbon gets transferred from plant litter to drilosphere soil and into microbial communities, which is what I will be measuring.

To do this, I had to find L. terrestris burrows (first picture, above) and then excavate the soil around the burrow. In the second picture, you can see how I took a soil core around the burrow and sliced it into sections. I then used a small spatula to scrape away the soil within a few millimeters of the burrow (upper left portion of picture 2) to collect my drilosphere samples. I will be analyzing drilosphere soils for plant litter carbon content and microbial community composition shortly.

O'Connell Bridge

John and I just love the views of the river Liffey. This is one from Ha'penny bridge, looking towards O' Connell bridge. I hope you enjoy the view, Aunt Rita!

Malahide Castle

We've found Jacob's all-time favorite place to be -- the playground at Malahide castle. It's amazing but gets mad with kids on Sunday afternoons. We went on Easter sunday and the following weekend. Jacob loves playing in the sand area, and loves the giant slides! He wasn't happy about leaving the playground to visit the actual castle, as you can see.

More scenes of Howth

Here are a few more pictures from Howth, one of our favorite places for an afternoon by the sea.