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Day two which is technically day one has so much to say. I wish I was able to use words to describe what I have seen and the words that were pressed into my souls by the rocks and the water that surround me.

The wonderful and amazing b&b that had had the pleasure of hosting me recommended a walk down to the lighthouse. Sounded good to me…until I walked down the first hill and realized that I was going to have to climb one. The “walk” proved so fruitful…not because I saw the lighthouse at the end or even because I could show you exactly on a map the tip of the island which I am so fortunate to call home for a few days…none of those things although incredible are the reason for my fruitfulness.

During this freaking trek I learned so much. I don’t know how cows and rocks and dirt can do that but alas they did. I wish I could paint this picture but I can’t so instead I’ll show you the words God painted

   The path began much like life a fairly even tread never requiring much energy simply pleased you decided to stop by for a visit. However a visit was not what this mountain had in store for me. Just as I became convinced that the path would be the walk they had promised it changed to great mountains and valleys that I would have to climb and descend. As I reached the top of the first mountain the path lay before me one too big for me to climb and yet calling to me like a siren.

So would you like to know what I saw what I now understand…why did I wait those three periods of course you want to know.

Valleys have always been described as long as I can remember as times in your life when life is not as good as the mountain tops-I’m calling bullshit. Whoever said that horseradish has clearly never climbed a mountain but more importantly they have never walked a valley.  As I trekked thru the Sheeps’s head peninsula I found that valleys are sometimes mountains that are simply being overshadowed. I climbed mountains only to find that I was actually in the bottom of a valley. Here is the thing valleys are not low peaks but rather they are accomplishments of the mountains you just climbed and rest for the next mountain you are set to climb.
Most everyone in my life except for my favorite girls in KC knows that my mountaintop is a husband and a family to care for and I’ve always worried that when I climb that mountain and find him at the top my life will become a valley. Guess what…now that mountain seems small compared to the peace the valley can offer me.

Back to Ireland-although if I’m honest I don’t think I’ll ever leave… my mind and my body may leave but the very part of my heart that says Èiree will stay forever.

Ok so I lost my train of thought not because I’m drunk off that sweet stout but because my phone died at the pub and I just got home about three hours later. I had an amazing dinner on the bay at a little pub called Arundel’s..yes like the frozen movie. Anyway I’m in bed now and too tired to be my normal self full of words and stuff. See I’m already losing my poetic touch. What douche bag is using ‘stuff’ as an adjective.

Anyway like I was saying. I am going on another adventure tomorrow and this time I will be armed with wine and cheese and a full battery on my phone. Expect big things from me tomorrow and no more of this shite.

Actually one more funny story – Arundel’s bathrooms are like rooms but unlike the restaurants in Miami the walls go all the way up and all the way down. I made a comment to the waiter /bar keep and he said ” oh yeah that’s so you girls can have a proper shite and still look each other in the eye ” umm yeah I love Ireland.

Oh yeah this is Max my new friend from he Pub.

Is breá lion Èire

For those of you that don’t know- One of my favorite things to do is research. I’m sure thats part of why I couldn’t bring myself to do a guided tour of Ireland. For months I have researched B&B, Castles, Airlines and car rentals. I hate surprises especially if not mostly when I travel. There is so much that is already out of your control- unless you know how to fly a plane. I dated a pilot once but for some reason we never got around to teaching me how to fly- although we spent a lot of time in his planes…I digress. As I was saying I researched the shit out of every decision I made and nucking nothing was left to chance.

First choice was airline- I knew I didn’t want to fly British as I read some pretty bad things about connecting flights in Heathrow, besides their “premium economy” seemed to be an economy seat with a curtain around it. Instead I decided on Lufthansa…A-mazing.

Check out my first meal spread- its missing the two very generous pours of white wine and my post coital- I mean post-dinner Bailey’s

So Lufthansa gets a freaking A+ from me- besides the food the seat was comfortable and the entertainment selection was out of hand. I never even cracked open my Mac.

Now let’s talk car rental- I really don’t want to get into it cause Im still a little peeved but for the sake of posterity. Did anyone ever see that epidose of Seinfeld when he has to get a rental because his car is in the shop and when he arrives no car. “Anyone can take a reservation…its the holding part thats important” I mean I know I’m pretty and pretty is usually stupid but as per usual these stupid boys are catching me on the day when I’m collecting balls. I got my car except for some reason they messed it up and put everything ON THE WRONG FREAKING SIDE. Ok I could lie to you now and tell you that its not that big a deal…….

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Its fucking nuts!!!! sorry for all the cursing but its required. There might not be a more rational and yet irrational fear of not being able to drive, but there I was in the Hertz airport parking lot frozen in fear. I eventually worked myself out of the car park and around the airport ohh just about 7 times. Thus began the three hour journey to my first B&B in Cork which when you look at the map- go down about 100km I’m right at the tip…oh my god get your mind out of the gutter. Geez!

As my three hour journey on the wrong side of the car, wrong side of the road and wrong side of the world started  there was something lurking, I can’t believe I didn’t smell it coming. So náive..again sore subject let’s just say the three hour drive turned into 6hrs and 2o something minutes. There were times on the road I really thought I was going to fall asleep and I started to get so upset that the trip was going wrong already and then I literally just looked to the side of the car and realized, I’m seeing Ireland. The whole point was for me to see it and the detours that caused me to lose more time helped me gain new perspective.

Oh and right now I am laying down in my beautiful four poster bed looking out at the Dunmanus Bay- no I will not tell you what I’m wearing. I mean my gosh this is a travel blog sir…stop asking these things of me…ok fine if you insist I’m wearing the t-shirt my sister changed me into the other day that I might have had a little too much to drink- makes me feel she’s here with me. Sofia is here too..

Oiche Mhaith

Sometime eight months ago I started to feel the familiar pull to get out. It happens to me every now and then. I think some of it had to do with the fact that as a kid we moved around a bit (not too much). However that packing and unpacking left a sense of clean slate in me. The idea of leaving something behind and finding something new might be the only thing sexier than me on a Thursday night on my way to get my weekly cocktail. The last three years of my life had proven unstable, I had lost and found I had moved out and in, I had loved and left behind. That January I tasted it..safety. It was such a sweet taste, it had  been years since that feeling had revealed itself in my life.

With safety wrapped tightly around me I began to  toy with the idea of going on “vacation”. Ireland was the first place my heart choose, but it’s grandiosity pulled me from its clutches and I moved to safer and smaller distances- South Carolina, Montana maybe even Mexico. However all those plans came crashing down on me one very early Friday morning as my Princess Sofia left me. Distressed seems a disrespectful word for the situation. I had lost a great companion but maybe even more selfishly I had lost some seriously unconditional love. So much for safe- there was no more time for safe. I knew that in the incredibly short time that I had my Sofia I was reminded of that reckless abandon which I used to call my own. It was only ever going to be Ireland. I booked the ticket and haven’t looked back since.

Last night as I wheeled my blue and yellow duffel out to the front door I wondered where all my anxiety was. Normally before any flight I am a big ball of nerves. I’ve missed flights, found a hostile landscape upon my arrival and experienced the kind of turbulence that makes you question ever getting back on a plane. But last night none of that existed. I haven’t had such great sleep (a fucking accomplishment) in such a long time. My heart is full and I feel so at ease.

For those of you wondering ” Why the hell is this such a big deal- its just a plane ride” well its not a plane ride besides the fact that its two, this isn’t about where I am going its about the person who is leaving and what she expects to find. Nothing as cliche as herself but rather the freedom to be exactly who she is never adding or subtracting. Also for information purposes – I am flying into Dublin and renting a car that I suspect small car will take me across the expanse of Southern Ireland. All by my damn self.

As I sit in the fine establishment of the Corona Beach House I am no longer wondering how “socking” crazy this is but rather what took me so socking long to do it. I’m 20 minutes from boarding and all I want to do is take one last look in the mirror. The woman who reflects her image back to me will not be returning. I plan to leave so much on that island, I only ask that she give me in return something to bring back with me.

Travels Sábháilte