Week Two in Ireland: Molly Gets Her (Work) Groove Back

Week two in Ireland has been a different pace. It's been split between John's hometown of Cobh and my adopted hometown of Elphin. I also spent four of those days working. It's been an easy adjustment fitting work into my days here and after a week of doing it, I can say that I've been insanely productive and it seems to be working. Although I need to apologize to my friend and colleague Joann who woke up to an obnoxious number of email notifications on Monday — a day I was originally planning to be off! 

Here's what I got up to during week two: 

Saturday, June 27 (Old Irish Ways museum and Cobh)

After waking up like a new person, we had breakfast and packed everything up and headed out for the drive to Cobh. It wasn't that long, but I of course, found a way to make it longer!

Whenever I see something in Ireland that I want to see or do or eat, usually from Facebook or Instagram, I save it on my Google Map. Then when I'm planning my trip, I check out the places I want to see and try and cross these off. There's hundreds of places that I have saved! So on Saturday morning I looked at the map to see if there was anything nearby and I was delighted to see something only 30 minutes away from the hotel — and it was in the right direction! I didn't tell John where we were headed cause I wasn't sure it was going to be open. But it was and I'm soooooo glad — it's easily become one of the top five most memorable things I've done in Ireland. Off a small country road, behind a beautiful house, next to the ancestral village of John F. Kennedy, we pulled up to the Old Irish Ways museum. Here's a description of what it is: When you take a step through the doors of Old Irish Ways you take a step back through various periods of Irish life. See a collection of various artifacts and collectibles which were used as part of everyday life down through the years. Where a young person may say “wow” or those with memories of a different era may say “ I remember that “ the usual response is one of amazement. Old Irish Ways is a collection of various artifacts and collectibles which were used as part of everyday life down through the years in an Ireland long past. From the kitchen to the farmyard the collection built up over a number of years represents an Ireland of bygone days.

John absolutely loved it. I absolutely loved it. It was mind-blowing and so freaking cool. I took tons of video and so many photos, but here are some I want to share:

If you find yourself in Ireland, add this to your list of places to see. I promise you'll be blown away!

From there it was off to Cobh where we unpacked the car once we landed at Catherine & Eddie's. They are so gracious in letting us stay with them and make it so easy and comfortable for us. I'm so appreciative. 

I dropped John off into town and I had to move my body, so I went off on a 3ish mile run to shake the cobwebs off. It felt great to run and to have some fresh air, especially because the heat wave broke. With that behind me, I met John and his friend Ollie back in Mansworths and had more pints than I had planned on. Sure, that's just how it goes here sometimes!

Cobh is ridiculously colorful and charming and it's impossible to not take a million photos when I'm there.

Sunday, June 28 (Cobh)

I didn't let the effects of the night before get in the way of moving my body. I was up around 7:00 a.m. and decided to go out for a long walk. I ended up logging 10 miles and zig zagged all over town. It made me so happy to be out and about. I took a ton of photos. I enjoyed the fresh air. I marveled at all the hydrangeas. It was glorious.

Monday, June 29 (Cobh)

I wasn't supposed to work today, but my inbox is stressing me out. While I was able to take most of last week off, I did check in each day and had a couple of things I had to see through. Even still, my mounting pile of work was getting the best of me, so I decided to set up shop in Catherine & Eddie's kitchen and get to it. 

Because I need to be available for some west coast hours, my plan is to work for a chunk of time in the morning, take a chunk of time off in the middle of the day and then work for another chunk of time so I can overlap with my west coast co-workers and attend some conference calls. I'm grateful for the ways in which people are accommodating my 8-hour time difference by shifting calls earlier when possible. This way I can wrap up my work days between 7 - 8:00 p.m. generally. 

During my midday break, I joined John and family on a walking tour around Cobh that Eddie gives. I loved learning more about the history of Cobh and, of course, seeing Eddie in action. He's so knowledgeable and likeable. I had to laugh at the people who recognized him and yelled to us "Don't believe a word he says!" I was grateful for the break from work and the fresh air before going back to work for a few more hours at the kitchen table. 

Once I wrapped up work, John and I met up with his friends Breda and Lofty for a delicious dinner. I love meeting John's friends from home because I feel like I get to learn more about who has helped shape John into who he is. 

Tuesday, June 30 (Cobh and Drumsna)

I started my day working at Catherine and Eddie's kitchen table and then left around 10:00 a.m. to drive up to Mary & Alo's. It was a 3 1/2 hour drive and I spent most of it listening to some work webinar recordings which helped make the drive go by quickly. 

I got to the farm in time to set up shop because I had a handful of calls I needed to be on. The whole working thing went smoothly. By the time I was done, I was ready for some movement and fresh air. 

I collected Gene where I got to say hi to Rocco and Jay, finally!

And the we went forn a walk around the Drumsna marina and in the village before ending up in Taylor's pub for a few drinks. Gene grew up in Drumsna so he knew everyone. Like this guy who he went to grade school with:

When I envisioned working in Ireland, this evening is exactly what I had in mind: getting to enjoy a random Tuesday evening walking with a friend after putting in a productive full day of work! Since I drove, Gene really got to enjoy himself and I loved seeing him chill out and take it easy! For the past several years when I've spent time with him, he's usually running around the pub, playing music or pulling pints. And he's usually stressed. It was great to take him out of the Thatch and see him relax in a way I haven't seen him do in a while.

I on the other hand, because I had gotten up so early and had a long drive, ended up falling asleep on one of the benches inside the pub while waiting for Gene to finish his chatting and drinking Coronas! I didn't mind though. It's all part of the adventure of being in Gene's company. And I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. 

Wednesday, July 1 (Knocknarea, The Thatch)

I had every intention of working for a few hours, then taking the afternoon off, then working again for a few hours in the evening. But I woke up and there was no power, so I opted to head over to Strandhill and go for a hike up Knocknarea. I spent the drive and the time hiking catching up on some work podcasts. I'm doing a podcast interview next week and wanted to listen to some of the other interviews my friend Amy has done in the past few months. Plus I did one with her two years ago and needed to listen to that so I don't repeat myself. So I loved being active and productive at the same time! 

I love this hike and try to do it at least once every time I'm home. It also incorporates a lot of stairs (my favorite!) and the views are always amazing, regardless of the weather. I managed to miss most of the rain, luckily!

Once back at the farm, I worked away for several hours, continuing to cross more things off my list and again feeling grateful that I'm being productive while working in Ireland. 

If it's a Wednesday and I'm in Ireland, chances are you'll find me at the Thatch. Wednesdays are typically the best day for music. When I got there around 9:30 p.m., the place was already buzzing. There were plenty of people there, but I got primo seating on the settle bed and wrote in my journal until Stripey Mike and his lovely girlfriend Cathy showed up. I stayed until nearly 2:00 a.m. before making the drive out to Mary & Alo's 

Thursday, July 2 (Carrick-on-Shannon, Anthony Beirne's, The Thatch)

I got up and stayed at the computer until I finished a work project that had been hanging over me for a few weeks. My reward for getting that completed was going into town to the farmer's market. I picked up an apple tart and then decided to drive back out of town, park the car and do a 4-mile run on the country roads. I love love love running and walking in this area. It's so beautiful and peaceful. 

With the run behind me, I went back into town for my first (chicken and cheese) toastie! And then found a coffee shop where I could work from for a few hours. I had a delicious vanilla latte and got so much done. Tomorrow is a holiday and I'm taking Monday off, and I had a few important tasks I had to complete. But I was super productive and managed to get everything done that I needed to so I can step away from work for a few days. 

Mary, Alo and I intended on getting Chinese food for dinner and going to the pub. But we ended up having such a great time in the pub that we stayed with a liquid dinner at Anthony Beirne's — one of my favorite pubs in Ireland. It's a grocery store in front and a pub in the back. I loved talking with Francis, the owner, and just relaxing with Mary and Alo. 

We left there to go back into Elphin where I finally got to see Long Mickey and some of my other favorite locals at An Bothar Rua and enjoy a delicious pint of Guinness before I went to the Thatch to say hi to Gene and some of my other friends. 

It was quiet enough, but fun all the same. Plus there was some music which was a nice way to end the night. Somehow I ended up there until 2:00 a.m., again. My sleep hasn't been that great. Gotta work on that! I'm grateful for the next few days off from work. Not entirely sure what I'm going to do. My schedule is up in the air because of some changes on John's end. But I'm just going to go with the flow and enjoy whatever ends up happening. And maybe, just maybe, I'll chill the f out! 

Do you know what's so nice? I still have two more weeks here! Usually by this point in the trip, I'm  getting ready to leave or staring down at my final few days. While it's crazy the trip is halfway over, it's amazing that I still have just as much time left to enjoy!

Friday, July 3 (Carrick-on-Shannon, The Thatch)

Today was a day off and for the first day since I've been here, I truly took it off. No work. No driving expeditions. No working out. But, I had two things I wanted to accomplish today: update the blog and catch up on posting my photos to Instagram and Facebook. No small task. So while I took the day "off" I spent many hours getting those things crossed off my checklist. 

I seem to be organizing and re-organizing my stuff on a daily basis. Mary and Alo have been unbelievably gracious about letting me spread out between two rooms. So I have the room I sleep in and then the room our suitcases are in. I started the day getting myself re-organized for the 17th time and then late morning decided to head into town to set up shop at the coffee shop I discovered — and love —  where I, once again, stayed until closing time at 4:30 p.m. (or half four as they say here). It felt good to get the blog mostly caught up. I used to blog about my trips home to Ireland all the time and stopped many years ago. And it bums me out to not have the detailed account of my trips. While I'm stressing myself out a bit with this particular task, I know I'll be happy in the long run.

Once back on the farm, I put my attention to the photos and got that all sorted too. And then helped (ever so slightly) get dinner (chicken curry) ready. I was twitchy from not having anything other than a vanilla latte all day and went to town on that meal. With a full belly, I happily did the dishes before we all got ready and went to the Thatch. 

I just haven't had the same desire to drink on this trip. I really want to, but I think because I'm eating so little — and usually just an evening meal — by the time I get started on drinking, I'm still too full to enjoy it. Mary pulled some pretty fabulous antics to try and get me to drink more whiskey that Gene 100% peer-pressured me into helping myself to behind the bar. 

But the only good thing that came of it was this photo:

I have very few photos of me with my friends here. They hate getting their photo taken and go to great lengths to not be in the photos I try to take. So this makes me laugh and smile because I feel like it perfectly captures all of that so well! 

Tomorrow John and I were supposed to meet up at the Dublin airport and then continue onto Glendalough and Arklow — which would have been two new places for me to explore — but John didn't end up going to Belfast and I'll now be with Mary & Alo for longer than anticipated. He and I will make some new plans at some stage tomorrow. So for now, I'm just going with the flow knowing this will all work out the ways it's supposed to. 

What I do know for sure is that two weeks into the trip, I'm feeling happy, grateful, sort of relaxed, productive and lucky.