Adventures in Ireland- Trip 11 Final Recap

Thursday June 25th
Upon returning home from Dublin, I went back to Gene's and the boys, Gene, Oliver and Dave, were all milling about doing this and that. The plan for dinner was for Dave to cook some fish and for us to eat whatever potatoes were leftover from Gene's "snack" he was currently having, along with some salad.

I walked into the kitchen to see him standing next to a pot of boiling water picking potatoes out while they were finishing up cooking. Next he'd take his fork to smash the potato, give them a good sprinkling of salt and then take his fork to the brick of butter and put a piping hot forkful of buttery, salty, potatoes into his mouth. Dave and I just looked on and shook our heads. But as Gene says, "A day without potatoes isn't a day." And when he realized he didn't have any potatoes on Wednesday, apparently he needed to remedy that ASAP.

The boys all went into their separate corners- Gene to nap, Dave to tidy up and Oliver to continue practicing fly fishing. I used the opportunity to do some yoga in my room. Which felt so great. Looking out the window and seeing the sheep in the field helped make it an even more peaceful passage of time. And it reminded me that I really like yoga. Steve's been on my case forever to go back and take some proper yoga classes, and this may have been just the experience I needed to reignite that desire within myself.

We all came back around dinnertime to meet up for our last meal. From Monday - Thursday, we'd all been eating our dinners together and it was always so nice. We'd all take turns doing the shopping. Dave and Gene would take turns doing the cooking. I'd always set the table and wash the dishes. And then we'd meet up in the pub.

When the agreed upon dinnertime came around, Dave was nowhere to be found. Gene was napping, so he didn't notice. But both Oliver and I were wondering where Dave went. Before too long he walked through the door announcing in his thick Cockney English accent "The fish went bad so I went out and bought these beef fillets." He quickly cooked the steaks and passed them out. Quick note about this. I've found it's nearly impossible to get your meat cooked to order in Ireland- or at least cooked to order in Gene's kitchen. Last week when we ate steak, I asked for mine medium rare. I know it registered with Gene, but by the time it ended up on my plate, it was well done. So tonight I thought I'd try and see if Dave could deliver a medium rare steak. It turned out, not so much. But it was great because while I was plating salad, Oliver exclaimed in disgust "Dad. There's blood coming out of my steak. Gross. I can't eat this." I happily saved the day and switched my steak with his, "bloody juices" and all. I can assure you it wasn't under cooked. In my expert opinion, I'd say it was medium- maybe even closer to medium well.

After eating, Oliver and Gene went fly fishing for a bit (Oliver had been begging Gene for two days and finally wore him down). When I was done cleaning the kitchen, I met Dave over at the pub.

Stripey Mike came in to say goodbye, which was really sweet. And Damien was in tending to the bar. More of the regulars came in- Aidan, Padraig, Pat, Huey, his lovely wife Marie- and we just sat around talking and having a very quiet night. Gene and Oliver came back after a few hours, wet (from the rain that started probably right around the same time they got the boat in the water) and cold, prompting Gene to make a round of hot whiskeys. I had been abstaining from drinking for the night so far, but I couldn't resist a hot whiskey!

For probably an hour, we all just sat around talking and drinking with everyone laughing at different stories and jokes they were telling, not to mention taking the piss out of one another. I was pulling pints and making hot whiskeys while Gene sat around with everyone laughing, listening and chatting. It was a comfortable moment with me behind the bar looking on affectionately at the scene unfolding before my eyes, feeling completely content for where I was and who I was with.

I love how the Thatch can transform from this magical place with music and dancing, packed from one end to the other and then the next night it's quiet with just a few people huddled around. There's a sense of family and familiarity. It's so much more than a bar, but where people go to complete their day, to feel better, to connect with their friends and to be in good company. And I'm so glad that I've come to witness all facets of the pub and the people who come to it.

It was "early" (2:00 a.m.) after Gene and I closed down the pub and went off to bed.

Friday June 26th
During my last full day in Ireland I was really feeling torn about being ready to go home and wanting to stay. But I tried so hard to put all those kinds of thoughts out of my head and truly enjoy the day.

I got up early to pull my stuff together and repack so that I didn't have to do that later in the night. Which proved to be really, really smart, because Gene and I were gone for much more of the day than we had anticipated.

We did our usual morning routine (and by morning I mean around 11:00 a.m.) where I pulled together breakfast while Gene made coffee and Percy came up for a visit. Having put off writing out my postcards, I did that while Gene read the paper and Percy did the crossword puzzle. It was a perfectly lovely last morning together. And made me realize that I need to be better about starting my mornings in a civilized manner like that, instead of rushing to get to my desk and eating my breakfast while I check emails.

Afterwards, Gene and I decided we'd go to the sea, Gene saying that he needed a two-hour walk on the beach for some fresh air. I thought that two hours sounded like a bit much to me, but that was the plan. We decided to go to Enniscrone, a beach town south of Sligo (and Easkey, a well-known surf spot that I've been to with Steve and for Steve a few times) that I'd never been to before, making me happy to go somewhere new to me in Ireland again.

I found myself getting a little knot in my stomach wondering how we were going to fit everything in- that same kind of feeling I get back home when I'm unnecessarily stressing about timing and scheduling and getting every little and big thing done that I have to do. And I hated it. I need to trust that everything will work out and not worry about the what ifs. I also need to figure out how to not cram everything on my to do list into an unrealistic timeline. Feeling these feelings again make the reality of going home and getting back to "my real life" more real than I wanted to confront. So I shoved those ones aside too, and tried to concentrate on doing that every time they came up throughout the day. I've learned a lot from Gene, but one of the most important things is to not plan so much. Amazing things happen when you leave yourself open to the unknown possibility of what's on the unplanned horizon.

Speaking of. Instead of starting our walk right away, we stopped for some of the best seafood chowder I've ever had. Sitting on the same side of the table looking out at the ocean, we sat in mostly companionable silence and admired the beach we were about to walk along.

With our bellies full and feeling warmed up from the inside out, Gene and I left the car parked where it was and went down to the beach for what really did turn out to be a two hour walk on the sand and directly along the coast line. It was beautiful out- sunny with some cloud coverage- with a few people on the beach with us. We watched a bird catch and eat a fish and fend off other birds trying to steal from him. And we talked, I listened to jokes (not appropriate to share here) and just enjoyed each other's company and the afternoon/evening.

Tired from our two hour walk, we got back in the car and realized that we wouldn't have time for the seaweed bath. Gene said we could either get dinner or get a seaweed bath, but that the timing would likely get him too stressed out rushing to get back to the pub if we tried both. It was reassuring to hear that Gene actually stresses out about time. At this point, it was nearly 6:30 p.m. Luckily Percy was feeling stronger and better and had told us that morning that he'd be up at the pub tonight. That took enough pressure off of us to not have to rush right on back.

With the seaweed bath saved for another time, we went to the Beach Bar (Steve and I hit this place during our honeymoon and I stayed there one night on a previous solo trip in Ireland) to grab a delicious and perfect last dinner in Ireland.

When we got outside to leave, we had beautiful views of the countryside around us and I had to take some photos. Even though I've been here before and likely have some of the same photos, I realized for the first time that I was looking at Benbulben (which I've take photos of frequently) and Knocknarea (which I've hiked twice, once on this trip with Molly). 

We returned back to Gene's just around 8:30 p.m. and Percy was in fine form pulling pints and chatting with the customers who were already inside. That gave me and Gene time to do some chores- watering the flowers (me), taking clothes off the line and putting sheets up (us), making the beds for Gene's next guests (me), vacuuming (Gene) and pulling my stuff and myself together. It was nearly 10:00 p.m. before I finally got into the pub and was greeted by a few of the regulars- Malachy, Alo, Pat, Padraig, Frank and Aidan. I was a little anxious thinking about the day ahead. A few days earlier I had made the decision to leave really early in the morning on Saturday and go straight to the Dublin airport. That seemed like a great idea then, but now that I had just a few hours before I had to get on the road, drive two hours and spend about 14 hours traveling in total, that wasn't seeming like such a smart idea. I didn't know when or if I was going to sleep that night. And I also didn't know if I should have a drink or not. I ended up having one pint courtesy of Malachy and stopped after that. (Smart move.)

Practicing shoving all my anxiety to the side, I focused on enjoying my last night at the Thatch. It was fun with all the lads there. And Gene was off in the corner by the fireplace playing music for an hour or so. It was funny because Alo and Pat were giving me shit saying that Gene was playing all these sad songs because I was leaving. We all just laughed and continued talking with Gene playing music in the background.

Throughout the past two weeks, and especially while Molly was around, we would do plank competitions in the pub or basically wherever. Not many of the boys knew what a plank was, so Gene would randomly ask us to do a plank to show someone new coming into the pub. So it was hysterical when I had a plank competition with some of the boys tonight. I'm happy to say that there aren't any photos (that I know of), but I kinda wish I had some proof that this happened. Only Padraig and Frank participated. Alo attempted to do a warrior three pose, claiming that it was really easy when I was doing it. When I tried to correct his posture, I think he got the idea that it was a little harder than he thought.

My favorite moment of the night came about when Alo told Gene that he saw him at the gas station earlier this week. Gene assured Alo that it wasn't him. And so this back and forth went on until I chimed in and told Gene that we did in fact go to the gas station before going out on the boat. I remember this so distinctly because Gene was so irritated because some "arsehole" parked his tractor making it impossible for Gene to easily pull out of the gas station. "What kind of f*cking eejit would just leave his tractor there blocking everyone?" In fact, Gene had gone into the store to see if he could figure out whose tractor it was and came back out with someone (who I later learned was maybe named Nonnie?) to help him get out of the gas station. The only way Gene could do it was by slowly driving around the tractor and going through the freaking car wash with Nonnie helping navigate. I remember laughing at the time this happened thinking "Only with Gene!"

Turns out that arsehole/f*cking eejit was Alo! He was eating lunch and had no intention of getting up to move his tractor because he thought Gene was just being funny and giving him a hard time carrying on inside the store wondering whose tractor was parked outside. I just about died watching this conversation unfold. Gene realizing that Alo was the one parking there. Alo realizing that Gene was actually irritated by where he parked his tractor. The two of them going back and forth was enough to make me nearly wet my pants. I sat back and watched them trade barbs and defend their actions and laughed all the while knowing that this conversation would be staying with me for a long time (and slightly bummed that I didn't have my iPhone around to record it).

I prolonged the night for as long as I could. I didn't want to say goodbye to the Thatch or to any of the boys. I wanted to stay in the moment for as long as I could. Both Gene and Alo said the place wouldn't be the same without me, Alo sweetly saying that there's a light that I bring to the pub. As much as I wanted this to go on forever, around 2:00 a.m., Gene called it a night and we walked out the door. I said my silent goodbye to the pub and all the amazing memories I made in the past two weeks and walked into Gene's house to consider whether I was going to sleep or not after pulling all my stuff together.

By the time I was entirely packed and changed into my travel/potential sleep clothes and wrote Gene a thank you note that I left at the kitchen table, it was nearly 3:00 a.m. I didn't dare going to sleep for fear that I wouldn't actually wake up and I'd miss my flight. So I didn't.

Saturday June 27th
Although I insisted on him not, Gene set his alarm so he could say goodbye and make sure I didn't sleep through my alarm at 4:22 a.m. I didn't actually sleep, but I did get up when I heard Gene's alarm go off. It took me about two minutes to get myself out of bed and ready to walk out the door. I won the battle of Gene not carrying my suitcase to the car, so I said goodbye to him at the front door, gave him a very tight hug, thanking him for everything over the past two weeks, and walked to the car without looking back.

With a lump in my throat and tears shining my eyes, I got into the car and drove to the Dublin airport.

The drive wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be considering I hadn't slept in nearly 24 hours. And dropping the rental car off was a breeze. Before I knew it, I was at my gate with plenty of time to spare. I didn't dare sleep, although I was that person doing the sleeping head bob and snap, for fear of missing the flight. So it wasn't until my butt was in the seat on the Dublin to London flight that I let my eyes close and I slept all the way through and woke up just in time for our landing in London.

The London Heathrow airport is gigantic and I got in an easy two miles getting from one plane to the next. And because I was successful in only doing carry-on for this trip, it was a bit of a bitch to have to travel so far and so quickly with awkward luggage. I managed though, and got to my gate about 20 minutes before boarding.

Once on my Los Angeles-bound flight, I tried to sleep but mostly worked, catching up on the 200 emails I received while on vacation. It didn't take long to realize vacation is over! While very much looking forward to seeing Steve, Clancy and Katie, I was really feeling the post-trip blues pretty intensely on the flight. And landing in Los Angeles didn't help matters. See the photo below to see what it was like taking off from Dublin and landing in Los Angeles.

Sunday June 28th
My post-vacation blues are legit. And it seems stronger than I've experienced before. Yesterday I was reminded of the kinds of things I didn't have to hear or worry about or see while staying out in the country at Gene's. Like the little kids who live directly above us who are constantly running and jumping and screaming. Like being able to see into the people's apartment who live across from our bedroom. Like traffic not caused by sheep or cows or from being stuck behind a tractor. Like strip malls and impatient drivers everywhere. Like congestion and smog.

I'm finding myself easily annoyed and irritated, but I know that has to do with desperately needing sleep and settling back into my real life. And yet, I'm feeling the pull something fierce.I know I've been fortunate enough to go to Ireland ELEVEN times. And I've been going back once a year (and one year it was twice) since 2008, but I really never know for sure when I'll be back or where life may take me. And with Percy getting older in age, and life in general being totally unpredictable, I feel an extra sadness leaving this time around. 

I keep reminding myself that the life I live in Ireland for two weeks each year is not sustainable beyond that. It just isn't. It's a little sliver of time in my life where I do crazy things like drink a lot and stay up later than any night I can remember in LA. It's a time where I surrender control and happily play the role of passenger and hanger-on as Gene goes about his day, accomplishing his tasks or joining him for adventures. I moonlight as a bartender. I don't pick up after anyone. I don't have to take anyone out- sorry Clancy! I don't have to be in charge of anything. I don't have to be on conference calls or at my computer constantly checking email. I spend more time outdoors than indoors. I do chores that remind me of being back home in New Hampshire- things like sweeping the road and watering the flowers and taking clothing on/off the clothing line. The pace is way slowed down. I hear cows and sheep making noises all day. I'm surrounded by, and constantly in, nature. I can walk outside and not be around a single other person- or animal- if I don't want to.

Of course I realize I'm so fortunate to live where I live. My loves are here. My life is here. This is where I'm supposed to be. In time, hopefully sooner rather than later, my post-Ireland funk will be over with and I can be back to myself. Because part of me feels like my post-vacation blues takes away from the gratitude I feel at having a place and having people in that place that make me feel so welcomed and so, so happy. I guess what I'm struggling with is that pull that I feel and the imbalance of being so unbelievably happy in a place that is so far away and one that I can't get to as frequently as I wish. As hard as I try to gain perspective about the reality of, as Katie said, this life that I have here in LA makes the time I have in Ireland possible, I just can't.

Steve has been very understanding with my post-Ireland funk, continuing the streak of being a wonderful husband who lets me run off for two weeks each year to another country without him. (For the record, he's always asked/invited, and always declines.) He's being gentle with me and being very understanding of my current mood. Which helps a lot. But I just wish I could hurry up and be content with where I am at this moment and not long for another place filled with other people.

In the meantime, I'm going to continue to repeat to myself all the things I can't do in Ireland that I can do here. And focus on the many things that I do/see/eat/experience that I love and makes me happy about where I live. I know I'll get through, I always do. But I think I'll need to be a little more patient with myself than I thought I'd need to be as I readjust to my real life. (Which again, I want to reiterate that I know is nothing to be sad over!)

Speaking of real life, thank you, Santa Monica, for putting on this show tonight to help me find my Santa Monica love all over again.

And thank you to Ireland and Gene and Percy, and all my favorites from the Thatch, to my Irish family, to Molly and to anyone else who helped make this a most memorable trip. Each year I feel like I've left a part of myself and a part of my heart in Ireland. And I think it's safe to say that this year, I may have left the biggest piece of my self and my heart behind.

I will be back. I may not know when. But I can take comfort today in knowing that I have a second home that will always be waiting for me whenever I can make the trip.

Read more...

Adventures in Ireland- Trip 11 Recap #3

Monday June 22nd

I got up early today and left Robin's to head to Gene's. I wasn't sure if I'd just drive straight there or take my time with it. Turns out I did a little bit of both, taking a couple of photos on my way, but also not stretching it out too much.

You see, my sleep gets all sorts of messed up when I come to this country. On top of doing crazy things like closing down the Thatch with Gene, it's bright here until nearly midnight and it'll only be dark for a few hours. So I just don't sleep as much as I should. Which explains why I fell into bed as soon as I got back to Gene's fully clothed and slept soundly for two hours until Gene poked his head into the room announcing that Percy, who was in the kitchen wanting to chat, was the one who told him I was back. 

I had every intention of making it an easy and relaxing day, but of course that didn't happen. Gene and I ended up going into town for lunch (followed by a long rest on the couch outside the restaurant to read the paper and talk about world affairs) and then ran a bunch of errands- the bank, the drink distributor/warehouse place, Drumsna for the boxed flowers, the tackle shop, the recycling center and then back home to clean the pub (I was in charge of polishing the tables and doing the flower arrangements) and do inventory. Once that was done, Gene wanted me to join him while he swept a road that's being used for a bonfire tomorrow night to celebrate the start of summer. Apparently people dress up like the 1920's and there's some good singing and dancing.

While it would have been a perfect opportunity for me to bow out and get back in bed, I of course instead hopped in Gene's car and accompanied him over there. He assured me we'd only need one broom because he would do all the sweeping while I sat in the car. We all know how that turned out. Gene and I took turns sweeping the road which took about an hour. I had to just shake my head and smile at one point when I took a moment to look around and consider what I was doing. 

Once done with our final chore of the evening, we had to rush home to open up the pub. It was supposed to be a quiet night. In fact, Gene mentioned a few times that the night before the pub was filled with people and it was a great night with "tons of craic." So we both thought tonight would have been a little quieter. And I suppose it was, but for the first time since I've been coming here, Gene's been suggesting we go to another pub for some drinks after he closes the Thatch. We did it last week with Molly and then tonight we got many of the other lads who I never see out of the Thatch to go with us to Brackens.

We showed up there around 12:30 a.m. and stayed for a couple more hours and too many pints. But it really was so fun and really funny to see these boys out of their element and in a new environment. And I was rewarded with some spectacular sights from a farm near Gene's. 

Tuesday June 23rd

Getting up after only five hours of sleep was hard this morning. Must get more sleep. (That will likely not happen until I get back home). I woke up to Gene popping his head into the room saying that I looked like the Queen of Sheba in the bed (I have no clue why, but he made me laugh nonetheless). Percy was in the kitchen again, so I went out to visit with him for a little while until Gene got himself pulled together. Getting pulled together takes a while for Gene because it typically involves taking a shower (which always involves singing), eating (often two breakfasts), reading the paper, fiddling around the pub, figuring out what needs to be done for the day, etc.

Once Gene was in a place to actually do something, he presented me with three options:

1)    Go to Standhill for a walk on the beach and lunch at Shells Café.

2)    Go to Lough Key for a walk and lunch.

3)    Go for a boat ride.

I quickly and easily chose option three since I’d been asking him to take me out on his boat for a while and I’ve never seen the country that way (Skellig Michael doesn’t count). After hitching the boat to his truck (Gene refers to his Volkswagen Golf as a truck which will never not make me laugh), we headed into town where we set the boat in the water and took off for Lough Key.

Being on the water was as peaceful as I suspected it’d be. And it was great to see the country from the boat. It was a beautiful day with sunshine and pretty clouds helping make it comfortable and not too hot on the water.

About 25 minutes into the ride to Lough Key, Gene motioned for me to come down to him. Wondering what he could possibly want with me at that side of the boat, and as gracefully as I could, I made my way to him where he proceeded to instruct me on how to work the motor as he wanted to take a nap. Slightly panicked as I’ve never driven a boat before and definitely didn't know where to go if presented with the option to choose a route, I sat down and drove the thing. I love Gene’s confidence in me. He often puts me in these positions where he just throws me in knowing I’ll figure it out. He does this every now and again late at night when he’s let all the bar staff go home and he’s entertaining the people at the pub. I’m just thrown in the deep end figuring out what to charge people on the cash register, make sure I give out the right change and, not to mention, get people’s drinks right!

At any rate, it was fine and I was only in charge for a little bit because we had to actually stop along the way to pay a fee- sort of like a toll booth, but for boats. Gene explained to me how this is common along the waterways in Ireland because a lot of people boat all throughout the country. 

UPDATED: Thanks to my friend Mick he filled in more information on this. Here's what he had to say:

here are numerous locks on the waterway system 
the ones in the 'south' are manually operated by a lock-keeper
this job normally remains in the lock-keepers family for years

the ones in the 'north' ----- erne waterway are self operated by the boat's crew
using a smart card

the purpose of a lock is to work the navigation around an obstacle ,e.g., a waterfall ---- the water in the lock chamber is lowered or lifted to suit the occasion ---- it is dreaded by inexperienced crew as it looks intimidating but always good for a bit of craic between skipper and crew (for craic read fight) --- I love them as it involves a good bit of maneuvering and Diana knows the drill off by heart now ----- toll booth????? --- oh dear --- are you american or what!!!!!!

From there it was a short ride to Lough Key where we had a quick bite to eat before getting back in the boat and heading on our way.

Maybe five minutes after leaving Lough Key, Gene had me come down to his end of the boat to take over again. He gave me a quick lesson in how to stop the boat and throw it in reverse, as well as reminding me that on the way back the green arrow needs to be on the boat’s left and the red arrow needs to be on the boat’s right. (This is super important because it’s basically like going down a one-way street if the arrows aren’t in the right direction.) Right before he handed over the boat to me again with all these instructions, he said “Just in case anything happens to me so you know what to do.” I was fairly certain nothing was going to happen to him, but I appreciated the learning opportunity all the same.

I was really happy and couldn’t stop smiling. It was a new adventure with one of my favorite people and it was peaceful and relaxing, and like most things I do in Ireland, such a stark contrast from how I live my every day life. The fact that Gene was passed out, just made it a funnier experience for me. Now I was slightly anxious about knowing exactly where to go. I wasn’t paying super close attention on the way to Lough Key because I never actually thought I was going to be in charge of getting us back. And there were some turns, which meant I’d need to make the right move or else…

I was feeling pretty proud of myself for remembering a couple of turns and that’s precisely when I got turned around. I had a choice of three different ways to go. The first way landed me in a dead end. So I turned the boat around hoping to not wake Gene in the process (I didn’t). I saw some of the green and red markers, so I headed in that direction. Unfortunately the red arrow was on the boat’s left and the green arrow was on the boat’s right. This meant I was going in the wrong direction. Who knows why, but I carried on anyway. I justified it by thinking that I’d eventually come to an option that would get me back in the right direction. After about five minutes of going in the wrong direction, Gene started to stir. He sat up and looked around and then popped up and said “You’re going the wrong way. Turn the boat around!” I very quickly tried to turn the boat around and nearly drove us into a bunch of tall grass in the process. Gene hurried on over in time to put the boat in reverse and prevent us from going into the embankment. It was a very funny few seconds and all I could do is shake my head and laugh. Gene, being the most good-natured person ever, just sat down beside me and said “That way would have brought us to Northern Ireland if you kept going.” He smiled with his usual mischief in his eyes and continued “Don’t worry Mol, I won’t tell anyone.” I just looked at him and said “I don’t care if you do tell anyone, I’ll happily tell them that you went to bed for nearly an hour and put someone in charge of the boat who’s never driven one before and lives in a different country.”

It was a fantastically funny experience, a perfectly predictable outcome as this is how most of my adventures with Gene go. This one will go down as one of my favorite memories of the trip for sure. 

After making it back to the house, we had a little bit of time to eat and get ready to go to Effrinagh for a night of dancing and music and a bonfire as a kickback to the 1920’s midsummer celebrations in Ireland. This was the road I was sweeping the night before with Gene. He had been talking this up since I got there saying it was unlike anything I’d ever see again and that it was such a wonderful experience last year that it brought tears to his eyes.

Gene’s girlfriend Pinny came down from Enniskellin to join us and she was a very good sport getting dressed up for the 1920’s. Dave and Oliver (they’re a father and son duo from Leeds with the most amazing Cockney English accents who come and stay at Gene’s 3 – 5 times a year to fish) came with us as well. Unfortunately it was a bit of a letdown. You couldn’t hear or see the music too well and there wasn’t as much of it as the previous year. I did get to see Mick and Diana though, so that was a highlight. We left after maybe an hour and a half and went back to Gene’s.

I was having a no drinking day after having had too much the night before. And I was really freaking tired. But I was having a great conversation with Pinny and so I stayed up and talked with her for nearly two hours inside the pub. Some of the people from the bonfire came to the pub and, as often happens at the Thatch, what seemed like a quiet night turned into a night of music, dancing, story and drinking (but none for me).

After a while, I put myself to bed and for the first time since I’ve been at Gene’s on this trip, I didn’t close down the pub or help him clean up. I needed sleep!

Wednesday June 24^th

Today was as close to relaxing as I’ll get in Ireland. I woke up after getting nearly eight hours of sleep (thankfully!) and went onto the porch and wrote in my journal for nearly three hours. I had wanted to write in it every day, but when I looked, I hadn’t written in it since Friday. I had some serious catching up to do and luckily Gene was still sleeping and Dave and Oliver were out and about. 

I was sitting out on Gene’s back porch listening to the sheep and cows make noise, watching them graze and stare at me every now and again. And eventually, Gene got up and Dave and Oliver came back and so they were moving about in the background as I continued writing. Oliver was practicing fly-fishing in the field, surrounded by cows, with Gene looking on from the kitchen and giving pointers. At some point Gene did some yard work and I had to take a photo of him cause it made me laugh when he came in my sight. It was just a perfectly peaceful and relaxing start to my day.

A few hours later, Gene and I headed to Longford in his truck to get a few barrels of beer. About five minutes into the drive we started hearing a dinging noise and a notification that the tailgate was open. Gene assured me it wasn’t and just to ignore it. Unfortunately that wasn’t entirely possible because the dinging noise wouldn’t go away so Gene just put up the volume on the radio and tried to ignore it as much as he could. Once again I found myself just laughing and shaking my head. Just another adventure with Gene!

After our trip to Longford and back, Gene had a serious case of being hangry. He set about to make dinner and I had to take some time for myself and go for a run. I’m so glad that I did because it felt great. It was my first run on this trip, which bums me out a little as I had wanted to run at least three times a week. Not taking too much time to beat myself up about that, I just enjoyed the run I did have on Hillstreet. When I came back, Gene and the boys had already eaten dinner and dessert and luckily left me some even though Gene threatened to not save me any before I left on my run. (He was really hangry!)

I had a fair bit of downtime after that to get myself pulled together and clean the kitchen. Because it stays light out for so long in Ireland in the summer, the music doesn’t get started sometimes until nearly 10:30 or 11:00 p.m. And the music last night was on point- per usual- and the energy was really great. It’s always good to see the place busy and to get a taste of the talent, both locally and those who are visiting. 

Gene has created such a unique atmosphere and I feel so incredibly grateful to have met him 15 years (wow!) ago and to have gotten to know so many of the special people who fill this pub. There’s a happiness I feel down to my very core when I’m there and the music is going and the energy just takes you over.

Katie and I refer a lot to my Schwinn bicycle smile. (Quick side story when I was maybe 6 or 7 years old, my mom threw my bike into a pile of stuff that was going to a yard sale at the fire station. When I got home and my bike wasn’t there I pretty much lost my mind- I was devastated to say the least. Luckily, we rushed down to the firehouse and got there before my bike was sold. The smile I had on my face as I was riding my bike around that firehouse was as if it had been painted on- just so wide and genuine and reaching my eyes.) And when I’m here, I feel like I have a permanent Schwinn bicycle smile. There were a couple of moments last night that had me tearing up as I was listening to the music. The Thatch is truly a magical place and I always feel like the luckiest person in the world that I get to experience it the way I do. 

After the music stopped and the pub mostly cleared out, Gene talked with some of the customers who were new to the pub and left me in charge of things. It’s kind of like that boat thing where Gene just drops me into the deep end and trusts that I’ll figure things out. While I love pulling pints and making drinks, I don’t entirely know what I’m doing on the cash register and with some of the inner working of the pub. But I figure it out and people are understanding anyway and patient with me. Plus it's just really fun to get to know the customers better and to be on that side of the bar.

It was a long night where we didn’t get out of the pub until nearly 4:00 a.m. We did most of the cleaning up before shutting the door. I was more than ready to get into my bed as I had to be up at 9:00 a.m. to take the train into Dublin. But of course there was a little more work to do- putting the trash bins out and making sure we had the right tags on there. Once that task was done, I was finally able to go to bed.

Thursday June 25th
I'm writing this blog from the train. I was originally planning on going into Dublin for my last two nights, but Gene talked me into staying at his place and just driving super early on Saturday. At first it sounded like a terrible idea, but there have been times on this trip where I've been up since 5:00 a.m., so I think I can swing it. And I'll save a boat load of money. The only kink in things was my plan to meet up with my friend Suzanne and her husband Kevin. We only have two days overlapping on our trip and in order to make it work I took the train into Dublin to have lunch with them.

It's wild really to have connected with them, but also so much fun! We had a delicious lunch of fish and chips at Matt the Thresher and then I joined them for their first pint of Guinness in Ireland! 

I love traveling by train and this has given me the time to catch up on my blog. It'll be about 5:00 p.m. by the time I make it back to Gene's. And I'm so glad that I have two more nights and one full day of adventures with him to look forward to before going home.

Read more...

Adventures in Ireland- Trip 11 Recap #2

Friday June 19th 
Molly and I got an early start on our day since we had a long day of driving ahead of us. After being spoiled by staying mostly put at/around Gene's, being in the car for as much of the day yesterday was a jarring change. And today had us in the car for a bit longer. Our goal was to get to Listowel. From Galway that's about a four hour drive. So we said our quick gooddbye's to Robin (I'll be back on Sunday) and got out of town.

Our first stop was Doolin. Because I hate going by this sweet little village when I'm nearby. I've had to do it before and it's so sad. Plus I wanted Molly to see the place where I met Gene and fell in love with Ireland.

From there it was to the Cliffs of Moher. Being Molly's first time in Ireland, I knew this was a must see on the list of things to show her. The fog was rolling in as we were headed south, and even when we were warned at the entrance gate that visibility was low, I was still totally shocked when we arrived and couldn't see a thing. Molly and I suspect we couldn't see beyond 8 - 10 feet in front of us. This happened during my very first trip to Ireland back in 2000 when I was with Kara. But we had the luxury of going back the next day and getting a clear shot of the Cliffs. This time with Molly though, we had one shot and it just wasn't happening. Luckily she was a very good sport about it and we were both laughing at the bad luck of not being able to see ANYTHING. So. We headed south.

Since it was such a crappy day with no sunshine or much of a view on the drive, we opted not to take the scenic/coastal route. Which is a shame because it was one of my favorite parts of the trip last year. We made the best of it and made our way into Limerick where we had really good pizza and salad for lunch before the homestretch to Listowel.

Listowel is where the Corridans are from. During last year's trip I met a few of my father's distant relatives and when I booked this trip, I reached out to them and arranged to meet up with Con and Catherine again.

Molly and I showed up for dinner at their house and had a delicious home-cooked meal and some wonderful conversation. I still can't get over how welcoming they've been to me- both this year and last- and any guest I bring along with me. It's so comforting to be in their company and they make me feel very welcomed. Con is such a sweet man and Catherine is so loving. Being with them is comfortable and truly nice. And it's really lovely that they make the time and open up their house to me. I hope I'll have an opportunity to repay the favor some time, but I'm not sure that'll happen.

Catherine reached out to another family member, Patsy, who met up with us at John B. Keane's pub (at 9:45 p.m., right about when Molly and I were about to fall asleep). Patsy's the oldest brother of the three "cousins" I met last year- Joe, Hanora & Gerard (he's the one who closed down the pub with me and Elisabeth). It was wonderful to meet Patsy and very nice of him and his wife Mary to come out. Patsy believes that his mother and my dad's grandfather were first cousins. I don't know what that makes us, but I'm told all Corridans are related.

Saturday June 20th 
Having to set an alarm for a second day in a row was hard. And it was even harder to get up when that alarm went off at 6:42 a.m. In order to see my family and go to Skellig Michael, this is how we had to do it. Luckily we had a relatively early night (early in Ireland means 11:30 - midnight, which is very late in my normal life, but that's the way it goes here) and I only had two drinks (and none the day before). So that helped.

We made the hour and a half drive to Portmagee, an adorable port village along the Ring of Kerry and right across the bridge from Valentia Island. I'd actually been here a few years ago with Katie- only to use the bathroom. I remember because the bathroom was so nice it had won an award. Remember, Katie?

Skellig Michael has been the number one adventure that Molly and I have both been looking forward to during this trip. It was definitely some place new for me and I've seen some unbelievable photos on Pinterest and Instagram that made me add it to my list of places to see in Ireland. The boat ride was 45 minutes and then we were dropped off around 10:15 a.m. and were told to be back at 1:15 p.m.

It's impossible to explain what this experience was like. My photos barely do it justice. But first I'll tell you a little bit about Skellig Michael:

• It's an island in the Atlantic Ocean, about 12 kilometers away from Portmagee
• A Christian monastery was founded on the island at some point between the 6th and 8th century and was continuously occupied until it was abandoned sometime in the 12th century
• It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996
• There are roughly 600 stairs you have to climb to get to the monastery, so if the weather is really wet or windy, you won't be able to climb the rocky, steep, old stairs in bad weather
• Only 13 boat lincenses are granted to tour operators who run trips between April and October as long as the weather cooperates
• And probably the most interesting bit is that they filmed Star Wars (VII) last summer for a few days

Apart from the intense climb, there is a ton of wildlife. In fact, when we got off the boat, we saw two or three dolphins putting on quite a show for us! And we saw so many puffins, gannets, arctic terns and fulmars. 

I warned Molly that I was likely going to be scared doing this. The photos I saw online made me anxious as I'm not a big fan of heights and felt like this would be pushing myself a bit too far outside of my comfort zone. The "pep talk"/reality check we got from a guide named Eamon, whose job it is to scare the bejesus out of people, nearly gave me a heart attack. He warned everyone to be very careful, letting us know that this wasn't Disneyland and you had to be very careful. He said it's a dangerous place and two people have died within the past few years and many more getting injured each year. "In fact, one person got injured just last week." I know it's his job to make sure he warns us properly, but still. That was intense!

Once we were properly warned, we started the 600ish stair climb up to the monastery. I wasn't worried about the physical aspect of this as stairs is kind of my thing back home. But it was the whole fall to your death option that was freaking me out. Luckily I pretty much just kept my head down and stuck to one side of the stairs and took it slowly. That helped me not freak out and get to the top, with plenty of opportunities to stop for some photos.

On the way up I realized I was likely going to have a problem going down. Because when you look ahead, you look at the ocean and how very far of a fall you have. Plus I had Eamon's words echoing in my brain "This is not Disneyland. This is not a safe place." Yikes.

At any rate, we explored and looked around at the monastery. Took photos and truly enjoyed what we had just done. I can't tell you how many times either myself or Molly said "WOW" or "This is unbelievable" or "I'm so glad we did this." In fact. I'm pretty sure it'll go down as my most memorable Ireland adventure. It was unlike anything I've ever done before.

We gave ourselves about 30 minutes to get down, which was good because I absolutely had to take it slow. I was seriously sweating it. Thank Gods Molly was there because she got on the left side of me so I could hug the right side of the stairs. At a couple of points I really had to talk myself through super steep walks down the steps. You can see for yourself in the third photo just how steep the decline is!

Holy crap just looking at that photo above gets me anxious all over again. I had to take it slow and not look at anything other than the step I was walking down. That helped me stay focused on the one thing I had to do- put my foot on the very next step. Whatever. It worked!

Once safely back on level ground, we made our way to the boat and then got a mini tour of Little Skellig. It's home to over 30,000 pairs of Gannet's- Ireland's largest seabird- making it the second largest Gannet colony in the world!

Riding beside the island you see thousands and thousands of these birds. We were also treated to a few seals, which was totally unexpected.

Back on land, Molly and I then drove around Valentia Island. We were originally planning on spending the night there, but we need to be in Cobh tomorrow and that's nearly three hours. So we arranged to stay at Loch Lein tonight in Killarney, which is owned by Catherine's brother Paul who I believe seems to have the most information on the Corridan family. (He oversees this family blog called Corridan Connections.) Because Paul and his wife Annette run a hotel, I wasn't able to see him when I was around last year, but he did put me in touch with Catherine and the other family I met up with.  At any rate, we bagged on spending the night in Valentia and instead drove around the island and I'm so glad we made that change. Valentia Island is small and we saw nearly everything we wanted to in the couple of hours we spent driving around.

And holy heck was it gorgeous! Katie and I wanted to do this a few years back when we were doing the Ring of Kerry, but we just couldn't make the timing work. I'm so glad Molly and I did this. On the advice of Con last night, we checked out Geokaun Mountain & Cliffs, and were rewarded with some unbelievably beautiful sights. The Fogher Cliffs were so beautiful and the sun decided to come out, so Molly and I kept saying that it partially made up for the Cliffs of Moher being totally fogged in.

The entire drive around Valentia Island was beautiful and made us gasp and want to take a ton of photos. I'd highly recommend this drive to anyone coming to Ireland.

I've been to a lot of beautiful parts of Ireland, but I'd be hard-pressed to choose a county more beautiful than Kerry. After picking our jaws up off the ground, Molly and I made the hour's drive to Fossa (just outside of Killarney) and checked into Paul's hotel, Loch Lein. We didn't know what to expect, but it's by far the nicest place we've stayed at in Ireland. I didn't think this day could get any better, but I just had the most amazing bath and we've been in for the past few hours relaxing, catching up on computer time and organizing photos and it's been heavenly. I haven't met Paul. But we'll do that tomorrow morning during breakfast and before we head out to Cobh.

This entire day was one amazing and beautiful sight after another. I felt alive and grateful and happy and in awe of how much beauty there is in this world. That I get to see it and live it is something I don't take for granted. That I get to share all of this with Molly makes it even more special. But jaysus, holy shyte, this may be the most beautiful pocket of Ireland I've been to. And that says a lot because I've been to a lot of pockets of this country!

Sunday June 21st

Molly and I had a heavenly stay at Paul's hotel last night and we both felt incredibly refreshed and clean and happy when we woke up this morning. I had the best bath and Molly had a shower that dreams are made of (her words), which helped us both sleep easily and comfortably.

After breakfast, Paul said he wanted to show me some work he's done on the family tree. He promised to keep it brief and not bore me to tears. I told him he could go on and as much as he'd like. When Paul returned he brought out a massive roll of paper that spanned nearly three feet and had four generations of Corridans with tons of impressive information on all the different lines of our family. I did my best to take photos so I can go home and copy what Paul outlined. But holy heck, what an amazing resource to have and I'm so grateful to Paul and his father (now deceased) who have pieced all of this together.

After saying our goodbye's and promising to send along information on my family and all the Corridans I know really well to Paul, Molly and I took off for Cobh. This was another place I was looking forward to checking out as I'd never been before and have seen unbelievably beautiful photos of the cathedral and the colorful buildings.

Cobh did not disappoint! I wanted to get a more complete photo like I'd seen online, but in order to do that, I think I would have had to either be in a boat or made my way to Spike Island just across the way. So this is what you get instead, which is still beautiful and colorful:

As you can see, we were lucky to get a sunny and warm (for Ireland) day. It helps make the photos look even more colorful. We didn't have too much time in Cobh because Molly's train to Dublin (via Cork) was leaving at 1:30 p.m. So we made the most of our time walking around, getting a drink and grabbing a bite to eat. My friend Magic John who I know from the Speakeasy back home in Santa Monica grew up here and all of his siblings are still here. If I'd been in Cobh for longer, I would have made sure to meet up with some of his family, but instead, Molly and I took some advice on where to have a pint and where to get a good meal. Which was helpful since Cobh has a lot of dining and drinking options. 

Here's a photo of me and Molly enjoying our last pint of Guinness together on this trip:

And then another photo of us in our Irish caps (how good does Molly look in that?): 

After dropping Molly off at the train station, I high tailed it to Galway so I could spend a little more time with Robin. Unfortunately her work schedule got in the way of her coming to play with me and Molly down in Kerry and Cork. And I couldn't imagine not getting more quality time with her. I love spending time with Robin and this evening was no exception.

We chatted and caught up on things from the past few days and past few months. And then walked into town to get some Japanese food and gelato and then walked to the Crane Bar for one drink before going home for the night.

Tomorrow I go back to Gene's for the next few nights. I'm hoping it'll be relaxing, especially after the running here there and everywhere. I just looked up all the places I've been since leaving Gene's on Thursday and we've driven just over 500 miles. So it'll be nice to get back to being in once place for a few nights. Nothing about being at Gene's is usually relaxing. It's a lot of other things (funny, unpredictable, memorable), but not relaxing. But I'm hoping I can fit in some Molly time and play catch up with some running, reading and writing in my journal. Regardless, I know it'll be a great time and I can't wait for part three of this trip to begin!

(Part one was Sunday through Thursday when Molly and I were at Gene's. Part two was Thursday through Sunday/today when Molly and I were exploring in Galway, Listowel, Portmagee, Skelling Michael, Valentia Island, Fossa, Cobh and back to Galway. Part three will be tomorrow/Monday until Thursday/Friday when I'm at Gene's. And there may be a part four when depending on when I go to Dublin. That's currently up in the air. I'm not sure if that'll be Thursday or Friday afternoon).

Read more...