Wednesday, 29 January 2014

West Ireland - A dream come true

7 months & 1 backpack

West Ireland - A dream come true

IRELAND | Tuesday, 11 June 2013 | Views [100]



Ireland - the land where legends don't seem so impossible.  But before that I just have to say that I am super thankful to have safely made it through the UK customs.  For two reasons; the first was that I do not have a return ticket as I am not sure when and where I want to fly back home from exactly and that usually raises some magor questioning. Thankfully, I recieved no major questioning and arrived safely through border control.
 So there was just a couple things that I really wanted to do while I was here in Ireland - See West Ireland and see some Irish cliffs. I am staying with friends who also live in another community here in Blessington, Co Wicklow. (where Braveheart was filmed) and I knew that I would be busy catching up with all my friends here. (I lived here for 3 months about a year and a half ago).  I have one of those personalities that if I get ideas in my head about what I want to do then it can become a fixation so I knew that I just needed to let go of my ideas and enjoy every moment...I am Ireland after all!  It's sometimes amazes me how I can be in the most idillic situations and yet if it isn't exactly what I had wanted or had in my mind then I can ruin the moment for myself and those around me.  This is an area I want gone!  Anyways, my friends picked me up from the airport and we rushed home so that they could lay out in the sun, as it is normally not hot enough to do in Ireland. As we drove from Dublin to Wicklow my breath was just taken away by the beauty of Ireland; rolling hills covered in wild flowers, patchwork farms with sheep, horses, and cows grazing contedly, quaint houses with vines and flowers practically swallowing them up.  It truly is a magical place. I arrived at Humphreystown House and quickly felt right at home, it's so weird that even when you only lived somewhere for three months and that was almost two years ago how fast it just feels natural again.  It's a funny thing but something as small as remembering where the plugs where without trying made me happy :)
The people here have been so amazing! Without really knowing what I was longing for some of the young people had arranged a trip to the Cliffs of Kilkee in the West of Ireland for last Saturday.  We left bright and early for our three hour drive through some of the most beautiful countryside you can imagine and arrived in County Clare around 10:30 am.  For those of you who plan to travel to West Ireland I would definitely suggest that instead of heading to the Cliffs of Moher where you have to pay for parking and cannot get all the way up to the edge of the cliff try going to Kilkee! It's an absolutely gorgous Seaside town and you can go exploring wherever your heart desires on the cliffs. I am not really a "fence" kind of girl so having the freedom to get as close as I wanted to edge to peek over into the swirling waters below was just up my alley.  I also felt like most of the people where locals as we were some of the only people stopping every ten feet to take pictures. And if you end up going to Kilkee on a day warm enough to take your shoes off you must try walking off the path - the ground is crazy soft and springy!  We had hiked up to the highest cliff and on the way back we all started to run down the hill and I found myself feeling like a dufflepod bounding from mushroom to mushroom...super exhilarating!    Every part of Saturday was awesome, from the breath taking sights of waves crashing against towering cliffs, emerald grass laden with yellow and purple flowers, and brilliant blue skies, to the smells of the ocean, seagulls, screeching, and the warmth of the sun, the day was perfect.  A highlight for me was venturing down the cliffs to explore the pools where sea anenomes, clams, and seaweed where growing in abundance. One of the guys ate a few of the clams right then and there and tried to get me to but even though I love being daring that was just a bit much for me.   The day ended with enjoying fish n chips and a coffee at the seaside cafe before driving home again. *Sigh* I know every day cannot be like that but I have to say that it does the heart good when you have one that is.
I could go on and on about the Beauty of Ireland, the amazing times I am sharing with my friends here but since I am already a good deal past my self allotted one thousand words I am going to end here and try to write again tomorrow on the other subjects that I wanted to cover. Hope everyone is grand!

Read more travel safety tips on the WorldNomads.com Safety Hub: http://journals.worldnomads.com/fiddlegirl8/story/102040/Ireland/West-Ireland-A-dream-come-true#ixzz2rmSemkxM
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New York and Goodbye America!

Wheeeewww!  That's all I have to say about New York!  It's completely overwhelming - from the minute I stepped off the train in Penn Station until the minute I passed the through security I felt like I was on edge the whole time, actually, that is not completely true - I did take a walk along Brighton Beach today and felt like I had finally escaped the craziness of city life.
Honestly though, I do not get the fixation on New York. It's an amazing place to visit, yes, but to live?  Stuck hours in traffic to get 5 miles, feeling like cattle being shoved into the metro stations, and trash being set out on the street just don't appeal to me.  Don't get me wrong, I think New York has some incredible things but I am not sure those things make the high level of stress that come with it worth it.  Another random thing that struck me as I was riding the rail out of NY was how ugly most of it is - if you are not in the nice neighborhoods, all of it looks quite scary and ghetto because even the inhabited buildings look abandoned.
Anyways, enough about my rant lest I make it sound like I did not enjoy my time there - I actually had a terrific 24 hours with some amazing people.  Last night I met a friend in Manhattan whom I have not seen for 9 years. I know, I don't feel like I am old enough to be saying that i haven't seen someone for almost a decade, but it's true.  We met when we were 15 and have been penpals ever since.  She was my hero fro many years as she traveled the world teaching Englsih while I reamained landlocked.  Now are positions are switched and she is terrifically jealous of me :) *said with a somewhat smug smile*
We met at an amazing Indian restaurant where I partook of some delicious spinach and chicken soup whith garlic and cheese stuffed naan bread...oooohhhh yum! What was truly magical about the evening though was just how naturally 9 years of not seeing eachother faded away, it felt like a few months after about 5 minutes of catching up. She too was from a community growing up so it was really cool to talk about my sentiments from the previous post. After finishing dinner we walked around the city (and I will admit that it's pretty darn cool to do that at night :D) until I had to jump on the metro to get back to Brooklyn before my host went to bed.  *I always stay with Ukranian friends whenever I am in NY and am always amazed at their hospitality.
Ok, I have to go start boarding for Dublin but I have to conclude that the today was awesome!  Oksana and I walked Brighton Beach, explored Coney Island, and then returned to her house where she stuffed me full of sweets, (Ukranian of course) fruit, and martini champagne.  Even though her english was really poor we had such a delightful day enjoying each others company and she made me promise that when I come back I have to schedule a weekend in NY to spend with her :)
Alright...OFF I GO!!!! Flight 116 from JFK to Dublin (with a 2 hour layover in London)
Pictures to follow!

Random thoughts on coffee, layovers, and traffic

7 months & 1 backpack

Random thoughts on coffee, layovers and traffic

USA | Saturday, 1 June 2013 | Views [116] | Comments [1]



I can't believe already a week has flown by and I am already in NJ, which also means that a week from now I will be in Ireland!  Crazzy!  The last week was filled with visiting friends and family in KC then flying up to see my parents for a few days in VA. While I was in KC I really started to wonder how come I had not spent more time with my family up there? It had become blaringly obvious the last couple weeks as I raced around trying to get to see my friends and family that I have let the busyness of my life keep my from maintaining my relationships. I used to always wonder how people could live 10 minutes from each other but never get together, and I have seen myself do that very thing.  Relationships and people are very important to me but life has a way of pushing it to the next day, to the next day...and it never happens. The question that I have to now ask myself is now that I see that I fall prey to the rush of life how will I keep this from happening again?
  So, where do I begin with my travels thus far?  I guess I will start with my flight to VA, which took me from KC to Denver then on to VA - which brings me to the point, how does it make ANY sense to fly back to CO just to jump on another plane and fly back across where you just came from?? But whether or not that made any sense to me that is precisely what I did. I knew that my plane for VA left at 12:35 so as we began our descent into Denver I checked my phone to see what time it was, YIKES, it was 11:55 so I was going to have to hussle to make that connection. I swiftly found the gate that I needed to be at and was just in time to stand in my A 30-60 line, my turn came to get on the plane and the attendant scanned my boarding pass RRRRRNNN, the buzzer when off, "honey where are you going?" he asked me. "umm, to Dulles, International?" I nervously replied, wondering what could be wrong with my pass. "That's the next flight, this one is to Canton, Ohio" he grinned, and pointed very clearly to the flashing sign above his head which stated that fact. I sheepishly smiled at the B lines forming behind me (can you tell I was on Southwest? :)) as I made a fast exit.  I was so confused though, and took out my phone check the time 10:35?! Gosh Darn it, the time change!!! I totally forgot and my phone hadn't registered it til we landed.  NOW i felt stupid and had two hours to kill, COFFEE was what I needed and I knew just the place to get it from.  If any of you are ever in the Denver airport or if you ever see a Dazzbogs coffee you must go there! It is absolutely perfection in a cup.
  So after my delightful cup of coffee which I drank so fast that I had finished it before I even got back to my gate I decided to write some emails and settled down in seat where I could comfortable watch my gate. Lost in what I was doing I suddenly noticed that everyone was boarding and my group was up to be in line so I collected my stuff and quickly got into line. Again, I approached the attendant with my pass and again he scanned it RRRRRNNN, the buzzer announced..."ma'am you should be at the next gate over" whaatt?? So once again I sheepishly smiled at the people all lined up behind me hoping none of them had been there to witness my previous incident and hastily marched to the next gate being VERY careful to make sure and read the flashing sign over the attendant's head.  I am sure the security camera guys were either wondering what I was doing, trying to get on planes that I didn't have a ticket for or chuckling to themselves about that "blonde".  Anyways, I had a littel laugh with myself once safely aboard my (correct) flight :D
I arrived in VA safely and spent a delightful few day with my parents, the highlight of which was a day trip that we took to St Michael's Island. I would highly reccomend visiting there if you are at all into bay towns.  It was just like walking into a movie; tiny shops with everything hand made and unique, old men reading the newspapers in rocking chairs outside some of the shops, sailboats moored off the piers, candyshops, ice cream parlors, and year round Christmas shops made everything magical. A little old lady who sat in the gorgeous 17th century Church informed us that Christmastime is when you should come..That there is nothing like it!
After a harrowing day navigating the traffic of Washington and NJ, which nearly ended the love of a mother and daughter :) )Seriously though, if you EVER make the mistake that thinking you'll have more time to bond together as you drive instead of taking a train or bus..think twice, traffic and backseat driving will put even the best relationship to the test.) My mom dropped me off at a quaint coffee shop in Hammonton NJ to meet one of my dearest friends, whom I have not seen in a year.  I am now sitting in her peaceful flat, sipping on coffee as she urges me to hurry up and finish this as we must go to lunch! So I will bid you all adieu and try not to make the next post take so long to get out. (In all fairness though, I had one ready and was trying to upload pics and didn't realize that this site logs me out in 60 minutes...sooooo, I lost it all :<)
Hope everyone has an awesome day!

Read more travel safety tips on the WorldNomads.com Safety Hub: http://journals.worldnomads.com/fiddlegirl8/story/101604/USA/Random-thoughts-on-coffee-layovers-and-traffic#ixzz2rmS38EeO
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And the journey begins...

Well, here I am on the first leg of my trip, having made it safely via train to Kansas City last night. For those of you who have never taken the train from Jeff city, let's just say that the station is not exactly savory so Once you are safely on board the train the worst feels over ;) at the moment I am sitting in a delightful coffee shop, the Roasterie, sipping on the strongest machiotto that has ever touched these lips.
I have not decided how detailed i want this blog to be and i am sure that some days you (the loyal and brave readers) will fall asleep while valiantly trying to wade through it while other days i may just wave at you all or post a quick pic to let you know that i am alive and kicking =).
I do know that beyond the point of the amazing places ill be going i want to share the impressions of humanity that i encounter, I am going to be real, raw, and honest because this journal is going to be for me to document my growth and learning as well as keeping.people who want to pray for me aware of my needs.
  I am still reeling from the love, kindness and generosity that  I have experienced the last few weeks...seriously, someone gave me woolen hiking socks and a lock! Things i would NEVER think to pack. I desperately needed a new wallet and an absolutely gorgeous one was my going present from boss and his wife (as though the most awesome going away party was not enough!) For all of you who showered me with cards, hugs, presents and prayers, i can't tell you how loved, blessed, and humbled i was/am.
Honestly, i feel so unworthy and inadequate of the opportunity i have been given. But thank goodness God doesn't judge us on our credentials!  Soooo, here goes the first of many posts and i promise that as soon as I have stories to regale  you with, I will!!!

Love and Blessings!!