...excuses, excuses...

*note* I wrote this a few days ago, but I don't have internet at home yet... just now getting a chance to post it online! =)

So in the battle between time and … I don’t know… life?... time won. Big time. Time got the best of me, and I got busy. And stressed out. And busy. Unfortunately for you, that means I didn’t have time to update you on what was keeping me so busy. So I’ll fill you in a little at a time…

The school year ended on a Wednesday, and I left town for the next 10 days on the following Saturday. When I got back to Frankfurt, I had 72 hours to move apartments, do laundry and pack for the next trip. I flew to Texas on Friday, went to a wedding on Saturday and left town again Sunday morning. After a conference in Memphis, I returned to Houston just in time for the weekend, and spent the next 7 days shopping or hanging out with friends, and left town Friday morning for a long weekend in Wyoming for my cousin’s wedding. That left Tuesday to pack and make any last minute USA purchases before leaving for Frankfurt again on Wednesday. I went to Italy the next day, got back Wednesday, and sent my travel buddy home yesterday.

So here we are… August 5. *Big breath* A moment to myself. No agenda. No responsibilities. No deadlines. Finally. Don’t worry though, only ten days of this. Then it’s back to work!! ;)

But that doesn’t explain what happened since the last post… in MARCH! So let’s back up, shall we?

Julie and I forced our friendship through the ultimate test, and I am proud to say we survived… AND still remain friends! =) We spent our Spring Break – the last two weeks on April – in Ireland. We flew into Dublin and spent the next ten days driving our trusty rental around the entire island. The only blip in the trip was just after landing, waiting in baggage claim, and that awful moment arrived – all the other passengers had their bags, and the conveyor stopped. NO!!! When talking with Aer Lingus, the man even had the audacity to say, “Well, where did you connect from? The Germans never lose bags.” OK, well THANK YOU. Upon repeated explanations that we did, in fact, check-in in Frankfurt with no previous flight, and that we were not late for the flight, we were told to give the address and phone numbers of our next three nights’ stay. Not encouraging. Our bags turned up late on the second night, in Dingle. The B&B owner knocked on our door around 9pm and told us, “I have good news and bad news. The good news is they found your bags. The bad news is they won’t be here for three days.” After seeing the panic on both our faces, as we were leaving after two nights, he laughed and said, “Just kidding, they’re downstairs. I called the pub to see if you were there, but when you weren’t I thought I’d come up here to check on you.” He called the bar. Seriously. Called a pub… and asked… for the two American girls?!? Who knows? It made us laugh and put us in a great mood.

Driving on the “wrong” side of the road was quite the experience! And a first for both of us. I am proud to say neither of us hit anything or anyone and returned the car scratch free and the end of the trip! WOOHOO! Julie took the first drive and passed with flying colors! We ended up alternating driving days and made lots of memories laughing, grasping door handles in panic and pumping imaginary brakes on the floor on the back roads the Irish call highways, pulling over for cows and fording streams in small towns, and constantly telling each other to “scoot over, you’re too close on this side!!!!”

The other random thing worth mentioning is the weather. We had amazing weather in Ireland, and a little part of me thinks I should never go back so I don’t spoil the memories. Out of the ten days we were there, we had one morning and one afternoon of rain or sprinkles. That’s it. Sunny days on nine of ten days. Incredible!

In lieu of a Kelsey-style play-by-play, I’ll try to condense it to a highlight or two of each day (and I’ll try to get some captions on the fb pics soon)!!

Monday – Drinking Kilkennys in a pub in Kilkenny to drown away the lost-luggage frustration.

Tuesday – Seeing the view from the Rock of Cashel. So much GREEN around that church!!

Wednesday – Slea Head Drive. Every minute of it was incredible. And running into friends from work on the streets on Dingle.

Thursday – Walking on the beach in Ballinskelligs. Trying to convince the B&B owner that we’d prefer a route that went around the mountain to Portmagee for dinner. Trying to convince ourselves that we would not die as we drove over the mountain to Portmagee for dinner.

Friday – Walking into our “Harry Potter room” in the attic at the B&B in Galway. Finding out pubs are closed in Ireland on Good Friday (Yes, seriously). Finding a back street pub serving beer illegally and drinking with a couple Irishmen and an English Rugby team.

Saturday – Trying beers at a bar near the beach in Galway. Dinner with friends in a restaurant that took us hours to find!

Sunday –Happy Easter! Inishmore (the largest of the Aran Islands). Hanging over the side of a cliff from Dun Aengus. My favorite day of the trip.

Monday – Learning the history of Northern Ireland in Derry.

Tuesday – Eating the best tapas dinner I’ve ever had.

Wednesday – Visiting the old Dublin jail. Drinking Guinness from the Guinness storehouse panoramic bar.

Thursday – Arriving home WITH luggage. =)

I loved every bit of my trip through Ireland. I still think it is one of my favorite places that I have been to so far. I recognize the fact that I felt more “home” in Ireland than anywhere else though. It is amazing what a big difference a lack of language barrier can make. I think the timing of this trip was perfect in helping ease some homesickness. Being able to understand an overheard conversation on the street or reading a sign in a store and knowing what it says were little luxuries that made life easier. The island has so much history and so much beauty, and I’m so happy that we were able to enjoy it all in the sunshine!

My last thought for you… not every man looked like Colin Farrell. Disappointing, I know. It was probably just half of them! ;) The other half looked like Conan O’Brien – but with fire-orange hair. So many Gingers!!! =)

Slán leat!!

Love and love,

Kels