Ireland Unplanned

Part 1 of..?

I wrote this poem May 5, 2019…just before leaving.

Maybe Me.

Maybe I missed my calling

Maybe I’m a poet in my hearts of hearts

A song lives inside of me… ever changing

Striving to come out

The lyrics; a poem, a scream, a sorrow, a joy

Forever misunderstood and not understanding why

The song holds the key

The lyrics know who I am

I don’t

I wish I heard the lyrics

I wish I could write the poem within me

The poem that is me

Maybe I will

and then meet me

Getting there…

The date is the 16th of May 2019 and it is a beautiful day. I am on my way from Miami to Dublin on Aer Lingus Airlines. I am sitting in aisle seat 30H, and thankfully, the young man sitting next to me has been sleeping for hours. At first, I was afraid that he wouldn’t…as memories of a “wish I was unconscious” flight to Paris emerged in my mind. He is traveling with two other friends that even though they seem a bit raunchy, are in fact super nice. Sometimes people will surprise you! I take it as a good omen.

The flight began a bit shaky in that my seat was not “my seat”. I had gone through painstaking detail to choose my seat on this flight… however, unbeknownst to me, there was an airplane change, and the seat assigned became whatever it occurred to them. Another example how, even though we think we are in control, we never really are. Thanks to my angels, I get the perfect seat with plenty of leg room; and there are no crying babies. I have made a reservation in a hotel not too far from the airport and I plan to pick up a car when I arrive. This car will be with me for a whole month as I travel around the magical Celtic island. Rick Steve’s Travel Guide, my new Fujifilm Xt3 camera, and good luck seem to be my travel companions.

I feel bad for my mom. She is a mom after all…and she is concerned; so is my father. She actually said, “hopefully I will still be here when you come back”. Talk about laying the guilt trip! To which I responded, “Well, I hope you don’t ruin my trip!”. Yes, I know it is dark humor…but I couldn’t help myself. I just will not allow manipulation into my life anymore; even if it comes from a good place. Ever since I heard about this writing workshop in Ireland, I knew I was supposed to go. I know this with a certainty that feels out of this world. I’ve been working on a personal memoir and this is my first real step to accomplishing it. More than that, I feel that I must spend some time in this place that I have never been to. It is a five-day workshop that begins the 28th of May… so all I know is that I must arrive at the Connemara Mountains on that day by 4 o’clock in the afternoon.

My itinerary consists of one night in Dublin and a rental car pick up. I figure that I will head south and that I will eventually reach the coast to begin my journey driving around on the Wild Atlantic Way. This is a drive that will take me all around the breathtaking Irish coast; it begins near Kinsale and winds through places like Cork, Killarney; side lined by the Ring of Kerry; Dingle, Dooley, all around the Dingle Peninsula, then on to Galway, Donegal, and the Antrim Coast. It sounds spectacular!

I have never driven on the “wrong side” of the car, and on the “wrong side” of the road before. This presents my first challenge. Just leaving the Dublin airport and getting to the hotel was tough already! I would be lying if I don’t admit to feeling a bit of trepidation… however, it is also very much fun. It is daring, dangerous (maybe more to others around me), wild, and yes, crazy. This is so out of my comfort zone that I have never felt more alive.

My first day…

I load my car with my big luggage, my carry-on luggage, my journal, my tripod, my camera, and a prayer for protection. It is not as easy as I thought to drive the wrong way… I keep hitting corners, I think every car coming the opposite way is going to hit me, and of course I steer away. In doing so, I hit several of the side mirrors of the cars that are unfortunate enough to be parked along the street. Logically, I pull over and google “tips for driving in Ireland”. This was a great idea! It really does help me tremendously. This is just getting out of the Dublin area.

I program Kilkenny in my GPS. It looks beautiful and perfectly situated for my first stopover. I make an executive decision to take side roads and avoid highways. This proves to be a terrible idea. The side roads turn out to be extremely difficult to navigate; sheep and cows prove to be obstacles, and they are wide enough for only one car.

I really don’t care since time is not an issue, and it takes me through very cool and quaint little towns… with plenty of opportunity to photograph at my heart’s content. As I am driving on the Wicklow Gap, which is a mountain road that offers amazing views…

views that will stay in my heart memory forever, I am hailed by another car to pull over. It was a nice couple that was concerned because it appeared to them that there was something wrong with my front left wheel. In fact, it turned be a disfigured hubcap, that after having been submitted to earlier abuse (yes, by me), looked like a protruding flower. It was embarrassing; but at the end we laughed and kicked it back into place. After a few sightseeing stops, like Glenda Lough where I hiked to a thousand-year old church,

also a slippery fall (truly I was worried for my camera more than about myself), and six and a half hours later, I finally reach my destination.

The Kilkenny River Court Hotel

appears a bit shabby to me but it turns out that it is most likely the best that Kilkenny has to offer. It sits right on the River Nore and it offers a full breakfast buffet and the room is very nice. Naively, I ask the concierge, “Where is the nearest pub?”, he laughs and whips out a map of the town. There are over 25 of them… all walking distance. Feeling hungry and thirsty, I decide that the one right across the street is as good as any, it is called Matt the Millers Bar and Restaurant.

In hindsight, I should have showered and changed. After all, I am covered with road dust…but I don’t. I’m wearing stretchy black legging type jeans, flouncy cotton top (cute… but not really) and dust covered black Sketchers.

It’s love at first sight! I absolutely adore the scene, the people, the trio playing traditional Irish music, the amazing energy in this place.

Everyone talks to everyone, like if they are meeting old friends… even though they may have just met. I end up sharing a table with five very friendly local people. After maybe thirty minutes I meet Josh. Josh is a steel worker from Indiana and he is sort of camp-traveling through Ireland. He confesses to me that he will be staying in a hotel that night because he needed to take a “proper shower” with hot water and all that day. He is truly a free spirit. We become fast friends and he proves to be a fountain of information. As always, my angels are providing for me.

The party really begins when the Irish musical trio is replaced by a DJ. The place is packed with young and older. Everyone talks to everyone. I had never experienced this before, and it feels like I’ve arrived home. Maybe in another life? Drinks are flowing and everyone dances freely with each other. I recognize some of the songs that are playing, but some I do not. They seem to be popular in Europe but not in the United States. Sparks fly when I meet Enda. He is an Irishman living and working in Australia for the past ten years. Enda tells me that he comes home every two weeks to visit his family in Wexford. He is here with his two brothers and a cousin. All of them very good-looking guys. The fun goes on until we are all basically shooed out onto the street at 2:30 am.

It seems unreal that I have been in Ireland for less than 36 hours. I must say that this is a great auspicious beginning to my Irish adventure…