I Miss Ireland
The Emerald Isle is Calling
I’ve passed a lot of time over the years in Ireland. Twice, I rented apartments and stayed for the 90-day limit on my American passport. Once, I rented a car with my sister and we toured County Kerry. Another time, I stayed in Dublin while attending a conference for travel bloggers. My husband and I ended up getting snowed in for about a week on another occasion in Dublin.
I kid you not, barely an inch of snow brought the whole city to a standstill. Coming from the state of Maine, we were kind of amused. We were staying at The Arlington Hotel where we had access to good food, great beer, and live entertainment. Eventually, we were able to board a plane and fly to Scotland. We took it all in our stride.
That’s what you’ve gotta do when you’re a nomad.
I think my favorite stay was in the little town of Blennerville, outside the city limits of Tralee. The village stood at the mouth of the Dingle Peninsula. I reserved the apartment sight unseen. We rarely rent a car. The landlady assured me, however, that the walk to Tralee was easy. Turns out we had quite a long stroll there and back. We found ways to make it work. My husband carried a backpack which we lovingly named The Baby. We filled it with groceries and even the occasional stick of peat and trudged back home to our adorable cottage where we lived for over two months.
It’s fair to say that the pots of soup and the warmth from the peat fires in the fireplace were twice as comforting after miles of walking each day.
I counted more rainbows during that stay than I’d ever seen in my life. I never found the pot of gold but I felt like I’d hit gold when I discovered Ireland’s many shades of green. So much vivid green that it almost hurt my eyes when we first arrived. We’d just ended a 90-day stay in southern Spain during the hottest days of summer through the beginning of September. Ireland was like the land of Oz when we arrived, fresh and startlingly GREEN.
As I said, we rarely rent a car while abroad. However, we did rent a car in Ireland once. We kept it for five days and covered the three peninsulas, the Dingle, the Ring of Kerry, and the Beara Peninsula. There was nothing like getting lost on a pass while stumbling across free-range sheep in a wild and wonderfully isolated spot on the road.
The little towns in Ireland are usually neat and clean, bright and cheerful. They even compete for the tidiest town award every year. I can’t say enough about the quaintness of the villages. Right out of a storybook, don’t you know.
And then there was craic. Irish craic is a unique experience. Picture sitting in a small pub with live Irish music and Guinness. We passed more than a few late nights enjoying great music and food.
We also lived for several months in Killarney in another beautiful apartment. It was only a few blocks from an entrance to the Killarney National Park. As nature lovers, we reveled in the opportunity to take long, leisurely, daily walks in an area of such outstanding natural beauty.
I’ve been returning to Spain for 17 years. I keep an apartment there where I like to pass a few winter months. However, Ireland also captured my heart from day one. Lately, I’ve been thinking about Ireland. With COVID, my international travel came to a halt for awhile. I miss it. Ireland beckons. I haven’t come close to seeing it all. That’s for sure.
With any LUCK, I’ll be back there one day soon.
Teresa Roberts is a retired educator, author, world traveler, and a professional myth buster. You can find her books on Amazon.
