About two months ago I woke with a start from a terrifying dream: I was giving a customer loyalty workshop. A perfectly mundane, fully clothed, everyday, customer loyalty workshop. Exactly the kind of workshop that I conduct on a monthly basis at work. *shudder*
Ladies and gentlemen, when you start dreaming about work, it's past time for a genuine, honest-to-God vacation.
Fortunately there was light at the end of the tunnel - it took us almost two years to go to the UK to visit our friend Glory, but we finally got around to it, and no one will ever be able to accuse us of lacking ambition. Four countries and eight cities in 13 days? Madness! Nevertheless, that is exactly what Taryn, Heather, Glory, and I set out to do a few weeks ago - and I'll be bamboozled if we didn't accomplish just exactly that.
Ireland, England, France, and Scotland. I return to you weary and footsore, with a backpack full of dirty laundry and an uncontrollable craving for Mexican food, but my heart is full to bursting. I have seen so many beautiful things and places.
This is part 1 of 4 chronicling my two-week adventure in Europe. For more pictures and stories, take a peek at my Facebook photo album HERE.
So, I begin with Ireland.
I wanted so desperately to love Ireland that I was almost afraid to go there and see it for myself, for fear of being dramatically disillusioned. Silly me.
There is a spaciousness about Ireland. The people seem to live here alongside and in spite of the landscape; Ireland has not been tamed. It is still alive and well, and coexists with its inhabitants, rather than being contained or reshaped by them. Driving down the narrow, gorgeous, winding, terrifying roads, after choking down the fear of imminent death by tour bus, the next impression is that of expansive, rustic beauty. The entire landscape has an effulgent, brilliantly green case of perpetual bed head.
This place has an almost umbilical tie to things that are old and beautiful, and everything they do is teeming with life. The Gaelic language is everywhere, and castles and ruins are preserved, but not obsessively restored. The past speaks for itself here. Goats openly roam the historic cliffs, and cattle graze just across the stream from castles and gardens teeming with tourists. Ancient things are not relegated to irrelevance and incongruity, to be gawked at behind glass; they are as indispensable a part of life as the nearly universal WiFi. 50-cent penny whistles with plastic mouthpieces co-exist seamlessly with 300 year-old pipes which have been passed down through generations.
In everything from the ballads, street art, and reels, to the effusive gardens spilling over the little winding rock walls, there is an uncontrollable impulse to express. One can well believe that "Irish writers are either completely incomprehensible, or they win Nobel prizes. Or, in the case of Samuel Beckett, both." (A gem dropped by they host of our musical pub crawl in Dublin.) I could almost believe that these people dream in poetry.
We spent a day and a half in Dublin, drove to the Cliffs of Moher, spent the evening in Cork, then continued on to Blarney before departing Ireland for England, but those few short days have adopted a much larger profile in my memory than their brief tenure would suggest. Like fajita steam, Ireland clings to my clothes and hair, prolonging the enjoyment long after the dishes have been cleared.
There is something about this country which resonates with me in a way I don't entirely understand, but one thing is clear; somewhere in the spaces between listening to the uileann pipes and Gaelic ballads in a cozy Dublin pub, sitting on the Cliffs, and climbing the winding stairs to the ramparts of Blarney Castle, Ireland has eased its way into my heart and settled in to stay.
Item: Irish Coffee Truffles
Made By: Blarney Chocolate Factory
Made In: Blarney, Ireland
Purchased At: Blarney Chocolate Factory - Blarney, Ireland
Purchase Price: €1.95
Review: In the interest of full disclosure, I'm not generally a white chocolate fan, but this beautiful creation was too perfect to pass up. This is a particularly busy truffle - White and dark hard chocolate shell, a smooth, whiskey-spiked ganache center, and topped with a delicate poof of cinnamon-sprinkled cream. Frankly, I found the white chocolate briefly overwhelming, but after that it's all uphill - smooth, downright creamy center with a beautiful, boozy finish. The coffee flavor kind of disappears, but it's still an enjoyable, charming tribute to a classic, heart-warming Irish drink.
Recommend
With love,
- Kat
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