Coming home to the Burren!
Our hosts in Dingle cooked us the best breakfast of the trip so far! We enjoyed the views of the harbor from their kitchen and stuffed ourselves silly. We then drove Connor's Pass (very pretty!) to the Shannon Estuary Ferry. Waiting in line for the ferry, I guy was walking around selling strawberries. They smelled so good, we had to buy them! For awhile I contented myself with just smelling, but finally I decided to try one. Within about 20 minutes I had pain coursing through my entire body. It's always interesting to see which foods, or other triggers, affect me in different ways. Chicken eggs and beef make me turn into a puddle of floppy muscle, onions give me bloating and diarrhea, and apparently strawberries give me horrible pain! To be honest though, it was one of the best strawberries I've ever had, and totally worth it.
It hurt pretty badly to sit in the car and drive, so I was glad to get aboard the ferry and have a chance to walk around while someone else transported me to the next destination. We didn't see any dolphins, which apparently can happen on the ferry, but the scenery was nice. There were several new turbines on the coast, that I don't remember from six years ago. When we got off the ferry, we were in Co. Clare!!!! My favorite! My home! My heart was fluttering from the second we drove off the ferry.
We took a detour through Kilkee to drive Loop Head Dr and see the lighthouse and cliffs there. Originally we'd planned to see the Bridges of Ross, but we felt a bit worn out (and got a bit lost), so decided that'd be an adventure for next time. The detour was well worth it! The cliffs by the lighthouse are better than the famous Cliffs of Moher, and far less touristy or crowded! Gordon D'Arcy, my old Irish Studies professor and a well-known natural history expert, had recommended this place as a haven for birders. There were tons of birds nesting in the cliffs, making all sorts of ridiculous noises! The ground under our feet was covered in a thick, squishy moss that bounced when we jumped, so of course we spent several minutes bouncing and giggling together by the cliffs. The wildflowers were amazing, and it was clear enough that we could see the cliffs forever. I wished we'd had time to sit by the cliffs and read, to the sound of the birds and wind. It was so peaceful. Eventually we had to leave, and went to a cute restaurant nearby with good food and a gorgeous view of the water.
The last leg in this several hour long journey was to Ballyvaughan, my home!! I was pretty bored and sick of driving when suddenly we turned a corner and were at the top of Corkscrew Hill, looking down at the Burren. I completely broke down, which was terrifying while driving Corkscrew Hill. I have missed the Burren every day since I left it six years ago, and it all came crashing down on me in that moment. All of the memories of driving that stretch of road, and looking down at all of the places I knew and loved, and best of all finally sharing it with Dan! He of course made fun of me while I wept on and off for about 20 km and then completely freaked out when we got to Ballyvaughan itself.
We had to rush to the Wild Atlantic Lodge to catch the Belgium vs. Brazil match. I was too distracted to watch the TV -- The Wild Atlantic Lodge, and Wildflower Restaurant, used to be Logues (pictured right), our favorite pub back in the day. I lived a few minutes walk away and would join my friends multiple nights a week at that pub for tasty food, music, and dancing -- Irish set dancing on Thursdays and American dance party music another night. So many of my memories were in that building, but it had
been completely gutted and looked nothing like I remembered. It was as if someone had taken some of the best memories of my life and erased all evidence of it. I got up to use the bathroom and ended up wandering from room to room, crying a little bit as I went. I'm sure everyone thought I was crazy. I walked outside and saw the spot where I'd sat on a slug and gotten orange slime all over my cute dress, and the spot where my friend and I had a huge fight, and so many other memories.
Totally overwhelmed, we then went to Greene's, the other pub that I'd frequented, to finish the match and listen to music. We walked in and I immediately lost it again. I walked back to the snug bar and just cried alone, picturing the people who I will likely never see again. It was more than that though. That semester, I felt a lightheartedness that I've never been able to match. I spent 40 hours a week in my studio, focusing on art and the rest exploring the nature around me. I spent hours walking alone, simply enjoying myself. I put myself and my health first. I felt genuinely well for months. That semester, I expressed sides of myself that I have never expressed in that way since. Standing in the snug bar at Greene's again, I found myself mourning losses that I'd never even considered before.
After the match, we walked through town, saw Thatch 15 (my old house!!!), the pier, bird hide, the part of the bay featured in one of my paintings... and then got oysters at Monk's, the seafood pub in town. It hadn't rained in two weeks, which is unheard of for Ireland, and the low pressure had caused a pipe to burst, so Ballyvaughan had no potable water. Monk's was selling large bottles of water, so we hung out there mostly to get rehydrated. We then
walked along the coast road and heard a strange noise. As we got closer, we saw it was two white horses -- nibbling each other's necks? They must've each had an itch in a place they couldn't reach. It was hillarious! We stood and watched them for several minutes, all the while magpies hopped around in the grass. Along the road we also saw arctic terns, grey herons, swallows, swifts, martins, rooks, hooded crows...
Back in our room at the Cappabhaille House, the beautiful B&B by my school, we sat and watched the cows and bats out our window, with a backdrop of the Burren mountains. I fell asleep immediately.
