Walking in the Duke's Footstps

Not too long ago we took a trip up to the Connemarra Area. We had to pull over when we saw the sign for the Quiet Man bridge.

Once Upon a Fabulous Time!

A few weeks ago we were sitting at the dinner table, and as usual we were talking about the best and worst part of our days. When it got to Jason's turn he announced that the best part of his day was that he gets to take mommy to a party in London! I thought he was making it up! But no it was true! One of the potential vendors for Jason's company was throwing a party to celebrate going public on the stock exchange. Did I mention these guys are Indian billionaires? Yeah...

So Friday at noon while the kids were in school we jumped on a plane from Galway to London. I haven't been to London since 1999. It felt so amazing to be there again, without kids again! It was like a time machine! A driver picked us up and took us to the iconic Grovernor House Hotel.

We got ready and I donned my Ted Baker dress that my new Irish friend Marie had helped me buy. Her husband is a famous chef and so she knew how to dress for a posh party. I couldn't believe I found a modest dress in my city! You can see it here since we didn't get any good pictures of me in it. (mine was minus the belt) The car picked us up and took us to London's Natural History museum. Yeah, they had rented it out. We had cocktails (water) dinner, two comedians, acrobats and dancers. All under the skeleton of a huge dinosaur!

We even danced! Jason and I also found out we are in love with small talk but we did meet some really interesting people, and I found out I need to find four inch heels that don't cripple me!
We got back to the hotel around 3 am and got to sleep in until 9. We had just enough time to walk around a but and get breakfast at Pret A Manger (one of our favorites). I do love London, but I also realized that while I love a taste of the "good life", it is not my future. If I ever have that much money it will be to serve others and provide for my family and of course travel to exotic locations, but that is only because it is educational ;) But seriously, having a family and people you love around you makes you wealthy, healthy, and wise.

Thanks Jason for an incredible EPIC date night!

The New Walk

Now that we are settled in our new house I take a new walk. We only have one rental car (hopefully that will change this week), and so most of the time Jason has it and I am on foot. It is about a mile to the kids school. This is what I get to see:

There are bollards on the side of the road to make a sort of sidewalk for the kids to be safe on. Adam and all the other kids his age ride their bikes to school.
Like at our last place there are lots of blackberries to eat along the way!
This where you can see the Atlantic Ocean comes in to meet our village. The tide comes in and out so sometimes it's high sometimes low. You can see this from my bedroom. You can walk down this little lane anytime you want to see the water. BUT there is a man who lives on a houseboat that is permanently moored there. We have never seen him but there is a huge goose that guards the boat!
At the bottom of our road (which by the way has no name posted, but I am thinking is called the sea road) there is Kelly's. Kelly's is a little catch all shop including the post office. We send Adam here sometimes to get us sodas. You turn left here to head to school.
Here is a far away picture of the sidewalk we walk down. You can see there are a series of houses, three of them are pubs, one a cafe, a carpet shop, and a boutique. I think there are also some residences mixed in there.

As you walk past the pubs there is a bridge for which our town is named. It crosses the river Clarin. Thus it is Clarinbridge. After the bridge there is a little business complex that has the grocery, pharmacy, spa, hairplace, cafe, and art gallery. Pretty posh if you ask me. Finally after passing the abandoned convent you come to the school. I am sorry I am short on pictures but you can see and read about the school's history here.

As I walk nearly everyday, I have a lot of time to think and take in the scenery. I cannot explain how I feel about Ireland. The closest I can come is that I am in a relationship with it. I love it so much I am already afraid of the time when I will have to say goodbye. The scenery, the people, the cool weather, Jason's job, our neighborhood, it all feels like home. I hope you all come visit, cause I ain't leavin!