I only had around two days to driving up from the port in Rosslare, where I landed after the long ferry ride from Bilbao, to Northern Ireland where the wedding of my dear friend would take place. But what a drive it was and how much I fell in love with the country in this short time. There are very few highways so mostly I was driving on beautiful little country roads. Before my time, my dad used to frequently spend time in Ireland and his friend still lives near the little fishing town, where he used to have a boat for restauration standing on the pier. I wanted to wonder in his tracks a little bit, contacting a few people I got hold of the phone number of his friends wife and set out to meet her spontaneously on the day I would drive though the country.
Upon my arrival in Rosslare, I got on the road to drive the 75 km to Waterford that night and slept on the Greenway parking lot at the edge of town. The parking was quiet, safe, and free so that I got a good rest, in the morning I took a little wonder around the centre and had myself a typical breakfast with beans, hashbrown and a cuppa that transported me back to my time in the UK. At Fairview Café I encountered the friendly, welcoming manner of the Irish and the tension from the last weeks fell off completely as I felt as comfortable as I haven’t for my whole time in Basque Country. Still slightly confused by driving on the left side of the road I made my way through the lush greens towards Kinvarra in the north-east. I interrupted my travel a little bit as I made a stop in Limerick. I got out of the car for a wee while, had a smoke in the quaint atmosphere around the Shannon River and took a little stroll through the city centre.
The drive continued along the low natural stone walls and small towns until I reached the bay of Galway. Here my dad was working on realising a dream of his boat in the early 90s and finally gave it up for the sake of the family. I had some pictures of him standing proudly next to the old sailboat at the harbour in my head, as I walked along the basin and watched locals get into the freezing waters. A friendly man calmy made his rounds in a speedo, neoprene boots and gloves and a hat and still had enough tranquillity for a quick chat about what brought each of us to this place. The youth was egging each other on the jump into the ocean and fired up a mobile sauna parked on the pier. I could very well imagine my father spending time here and was now curious about meeting his old friend. She lives in the countryside in a beautiful, cosy house running an egg farm and now also renting out some rooms. Surrounded by serene landscapes she now lives there with her dog and cat and stunning nature. Unfortunately, I was not able to meet her former husband due to personal problems, but I went on from this meaningful place enriched by lovely conversation, freshly picked tomatoes and eggs. -A beautiful place to find peace and quiet: Utes AirBnb.
The city of Galway is supposed to be a very lively place and I made my decision to check out some pubs in the evening. It was Friday night, music oozed from everywhere onto shop street and this pub main road was filled with people enjoying themselves, I soaked up the energy for a few ours, found a pub with good live music and treated myself to a Jameson and half Guinness. That night I spend on a parking lot in Saltlake, that, even though situated right on a big street, was quiet enough and I the morning i cooked up a breakfast of the fresh eggs and tomatoes on the waterfront, which inspired many passing byers to make friendly comments and throw big smiles.
From Galway I headed up to Limavady, sneaked into the UK that way and was reunited with my Edinburgh family, for a couple of days filled with love for our amazing siter Kerry and her now husband David.
