A Bit O' Blarney

“What Were We Thinking?”

We spent the month of December largely off the Emerald Isle. We started with a trip to the States for a family wedding and a quick visit home. We were so happy to see family and friends! As we spent days luxuriating in the glorious sunny San Diego weather, we kept thinking of the weather in Ireland and asking ourselves, “What were we thinking?” 

But our survival plan has been to make some escapes from the rainy Irish winters. After pivoting from our plan to celebrate the holidays in Ireland, we embarked on a trip to seemingly random places. It was a precious time with the girls, and we enjoyed getting to know Annika’s boyfriend Tyler who met up with us for part of our trip. 

Venice. Venice was absolutely magical this time of year — chilly but very few tourists, just Christmas lights sparkling above the canals, a giant Christmas tree in St. Mark Square, and captivating views of the city! We did a lot of the usual (eating). When we left Venice, we had to catch a plane at O-dark-thirty and enjoyed a stealthy, James Bond-like speed boat taxi that deposited us right on the steps of the airport. How ‘bout that, Uber?!

Chamonix, French Alps. This was the first white Christmas for us SoCal girls, which was a treat. We attended Christmas Eve services in French and celebrated the holy night with our global neighbors. We spent Christmas on the mountaintop overlooking Mont Blanc, a highlight of our trip. We took the highest vertical ascent cable car in the world, which was both thrilling and death defying. The payoff was a breathtaking 360-degree view across the French, Swiss, and Italian Alps. Magnifico!

South of Spain. From there, we flew south for warmer environs. We started in Seville, which was cold, but rang in the New Year in the warmth of Málaga, enjoying the tradition of eating 12 grapes at midnight for good luck and welcoming the New Year with churros and chocolate. Málaga looks and feels a lot like San Diego: arid hills, beaches, palm trees. Ahh! Málaga also has stunning architecture, vestiges of antiquity in a city dating back to 770 BC. ¿Can we even count that far back? (Eric thinks we should adopt the upside-down question mark to let readers know it’s a question. ¡He has a point! 🙃)

Gibralter. Eric and I then trotted down the road to Gibraltar, a crazy, fascinating place: it’s a British territory (2.6 sq. miles at the tip of Spain) that’s part of the UK, the Rock of Gibraltar is impressive with views across to Africa, there are free-roaming macaques and 34 miles of tunnels inside the rock.

Back in Ireland. After soaking up the sun on Spain’s Costa Del Sol, we again couldn’t help but ask ourselves, “What were we thinking?” But Ireland must have heard us talking behind its back. When we returned, it showed up with the sunniest, most crystal-clear, spectacular weather we’d seen since we arrived! It was a reminder how stunningly beautiful Ireland can be when you lift the veil of rain. We even had a dusting of snow on our local mountains. You go, Ireland! 

Our New Home: We also finally found a charming cottage to rent in the lovely town of Westport. And we found our rental as one tends to do in Ireland, in a pub. We got “picked up” by a local Irish American. She started chatting us up and then made it her mission to find us a rental in town. Westport is in northwest Ireland, population 6000+, practically a metropolis! We have renewed enthusiasm for our Irish home after two whole weeks of dry weather! We look forward to sunnier days and the experiences our new community has to offer. 

Living abroad has given us a greater appreciation for the things we take for granted back home and the blessings of family and friends who we miss dearly. May love and grace abound. We hug you tightly! Happy New Year (Athbhliain Faoi Mhaise)!

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