Last week I took the little bit of free time I had to go shopping and take care of all the little things I left undone in the flat. As a result I become the proud owner of a couple of new carpets, for the fist time ever, one adding colour to my living room, and the other caressing my feet when I get off my bed in the middle of the night to check what the cats are up to.

It is only a question of time until these two cats will bring the carpets to the end of their lives. They have already started to enjoy sharpening their nails on the living room rug, and today I came home rather late to find that they messed the bedroom carpet in a way I cannot even bear to describe. I am not a big fan of cleaning at the best of times, but tonight I had to strip the bedroom, put the new carpet in the wash and clean up the room, which leaves me very tired at this late hour. Needless to say, the cats did not get their share of caressing tonight.

I’ve been told before that it’s even worse when there are kids in the house, which only helps me keep my belief, that I’m sticking to cats.

Today was my first day at work. So exciting. I got up early in the morning, wore the nicest shirt I could find, and enjoyed a bit of Belle and Sebastian during the morning traffic, which wasn’t as bad as I expected. I got there early, with a smile on my face, and was greeted by my team members and other people that were happy to see me there. It felt good.

Most of the morning was spent setting up my office, and I don’t mean the software (though this part also happened later in the day). There was actually no table and not much space in the room I will share with my team, and we had to put the desk together and find the space in a way that will enable us to work as comfortably as possible. Then there was the part of setting the computer, installing all the necessary software and related updates etc. All this, while I already have a long and growing To Do list, but it is the inevitable thing in a new place, and I was enjoying every minute. I even got to start on a little bit of proper work towards the end of the day.

I spent my lunch break with a couple of new colleagues by going to a gym not far from the office and signing up, so I’m also hoping to renew my fitness regime and take good care of myself, making sure I can enjoy whatever life throws at me, despite recent setbacks.

Here comes optimism.

Today was my fourth break up this year. Is this a statistic I’m supposed to be following? Is there something so horribly unlovable about me that requires me to go through these feelings over and over again?

I’m so tired of it.

It is good to sleep in my own bed, and sit at my own computer again. Sebastian and William were excited to see me walking in early in the morning. I was delighted when Lone Wolf came to visit a couple of hours later. Like always, it’s sad when a holiday is over, but still happy to be at home. I feel relaxed, my head is clear, and I am ready to start with my chores at home, and getting ready for my new job.

I enjoyed my time away, both in Ireland and the UK. There were highlights and low points, but the general feeling is very positive.

Here are the major ones:

Highlights

• Live music at the King’s Head in Galway, listening to Pyramid with an American couple I met at the hostel earlier.
  
• Driving around the Ring of Kerry and Killarney National Park. Gorgeous views and peace of mind in the best weather Ireland can offer.
  
• Watching the All Ireland Hurling Finals with the winners in Cork, and then moving on to a heroes’ homecoming parade for the losers in Kilkenny.
  
• Spending time with my friends in and around London.

Lows

• Dublin. I was disappointed by this unfriendly metropolitan, though maybe it should be given another chance. When I got back there on my way back to London I started finding the nice little lanes and markets that make a city special. Maybe next time.
  
• Missing most of my friends while in London due to short notice on my part, or them being away.

Now I’m mostly busy sorting out everything I brought with me, cleaning up, and getting ready for a new daily routine. I also started uploading some photos from my trip to the photolog. I’ll put on a few at a time, to let you enjoy them to the full. The first batch is already there. I hope you’ll enjoy watching them, at least as much as I enjoyed taking them.

That’s it, the crisis is finally over, and today I am officially old.

Somehow I managed to postpone my usual birthday depression until the last minute, only getting a bit low on the train tonight, while being slightly drunk, which means this trip has fulfilled its ultimate purpose of keeping me away from any birthday build-up.

I am already away from everyone, so the plan for today is to just have a normal day. I’m meeting a friend for lunch and then making sure to be back on time to grab my bags and head to the airport, and be on my way back home.

Just another day, just another number…

I have conflicting feelings. On one hand, I want to summarise my trip to Ireland, I want to tell you all the important parts, the highlights and the lows, the beautiful things and my reasons for doing it all.

On the other hand, I still have a little bit of holiday left here, in London, and I am just too scared that summaries will mean the end of it. I don’t want it to end. I enjoy my time here, and I only wish Lone Wolf could have been here with me to make it perfect.

I’ll keep on making mental notes of everything, Writing it up will probably be the way I will spend my flight back home, or the dead waiting moments in the airport.

Happy New Year to anyone out there who celebrates it.

I’m having a good time in London at the moment, so good I can’t even blog… I promise a few things are in the pipeline, just have to put all the words together and sum up my visit to Ireland. Coming soon…

The best tourist experience possible, is always to enjoy a local party. In my case, it was the joy of Cork winning the hurling final. Until this morning, I had no idea what that means, and after watching a whole match, I must be honest and say that I still don’t understand the point of it. Some strange combination of hockey, football and rugby, I guess, in which each team is trying to throw a ball through either a goal or above the goal’s posts using their stick, their hands or their feet, and not trying hard enough to avoid hitting the opponent’s head in the process.

Anyway, Cork won, and I’m here to enjoy the party. And since it never rains inside a pub in Ireland, there was no better place to enjoy the match as inside a nice comfortable pub while outside it was pissing down, like it has been almost constantly in the past couple of days. The shouting was exciting, the drinks were flowing, and after the match was won, there were plenty of happy drivers honking their horns outside, which helped me feel just like home. As the match ended, I even got a kiss from the excited lady that was sitting next to me in her best red and whites.

The losing side today was Kilkenny. I guess there isn’t much of a party there today, but I will know tomorrow, as I will be heading there first thing in the morning to enjoy the little bit I have left of Ireland before I go back to London on Wednesday.

The past three days have been amazing. Writing about them will not do my trip justice, but the pictures will be in the photolog as soon as I can get them there. I wrote into my paper notebook daily, with the hope of getting everything on here it some stage, but now that I go back to it, my notes sound a bit boring. Instead, I will put down the main anecdotes and highlights of my thoughts, chronologically as much as I can.

Stupid Questions

I got my car a bit late on the morning on which I wanted to set out on my Ring of Kerry trip. As I got into my VW Polo, and tried to pull out of the parking, I just couldn’t put the car into reverse. I went according to the drawing on the gear stick, but nothing helped. There must have been a secret button somewhere. I started by just pulling out forward and driving to a car park near by, thinking that I’ll probably figure it out on the way, but then realised that I will need to reverse in order to park or leave the car park. It just didn’t work, so feeling humbled, I called the service number for the car hire. I apologised for asking a stupid question, and asked how to get the car into reverse. The technician just came over to the car park and showed me. Yes, there was a sort of a secret button! For future reference: in VW cars, you need to push the gear into location and then push it IN to get it into reverse! Now you know!

First Time for Everything

I stopped for my first night in Cahersiveen. The weather was on my side all day, and I decided to stay in a proper B&B, with a bit of privacy in this picturesque town in the middle of nowhere. In the afternoon I took a walk around the town, and decided to walk to the stone fort, about 3km out of town. I forgot that I had to walk back too. The walk was beautiful, and relaxing, but by the time I got to the fort, I was too tired to walk back. I stuck my thumb up, and soon after a pick up truck stopped, and the driver agreed to drop me in town. I never hitchhiked before, and I must admit I was a bit scared, but it wasn’t too bad after all. It was only a short drive, and the driver was nice and not too chatty. Still, I don’t think I will try to repeat the experience much in the future. Just being cautious…

Disappointment of the Day

Last weekend a slight chance came up for Lone Wolf to join me in London for the last part of my trip. On my first day of the Ring, he sent an SMS to let me know it’s not going to happen. Needless to say, I was very disappointed. I miss Lone Wolf so much, I don’t think he even realises how much. I wanted to see him so much, and the thought of seeing him a week earlier than planned was giving me hope. Even though I enjoy my holiday, I can’t wait to see him as soon as I get back home.

Back In Tourist La-La-Land

My second day around the Ring of Kerry started in a wonderful trip through Valentia Island, and continued through amazing sceneries in a gorgeous weather as far as Kenmare. As I reached Waterville, I caught the busses… or rather, caught up with the tourist coaches on their day trips around the Ring. From there onward everything was crowded again, and by the time I reached Sneem, it was impossible to walk around without running into an elderly American coming out of a souvenir shop. Sometimes I forget that I’m a tourist too, so maybe I should be more sympathetic to other types of tourists too.

Parkland

Today my travels took me to Killarney National Park. I can’t believe that in the start I thought I’d skip that amazing place. Beautiful lakes, waterfalls, houses and castles were all there. It took the whole day and was worth every minute, despite being very tiring. The weather is still great, but I’ve been told it’s not going to last. I was very lucky.

End of the Day

I’m knackered. My day started very early, with a phone call from Lone Wolf before 6:30 in the morning. I couldn’t take the call at the time and called him later, but he couldn’t talk. All he could say was that his day didn’t start well. He got me worried. I haven’t had the chance to call him again since. I hope I’ll manage to do that as soon as I get back to the hostel. I hope he’s OK. I also walked a lot today and drove in some challenging roads, so it all contributes to my tiredness. Can’t wait to put my head down. Good night.

Decisions were taken with actions accordingly. Today, on a rare sunny day, I am in Killarney, in preparation for a three days tour of the Ring of Kerry. I hired a car for three days, and I’m expecting a peaceful few days with no other people around me, and unfortunately, no Internet connection. So, excuse me in advance for disappearing. You are most likely to find several back dated posts when I get back. Severe withdrawal symptoms can be expected.