All good things in life are free

This past wknd, I finally made my way to Kinsale!! Kinsale is a cute little town, full of character and over priced goods that banks the harbour, on the tip of Ireland! It's about an hours drive for most people...80mins for this kid as I seem to be a pro at getting lost! I arrived on the bank holiday so parking was a little tricky, but hey, it was free!

I began what's called the Sciily walk, which is a wooded footpath along the very edge of the sea! You can look down on the entire town, and out onto the water. Its gorgeous! This lasted for about 30mins before I had to turn back...Irish weather -always unpredictable and when your walking along, umbrella in one hand, expensive camera in the other and trying to take photos while your umbrella is pretending to be a kite...it turns out that its not so easy! Definitely not worth damaging my camera either!

I then walked into town, browsed in the shops that I couldn't afford and sat near the harbour watching some Regatta that was going on!

I made my way to Charles Fort, built in the 17th century, it is a star-shaped fort, and much of the construction that begun in 1678 remains. The fort has two enormous bastions overlooking the estuary, and three facing inland. Within its walls were all the barracks and ancillary facilities to support the fort’s garrison. It was used until 1922!

I then felt like going for a drive and Iexploring. Found a sign for the "Old Head" and felt inspired to see what this was. Thru winding roads, and narrow bends, I finally reached this place...it was UNBELIEVABLE!!! Turns out I was on one of the fingers of Ireland, on the very tip! There were these massive cliffs and rolling green hills..the pictures don't do justice, you really need to see for yourself!!! If you look at the picture of the cliffs to your left, it has been made into a world-renowned golf course..the most expensive course to golf on in all of Ireland...starting at €200 up to €300, not including golf carts or anything....shit son!! The Old Head is also the closest piece of land to where the RMA Luistania sunk in 1915. Just 8 miles off the coast is where the ship was torpedoed by the Germans and sunk within 18mins, killing 1200 people.  I climbed up to the very top, sat down and just took it all in. These moments seem to be what I enjoy most...driving off to gods no where, not a clue where I'm going...-yet in the end this is what I discover...and it's soo much better than paying to get into some museum. Sure the history in them is great but so is the history in how these beautiful landmarks came to be! So there you go...the best things in life really are free! Staring off and seeing how the sea disappears into the sky, it made me realize..."shit...I'm actually sooo far away from home!" I sat there for a good while, just thinking, and reflecting back on the past 2 months and how much has changed. Moving across the world was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make..and definitely the scariest!!! Yes, scarier than jumping out of a plane @ 10,500FT!! But...it's already been over a month..and time has just flown by. When I first arrived, I felt like I was just on holidays "the honeymoon stage", everyone told me I would be super homesick..but I'm not....yet. I'm really happy in my new surroundings. I've settled in nicely, made new friends, spread my wings and am experiencing a whole new life.

On a totally different subject...I also went to see the musical Mamma Mia in Cork city that wknd!! It was AWESOME!! I had bought the cheapest seats available @ €44, was in row W, seat 91! So I could see...but not well. What does one do in this situation?? As soon as the lights go down, help myself to a seat in dead center, row J of course!! That's how I do... hahaha! I loved every minute of the show, and the male actors weren't too bad on the eyes either! Especially the Greek ones! Anyways...I couldn't take pictures of the show, so you'll have to imagine for yourselves! Here's a picture of the 'Marquee' tho! It's like a humongous tent!

I also went and checked out the Midleton street festival with my housedad Eoin! We had a pint and listened to the bands playing. The festival is sorta like the Fringe back home..only not as many artists or street performances, but it had bands, beer (obviously, were in Ireland!) a pig on a spit and male waxing! ...what! For charity, they were pulling guys up from the crowds and waxing everything from legs, backs, armpits, chests etc! It was hilarious to see the guys squirming on stage, tears in their eyes...good stuff! Also, each pub in Midleton had to nominate one of their employees to dress up as a woman, so there were many cross dressers in attendance as well! LOL

That was my wknd...I'm finally caught up! Whew...that's a relief! I will do my best to keep up with this in the future...believe me...I've learned my lesson!!! :)

I love you all...missing you in Ireland

XOXO

K