Like many sports, the marathon is the microcosm of life. Agony and Ecstasy become familiar feelings. – Dr. George Sheehan My trip to Ireland started with a text message. Sitting on the train to work this past January, reading the … Continue reading Running Ireland
My dad kept telling people about my childlike glee my first morning in Ireland. I looked out the window in Donegal, out to the mountains dotted with sheep. ‘There are sheep outside my window,’ I told him. It was pretty awesome. They we’re commercial sheep, free to roam around their owner’s land, but not really free. The spray paint on their backs indicated their owner. The same went for the cows; different breeds, but all had the recognizable tag in their ears. Still it was refreshing to see them. Ireland is very vegetarian-friendly, but that still includes the use of … Continue reading Landscape dotted by life
(You know I had to…it’s a good album…and you can thank/blame me for putting that song in your head.) We rolled out of Donegal in the mid-afternoon and into Derry (officially Londonderry) just after 6pm. Early…but too late for any … Continue reading London(derry) Calling
Our time in Donegal was brief but delightful. The rain was an almost constant companion, but we apparently wouldn’t be getting the true experience if it was sunny all the time. We spent two nights out in the country, which … Continue reading Check Your Insecurities at the Gate
When you’re getting used to driving on the opposite side on smaller roads and while raining, add a little leeway time. The running joke as we headed out of Dublin became ‘if it feels wrong, it’s right.’ We ended up at our destination in Donegal after 11 our first night. After chatting with our kind host and hostess until the turn of the day, we headed off to bed. As I went to sleep, wondering about the what they day would bring, I pretty clearly saw a Clif bar in my future. To my pleasant (ok, really happy) surprise, I … Continue reading Getting down in Donegal
We hopped on the plane around 6pm EST and flew into the morning. The flight was 7 hours and there is a five hour time difference between Dublin and New York. When we got off the plane, it was roughly 7am local. By the time we claimed our baggage (yay, none of it was lost), I got the first stamp in my passport (very, While You Were Sleeping), and we picked up our rental car, taking a brief breather in Dublin before the 3+ hours drive to Donegal seemed like a great idea. We ended up parked near Trinity College. … Continue reading Flirting with Dublin
“‘I had to sit on the runway for 40 minutes.’ Oh, my god, really? What happened then? Did you fly through the air like a bird, incredibly? Did you soar into the clouds, impossibly? Did you partake in the miracle of human flight and then land softly on giant tires that you couldn’t even conceive how the f**king put air in them?” – Louis C.K. I’m not a frequent flyer. I’ve now been to three destinations in my life by plane. Honestly, flying scares me a bit. Listening to Chris Hayes defend flight travel, in the aftermath of the early … Continue reading Being a Greek myth for a few hours
Last night, I stood on the train platform, knocking back some of the last of my gelatine-free Starbursts (yes, they exist), trying to remember the previous twelve days. After packing, a drive from Limerick to Dublin, customs (meh), US preclearance (agggghhhhh), nearly four in-flight movies (yahhhh), and baggage claim, I was almost home. From Dublin to Derry to Galway, my family and I tore through Ireland in a whirlwind! Despite taking a small stash of meal replacement bars to assuage my fear of hunger, through museum visits and even a half marathon, my stash stayed pretty much in tact. I … Continue reading Beginning at the end: Vegan in Ireland
A Life Vegan 