Ah.......

I'm back. I flew in yesterday - 11 hours to LA, change terminals and a little over one hour to get to SFO. I managed to stay awake until 10pm so I think I'll be okay as far as jetlag goes (I think its worse the other direction anyway). My friend C picked me up - she's the one I am going to Maui with - and we went to downtown RWC for....blush... chips and salsa. And a margarita, of course. I actually got out of the car with a thin sweatshirt and was pleasantly comfortable, so now I'm convinced I'm actually getting used to the cold weather in Ireland. It is great to be here.

In response to a couple of my comments, jigga, I found out that you drink Murphy's in Cork only. Not the whole of western Ireland, like I originally thought. I guess you might get thrown out of a pub in Cork if you order Guinness but not anywhere else. LOL The Guinness we had was mighty fine, I might add. (and you're right, you don't really need an excuse.. be careful where you get it in California, it just doesn't travel well!!LOL)

anonymous g, i'll send you an email but if you want to meet up for a glass of wine, i'm all for it! I will be down in O-side with my parents from the 27th-2nd and will have a car if you want to meet in Laguna Beach or San Juan Capistrano or somewhere that is actually half way for you... :)

So anyway, we had a fantastic 4 days in Killarney (I found out I was spelling it wrong as well!). Which means 'the sun shone' or more accurately 'it didn't rain too much'. The hotel he booked wasn't great - too many kids for our taste and it seemed like the parents just let them run wild or something - so we didn't spend much time there. We drove down through the Irish countryside on a day that was alternating rain and sunshine which made from some pretty beautiful colors.. I'll have to post photos when I return as I don't have any software to download from my camera here. We arrived and dumped our stuff in the room and planned to walk into town. The minute we set foot outside, it started raining a bit so we had to take shelter in a nearby pub for a pint until it cleared up (as you do..LOL). Because the weather was sketchy and because Ireland was playing the rugby against Scotland, we found a pub in town and drank pints and watched the match. We met a nice couple there - she is Romanian, he is French. (We liked her better. LOL) It was good because Ireland won. And apparently a good day all around because England lost. (Apparently all Irish are happy when the English lose. full stop. LOL)

So the rest of the weekend involved driving the ring of Kerry, a popular destination spot with the tourists but being February, it wasn't too filled with buses and cars (very few actually). It was a gorgeous drive and you are going to LOVE the photos... (building up the anticipation...) We did a bit of walking as well, as the day was gorgeous and mostly sunny. That evening we went out to see some music and met a nice American couple from the midwest. They had just gotten married (a week before, second marraige for both, my parents age) and were seeing Ireland for the first time. We had a lovely chat with them for over an hour, trying to talk over the sound of the session. One of the things I LOVE about traveling is meeting people. If I'd been in Dublin this weekend when they were meant to be there, I would've offered to show them around or meet up with them. As it was though, we shared a few pints, a few laughs and they gave me their address and phone number if we are ever in Indiana. :)

So, I won't go into all the details of the rest of the weekend, it was mostly walking, talking, holding hands, smooching. You know yourselves what you do when you are with your loved one. We had a terrific time, I guess it helps so much when you enjoy somebody's company. It never ceases to amaze me that I can spend 24 hours a day for days on end with someone and never tire of them. Yes, I want to be alone sometimes, to recharge for myself, to have my own life and interests. But to be so happy to come back together with someone and spend my days with him. Well that's just something I never thought I'd be saying. And I'm happy for that.