About some Guinness and nature

"I’ll pick you up at the airport. Hopefully the traffic jam won’t be too bad this afternoon!", my cousin Bart texts me, as I'm on my way to Schiphol Airport. Bart moved to Dublin in January, to live together with his Irish girlfriend Susie and start a new chapter together. I'm excited to see them. 

The last five months have unexpectedly been quite unsettling. After my relationship ended, I had to find a new place to live. I could have picked up my previous lifestyle - that of a digital nomad - and stay at AirBnB’s the whole time, but I’ve come to value staying at one place. Besides, one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned during traveling is that it doesn’t matter where you are: you are the one that is going to make it a joyful experience or not. 

So when I found a new apartment in Den Bosch, travel was the very last thing on my mind. I just wanted to be at home and make it my new happy place. However, during a recent weekend trip to Porto with my friends, the travel bug bit me again, and I booked a ticket to see how Bart and Susie are doing. 

After meeting Bart at Dublin Airport he takes me to their apartment, where I'm welcomed with a big hug from Susie and we open a beer. “A good Irish habit.. Welcome!” I settle in and we take the bus downtown to walk around for a little bit. We quickly enter the Temple Bar. "It is kind of a tourist trap, but you've got to see it when you come to Dublin", Bart tells me. I thought the Temple Bar was the name of just one pub, but it is actually a whole area. It must be an Irish thing, to name an area like a pub.

There is live music everywhere and we enjoy the Irish ales. We sit down at Roberta’s for a lovely dinner and have open conversations. During the evening we come to the conclusion that we hardly know each other for real. Bart and I never had conversations that went beyond questions like: “how is work?”, “how is the relationship?" or "how is life in general?” I thoroughly enjoy getting to know Bart and Susie better and find it a very gratifying experience. Our conversations are in English and even when Susie visits the lady's room, Bart and I continue in English until we catch ourselves doing it. Funny how that works. 

After dinner we start a mini pub-crawl in the Temple Bar area, but soon enough move to a less touristy area. Susie knows her way around and leads us to some local pubs and clubs. Suddenly the beer price drops and we're having just as much (if not more) fun. 

On Saturday we go for a hike in Wicklow Mountains National Park near Glendalough. 

We're hiking the 9KM Spinc trail, described as "a fairly strenuous and tough mountain walk, that will take you through a glacial valley, forests, mountain tops and along the upper and lower Glendalough lakes."

The views are breathtaking. This is exactly the Ireland I expected (or hoped) it to be: fields full of sheep and green hills as far as the eye can see. 

We complete the hike after a good 3.5 hours and treat ourselves to some well deserved late lunch with Irish stew and Irish whisky. That seems appropriate. Susie had agreed to babysit her niece and nephew that evening, which gives Bart and myself some more quality time with the two of us. During and after dinner our conversations from yesterday continue and deepen. 

The next morning Bart drops me off at the airport so I can make my way back home. It was a short trip, but such an invaluable one. It's never too late to get to know your relatives better. 

Cheers 🍀