Home Again

I write to you again from the Newark airport. After a successful trip back across the pond I have a few hours to reflect on the trip before truly heading home to Milwaukee. T has collected her luggage and was able to make the early flight they put her on, so hopefully she will be home tonight as well.

We were lucky enough again to get our favorite exit row seat and the gentleman next to us was able to move up front providing us once again with an open seat inbetween. The airplane felt luxurious compared to our compact car. I could actually stretch my feet out completely in front of me. The plane was a nice upgrade as well with individual screens in front of each person to watch their preferred movie, tv or play games. The down side, it was not nearly a social as our flight too Dublin, but in a way it was nice to have some time to relax.

The past 10 days are like most of my vacation. I can hardly believe it is over, and yet I feel like I have been gone a lot longer than 10 days. As I sorted through the pictures on the way home to organize them I realized all we had done.

Here are my personal highlights.

1. Driving: I have a love/hate relationship with driving in Ireland. I am glad we did it, but I am ready for a break from the narrow roads filled with trucks, stone walls and of course sheep.

2. The scenery. There are not words to describe the experience of standing on a cliff at sunset with the wind blowing on your face, and a sense of peace and stillness that can not be matched. I give credit to the authors throughout history who have attempted to describe what can only be felt.

3. The people. The majority of people we met in Ireland were not just kind or gracious, they welcomed us openly inviting us to share in their lives, and seemed to truly want to get to know us. It was unlike any experience I have ever had.

4. The Pub (largely due to number 3). While I have know it is the center piece of Irish culture, it is something completely different to experience this.

5. The sense of history in juxtaposition with a modern world. From the ancient wall enclosed in a shopping mall in Galway to the new construction built next to a fort from the 12th century. It was humbling to stand in structures that had survived the test of time.