Well here I am more than three weeks back in the states, and I feel as though I haven’t fully landed. I’ve been somewhat going through the motions waiting to see if my spirit is going to come back from the island. One way I’ve been coping with the withdrawal is diving into Irish cinema, which has some pretty stellar (and not so stellar) selections. The best so far includes The Wind that Shakes the Barley, The Guard, The Field, and The Secret of Roan Inish. I have loads more on the list of recommendations to get through, which I very much look forward to.
Okay on to the recollection of the next part of the trip. The next few posts will be more or less a travel log, as I feel like I need to get to the end to start digging deeper into reflection.
After meeting Pauline Loftus, I spent the next morning meeting with the aforementioned chemist who took down my family info, shared some insight into what it’s been like living in the area, and promised to follow up with whatever additional details he could find in the archives that he’s subscribed to.
The rest of the day was spent tying up some loose ends, moving back in to the Croaghpatrick Hostel, and napping a lot. The next morning I set off back to Dublin, returned the rental car, lugged all my stuff to an airport shuttle about a mile away, and flew off to Edinburgh, Scotland. I think I mentioned earlier that when I’d arrived in Dublin initially everyone told me I had to go to Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival, which was closing on August 26.
It turns out Edinburgh Fringe is the largest Fringe in the world with over 1,400 shows a day from theatre to comedy to dance performance…all kinds of weirdo art stuff. It was pretty amazing and I met a lot of exceptional people at shows, pubs, the hostel, and on tours of the city. Here’s some pictures from the last days in Ireland and all of Edinburgh. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for England and the final leg in Ireland!
