On the Road Again …

And just like that….said no one ever!

On March 4, 2020, we were leaving Paris for home as the Corona virus was beginning to spike and threaten a shut down. Within hours of our departure, frantic messages from friends at home elevated our anxiety while France’s still calm response to a virus was beginning to bubble up. After a harrowing ride to the airport (train strike, line closures, crazy taxi ride) we got home safely and naively to the US. Thinking it was one more oddity in the strange turn of events of 2019-2020…we expected to be back on the road again soon….

The twists and turns of the pandemic, the political and climate shifts in the world, have kept us home and wondering when we would travel again.

Well… tonight we sit in the Terminal C Lounge at Logan airport warily, yet excitedly traveling again. The beauty of life is while there are terrible injustices and evil in the world, there are staggering blessings and great joys, also. Our family has grown in amazing ways over these past two + years. And we are heading back into this trip with life long and cherished friends meeting us at points along the way!

The Aer Lingus staff welcomes us to Boston. Our flight appears to be leaving at two different times… it suddenly was going to be leaving one hour before the posted time…. Oops… someone forgot to tell the food service… one half hour later we boarded… oops medical emergency… after taxiing out to the runway… we turned around and taxied back to the paramedics. Prayers and good wishes to the family of the patient. We headed out about an hour later than initially intended. Still we are traveling again so… life is good!

Arrived! First time to Northern Ireland. We got to Dublin and headed out to Portrush. Portrush hosted the British Open in 2019…returning in 2025. The golf course is a shaggy, rugged beauty, with deep bunkers and ocean vistas. It is hard to imagine the thrilling influx of crowds this must draw to this quaint town.

We drove up through Belfast and on to the lovely seaside town. It is a magical place. A mix of honky tonk seaside living with a ferris wheel and roller coaster dotting the coastal hill, arcades lining the small lanes to sweeping vistas of the ocean cliffs and far off isles. A brisk walk to the harbor where in a one block area you could dine in the upscale yacht club or Basalt restaurant overlooking a beautiful sunset, chow down on elevated pub grub in the Mermaid or Ramore wine bar or hob knob in the pub with the locals at the tourist. Sunset never disappoints. Welcome to Ireland. In a five minute walk we past paddle boarders in wetsuits, swimmers drying off in bathing suits with winter caps on and kids in snow suits making sand castles on the beach. Must be Easter vacation as everyone is off to relax.

After regrouping and catching up on a little sleep we headed off to the Giant’s Causeway today. First stop at Dunluce castle. Built in the 1300’s by the 2nd Earl of Ulster, then again in the 1500’s by the McQuillens and then by Randall MacDonnell, it is an expansive and majestic ruin on the cliffs near the Giant’s Causeway. It was aided by CGI to become Castle Greyjoy in the Game of Thrones.

No need for flying dragons, the Giant’s Causeway is not far down the road. There you leave Game of Thrones for the legend of Finn McCool and Giant’s Causeway. Finn (Fion, the Irish Giant )builds a causeway over to Scotland to meet the Scottish Giant Benandonner. When the Scottish Giant challenges him to a fight, he heads home realizing the Scott is much bigger. His wife hatches a plan to disguise Finn as a baby. The Scottish giant is awed by the size of the “baby”, fearing the size of the father and flees back to Scotland destroying the causeway as he goes. To this day there are matching stones partway from Scotland and partway from Ireland.

The scientific explanation of the basalt rock deposited and formed by volcanic lava flows which warmed and cooled to form the columns and steps is even more fascinating. The pictures do not do it justice. It is a really beautiful sight. It has been designated a World Heritage site by UNESCO. While in true Irish fashion, it was rainy and cool one minute and warm and beautiful the next, it was a great hike and a wonderful memory. So glad we made the trek.

Travel does give perspective and can open minds and hearts as it opens doors. After the isolation of the pandemic, along with the growing fractures in our world politics, and the increase in our catastrophic weather events, a chance to walk the ancient ruins which rebuilt time and again, to walk the streets where neighbors once turned from each other now live peaceably, to see the majestic rock formations that were formed, battered and changed over time brings a sense of renewal . A reassurance that we will go on and make our way.

And just like that…(so said Carrie Bradshaw a.k.a. Sarah Jessica Parker) we are picking up where we left off…look out world- here we come!