I AM SO SORRY. LIFE GOT AWAY FROM ME FOR THE PAST COUPLE MONTHS. Okay friends. Let's do a little Ireland update. Then I'll give you the gist on everything else.

I suppose it’s about time to update you on what has happened the past few months. I believe the last time we talked, I was headed to Ireland for a much needed and much appreciated family holiday season. Sorry for forgetting to update you all on it. I also happened to forget to update you on the whole new-year-new-me resolution stuff. Sorry about that. But alas.

Here I am.

Updating you.

Finally…

Let’s start with this very moment. I am currently on somewhat run down Serbian bus, flying down the highway between two incredibly beautiful, lightly snow-dusted mountain ranges, listening to David (Remember him from Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, Prague and Munich??) and newly met friend Nick laugh and talk about their favorite hostels. I love this life. I write to you today because I am transfixed by these mountains. By the wonder of something so goddamn beautiful in the middle of the Serbian highway. You’d really never guess it’s there. So these mountains. They soar straight up on either side like giants. No hesitations, no reservation, just tall and proud and humble. With a light dusting of snow. I’ve never seen something so unexpectedly perfect. Life deserves that kind of spontaneous appreciation. I wish I could see all things with that same kind of unanticipated awe. Some day. Maybe that’s my new year's resolution this time. Maybe not. But anyway.

Update.

I went home to Ireland, spent Christmas in Waterford with my crazy aunts, mad grandparents, and ever odder cousins. And it could not have been more needed. Sometimes, when you’ve been traveling this long, you need that grounding. After Waterford, I hopped over to Cork to spend New Years with my father’s side of the family in RIngaskiddy. (Beautiful part of the country btw. If you can, go there.) While in Cork, my aunt Trish set me up with her neighbor’s son, Rory, who promptly invited me on a family road trip to a housewarming party in Castletownbere over in West Cork. Seeing as I’d never been to the western part of the county, I took the opportunity.

That’s right. I hopped in a car with a stranger in a strange country to a strange little town in the middle of nowhere for an overnight in a strange family’s home. Yep. Smart.

But let me tell you, it could not have been a better decision. I absolutely fell in love with this family. The Horgan’s took me in like one of their own and spent the night filling me with free food, beer and great laughs. Not to mention an 8 hour long jam session that ended with the youngest of us partying into the early hours of the next morning. The next day, a very very hungover Rory took me on a cliff walk along some of the most unbelievable coast lines. I’m almost glad I didn’t take pictures, cause I know I’d never be able to give it the same justice, or invoke the same beauty that walk brought me. It was truly one of the best experiences I’ve had on this trip.

After family filled holidays and reckless road trips and sooooo much tea, I skedaddled to a different part of the country.

Quick note on Irish tea though. If you think you can have one cup a day and be done, you're 125807394% wrong. There is never just one. It's a routine of tea, toast, biscuits, cookies, breakfast, more tea, more biscuits, more tea, christmas cake, early dinner, more tea, biscuits, cookies, dessert, more tea, more biscuits, more cookies, and then a slice of toast before bed with more tea. Wake up? Tea. Arrive at someone's house? Tea. Finished dinner? Tea. After breakfast? Tea. Ready for bed? Tea. Someone brings a dessert over? Tea. That's right. Ireland is just a blur of tea and biscuits.

ANyway. I headed for Galway. The student town of Ireland. Seriously, you wouldn't even see people out of their twenties. It's just so many young people. So many fake blondes, so many adidas jumpsuits, so many pairs of insensible heels. You really have to admire it. It's truly a different world.It was in Galway that I met with David for a drink. Remember him? Yep. Same dude. We drank, we danced, we met people, all good fun. The next day, David transferred to my hostel where we basically spent the next few days catching up on stories and sleep. After that, we hopped a bus to Dublin, assessed next moves and ended up splurging too much on a flight to Warsaw. That's right. We were going to Poland. Tune in soon for an update on skiing misadventures, shot bars and blackouts, pierogies in to-go boxes, hostel pups, onesies, and the most drunken 3 weeks I've ever had. Leggooooo!