My trip to Ireland: May 2016

Friday 27 May 2016

Who said that if you travel solo you are alone??

I have already explained in other posts that travelling solo is an enriching experience.

But the average of people do not know this and actually see you as a strange person who has spent 3 weeks travelling by herself...and maybe they also think that in these 3 weeks you have not spoken with anyone...

Well, something cannot be more wrong! ;)...I mean, if you are a person who speaks a lot (and my friends and colleagues always say that I speak a lot! ;) ), who is not extremely shy, and you are curious of the world...the chances that you will not communicate with anyone are very few, also only just for answering the bus driver who asks you if you are a student and you ironically answer "do I look like a student?" and he gives you the student ticket! ;)...

That time I was seating in the steps in front of a door waiting for the bus, in a so small village that after having visited all the three shops and the art gallery, there was nothing else to do...I was there to see the Dunguaire Castle reflecting itself in the waters of the Ocean but the weather conditions were not the best ones for this, the castle is small and one day in Kinvara for the castle and the three shops was really too much! ;)

Then this guy came to ask me if the bus for Galway was passing there...yes it was...and even if at the beginning that time I was not in the mood of communicating, he began the conversation...which ended up to be a nice exchange of experiences of our solo travels which followed almost the same routes!!

We spoke about the murals that we had seen in Belfast, what we had seen in Dublin, next steps where we may have met each other again...

We spoke of our works...

And why we were there....

I am not going here to write the reason why he was there...as I think he could be quite recognisable for this ;)...I just wish him all the best in his new life!

If you want to read more on solo travelling, here a couple of link! :)

http://solotravelerblog.com/travel-alone/

http://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/best-countries-for-solo-travelers/18

In this last link there is a rank for best countries for solo travelling, and Ireland is at 18th place!! :)

Wednesday 25 May 2016

The Kearney Cycles Streets of Galway 8K

7th of August 2015

There are times when I participate in races...

this time just happened to be in Galway that day...too late to be registered and anyway horrible weather...

So I enjoyed it from outside...with my camera and testing (mostly unsuccessfully ;( ) the new lens (and loosing the lens cover...so if you see me with a Nikon lens and a Canon lens cover it is because it was already a big success to find a photography shop in Galway open on Sunday morning! :) )

In 5 days time there will be the Ing Night Marathon in Luxembourg. I had not registered this year as I wanted to do the 20 km in Brussels.

Well, the point is that I will not go to Brussels neither (and it was difficult today to receive at work the complete package for the Brussels race - chip, t-shirt, etc - and knowing that it will remain unused...first race in which I registered and I will not go...:( )..

So I will be the photographer at the Ing! ;)

Of course, participating is something,...being outside is another..

But still...

I will enjoy the spirit of the race...the same spirit that I enjoyed that day in Galway..

...The joy to be between the first...