1 month 29 days 23 hours 53 minutes

Yep that’s right, flynn left yesterday morning and I’m already counting down until i get to see him again. But not only him, I get to see everyone!!!

This last week flew by, as expected. Contrary to how I though, I do not feel that time cheated me. I feel like Flynn and I were able to spend some quality time together and it felt great.

After his initial jet lag wore off we had a good time. We started the week off with some simple dublin walking around (I think flynn was sleep walking most of it). Then on monday we picked up the car, we were suppose to get a nissan micra, but they “upgraded” us to a 5-door sedan. Gee, thanks. I wanted a mini for a reason, because i knew the roads were small and the traffic crazy. I figured driving would be a cinch, I was wrong. Everything is backwards, every time I tried to turn the blinker on the windshield wipers turned on and the shifting was backwards and on the other side. So now, i was driving around completely confused in an oversized car. I managed to freak myself out in Kilkenny by clipping the side mirror of another car while avoiding a car coming head-on. After that it was no more driving for me, Flynn took his turn behind the wheel and suddenly felt a little more sympathetic towards me. Now, flynn usually hates driving but for some reason he found this new challenge to be “fun,” where as I found it to be the most stressful experience of my life.

We stayed the nite in Kilkenny, where our overpriced hotel room lacked the splendor described on the website. The main reason I booked at Zuni was for its restaurant. Well, when we got there, there was a sign on the door: Restaurant Closed for Maintenance. Boooo! Flynn slept off the rest of his jet-lag while I hit the town for some Judy and Sarah 2001 memories. I really didn’t recognize much of anything there from last time except for the castle, which was still beautiful.

I started off the next day with a Full Irish Breakfast, just to show flynn it was edible. Delish, even the black/white pudding was good!?! After walking around Kilkenny for a bit we got back in the Danger-mobile and headed West to Cashel. Two hours and only 80 miles later, we turned a bend to see a huge castle on a hill, the Rock of Cashel. We parked, headed up the hill, did some castle touring and got back on the road (this time me driving). But soon, flynn was in the driver seat again. Apparently I was being too cautious, because 50kph in a 100kph zone just wasn’t good enough for him, not to mention he could tell i was extremely tense. Or maybe it was the fact that 30 minutes after we left Cashel, I mysteriously made a loop and ended up BACK in Cashel! Oops, crazy country roads.

By 5pm it was dark. We were trying to make it to the Cliffs of Moher for the evening and were told that no matter where we go don’t stay in Limerick. We weren’t too keen on driving in the dark and the rain was a comin…and we were in Limerick. We pressed on making it to the quaint village of Enis. Here we found a B&B and a pub and made an evening of it. A rather good evening.

Next morning, to the Cliffs of Insanity!!! er…Cliffs of Moher. We lucked out with the weather, only a light mist. Unfortunately there is a ton of construction going on at the cliffs and most of the areas were blocked off. We hung around for a while, taking in the view. Then off again for our straight drive back to Dublin. Except for a quick stop for lunch Flynn drove straight across Ireland, from West to East coast.

The next few days were spent walking around, drinking guinness, watching movies, going to museums and just enjoying seeing each other again. Thursday nite however, was spent at the GDBA Graphic Design Business Association IDEA Irish Design Effectiveness Awards dinner. We had no idea (ha) what we were in for. We were greeted at the door with all the Gin Martini’s we could drink (for me that’s two). After smoozing in the lobby, 500 or so, graphic designers and associates jammed into the ballroom for dinner and the awards. Think MTV awards, every time a company won an award some crazy music such as We are the Champions would play, lights would flash and cheering and shouting ensued. The craziness was instigated by wine, champagne and of course beer. Dara Creative walked away with two Awards, one Gold and one Silver. It was quite a nite.

For more pictures go here.

Overall I had a great time and I think flynn did too. Now, who’s coming next?