It’s St. Patrick’s Day today! The whole world celebrates the patron of Ireland and so do I. Ireland is a wonderful country and due to its long and turbulent history it has very particular traditions, culture, music, language and feasts. Following this important tradition of remembering the saints and patrons I am sharing few impressions from my first stay in Ireland. It’s been almost a year since I went there for the first time so it is good to reflect a bit about it. My impressions from the Green Ireland were published on website of a local tour operator Tour Ireland. Read it right here and stay green in St. Patrick’s Day!    

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I blame Nicolas Bouvier for many things. For my love for books, travel and delight with the world. I have never met him. He died sixteen years ago after a filfulling life of a traveler and a writer. Not meeting him in person is one of my biggest regrets in life. Fortunately what he left is more than we could hope for. So here is my tribute to this amazing man. I’ll share some thoughts on his first and best known book: The Way of the World (published originally in French, under the title L’Usage du Monde, published in English by Eland). This book is a masterpiece. In order to write it Nicolas Bouvier threw himself into a one year and a half journey from Geneva to India first, and was writing it for five years afterwards. Five years! I still cannot believe in his determination. But this book justifies it with every page and every chapter. My favorite thing about it is the essence of a real journey: the author exclude any rush from his travel. He had time to stay in a place for few weeks of months. He allowed himself to become friends with local people. He got close to the ethnic music and local celebrations. He struggled with obstacles (formalities when crossing borders), difficulties (breakdown of the car), and eventually reached his destination. He showed real determination although he was not brutal nor impatient. He played this game according to its rules. And this is why he got back rich and full of places, people and their stories. My favorite scene described in this book is referred to difficult situation and reaction of the author. Imagine your car broke down, in a middle of nowhere (literally!), no human activity as far as your sight reaches, no chances for help. And what Nicolas Bouvier does? He gets out of the car, sits under the tree and smokes his cigaret while contemplating amazing view of the valley. Eventually every difficulty is resolvable. The help came even though they had to spend night in a car under the tree in the middle of nowhere. But the view of night sky stayed with him forever. I wish every travel author was so careful about details, so open and so patient. In the traveling community nowadays this is hard to find. People tend to run around like mad looking for another amazing spot they can photograph and share it on their social media. I think this is a very good opportunity to remind us all what the real journey is about: to allow yourself to get transformed by it. And to never cease to delight with the world as it is. This is not the only post about Nicolas Bouvier on this blog. If you are interested in his stay on the Aran Island you can read it here.  

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Another week, another guest post. It looks like an epic accumulation! But here it is: how to prepare a journey that will change your life? Tough question but if you focused on the crucial things you will come much closer to the answer on how to do it. My guest post on Thinking Nomads blog is here. Writing this post after few months made me think how much I miss Ireland. It doesn’t look like I go there in the nearest future but really hope to visit it this year. If only for few days…Let’s get back to the best memories!  

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It all went surprisingly different! My travel plans, I mean. This is an excellent example of how changing circumstances affects travels in a positive way. We usually consider changing plans as something negative, that ruined our schedule but here is my story that show dreams can come true even if in a twisted way. First, I thought I’ll be in Lapland this autumn. As always. But I’m not. The reason why is related to my other dream of visiting Sweden and the King’s Trail in winter (What’s King’s Trail?). As the trip is long and bit expensive I can’t visit Sweden twice a year therefore a decision was made. I decided to postpone my lappish trip until May 2014 when, hopefully, I’ll take a night train from Stockholm to Kiruna again and ski from Nikkaluokta to Abisko. So far no bad news. And that’s how it goes because even my travels planned for the second term of 2013 are very different from what I planned they are far more exciting at the same time! No harm was made. I knew in advance that I’ll visit Ireland again from the moment I registered to attend a Tbex conference. But there is a surprise connected with this event as well. I applied and got accepted to one of the post conference trips. And guess what! I’m going to visit another small island called Inishnee (population 28 sounds already fascinating) near Galway! I have never thought I’ll visit Galway the same year twice but here we are. The trip called Wild Atlantic West Coast includes a half day trip to Inishnee plus visit to Connemara that I hadn’t have an opportunity to visit the last time. Thus, what else? Oh yes, I thought I’ll walk the Way of St. James this autumn. I was SO sure I’ll walk it this year! I know that at some point I will, however not this autumn, and that’s quite certain. Why? Because I bought a plane ticket to New Zealand! What a surprise! New Zealand was always one of my dream destinations but this is SO far away I thought I need much more time to decide, organize, book and buy than 3 days! This was sort of impulse: I was checking RTW tickets and discovered amazing offer of New Zealand Airlines that I couldn’t resist. So, this November I’ll fly from London to Shanghai, further to Auckland and finally to Christchurch. And back, of course. It looks like an amazing autumn to me. Most of all, I am happy that I’ll spend rainy European November in a place where spring begins! I’m thrilled with this idea and very happy that I’ll bring a totally new strand to my blog: New Zealand! Off to Dublin tomorrow and my first Tbex conference. I’ll publish the first post from my trip just when I get back! Stay tuned!  

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Just yesterday a postman ringed the bell and brought me a large yellow envelope from Ireland. There was a map inside and two lovely sea shells. And it’s all because people in Ireland are honest. A month ago I went to the Aran Islands and saw this beautiful detailed map of all three islands with a short guidebook. It was like a perfect gift for my Dad as he loves maps of all kinds. Naturally I wished to buy it but unfortunately all maps run out. There was no more maps in Tourist Information Centre nor elsewhere on the island. Irish people will always find a way to resolve such issues. Colette from Information Centre advised to go to the local internet cafe- a place called Man of Aran Crafts where the owner- Gearoid- should have some maps left. Well, he didn’t but we came up with a very nice idea to have the map sent to my home address when it arrives. So, I left the money to Gearoid, bought the envelop and a stamp and left everything to him. And just yesterday the map arrived. The shells were a lovely surprise and so I can not only give the map to my Dad but also a shell to my friend who has just returned from St. James Way. See? People are still honest and friendly. I just love these travel experiences that build your faith in good. So, if you ever go to Inishmore enter this little shop next to the main crossroads and just say hello to Gearoid. He’ll be very pleased. Oh, yes, and he makes an excellent coffee. Interested to hear the whole story? It starts here.  

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I continue to develop my network of blogger friends and I find it really inspiring. Just recently I came across with a very nice idea to publish a summary post on Ireland. Courtesy of Susan who runs an interesting blog focused on Ireland the summary was published. To find out more about my general impressions from Irland and read more about this wonderful country you need to click right here. Enjoy reading!  

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Ireland in general and Aran Islands in particular are perfect destinations to all active people. This country has so much to offer! Each traveler should discover it for himself but let me give you three places I’ve been to and was happy about it. Galway: the Cellar Bar I’m pretty sure that Galway has many excellent bars and restaurants. So why this place? Mostly because the Cellar Bar was chosen by my friends who are locals. And the things I ate there were very tasty. I took a dish called ‘Grilled Fillet of Galway Bay Salmon’ without red onion. The fish was very well done. Delicious meal plus pleasant interior design. Aran Islands: the American Bar You can’t miss it as it is located next to the central crossroads in Kilronan so you’ll probably see it just after you enter to the village. I ate a very tasty hamburger there. The interior design is quite interesting: some old photos of American movie stars. There were many locals dining when I went there and it was intriguing to hear them speaking Irish. A nice atmosphere of friendly neighborhood community is all over this place. Old local smiling people are always interesting so if you want to meet them the American Bar is a proper place. Aran Islands: Tigh Fitz Finally, the place where I stayed. Tigh Fitz provides a perfect place while visiting the island. The views from window are stunning and proximity of the sea brings the sound of waves. Most of all Penny- the owner- is charming person who will take care of you. Highly recommended! Here is little something I made after my visit on Inishmore. Truly unforgettable time and a fascinating place I wish to visit again. Slan go foil mo chara agus go n-eiri on bothar leat!  

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“The island is owned by those who were determined enough to transform a pure grey rock into rich green garden- a paradise of botanists and ornithologists. When you watch the island from the western cliffs you see a chess board made of stone walls, which- when arranged in a line would be twelve thousands kilometers long- keeps this island like a fishing net and proofs that the Irish tales about being lazy is a pack of lies.” Nicolas Bouvier, Journal d’Aran et d’autres lieux. When I started my journey to the Aran Islands I had an idea to check everything what Nicolas Bouvier wrote about this place. It’s not trivial to have an opportunity to visit a place described in literature that has little changed even if almost thirty years passed. I went there without a detailed plan just to let myself to feel the place. Nicolas Bouvier was on this island twice and his second visit in 1985 resulted in a short publication of his travel journal from the islands. I read this book so many times that I have known it by heart. I started from meeting with people who might- at least theoretically- remember Nicolas, so every local I met heard a story about Michael Hernon- the driver, Steve and his uncle who worked in the USA and came back in early 80s and constructed one of the first B&B facility on the island. The only problem was that the surname Hernon is very popular on the island. As a result I met one Michael Hernon who lives in Kilmurvy but despite having an emigration episode in his life it wasn’t him. In a meantime I met at least five people who did their very best to find the proper Michael Hernon (special thanks to: Colette, Penny, Mairtin, Gearoid and John). Second difficulty was related to the migration stories: the majority of the islanders went to the US or has someone in their families who worked in the US. When I was telling my story about an uncle who was working in cleaning industry first and in a cloakroom of exclusive restaurant later surprisingly many people thought it was THEIR uncle. There was not enough details in a book to identify the cottage where Nicolas Bouvier stayed. Finally, I met Michael Hernon- the one who was providing guided tours and transportation to Nicolas Bouvier. What a feeling! He is a charming person and no wonder that Nicolas Bouvier described him as kind, polite and sensitive. He was kind enough to spend an afternoon with me at the local pub chatting about the past. Although the island is somehow peripheral to the rest of the country the modern times have not forgotten about the Aran Islands. For last thirty years the quality of life has significantly increased. People are well connected to the outside world and they mainly work in tourism rather than agriculture or fishery. The times described by Nicolas Bouvier on fishing in Norway which lasted a month and the equal share of fishes caught have passed away. But people are still hard workers here. And most of them totally happy about their lives. When live on the island became too difficult due to the crisis, the islanders- instead of complaining and doing nothing- went to the US. The majority of them got back and renovated their houses or contructed new ones, just as the statistics shows: since the late 80s population is stable. On this island only stone and human are able to survive. The stones because they’re tough and unchangeable. Humans because they’re tough and very changeable. I got the impression that the main duty of the islanders is their adaptation to the circumstances and challenges. And that’s precisely what they do. Next episode of this story is here.    

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It’s not easy to come to one of the Aran Islands: Inishmore, Inishmeain or Inisheer. Although all three are well connected with mainland Ireland- as islanders call the rest of their country- the trip is demanding in terms of a mental challenge. The trip made by plane or by ferry still challenges ordinary tourists. I spoke to few locals during my stay on the island and they told me that they are pretty happy about it. What they get as a result is a group of extraordinary tourists. Who comes to the island? The major part of visitors come to see Dun Aengus. This famous ancient spot brings hundreds of tourists every year. Islanders have organized everything to make one day trip  possible. Thanks to a well-working system of small buses and bike rentals people who are coming with a ferry at 11:15 are able to see the fort and catch the latest ferry back to the mainland. You might be surprised to what extend the locals have thought about visitors: pensioners don’t neet to use the bus. They can also rent an electric bike! All to make their trip effortless and easy. Second large group of visitors constitute school trips and guided tours. They visit Ireland starting with Dublin and eventually they come to see the famous cliffs. In Dun Aengus I met an Italian school trip from a secondary school in Modena. They had a school exchange programme and stayed in Galway. For one day they came to see the famous fort. And there is a group of individual tourists, who come because they have always dreamt about it or they like it so much that they come every year. Some of the retired visitors decide to spend here the rest of their life, enjoying advantages of being a pensionate. While staying on the island only for a week I met Australians, Americans, French, Dutch, Germans and Italians, of all ages. Just like one of the interviewee of Nicolas Bouvier said: when I was young I travelled the world and now when I am old the world comes to me. What they do on the island? Inishmore is a perfect place for active people. You can walk around and ride a bike all day long. Take trekking shoes with you as some of the paths are rocky. Before I came to the island I thought I was fit however riding a bike against strong and unstable wind was exhaustive. I thought I will never make it! A nice old lady crossed my path on her electric bike making me feel even worse. When cycling I also met a guy who was riding in the opposite direction- with the wind- and he only shouted: “Don’t worry! It’ll be great on your way baaaack….” and he was gone, taken by the strong wind. I was still racing against the wind, red face and no breath. And- as you might expected- on my way back the direction of the wind suddenly change so both rides were against the wind. At least the way back was downhill which was pretty cool. Trekking around is excellent idea. There are no high peaks, of course, but the cliffs are considerable high. If you think this island has between 3-4km of width, one side is at the see level and the other is around 50-70 meters high, then you will get the picture of the downgrade. There are many paths to walk and all interesting spots are located on the high part of the island. Pony and trap tour seams to be a main attraction for families with children. Everyday, regardless the weather, a group of locals wait with their ponies at the pier, so the tourists getting off the ferry just bump into them. The group of the ponies’ owners is extraordinary: all of them speak Irish, they know their island well and enjoy telling the stories. Mairtin (see the picture above) was extremely helpful in my research of people who might remembered Nicolas Bouvier. Some of the pony and trap reminded me Gandalf and his coach. It was hard to believe but there are also people who actually come for a windsurf. I know it seams to be cold but they say that the waves are gorgeous. I met John on my way to the island and he does it every couple of weeks for last eleven years. He said he was the first one who did it so meet the local trendsetter (on the picture below). How about pubs and restaurants? Live music? In my next post, of course.  

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My primary motivation of a travel to the Aran Islands was related to the famous book of Nicolas Bouvier Journal d’Aran et d’autres lieux. This exquisite piece of literature made me think about this place and finally find a way to go there. I spent almost a week on the biggest of all islands- Inishmore- and I think I understood why Bouvier came back full of delight. There is something special about this place that combines isolation with community, harsh climate with mellow landscape, love for the past and entrepreneurship. This is truly extraordinary place to be. Off the beaten track destination For some people this is more than enough to visit a place. For the others this is a good reason not to go at all. Having said this you need to know that the Aran Islands are not something you would call ‘wilderness’. There is a lot of human activity around and you won’t meet wild bears nor pinguins. This is not a place where you need to bring your own shotgun to protect yourselves from the wild animals. Although, similar to all other islands, this is a considerably isolated place which allowed to develop particular species of birds and flowers, and which allows you to relax and catch a different perspective on the things left at home. Changeable weather If you have ever spent your holiday in a place where it was raining for 2 weeks you will agree that changeability is a real advantage. Staying on the island for more than a day will bring you enormous variety of the weather conditions: wind, rain, sun, wind again, and even rainbow. Watching the rain and knowing it will pass in few minutes is fun. This will also allow you to appreciate fantastic landscapes lighten up by the sun, covered with light clouds, and lighten again. And all of this passes above your head in minutes. Spectacular landscape The islands provide a variety of landscapes, starting with white sandy beaches, through gentle hills, green pastures, ending with rocky cliffs and rough shores. Inishmore is small enough to see it all and large enough to provide such a variety. Likewise the human activity on the island is equally interesting: traditional houses and stone walls make the landscape just perfect. Strong flavor of old Ireland Ireland has a positive image of an interesting country with strong Celtic influences. When coming to Ireland people expect to see at least part of Irish large cultural heritage. They are eager to watch ancient ruins and listen to the traditional Irish music when drinking Guinness in a dark and old pub. There are many places in Ireland where you can feel touch of old times, however, the Aran Islands- thanks to its natural isolation- kept the old Ireland exceptionally well. No modern buildings, no fancy architecture, not even street lights! There is simply nothing that spoils the landscape. There is no need to imagine how Ireland looked like in old times: on the Aran Islands you simply see it. And hear it in widely spoken Irish language.  Particular micro-climate Thanks to its geological structure of limestone Inishmore has an exceptional natural conditions. The islands have an unusually temperate climate. Limestone catches heat from the sun quickly and gives it back slowly. Surprisingly, the temperature of the soil is always above zero which is very unusual. Thanks to this particular circumstance the vegetation on the island is one of the longest in Ireland. Bird watchers and nature lovers find their paradise here. Need more reasons to visit the Aran Islands? Follow this blog and read next post this week.  

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