I Flew Away (Ireland - Part II)

A day pack on my back, pipes in a sack around my neck, the legs pumping hard on the bike's lowest gear, I fight to reach the top of the climb. Lush green fields as far as the eye can see and a castle greet me on my left, the Atlantic on my right, along with a few cows in a pen (see pics.) I finally reach a good spot to hop off the bike, what looks to be the highest point of the
Cliffs of Moher, a natural phenomenon that words can't describe. I lock the bike to a fence gate to some cliffside farmland, jump the fence, hike up a couple hundred yards, jump another fence or two, and... there it is. I stand only a few feet from the edge of a 200 meter dropoff as I look out at the Atlantic Ocean on this beautifully rare sunny day. Seagulls glide upward through the air without a single flap of their wings, waves crash below as the sun glistens off the water. As I stand in awe I realize this may be the most beautiful site I have ever laid eyes on.
I hike southward along the cliff's edge until I find the most beautiful spot to play my pipes. Only a few hundred meters from the visitor viewing area, I stand to play to celebrate this high Irish occasion. Fast forward 40 minutes, hands a bit cold and time to find somewhere to warm up. Hiking to the visitor area from the forbidden cliffside path, visitors eyeballing me with funny looks as I hop the barbed wire fence, soaking up the sites while the hands warm up in my pockets. I begin to walk eastbound away from the cliffs to try and find Amber. This is where it happened, three men drive toward me in a golf cart, stop, and ask me if I was the piper playing at the cliffs. After I said yes they proceeded to ask me if I would mind playing again while they videotaped me. I said, "Sure, but for what?" "We're with ABC News Good Morning America and we are doing a special on the Cliffs of Moher and we want to make you a part of it." I'm smiling from head to toe on the inside as they drive me on the golf cart up to the cliffside, where they threw a mic on me and had me play. This was around the time Amber showed up, wondering where I had been and what these men were trying to do to me. Once it was explained she calmed down a bit and gave me a look and said, "Only you Nate! Only you..." Though a bit out of pipe shape I gave it my all as my pipes belted out Dark Island in this surreal moment (see pic & video.) It went on for about 15 minutes... 15 minutes of fame! See it on ABC News Good Morning America sometime in the next two weeks. They will be e-mailing me when they air it, so I will let you know...

After this delightful event Amber & I hiked another 8-10 miles or so of cliffs over a five hour period, before finally riding our bikes back to Doolin Hostel, where we stayed (pic above with our host.) It was maybe the most fun bike ride I can remember as we cruised down the hills at speeds probably around 35 miles an hour as our bikes shook, brakes squeeked, and voices shouted with joy. It was awesome (see pics & video.) We did stop to check out the rocky Atlantic coast before going back home. After cleaning ourselves up, we headed down to the local
Gus O'Connor's Pub, only a block away from the hostel. There we ate, drank Guinness & Smithwick's, listened to a traditional music session consisting of an accordian, two flutes, and a fiddle (see video.) Actually, you know what, this was the night before. But we did go to O'Connor's again. The food was especially delicious as we were especially hungry. We ended the night with a phenomenal movie that I just happened to leave in my dvd drive in my computer when I took it overseas. Yes, you guessed it, Ghostbusters! It was a great ending to an amazing day.

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Through all the evil in the world, the weeds, beautiful flowers still exist, and will ultimately overcome the weeds. The adventure lies in finding the flowers.

"Just a few more weary days and then... (we'll) fly away."

Signing off,

Nate