Ballycotton

We made it to Cork where I will be staying until December! Also Asa left for Wichita then off to Officer Candidate Training in Virginia! More info to come once school starts about what exactly I'll be studying and what the campus looks like and everything. I arrived a little under a week until my three day orientation started and a week and a half until school starts. On Labor Day, I had nothing to do in Cork so I set out for an adventure in a village called Ballycotton.

I went to the local bus station and handed over seven euros to start my one hour trip. Cork County is mainly the region of Southern Ireland. Cork city is near the coast but you can't see the ocean from where I am. However there are tons of bus-accessible coastal villages I can travel to that are in Cork County. . . confusing I know.

Ballycotton is a small villages as you can see from this map. I believe by the end of the day I had seen absolutely everything except the lighthouse. The next bus to Cork didn't leave for another 7 hours, so I tapped into my roots of homeschooling and playing outside and started my day of wandering. It was magical.

I think as a Kansan I am easily entertained. I played around on these rocks for awhile before moving on. Stopping to feel the kelp and wonder what kelp soup would taste like, feeling the snails and marveling at the detailing in the rocks.

The reason I came to this little village was for the cliff walk. It was advertised on a sign as a bird watching area. I thought my little bother Henry would love it, however, throughout the walk I only saw one bird. To my right the fields reminded me of Kansas but the left was a new world to explore.

There's something about going on a long walk by yourself with no time constraint and not another person who maybes wants to do something differently. I found myself singing to myself and my Creator as we explored anything that caught my attention. The weather would quickly change from quite hot, to strong wind, to a splash of rain.

On my walk I would pass beautiful wildflowers and finally put my legging's side pocket to better use than holding a phone. I would frequently look down at my collection of the day.

Bollycotton was charming and so peaceful. I'm reminded everyday of the glory of the creation of God. I connect so much to Him in the stillness of nature where no confines of onlookers make me self conscious of who I should be. He is stunning and I love seeing him in his creation.

My pee spot...

During the day I met Laura from Germany, we spend the rest of the day wandering around, trying to flirt our way to the lighthouse (mostly all in thought), and reading. She is an Au Pair in another village and she had a day off. She said the kids are brats.