Prague and the closing of the Irish chapter

The trip of a lifetime
The chance to ‘be’ somebody
A place where dreams come true,
and where miracles can happen…

Yes, this is how I sold Prague to my workmates who were to come with me. Two days into the trip, they may have mistaken the adventure for some sort of torture camp, cleverly disguised as a ‘great opportunity’ to take part in a simple half-marathon (which anyone could do with their eyes closed). As we hobbled through the streets of Prague – sore and stiff – we somehow looked back on the experience with a sense of accomplishment and pride, although I’m sure my name was uttered in the same sentence with descriptive words such as ‘hate’ ‘bastard’ and ‘kill’ during the run. Afterwards, sentences like “It wasn’t too bad”, “I could do another one”, “Gee that was a nice run” could be heard from the lips of our team consisting of Juan, Susan, Chris and I.

We all had our own expectations from the run, largely altered because of sickness, lack of training, more sickness, and excessive alcohol consumption in the weeks prior to our touchdown in the Czech Republic. Fortunately, all our revised goals were achieved. It was the first half marathon for our group (except for me), and they did very well. There are even whispers of a repeat performance in Budapest in the beginning of September this year.

The city itself is majestic, historical, and almost spooky. With a very gothic feel to the architecture, intimidating cathedral spires, and the haunting Charles Bridge – it made for an amazing place to visit. The old town is very walk-able, much more than say Barcelona, and you can see much without taking the metro or spending hours on your feet. There were a number of events on in Prague during the weekend, a European Union celebration, a semi-final ice-hockey match, Germany playing Czech Republic in football, the start of the Easter markets, and of course the half marathon. Other things to see and do are the National Museum, Wencelas Square, Prague Castle, stop at sausage stalls at every opportunity, go and see Black-light theatre (which by the way, is totally amazing!), buy 20c beer, and try a shot of flaming absinthe.

We met up with a few others while there – four others living in Galway, all running the half marathon too. We had a nice carbo-loading Italian dinner the night before with them, and headed into the pub and nightclub with them after the run was over. As you can imagine after a huge strenuous effort on the body, lack of sleep, drinking games and dancing girls… the night was action-packed. Such a nice relief that the free club we were in didn’t close until 6am, although we only made it to 5am. Here’s a photo of me with some of the locals, nice ladies – great personality! Also in our hostel we met Sam, a lovely Canadian who endured our crazy night – and our incredibly slow walking the next day. Now the world is truly a small place… I met Kama in Prague (friend of one of the gym members, Maura) - a kiwi who trained in Physiotherapy the same year as my sister. Here is Juan mixing it up with the best chair DJ’s in the world. Oh, and I may have stolen the 10km marker for the run. Go on... prove it!

Overall we had such a great time, a good mix of lunatics from Ireland, NZ, Spain and Canada. Now I’m back in the gym and its great seeing everyone again. I love recalling the events and little stories from the trip with Juan, Chris and Susan, not to mention the truckload of photos we all took. I can’t believe now that I have to leave Ireland in just over one week. My time here has been absolutely incredible, I have met so many awesome people and if my visa hadn’t expired I would have gladly stayed on longer. One year has just flown by, and now I leave with a mix of sadness and anticipation in my heart. Saying goodbyes is always hard to do, but hopefully it’s more of a ‘see you later’. I have created a death list. So anyone on the list who does not come to visit me in the next year, quite simply, will be killed.

So this is the end of the Irish chapter, and now I re-open the Italian pages. I just received my Italian working/holiday visa in the mail today, which gives me one year in Italy, but I am only able to work for 6 months of that year. Florence is the destination, after a quick stop in Edinburgh to visit Sharon, and see the beautiful city. With my guitar in one hand, and Kristin in my other, I am looking forward to whatever adventures await me in Italy. A land of such promise, beauty, warmth, and history; a people of such passion and pride, with the gift of a silky language, and who make an art form of being frustratingly disorganised.

So goodbye Ireland and everyone I have met, you will be missed.

Wish me luck,

Until next time…