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The Manfull's take the Emerald Isle

It's truly scary how fast the time flies. In the blink of an eye things pass you by, before you can really get a chance to grasp it, savor it, and live it.

 These past 10 days have been no exception to the ticking clock, in fact, I would argue that these past 10 days could have been faster than the time machine itself from Back to the Future. It's almost as if time abroad, much like the currency, is in double time. You always have something to look forward to, a new adventure, people to see, things to do- that it's often hard to simply just live in the moment, soak it all in, and really take the time to realize that i'm one lucky SOB, especially because i got to spend these last 10 days with my two favorite people on this planet: Mum n Pop.

 For a brief and fleeting moment as I was approaching my parents Bed & Breakfast, I couldn't help but question the reality of it all. After two long months without calling my mom six times a day, or racking up my dad's bar tab at Donnelley's, I would finally be able to wrap my arms around my people; I needed someone to pinch me. When I saw my mom run out of that front door, I lost all my senses to act like a normal human being in public and I knew right then that a box of tissues just wouldn't do it. I don't quite know how to really describe the moment I felt having my mom and dad standing in front of me, it was too surreal, too perfect, too...wonderful. 

 For the past ten day's I showed my parent's the do's and don'ts of Cork City.
Do: drink beer, dance, sing, become bff's with the bar tenders
Don't: pretend you have an Irish accent, try to hook me up with said bar tender(s)

 In the minimal amount of time my parents were here, we were able to see an astonishing amount of sites- and drink an even more astonishing amount of beer. We went to the top of St. Anne's Church, a tall bell tower which overlooks the entirety of Cork, and although the steps were narrow and there was some legitimate crawling and ducking to climb to the top, the view was worth every terrifying step we took. We also tried our hand at playing the historic bells and attempted a choppy version of "Amazing Grace". Hey, we tried. 
Look at those colors.
We took a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher, which were amazingly mammoth in size, but too beautiful to even attempt to describe. We even avoided the rain, which was more than ideal- especially since there's not a fence all the way around the 200 m high cliffs and I'm not the most coordinated human (Anyone up for a mid-day dive?). We also ventured to the Dingle Peninsula, the smallest town with the prettiest of views, where we spent the afternoon chasing stupid birds and taking pictures.
Cliff jumping with mum
Dinglin' with Dad


Dingle Bay

Cliffs of Moher
But out of all the beautiful scenery we saw, all the breathtaking views, mom and dad fell in love with a pub (of course). Costigan's became their home away from home (aka Donnelley's), making such good friends with every single bar tender that they even got a shout-out from the Costigan's Facebook page…which I guess is pretty cool. 

All in all, these past few days have been the best. It was so incredible to have them here and see them in real life, away from FaceTime and Skype (how did people go this long without the internet, seriously). I can't thank them enough for all their love, support, and food they bought me (lol)- and mostly for putting up with me for so long. Love you mom, love you dad- have a safe flight home!

Yeah, you guys are alright.


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