The Perfect Day

Let me describe for you the perfect day. It’s a Wednesday. Maybe not every Wednesday, but last Wednesday for sure. It began at half nine rather than half eight. I took the Dart at half eleven out to Howth (you know, the coastal town I’m moving to later in life). I was picked up by Eammon, editor of the last documentary Campbell Ryan worked on. He took me to his house, in Howth, where I interviewed him and shot some actuality footage of him editing for a behind-the-scenes segment. He showed me the editing suite he has in the front hall of his house. He works on a giant Mac with a 72” flat screen TV connected to it, so he can watch what he is editing on the TV while he is working on it. As if that set-up weren’t enough, the room contains one giant picture window that overlooks the coast. If I could wake up every morning, go downstairs, make myself a cup of my roommate’s Columbian coffee, and go down the hall to work in room like that, I would be one happy camper. Once we were finished Eammon took me back to the Dart station, and I arrived back in Dublin by half one with the whole day still ahead of me. That night, I got on a bus at five and road out to the pitch where the women’s Gaelic football team was playing their semi-final match. I filmed more behind-the-scenes action while Mairtín and his crew gathered establishing shots and pregame talks. During the match, I filmed some of the crowd and crew, but mostly just enjoyed my first Gaelic football game. It’s an interesting sport that is played with a volleyball-like ball. You can run up to three steps before you have to bump it off to another player, bounce it off the ground, or drop it and kick it back up to you with your foot. You can shoot it in a soccer goal for three points or kick it over football field goal posts for one point. Round Towers, the team we were filming, were underdogs with their best goalkeeper out on an injury, and the score was going back and forth. In the end, Round Towers came out on top and are headed to the finals next Wednesday.

A whole day out of the office, just filming, that is the perfect day.

Let me describe to you the perfect day. It’s a Saturday. Maybe not every Saturday but last Saturday for sure. Another Heather and I took the Dart out to Sandycove where we found a coastline that rivaled my love for Howth.

It had sand, and giant rocks to climb on, and a swimming area (with freezing water). We explored a bit and even found a little castle. And the weather! It was summer for real. I was wishing for a tank top and had I brought my bathing suit with me from the apartment, I would have been swimming (for about five minutes, that was about as long as I could keep my feet in at one time). For lunch, we stopped at a cute little bagel café before wandering the streets of Dun Laoghrie and coming home.

A whole day on a sunny coastline, that is the perfect day.

Let me describe to you the perfect day. It’s a Sunday. Maybe not every Sunday, but last Sunday for sure. It started bright and early for another Extreme Ireland tour. Unfortunately, we were without Bud again, but we did get his friend, Joey, who he had said was second next to him. Joey was hysterical and taught us a bunch of Irish songs (one of which I will most definitely be bringing back to camp). Six of us took our chances with the Protestant Irish and ventured north because we could not ignore the beauty of Giant’s Causeway. We made our venture, on a giant tour bus rather than a van to accommodate all the people, to the land of the sterling on another beautiful day, this time I did where a tank top. We started at the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. We crossed the rickety, bouncing rope bridge to get out to this grassy island with rocky cliffs that I dared myself to get closer and closer to.

From there we went on the Giant’s Causeway, a beautiful natural phenomenon where rocks were formed in straight columns.

Next stop was Belfast, but on the way we saw the castle that inspired C.S. Lewis’ Cair Paravel.

Belfast, interestingly enough, was where the Titanic was built. Unfortunately, being Sunday, it was closed. But we did find a monument for it in City Centre.

A day exploring the beauty of Northern Ireland, completely safe, that is the perfect day.