When traveling the world, one can easily visit a great many historic cities or one beautiful beach after another and be constantly entertained yet unengaged in the depths of each place. Or, with just a little effort, one can look beneath the surface, reach out for the edges where the ocean crashes into a rocky shore and human communities stand balanced on the tipping point of change, explore pathways of history and biology that lead through both time and space or, over an espresso in a quiet café, take time to look just a little deeper into one’s self. This is the way we see Europe while exploring on the National Geographic Orion, through a broad lens that reveals fresh new insights.
Our experiences today led us through many of the disparate worlds that weave together here in western Ireland. Scenes of wildlife, landscape and culture were spread before us like a tasting menu that creates a rich, satisfying meal from many small pieces. By the end of the day we all felt just a little closer to the true nature of this beautiful corner of the Emerald Isle.
We woke at the Skellig Islands, two shards of ancient sandstone thrust up through the Atlantic waves like spearpoints. On Skellig Michael we could see, at the summit of a long stone stairway, the tiny beehive huts where generations of eremitical monks lived for over five centuries, isolated from the world, scholars during Europe’s long Dark Ages. Nearby, on Little Skellig, tens of thousands of Northern Gannets crowded onto narrow ledges and swirled on the vortexes of the wind, isolated and enthralled by the North Atlantic in their own way.
Approaching the Blasket Islands we learned about current research on the grey seals that breed there and after the presentation concluded we walked out onto the decks to find ourselves at the precise location our speaker had been discussing. There were the seals – shifted from thought into reality, looking back at us.
In the afternoon we landed on the Dingle Peninsula, cruising ashore in the Zodiacs, past dramatic sea cliffs, into a snug little harbor. Our smorgasbord of experiences then grew even more varied, as some of us set out on a hike through the green hills, some drove along the rugged coast to the small town of Annascaul where we made a visit to Tom Crean’s South Pole Pub and others explored the historic handicrafts still practiced in this remote corner of Ireland, where the past seems alive and inseparable from the present.
We finished our long day back in the town of Dingle where many of us stopped into a small pub for a pint or two before walking a few minutes down the road to an elegant hotel where we were served a meal that encapsulated the entire day: cutting edge cuisine created with the traditional foods of the region.
It all added up beautifully – the entire day came together in our minds as a very special and very genuine experience, a look into the soul of Ireland.
