my beloved éire 

So, I guess this is goodbye?

 Hi, I do not think I have had a proper chance to introduce myself and give a brief explanation as for why I have been writing these articles. You know me though; I am Lolita. However, a fact I bet you do not know about me yet; I love Ireland! 

A special relationship has flourished between Ireland and me over the time. I find the island extraordinarily beautiful and it is so diverse that you can never fully expect what will reveal to you behind the veil of mist.

I have always enjoyed reading and discovering new aspects and information about the country and it was not until last June I placed my feet on the island myself. It was truly a magical experience, and I am genuinely grateful for getting to do it

After five days on the island myself something has shifted inside me. I did not initially distinguish what it was but a new – say – emotion sort of rooted inside me. The feeling of belonging. I have but one home - which is in the Czech Republic – however, that time when I was standing on a hill, overwatching the colorful evening display on the sky, a fresh breeze caressing me; I acknowledged a feeling I have not experienced anywhere else - apart from my home country - before. And I immediately knew; 'this is it, this is what my soul's been looking for in the foreign world…' I found a country where I feel safe, good, relieved, present, revitalized, refreshed, accepted and welcome. Ireland. It is probably the first of many countries I have ever visited which I actually did not want to leave as soon as in five days. And that is when I realized Ireland is perhaps one of the few places I would like to return to.

And I did…

This year, I took up an internship abroad. Guess where? Ireland. I traveled there at the end of June and spent nearly a month and a half there. It was grand. I had such a great time; I met new people, explored beautiful places etc. It was awesome.

Well, you might wonder why I started writing these articles. There is more to it, but one of the primary reasons is that I did a 6-month DofE course which I started at the beginning of 2024. For those who are not familiar with DofE; it is a shortcut for the Duke of Edinburgh award. It was tough at the start and there were moments I felt like I did not know what to write about and I procrastinated a lot. But overall, it has been great. I discovered something new about Ireland myself and it was an intriguing weekly task for me to complete. Would I do it again? Maybe… I am not sure as right now I genuinely feel like taking a break, haha. It feels good to have it done and leaving it behind for potential future reassembly or continuance.

So yeah, I hope you enjoyed reading and learning new facts and aspects about the Emerald Island. 

I wish you all well and maybe we will see each other here once more.

Bye lads!

Slán!