061- Amazing IRELAND Women's Retreat

A few days ago, I got back from an awesome experience in Ireland. It was an international women's retreat hosted by my friend, Kiah Twisselman Burchett, otherwise known as Coach Kiah. You might wonder, what in the world is an international women's retreat? It combined so many of my favorite things- travel, personal development workshops, seeing new places, eating new foods, meeting new people from all over the USA, and plenty of talk with women in agriculture. I invited my mom to join me on this adventure.

I want to share what we did each day, along with plenty of pictures.

Day 1 (Monday 4/22/24) : We arrived in Ireland! (we actually left California on Sunday, 4/21/24) To get there, we left Arcata airport, connected through Denver and London, and arrived at the Dublin airport around 1:30pm, local time, on Monday. We were able to get settled in our room at StayCity Tivoli in Dublin before our retreat "meet & greet" in the hotel lobby. We did introductions, met our tour guide, and went over what we'd be doing and seeing during the coming week. There were 18 of us women from all over the United States, from age 25-71. After this we all went to dinner together at Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Ireland. It was a little nerve wracking to be thrown into a group of women we didn't know, but the uncomfortable feeling didn't last long. Great first day!

Day 2 (Tuesday 4/23/24) : This was our first full day in Dublin. We had breakfast at the hotel. Then we were off for a three hour walking tour of Dublin. The guide, Kate, took us on a journey, through the streets of Dublin and top attractions like the Temple Bar area, Dublin Castle, and Trinity College. She gave us the history of what we were seeing along the way. We stopped at a cafe bar called The Church, which was a former church, for a cup of Irish coffee. This was my first one, but it won't be my last. The thought of a church being turned into a bar is an interesting concept. As you can see from the pictures, most of the original church elements are still there.

After lunch, we took a tour of the Guinness Storehouse and learned about the history of Ireland's iconic dark beer. We were able to see the ingredients and process to make the beer. At the end of the tour, we went to the Gravity Bar at the top of the storehouse for amazing views of Dublin, and enjoyed a perfectly poured, perfectly chilled pint of Guinness. I am not sure I've ever had Guinness before this. I liked the first couple drinks, but I couldn't drink the whole thing. I still loved the tour and learning about the ag part of it.

That evening we had our first retreat workshop with Coach Kiah, "Grow Through It" Before we started the travel adventure, we talked about setting intentions and the power of mindset. It was an awesome start to the retreat portion of the trip. I had done this particular workshop with Coach Kiah at the Ascend Retreat that I went to last year, but it was still so valuable. One of my favorite parts was writing a letter to someone in the room (we didn't know who would be receiving it) about how brave they were for coming on this journey. It was a written high five and big hug to share.

Day 3 (Wednesday 4/24/24) : After having breakfast at the hotel, we boarded our mini-coach bus and left the big city behind. We headed out for the scenic, rolling green hills of the Irish countryside. First we stopped in the town of Kildare to look around. It was pretty quiet at 10am, but at least we found some really good coffee. We also stopped at the Well of St. Brigid, outside of Kildare. Admittedly, I didn't know anything about St. Brigid so that was a good educational experience. Then we visited the Rock of Cashel which is the site of the conversion of Aenghus the King of Munster by St. Patrick in the 5th century AD. The Rock of Cashel is a spectacular and imposing castle, on top of a hill and above the surrounding farmland and little town. It was a cool experience being able to walk around inside a real castle. After this, our bus arrived in the town in Killarney, where we were staying for 2 nights at Scotts Hotel.

Day 4 (Thursday 4/25/24) : After breakfast, we boarded our mini-coach bus again, and started our drive towards the Ring of Kerry. I had no idea what the Ring of Kerry was before this. We stopped at Ross Castle first. The Ring of Kerry Tour included stopping at Skelligs Chocolate Factory (with chocolate samples!). Our local guide, Steph, was very knowledgeable about the region and took us to her favorite stops along the way. We ended our tour by stopping at Torc Waterfall and Muckross House, just as the rain really started. This was our only really amount of rain so everyone said we got really lucky.

Later that evening, we had an Irish whiskey and cheese tasting back in Killarney, at Celtic Whiskey Bar. It was a really fun experience. I wouldn't have thought to pair whiskey and cheese, but it was really interesting. We were able to taste four different Irish whiskeys and Irish cheeses. After that, we had dinner at that same spot.

After the whiskey tasting and dinner, we had our second retreat workshop, "Cultivating Confidence." The theme of this workshop was to help us unleash our inner confidence queen! We discussed how to embody our highest selves and have self- compassion for all parts of us. By the end, we were taking baby steps to feeling more empowered in who we are. The challenging part, for most of us I think, was to keep this empowered feeling going. We stayed at Scotts Hotel for one more night.

Day 5 (Friday 4/26/24) : After breakfast, we said goodbye to County Kerry and begin heading north up the coast to Galway. Our first stop was at Adare Village which is known as the "Prettiest Village in Ireland." My mom and I grabbed a coffee and wandered around the main street, which is lined with thatched-roof cottages and little shops. We came across this cow statue which made us feel right at home. Of course we had to snap a selfie.

Our next stop was the well-known Cliffs of Moher. It's a pretty impressive site as you walk along the path, which is many miles long. We were a little too early in the season for the puffins nesting along the cliff's face which was a bummer. There was a Cliffs Exhibition, cafe, and some little shops. My mom and I saw some cattle corrals in the distance so we had to check those out.

We also drove through the town of Lisdoonvarna, which we learned hosts the world's largest matchmaking festival every September. It's been going on for 160 years! I am not in need of any matchmaking services, but it sounds like quite the event. We also saw the Dungaire Castle along our journey to Galway. That evening we had dinner in the Eyre Square area of Galway, before finding a pub with some great music! We stayed at Flannery’s Hotel Galway the next 2 nights.

Day 6 (Saturday 4/27/24) : The adventure continued. After breakfast, we had two options. Kayaking in

Connemara National Park, or half a day exploring Kylemore Abbey. I chose the latter, along with 5 of my new friends. As you can see from the first photo, it is quite a breath-taking place. We saw the walled gardens, went to Mass with the nuns who live on-site, had lunch, explored the castle, and saw the Connemara Ponies that live there.

In the afternoon, we did a short hike around Connemara National Park. It was so green and pretty; reminds me a lot of home in Humboldt.

After a little downtime at the hotel, it was time for dinner at Oslo in the Salt Hill area of Galway. During dinner at this fun pub, there was a game of Rugby on which was very culturally relevant to watch. After dinner, we moved on to O'Connell Pub. One of O'Connell's claims to fame was that part of Ed Sherran's "Galway Girl" video was filmed there. We had drinks and listened to the live music.

Day 7 (Sunday 4/28/24) We got to sleep in a little this morning, which was much needed. After our final breakfast in Galway, we departed for Galway Central Station to catch a train through the heart of Ireland and back to Dublin. I love travelling by train. You get to see a lot more "off the road" scenery. We arrived in Dublin around 1pm, local time.

We had the afternoon to grab some lunch and look around Dublin a little more. Our final retreat workshop, titled "Future Self" was held before dinner. We spent some time sharing what we loved about our fellow retreat attendees. Our final dinner was held at Ned O'Sheas, which we were able to walk to. They had live music going while we were there, which in all honesty, was a little loud for my taste-- yes, I guess I'm getting old. The musicians were really good, and so was dinner. We stayed our final night in Dublin.

Day 8 (Monday 4/29/24) : My mom and I had an early morning this day. Our taxi picked us up at 6am to take us to the airport. All travel to get home went very smoothly; in fact, both of our flights arrived early.

This was such an awesome experience- I'm not even sure I can put it all into words. A huge thanks to Kiah and our tour guide, Steph. I will leave you with some of my favorite group pictures. Stay tuned for another post- What I learned in Ireland.