6/9 Sunset Boulevard

I have to keep this brief today. First, after three weeks I’m feeling, for the first time, a deeper fatigue that goes beyond the usual evening after a day’s tour. And second, I’m currently enjoying an indeterminate number of sunsets on a dream beach. At the end of a peninsula, on a slightly raised cliff, I sit with Laphroaig on my left and a cigar on my right, half‑in‑thought staring at the sea, grateful to be here, to enjoy this view, and to have made it this far. I’d love to share this moment, this feeling, with you, but that feeling can’t be captured with pictures alone. In cases like this you’d need the flowery language of Hermann Hesse or Dylan Thomas. I’m not even close to either. You just have to believe me when I say this is an incredibly beautiful moment. It’s the meaning of life!

Just a quick note on what else happened today. I crossed the Burren and took some time for a detour into a cave. After that came several kilometers of melancholy. I was really fighting with myself, was tired, and the landscape and places were not very inspiring. Only in the last 100 km did nature and the road pull me back into their spell. Driving across the Iveragh Peninsula on the mountain road gave me a mini‑Alpine feeling. I crossed two passes that aren’t noteworthy for their height, but are still amazingly beautiful to drive and look at. Then I headed over to the Beara Peninsula, which is no less beautiful. I won’t go into the mountains until tomorrow, as today I just wanted to reach my campsite.

And now the continuation of “The Sea” (dc)…