OUR CROSSINGS

the beauty of a life of travel

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Hi, and thanks for stopping by! Our Crossings follows the daily adventures of Latvian expats living on Ireland's West coast as they surf and explore the world

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Beautiful Parke's Castle, located in County Leitrim and overlooking Lough Gill is well worth the short drive from Sligo. Once the home of Robert Park and his family, this beautiful castle - with its rectangular shape, mullioned windows and fantastic views over the lake - has undergone extensive restorations. Traditional craftsmanship and Irish oak were used to renovate Parke's Castle and the beautiful spiral staircase.

Before our move to Sligo, we made a simple yet powering promise to only say yes to things and places that excite us. In search of inspiration, we made a conscious decision to swapp around the world adventures for the local ones and were delighted to extensively explore Ireland and write about it. Visiting Fanad Head Lighthouse, cycling through Glenveagh National Park, surfing in Lahinch and climbing Croagh Patrick were just a few highlights from our last year's Irish adventures.

Listening to the northernly winds rattle outside, I closed my eyes and let my mind wander before reflecting on the last year - we travelled to fewer countries, yet we still learned, had fun and grew personally. We went home to Latvia to get married, wandered around Munich for the first time, travelled to Bratislava for the Ice Hockey Championship, jumped at the chance to visit Edinburgh and were also delighted to marvel yet again at Venice's crumbling facades.

With the end of 2019 in plain sight, everyone tends to look at the past twelve months and so do we. We had grand plans for this year, some of them failed and some of them succeed. What matters most is that we tried our best, we survived all the bad days and did more things that enriched our lives. . Thanks for following our family adventures. We are wishing everyone a very Happy New Year. . We are spending the last few hours of this decade with surfing, hiking and exploring Sligo surroundings. What are your plans for tonight?

. . Alice: How long is forever? White Rabbit: Sometimes, just one second.

As we continue to learn more about our heritage, for Christmas time, we wanted to incorporate dishes and traditions that are representative of our roots and we also wanted to include lots of time for reflecting and expressing gratitude. It's no secret we live in a society of excess struggling to separate what we want from what we need. That's why it's important to appreciate every new day as a gift, be grateful for the knowledge we obtain along the way and most importantly - for the people that cross our path.

While most of the world celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, Latvian Christmas celebrations are closely linked with pagan winter solstice celebration, known as Yule. To everyone who celebrate tonight, we wanted to wish a happy Christmas Eve. It certainly has a very unique identity with traditions and an energy all its own.

When I look back on our recent trip to Galway, I realized it wasn't about big experiences but more about the art of making the small things into the most memorable moments. It was about meeting the morning with freshly baked bread, so fresh nothing else was required to ease into a perfect Sunday. It was about afternoon cuddles and it was about the chance to be thankful for the life itself and an opportunity to do something special

Two years ago when we packed up and moved from Dublin to Sligo in search of a better life/work balance with easy access to outdoors, we had no idea how much we would actually get out of our decision. We've both changed so much ever since moving across the country, a process which is both physical and emotional. We learned to feel grateful for being alive, and we practiced the art of letting go of the things that no longer serve us, after all, it is up to us and our actions to make our lives better.

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