I've come full circle

I’ve come full circle. And that’s why this is the end of this blog. But of course there’s a last chapter. There’s always a last chapter. And this one is about dreams. Dreams that I never in my life thought it would come true, dreams that were too far yet to happen and dreams that I never intend to have, but had it anyway.

Everyone knows my love for music and my love for The Corrs. It was because of them that I fell in love with Ireland and all its magic (as so I see it anyway). For my friends reading this for the first time, The Corrs is an Irish band that mixes irish traditional music with pop, folk, little bit of rock. And I’ve been listening to them since I was a child. And I’ve told some stories here of how I met one of them in her solo career in Brazil. Anyway, 10 years after their last album and show, they got back in 2015. And I was pretty sure they would get down here in South America for some gigs, but for whatever reason, never happened in this tour. And when I found out that Belsonic would be the last show of the tour, I just had to do it. I booked flight tickets, hostels, and three days later I was in Dublin. Where I always wanted to be since I can remember.

So let’s talk about Dublin first. I remember getting out of the bus in the wrong stop and walking a bit more to the Temple area (and my hostel) and I could care less about my huge backpack (I still have back pains). I was just mesmerized that this was finally happening, after what? 16 years? My first day was simple and lovely. I remember going to random pubs and listening to some traditional irish reels and think “this is not São Paulo, dude, this is the real deal”. There were tourists everywhere, taking pictures, and I couldn’t care less about photos, I just wanted to pay attention to every detail my eye could see. Got my first pint and then got back to check in at the hostel, where I met two american girls and hang out with them for the rest o f the day. Ladies, thank you for joining me in my first day and hope to see y’all in America soon.

Monday was dedicated to Cliffs of Moher tour. Long, long, beautiful day. Ireland is known for its bad weather and rainy days. I was lucky enough to enjoy an amazing sunny and warm day. After a walking tour in Galway – cute city by the way – we were there. Those huge nature beauties that I’ve always seen in pictures of friends was right in front of me. What a view. What a day. Long walks, long talks, long laughs, getting to know new people. I fell in love with everything almost immediately. I remember sitting alone for some minutes, just staring. 

 



Getting back to Dublin, on the bus, I gotta say I was tearing up a little. But hey, no news here, right?! Lucky for me, no one saw it =P. My second day was perfect and I couldn’t ask for more.

Tuesday I decided to explore Dublin and that’s when I met a brazilian girl and we decided to go together. St. Patrick’s Church, St Patrick’s Park, Grafton Street, few stores, Jameson distillery and on and on. Jen, thanks for the company and understading!

Wednesday was a game changer. I was off to Belfast and on my way I made a stop in Dundalk (I refuse to mention the Dundalk guy I met the day before at my hostel in Dublin cause he was annoying and rude – but paid me a pint, so let’s leave it at that). Dundalk is the Corrs’ hometown, they all used to work at a pub called McManus – that is filled with pictures from the band and stories to tell. The city is small and lovely. I remember the train station was my favorite. When I got in the pub, I got to talk with two guys that immediately knew I was there because of the band. We talked about it for a while, they had some stories to tell, and short after I was already out. Not before the kind sir working there got me a picture behind the bar because “every fan going there should do it”. So I did and it was lovely.



So off to Belfast I go. Completely different city. I can’t explain, but in Dublin I felt home. Safe, confident, fearless and happy. Like I knew the city already, like I lived there at some point in my life. Belfast was beautiful, but I did not feel the same. Weird feelings we have when traveling, go figure... I decided to spend the night in bed since I was too anxious for the show the next day. The hostel was filled with people all around the world, and gee, such energy. Good people, good memories, good talks.

Thursday. The day. The show. The people. The meet n greet. My second dream coming true. I was too anxious so I decided to walk to Titanic Belfast  from the hostel – 40 minute walk. While I was admiring the city, I was talking to my friends and family in Brazil, so that helped. I got to Titanic Belfast and I didn’t know if I wanted to take the Titanic tour or stay in the queue for the show. Everything was so beautiful... I got a little lost, found the queue and short ater met Chris and other Corrs fans that I only knew from the web. Everyone was nice to me and I had to excuse myself to cry a little (nop, I was not on the phone, sorry guys).

Anyhow, 2 muffins and few hours later, we were in. I just remember looking at the stage and crying cause I was too close. Too close to something I’ve waited for so long and never thought it would happen. I had to wait 2 and a half hours till meet n greet and Viviane – thanks for your patience and caring, I’ll never forget everything you’ve done for me this day. Never.

It was 8:15pm and meet was set to 8:30pm. There were lots of people there and I was scared I wouldn’t have time with them or wouldn’t meet them at all, cause time was passing and no one called us in. Us = me, Viviane and Chris. When we got in to the area, I saw Sharon and Andrea inside. Suddenly, the lady organizing the line called my name. That’s it. My name. Alone. Me. Alone. “Wait here just a minute”. Then Gary Trew, the tour manager, came to greet me and also told me to wait a second, but now I was closer to the band and even got to talk a little with Keith Duffy (bass player). Sharon already knows me from Brazil, so she immediately called me by my name and I just remember her words being something like “Julia, you came from so far, you came all the way from Brazil, you’re here” and I was already crying while hugging her. After that, everything was blank. The adrenaline was too much and I remember little details. Like Sharon really close to me and smiling. Andrea hugging me a thousand times and being the sweetest tiny person ever while I was crying my heart out. Caroline was gorgeous and super sweet but I didn’t think she was there all the time and I’ll regret to eternity not talking to her properly (I just knew she was there the whole time cause Viviane filmed everything and I saw it later). I remember everyone saying “you came from so far, you came from so far”. I also remember Andrea saying I’m such a great fan and her rispy voice was amazing. Jim was the sweetest guy ever. After the photos with them, I had to show Andrea my “Lifelines” tattoo in her handwriting. She remembered writing it for a tattoo and reacted surprised and all smiles: “Was that you???” and hugged me. I remember she was showing my arm to the rest of the band. And I remember asking for a selfie. That’s all I remember. The rest, is in the video Viviane, my angel, recorded for me.  Oh wait. I got Andrea a letter (since Sharon read all my posts here and reacted the best way possible, I just needed to say few words to her sister). I told her she didn’t need to read it and she looked very serious and said “no, I will read it”. She was caring and lovely the whole time. After that, I was sending all my pictures to my friends and telling them how it went, crying my butt off.



The show was amazing. I suppose. ‘Cause I can’t remember much, it’s almost like I wasn’t there. I was super high in my emotions, I cried the first half of the set and didn’t take my eyes off the stage for a second. I remember when I was a child, I used to imagine me in a gig, singing all these hits they did at Belsonic and just imagining myself there 15 years ago was already emotional – but being there, literally there to see it? Too much.

After the gig, we went to a pub close by, got a few beers, and off to bed. What a day. What a fucking day.

The rest is the rest. I got back to Dublin after a long day in Belfast with a massive migraine (probably cause I didn’t eat anything the day before) – btw, I don’t remember the guy’s name from the hostel, but he was very nice to me offering me a bed to rest, since I already checked out of mine. Saturday was my last day and I spend with Miguel, who was super sweet and caring, showing me some good places I didn’t get a chance to see.

All in all, what a week. I’ve been through some rough times the last couple of years, and the band getting back surely helped me in several ways. Infinite ways. Again, Sharon: thank you for your attention and caring. I know everything happened that way it did and it was because of you.

To all of you I met in Dublin or Belfast: you all were part of a really special moment in my life. Each of you will be in my memory forever and I’ll appreciate and cherish all my moments with you. There’s nothing better in life than traveling (specially alone, everyone should try it), meeting new people, new cultures. Eat new food, get lost, found, lost again. My favorite part of being in another country is walking around alone with no maps. Just living the moment, enjoying my ride, and being surprised with amazing new things the world has to offer.

The world is a borrowed heaven and we’ll have to give it back someday. But before we do, let’s say yes to life. Yes to breathing. Yes to exploring. Yes to giving strange people free smiles.

(Speaking of people, I was amazed at how polite everyone was, literally everywhere I went. And excited and happy to help a lost girl. Special mention to my taxi driver driving me to the airport back to Brazil: not only he was super nice, he knew The Corrs and said Caroline was the sexiest. What a sweet goodbye.)

Now back to real life. Or not. I can try and get my real life to be this life. Who knows. This blog ends here. It’s been my writing place for so many years, but not from now on. From now on, I’ll write different stories. In different places. With different people. And infinite new memories.