This is taken from my weekly newsletter which hits inboxes every Monday morning. At the beginning of each month, I add in an Editor’s letter which you can read below and check out the other elements you can find in my weekly newsletters.
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Friday 2nd June 2023
Hello, and welcome to the June edition of the OC Newsletter. I have a lot to say this month but also don’t know what to say as I’ve been quite MIA on social media for most of the month of May, feeling quite strange on how to approach things.
I spent a weekend in Krakow, Poland in May and had a really god time. It’s a very cheap destination so I can see why a lot of stag and hen parties venture there. Polish cuisine is also very tasty and hearty – maybe more suited to the winter months, but that didn’t stop us eating our fill of pierogis over the weekend.
It was also quite a harrowing time as we spent one of the days at Auschwitz. Obviously we learn about Auschwitz in school, and I’ve watched the TV documentaries, the movies and read the books, but nothing can prepare you for seeing it in real life.
To walk the paths that so many Jews and Polish and other nationalities walked to their deaths, to see the cabins and shacks that they were housed in, walking through the gas chamber and seeing where their bodies were burned was an experience that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
That same week I had also received news that my granny was very ill and it would be a matter of days before she passed. I received the phone-call during my tour of Auschwitz and it was almost an out-of-body experience. What do you do in that moment?
I’ve been very lucky my whole life in that I’ve never lost anyone close to me, so I always wondered how I would handle it when that moment did come. My granny was 93 years of age, so we knew this moment was going to come and we did also have a few weeks to prepare, but it still doesn’t make it any easier.
As I was on holiday, I didn’t want to spoil the mood and carried on, knowing I also had a wedding to go to in a matter of days too. I guess what I mean to say is that I haven’t really given myself any time to process it, and I wasn’t able to make it home in time for the funeral so watching it from my flat in London the morning after I got back from Krakow was another out-of-body experience.
But I was able to go home to Ireland the week afterwards and spend some time with my family since I hadn’t been home since Christmas 2022.
Aside from this, I had a few things happening in work during this time that I needed to be very upbeat and ‘on’ for, you could say – presenting and meeting a lot of new people. So it was very up and down for a few weeks and I didn’t really know how I was truly feeling because I was having to act quite a lot.
So May has been a bit of a whirlwind and I’m slowly coming back to reality now that we’ve entered June. I’m hoping to be back to normality with social posts, blog posts, podcasts and YouTube vlogs this month and I have so much content to catch up on from previous months.
So it’s been a bit of a downer for May, but here’s hoping 2023 gets better with this new month and the fact that we’re almost at the end of the first half of this year is quite scary.
As always, you can follow my 2023 journey over on Instagram @orlaghclaire and I will be back next month to report on my trip to Amsterdam and hopefully have a lot more content (and positivity) to share.
Orlagh Claire x
What I’ve Been Watching
Succession (Sky)
Who isn’t obsessed with Succession at the moment? It took me a while to finally get around to watching the four-series show, and I won’t lie, the first episode didn’t have me hooked.
But now? I can’t get enough. I only have four episodes left and I’m wondering what I’m going to do without Tom or Greg to make me laugh in the evenings once I finish the final few episodes.
Think back-stabbing, business politics, unlawful business ethics, lots of family drama and great TV. That’s what you get with Succession.
What I’ve Been Listening To
Call Her Daddy – Alex Cooper
I don’t often listen to Call Her Daddy, but when I saw Christina Aguilera was a guest on the podcast I put every other podcast I listen to on the back burner. The story of Call Her Daddy is pretty amazing itself, even with all the scandal in 2020 with Barstool Sports. I won’t be listening to every episode, but she does have some really great guests.
What I’ve Been Reading
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
The best book I read in May, and possibly so far in 2023. Never did I think I would read or be interested in a book about chemistry, but this book is so much more. Set in the 1960s with a ferocious main character of Elizabeth Zott fighting to be a woman taken seriously in science and then in the entertainment industry, causing women around the world to stand up for themselves and to see what they’re capable of. Extremely funny, sad and empowering, I’ve been recommending this book to absolutely everyone.
Where I’ve Been Eating
HOB, Balham
We headed into Balham last weekend for some brunch on the bank holiday weekend. It’s been a while since we’ve eaten out in the city and we had heart great things about Heart of Balham in Balham. It definitely has a local feel to it, compared to a lot of Instagram-famous brunch places that are all over TikTok. The portions were huge and the prices were good too. I had (shock) some avocado on toast with smoked salmon, hollandaise sauce and asparagus.
Would definitely recommend!
Where I’m Going Next
Amsterdam, Holland
I’m headed to Amsterdam this weekend and taking some days annual leave next week to see the one and only Harry Styles on tour. I’m so excited to get back to Amsterdam as I loved it the first time I was there. There’s going to be a lot of walking, boating on the canal, maybe some bike riding and a lot of eating.
The churros I had last time are calling my name.
May Podcast Episodes
48. Where I’ve Been So Far in 2023 and Why I’ve Been MIA Recently
I’ve been MIA for the month of May so thought I would give a little update on what’s been happening and where I’ve been.
47. Chasing a Time and a Place & Why Liverpool Will Never Be the Same
Is it time to leave places and memories in the past and no longer revisit? I’m talking Liverpool, Ireland, London and New York and how things change over time.
May Blog Posts
Checking In: Scandic Torget, Bergen, Norway
Welcome to a new series on Orlagh Claire where I review hotel stays around the world. Next in this series is Scandic Torget, Bergen, Norway where I spent a long weekend exploring the Norwegian fjords, eating reindeer hotdogs and breathing in the clean Scandic air.
The 7 Books I Read in
April, 2023
April was a pretty steady month for reading, but definitely not my best. It was a month full of library books and Taylor Jenkins Reid – one of my favourite, auto-buy authors.
Here are the ratings and reviews of the seven books I read in April!
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