‘They say Mother Earth is breathing with each wave that finds the shore. Her soul rises in the evening, for to open twilight’s door. Her eyes are the stars in heaven, watching o’er us all the while. But her heart it is in Ireland. Deep within the Emerald Isle.’…. Brooks/Yates/Davis

The hotel we stayed at last night (The Bonnington Dublin) was quite busy. We wandered down to the bar(s) for a bite of dinner. There were a few options so we had a look at both. Turns out both were exactly the same menu, so we avoided the sports bar and went for the quieter option. I had chicken wings and Cecile had soup. Both nice but if I’m honest, nothing too special.

When we got back to our room, we made sure our bags were all packed and ready to go as we had to drop the hire car off at 10am. We were out towards the airport and the car had to go to Spencer Dock so we knew it would be a bit of a traffic nightmare. Our plan was to leave our bags at the airport, drop the car off, do a bit of sightseeing that we’d missed previously and then catch a bus back to pick up our bags and head to the airport.

Next morning we were up bright and early and headed down to breakfast. This was delicious I have to say. It was an all you could eat style thing of course and lots of guests were certainly filling up for the day. We left our bags there. Somehow they are multiplying. We started with 4. We now have 6. As we thought, the traffic was pretty bad on the way. Such narrow streets don’t help but that’s what you get in a city that was designed and built before cars were thought of. Anyway, we made it without any fuss and carrying just my camera (no backpack this time) and our handbags, we set off to see Trinity College and the Book of Kells.

When we were there before we headed up north, the tours were booked out and it was a busy Sunday so we left it planning to revisit it when we were back. We started with a morning stroll along the Liffey River which was just glorious in the bright sunshine. i went to take a few photos and suddenly my camera wasn’t working again. Arghhhhh.. This time my battery had died and as I didn’t have my backpack with me, I was carrying a brick around my neck for the rest of the day. As we got close to the tall ship, the Jeannie Johnson, there was a firetruck with firies getting into their gear, lights flashing etc. I wanted to get a better photo of the the ship, so of course I wandered down the gangway to snap it (with my phone obviously).

Cecile was talking to one of the lovely young firemen, who was telling her we couldn’t go down there. By then I’d already taken my photos and was heading back. He got to me and was supposed to tell me I shouldn’t be there. Instead he asked what part of Melbourne I was from lol. He had recognised her accent as Australian and asked where she was from. He must have said he was from Melbourne and she said that’s where I was from. So I told him Geelong originally and he used to live in Geelong West. So much for being told off. He was happy to hear the Aussie twang I think. A reminder of home for him.

We continued on after our little chance meeting and kept going, walking through the streets of Dublin, taking in the architecture. The old and the new. The crumbling and the shiny. It’s a mixed bag. New buildings with lots of glass and steel, right next to an old, brick building that has seen more than we could remember. The bridges over the Liffey are the same. You walk over one and I know that my Grandmother probably walked over it too. The next will be a huge modern piece of artwork in the guise of a bridge. All are beautiful and all look like they belong next to each other. It’s as it should be.

As we walked around, we found some of the places we had driven past on the hop on hop off bus a few days earlier. We stopped at the bar where Oscar Wilde had his first job at just 14 years of age. Everywhere you go there are monuments or memorials to those lost especially to the troubles or to civil unrest. We finally got to Trinity College just after 11. The next tickets weren’t until 12, so we bought them and went and sat across the road for a cuppa. Before we knew it, it was time so we headed back across the street.

Oh Trinity College. What a place to be inspired. I can only imagine what it would be like to study in the place where so many greats of literature had studied before. Not just literature of course, but that’s what I love. We went into the Book of Kell’s exhibition first. Such amazing history there. In this day of rubbish printing, we can’t imagine what it must have been like to have hand written and illustrated every page of this precious artefact. It encompasses the 4 gospels of the New Testament and was crafted by Celtic Monks on Iona (Scotland) around 800AD. This book has kept it’s colour and vibrancy for 1200 years. As we were to learn, it was missing for a long time and thought lost forever but was discovered again. With all the wars, raids, pillaging etc that the people of Ireland and Scotland have endured throughout the years, it is amazing that this is still in existence.

I was walking through with my camera around my neck, of course and got to the actual book of Kells and as I couldn’t use the camera due to it being flat, I snapped a shot on my phone. When I showed Cecile, she told me there were signs saying not to photograph it. I honestly didn’t see them. The guard was standing right near me too. I didn’t use a flash obviously, so I guess she mustn’t have noticed.

Through there we went into the Long Room of the library. THIS is what I was really here to see. OMG.. This is incredible. Sadly (for us) only a few of the alcoves had books in them as the rest have been removed to be cleaned and preserved, so we missed out on seeing it at it’s premium, but you have to be prepared to have these treasures looked after, so we weren’t too upset by it. What we did see was worth it. It is what a library should look like. Dark places to lose yourself in a tome. Old, treasured books, leather bound and dusty. Tall ladders to reach the treasures up the top. Busts of famous writers and philosophers at every bay. Above it all is a huge installation of the earth. I am so glad we came back for the experience. It was incredible.

From there we went to the Book of Kells experience. which is very interactive. Talking busts of writers, philosophising of what life is like today compared to their day. More explanations about the books but done in a way that kids could relate to. Lots of 3D imagery etc. Through there we went into a room where they showed an 8 minute video about the history of the Book of Kells. When we finally got to sit down as it was packed, I was blown away by it. The screen wrapped all the way around 3 walls, so when things moved, you felt like it was coming straight at you. It was brilliantly done and very informative.

Then the next room held another similar thing but about the history of the Long Room and it’s evolution over the years. Again, really well done and educational. The only issue I had was that while we sat down, lots of people just stood right in front of us, instead of moving to the side. But it really was worthwhile. As with all these experiences, they always take you through the gift shop to take advantage of your enthusiasm and get you to spend. It works. We did.. Though not ridiculously.

From there we tried to leave the college to go to Grafton Street but that entrance was closed so we had to try to find our way out. With the help of the guy who sold us the tickets, we found it and had a walk down there. We walked past all the expensive brands and found our way to a little bar for lunch. I had the spice bag as Cecile’s daughter had said we should try it. It was really just fried stuff with some spices on it, but I’m sure it’s not the original version.

Our legs were burning by this time. We had walked so far and were exhausted, but onwards and upwards, we were out to find the Temple Bar.. We did get lost on the way but eventually we got there. By that time, our energy levels were zilch so we studied buses and got ourselves on the right bus (the number 1) back to the hotel. Phew.. Such a relief to get off our feet even if only for about half an hour.

Inside, we picked up our bags, called a cab and off to the airport we went. France next stop. We hadn’t checked in for our flight and were 3 hours early, so weren’t worried but the girl from Ryanair wasn’t impressed with us and told us to check in on our phones straight away. At Liverpool, they were so helpful, but not at Dublin. Anyway, we managed to check in but as we were, the girl said we had 3 bags of checked luggage. I said no, just two, one is carry on. She said no, it was checked baggage.

Oh no. We’d booked the wrong thing. Carry on luggage also gives you priority boarding and a bit more leniency with cabin luggage. As the flight got nearer, we were worried as we had 3 bags still with us and should only have had two. To be fair, 2 of the bags were quite small but most budget airlines make a lot of money from people who go over their allowance, so we were trying to work out a way to get it on without being noticed. We sat in Burger King first so I could charge my phone as it was almost flat and our accommodation info was on it. We waited over half an hour for 2 bottles of water. They can’t just give them to you, they have to put you in a queue.

Dying of thirst by then, we finally got our drinks in time to head to the gate still worried about our luggage allowance. We decided it would be best if we weren’t first in line or last in line, so we slipped in after about 3/4 of the passengers had lined up. As we neared the front, suddenly one of the stewards was getting a bit picky about luggage, so we quickly shifted to the other line where the guy was a lot more lenient. They didn’t even question it. Phew. We were making our way down the stairs unscathed.

The use of the word ‘Gate’ at the airport is a bit of a fib really. It’s more a ramble through a cattle grid and a walk across the tarmac and up those rickety steps but we were on. Another packed flight and not much room for our legs or our bags but we were soon up and away, flying across the glorious green fields of Ireland on our way to Beauvais France. I am always sad saying goodbye to Ireland. It really is my spiritual home and I feel at one with the land and it’s people. I can feel my grandmother’s spirit around me when I’m here and I understand why she loved this land.

We got into Beauvais airport at 10.10pm and got through customs so easily. I even got a stamp on my new passport which I was happy about. Out to the taxi rank where a lovely taxi driver explained that we had to walk all the way up to the first cab which was way up from where we were. But safely loaded into a huge cab (we needed it with all our luggage) and we were back here at the hotel well before 11pm.

When we got here, it was all automated which is fine.. except that I can’t speak or read French. Halfway through I saw an English flag at the bottom of the screen so I pushed that and voila…. English.. So we got in fairly easily and after we’d unpacked our pyjamas, I went down to the vending machine to get Cecile a coffee and me a cold drink.. Again it was all in French and I had no idea what it was saying to me. The vending machine next to the coffee machine had no keypad anywhere and I was tapping on the glass thinking it must be a high tech one like the fridges you knock on.

Anyway, I gave up and went back to the coffee machine, only to find another English flag.. Ohh duhhh.. I ordered the stuff from the vending machine on that too.. Lesson learned.. Look for the English flag everywhere. Anyway, we were in bed relaxing by 11.30. Tomorrow is a day of complete rest. We need a day where we don’t walk in excess of 15000 steps for the day which we have been doing. Sleep beckons..

Happy resting… Livvy xxx