On the Road Again

I’M BAAACKK!!!

Hey everyone, I hope you’re all doing well, and welcome back to To Valencia and Beyond, the continuing adventures of the fun travel things I’m doing.

My excuse for travel this summer is a study abroad program in Germany during the month of June, but there will also be Ireland, Croatia, France, Belgium, and Scotland, because once you’re over here, you might as well do as much as you can.

This missive is brought to you by the 6 hour layover I’m currently experiencing in the Frankfurt airport, because that’s when the magic happens. And by magic I mean that I have enough time on my hands to ramble onto a keyboard for a while.

SO it’s day… umm… well it depends on how you count. So let’s just start from the beginning:

May 20^th!

I got on a plane from Greenville, SC to Charlotte, SC. I then got on another plane to Dublin, Ireland. I watched movies, I didn’t sleep, I ate subpar airplane food and drank horribly overbrewed tea. It was a transatlantic flight.

But I did get to watch the new version of Annie and The Imitation Game, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. 

May 21^st!

I got off the plane at 06:35 Dublin time, which is approximately 1 in the morning Eastern Standard Time, and the fun began. I got on a shuttle and headed to my hostel. I wound up chatting with a bunch of people in line for the shuttle and on the way to the hostel. Apparently I give off an air of knowing what I’m doing during travel, so I had a number of people ask me for directions or advice, which is kind of a strange feeling, but also a really great compliment, and I tried to help the best I could.

The hostel I was staying at was the same one I stayed at last summer in Dublin, which was really nice, because I knew what landmarks to look for when I got off the shuttle and how to get most important places from there. The first thing I did after I dumped my luggage was go shopping. Because the one thing I forgot back home was a jacket, and it was like 40 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius) in Dublin. And I was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. So I bought a nice bright purple jacket and went back to the hostel to take the free walking tour at the hostel, because I needed something to keep me on my feet and occupied.

And the tour was great for that. I don’t think I did a tour last time I was in Dublin, so it was really great to get to hear some of the history of the city and see some of the sights. Being in Ireland also really helps me appreciate how terrible the English were to the Irish for a long time, because even the symbolism in the government buildings is just… awful. For example, there is a statue of Justice on top of an arch, but this Justice isn’t blindfolded, because Justice was NOT blind when it came to the Irish. Justice watches and remembers. Shudder

But tragic history aside, we saw a bunch of cool stuff, and I had a great time. I met an Australian guy and we discussed the merits of traveling alone, and I managed to shock everyone by not liking beer, chocolate, and cheese.  It was hilarious. 

After the tour I went and ate an absolutely delicious meat pie before heading back to the hostel.  I checked in, read, and tried desperately not to go to sleep. I had been falling asleep standing up by the end of the walking tour. I was trying to get through the day on caffine and sheer force of will, but it was HARD. So I made myself get up and do things. I went to the Oscar Wilde memorial, which is just one of my favorite memorials for anyone ever. I probably wrote about it in my blogs for my trip to Dublin last time, but it really struck me again this time. 

Because what the Oscar Wilde memorial makes me realize is how impersonal most memorials are. They tend to be big blocks of stone, and the most personal touch is a quote or a statue, but I always go to the Oscar Wilde memorial and think that the people who designed it understood Oscar Wilde. There’s the terribly gaudy mutl-colored marble statue of him, which I would hate in any other context, but Oscar Wilde is not a plain, classy white marble kind of guy. And this statue is reclining on a giant rock, smoking a pipe, and looking like he’s judging you. 

Which he probably is, let's be real. And then there are the pillars. There are two of them, each with a statue on top: one male and one female. The pillars themselves are black and covered in quotes from Oscar Wilde. 

And actually, there was a special adornment on the memorial when I was there because on Friday Ireland had a referendum on whether or not to allow same-sex couples to marry. There were posters all over the city, most featuring either the word "YES" very large or "NO" very large. And on Thursday when I visited the Oscar Wilde Memorial, someone had done this 

I think Oscar would have approved. And that's really the thing. I feel like this whole memorial really captures the spirit of the man its dedicated to, and it really shows how Oscar Wilde would have liked to be remembered. 

So then I went and wandered a little bit. I did a little shopping, sat in St. Stephen's Green and read, wandered, and got take out samosas from an Indian restaurant on my way to the Anglican Cathedral of Dublin. I went and listened to evensong service, which was beautiful. Sung services are absolutely my favorite kind. Unfortunately, the sitting listening to beautiful music in a prayerful attitude made me very sleepy indeed, and I may have dozed off slightly, but I'm glad I went nonetheless. After that I  headed back to my hostel, took a much-needed shower, and hit the hay. 

Even as tired as I was my first day in Ireland, it was really good to be back here. Ireland is one of my favorite places on Earth and it felt like coming home to be back in Dublin. I missed the way things felt in Europe: the atmosphere, the pace of life, the ubiquity of churches, the different accents and multiple languages. Coming back to Dublin was great, because I knew my way around, I knew landmarks, and, more esoterically, I knew the sights and smells and rhythms of the city. I'm really glad that I chose to fly into Dublin, and I'm even more glad that I'm back on my proper content. 

Next time on Katie's Blog 2.0....

the non-jetlagged day in Ireland. 

The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins

So, I woke up Thursday morning, and I started preparing for my trip. I brushed my teeth, and checked directions, and downloaded reading material, and then looked at my clock, and realized I was a massive idiot. I had somehow gotten it in my head that I needed to head to the station AN HOUR LATER THAN I ACTUALLY NEEDED TO BE THERE. Which meant that when I looked at my clock at 8:44 and realized that my train left at 9:03, I had not packed, I had not dressed, and I had not counted on me being such a dunce. 

Needless to say, I threw on clothes (I'm not ashamed to admit it, I wore the same shirt as the day before) shoved all of my stuff into some sort of bag, and RAN for the train station. Luckily, it was only 8 minutes away, and I got out to the platforms at 9:02, but I went to the wrong platform, and missed my train. 

That was the first time I've done that this whole trip. It was NOT a pleasant feeling. Especially since I had to catch a series of 3 trains that day to get me to the port town where my ferry left. The only ferry that left for several days. So basically, I had to get there, or my entire schedule for the next week was thrown off. Yeah. That was scary. 

But, fortunately, I ran into VERY nice French people, and then I just got extremely lucky. So, I was supposed to take a 9:03 high speed train to Le Mans, where I would arrive at 10:19 to catch a 10:36 train to Caen. And by some miracle, that Thursday there was a 9:08 high speed train leaving Rennes that stopped at Le Mans at 10:23. And when I saw that I pretty much ran to the nearest person in uniform and begged them to let me on it. Which they did. God bless the French. And, fortunately, my French didn't fail me. Like, I was able to communicate what was going on, so I didn't have to worry about translating or being a total tourist when I was trying to sweet talk them into letting me get on the train. 

And, as an added bonus, the person who I had to talk to to get on the train was standing in a first class car, so he just let me go sit in that one. Free upgrade. 

Which was not worth the terror of running late. *shudders* never again. 

But, ya know, I made it. My train pulled into Le Mans at 10:23 and I found the train to Caen with no problem, and it put me in Caen just in time for a nice sandwich before my train to Cherbourg. I honestly don't know how that worked. But I am so grateful it did. 

Now, as you all know, I have an unhealthy obsession with JRR Tolkien. 

I know. 

Shocker. 

Take a moment to catch your breath. 

But as I've been traveling around Europe, especially since I've left Valencia, I've felt a little bit like Bilbo Baggins in the Hobbit. Specifically, this moment in Bilbo Baggins' life

And I don't think I ever felt like that more than I did Thursday. From waking up late and running out the door totally unprepared (I don't have handkerchiefs, but I left my sweater) to heading out, basically into who knows what, I'm kind of Bilbo right now. And that's cool. Because Bilbo's adventure is awesome. I mean, I'm much more content to go on my adventure than Bilbo's (my plans currently do not include the following: battles, orcs, burglary, trolls, daggers, kidnappings, fear of begin eaten, One Ring to Rule Them All (I left that at home, remember?), threats of cannibalism, death, or ya know, A DRAGON. And that's very, very good.) but I kind of understand where he's coming from. And that's comforting. There's this great quote, "You think your pain and your heartbreak are  unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read,"- James Baldwin. And much like Dragons and Trolls, I rather hope that my adventure doesn't involve pain and heartbreak, but it is going to involve uncertainty and the unknown and things that are new and different, and even scary sometimes. But that's not unprecedented in the history of the world either. Tolkien certainly knew about it. And that's helpful to me anyway, because it reminds me that I can do this. I can go there and back again, and when I come back I will be a different person. And that's all OK. After all, "the road goes ever on and on."

And on Thursday, mine went to Cherbourg. So, I got to Cherbourg and got directions to the port, planning on dropping my stuff in a locker there, and then heading out to check out the town. But, my plans ran into a bit of a snag. Or a couple. 

But, to spare you the suspense and tension, I'd just like to let you know that I arrived in Ireland Friday afternoon in one piece, and everything since I've been here has gone to plan. So, ya know, no worries. Because Thursday afternoon I had worries. 

So, I get to the ferry terminal and I go to see what I need to do to get on, and the first thing the lady at the counter says to me is, "So you heard they canceled the trip Tuesday..." And I was like, "What?" And she's like, "yeah, there were mechanical troubles, so they had to cancel the voyage. They're checking the ship over now, and they'll confirm whether or not we sail this afternoon."

What. 

So, basically I spent all of Thursday afternoon hoping that I was going to Ireland. I literally was not sure that we were going until the boat started moving. 

Also, in a less-major snag, there were no lockers at the ferry station, so I couldn't dump my stuff. Which sort of limited my movement, since I've got a lot of stuff, and town was a ways away, and I had like 5 hours til the ferry left. So yeah. That wasn't ideal. 

But, I decided that if I was going to spend 17 hours on a ferry, I shouldn't condemn myself to 5 more in a train station, so off I went. I went and bought a sandwich for the ride over, and then I went and read for a bit, then I found a supermarket in a mall, and I bought some fruit and meat and bread. I ate most of the fruit in case customs gave me trouble, and that was kind of nice. I needed some fresh fruit. And then I headed back to the ferry port, where they still couldn't confirm whether or not we were sailing, but they were kind enough to check me in and give me a ticket. 

And then I went and sucked down the free wifi for a while. Then, around 8:30, I went through customs, and took the bus with the other foot passengers (of which there were only like 20) to the ferry. And when I got out to the docks, it was kind of easy to forget all the insanity of the day

because look at that.

So then they took us to this contraption to get us up onto the ferry, and we took elevators. Now, I was first up, and I walked into the elevator, and the doors closed and I went up

All by myself. Now, for your information

This was a forty person elevator.

That took just me up to the ferry. Great use of resources.

So I got onto the ferry, which was like a nice hotel, and they directed me up to my seat (because I didn't get a berth) which was pretty OK too. I had a pair of airplane style seats to myself, and some floor space below. But I didn't stay long in the cabin, because

sunset was happening on deck!

and it was nice.

Yeah, so I kind of just hung out up there for a while.

I wasn't the only one with this idea of course

because it was a good idea.

I was so excited, especially since I figured we were PROBABLY sailing

but I took lots of pictures of the safety equipment anyway

Because both my parents had individually told me to make sure I knew what to do in case of emergency

because of the South Korean tragedy, and also, mechanical difficulties.

But, once I knew where the lifeboats were

I got to enjoy the view.

And that was nice.

We didn't pull out immediately

we waited a bit, presumably for them to do important things

I dunno.

But I took pictures of lifeboats.

I even selfied with them.

And, ya know, with the harbor, because that was prettier.

I also found a life preserver

with the name of our vessel

and I selfied with that too, but that's because I have an obsession with Oscar Wilde.

So, yeah, I just kind of chilled for a while.

and I do mean chilled

it's April, not July

and this ain't Nice.

But it is pretty.

So, the sun finally set, 

and we finally set off.

By this point it was much colder

and much darker.

And I walked around the decks for a little bit, but I got tired really quickly. The boat left at 9:30 French time, and by about 10-10:30

They gave us blankets and pillows and the floor was not the most comfortable, but I slept anyway. I actually got like 11 hours of sleep. They weren't very quality hours, but it's more than I expected to get.

I did look a little bit ridiculous the next morning, though.

So, yeah, I woke up at like 8 Irish time, and chilled for a little bit, before I went off exploring

I went up to the top deck, only to discover that the Ocean is large

and blue. And so then I went and found the restaurant deck, which I didn't eat at, but used the wifi of, and chilled there, and worked on blogs and such. And then, I saw it

Ireland.

I was so excited. I mean, this whole thing was such an adventure.

Really, a plane might have been faster, but

I got to approach Ireland by ferry

and it was all part of the fun.

Plus, I was bouncing off the walls, because IRELAND!

And it did look pretty even from the boat

where we really couldn't see much.

But I was so excited I didn't care. 

So we got off the ferry, and the bus took us to customs, where the nicest customs officer ever took our passports. Like, seriously, he was PLEASANT. I was so confused. And then it took us to the ferry terminal. We actually got into Ireland early, and my train didn't leave for a while, but I figured I'd leave the ferry terminal and go reserve my ticket, so I grabbed my stuff, and walked a little ways following the signs towards the train station. 

Even that was a nice walk.

But when I arrived at the "train station" there were train tracks and a wind shelter. And that's it. So I kind of didn't know what to do.  I ran into some French people who had the same problem, and they got me to ask a guy where to buy tickets, but apparently you did that on the train, so I headed back to the ferry terminal, because at least they had seats. And four walls.

Also, wifi. So I took advantage of that, and worked on some blogs. Most of which got deleted, but alas. Then I went and read outside a little, because it was lovely out there, if a bit chilly. And then I went to the wind shelter, where I talked to a woman with an Irish accent so thick I only understood 2/3 of what she said. Seriously. But we had good conversation nonetheless.

And then the train came, and I got on, and my eurail pass served as my ticket, and off we went to Dublin.

Through some lovely countryside.

I mostly just looked out the window.

Because that was so pretty.

And pictures from a moving train don't really do it justice.

But there was an attempt. 

So I arrived in the station in Dublin without a problem, and took a tram to my hostel, because it was dark when I arrived. And the guys when I checked in were nice and funny, and I pretty much got in and went to bed. Like I said, sleep wasn't the most quality on the ferry.

And that was my crazy, insane, wild 36 hour travel day. May they never be that dramatic again.