Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

After almost six months of not seeing my family, I flew back with Holly from London to be with my family and friends for the remainder of my half term break. It was nice catching up with everyone, especially now that two of my good friends are engaged and planning their weddings along with Holly!

The Rocky Road to Dublin

Holly and I were off to Dublin to see my boyfriend who was working there during my last half term break until the end of the school year. Since it was a week off for the kids, flight prices always are jacked up, so unfortunately our cheapest option there was the Rail and Sail so we had to take the train from London Euston to Holyhead in Wales and then take the Ferry to Dublin where we would meet Marcel. 

It was one of the most frustrating days for me, because the day did not go at all to plan. Our first problem of the day started when we arrived at the train station and were told we weren't booked on our original ferry, so then rebooked to a later train and ferry. The only thing was, it wasn't direct and we had to transfer to a different train. After thinking we were all set I saw that our train was ready to depart and we got on, but I had an uneasy feeling and then we heard that the train was indeed not going to where we wanted. Of course I was so dramatic and frustrated but luckily a lady on the train helped us and sorted out a way to get to Holyhead (which included more train transfers) but we had to stick closely to the schedule and would have 4 minutes from getting off the train in Holyhead to getting on the ferry and through customs. I was glad to have Holly with me to help calm me down and reassure me and there were about 5 other people who were in the same situation as us. Somehow in the end (maybe with some Irish luck) we ended up making our ferry, and I couldn't have been more relieved. Moral of the story - things go wrong in travel, but it can turn out ok and you can even meet some interesting people along the way. 

While waiting for one of our transfers I thought what better time to paint my nails.  

What was really special was the date that we were in Dublin, as it was the day after voters made history in the gay marriage referendum and voted YES to gay marriage! There were celebrations going all around the city with rainbow flags everywhere, and people wearing "VOTE YES" buttons. It was truly a great day to be in Ireland! We went out to a pub and gave Holly a taste of Irish culture.

Equal Rights For All!! 

They meet for the first time

The next day we went outside of Dublin to an interesting place called Newgrange which is a World Heritage Site and dates back to 3200 BC making it older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids. At first I didn't really think much of it, other than it had a cool shape but once the tour guide explained more about it and we went inside it was really incredible. They did a demonstration which happens during Winter Solstice where the light hits the rocks and can act as a time-telling device.

I think that this Historic site is definitely overlooked and not as known or appreciated as others such as Stonehenge and I recommend seeing it if you are in Ireland! Unfortunately pictures were not allowed inside the tomb which I found even better than the outside.

Still today they are unsure about what the carvings on the stone mean

The next day Holly and I got to explore more of Dublin and it was nice that I could somehow show her around from the last time I was there. This time we went to the Jameson Distillery for a tour and my favourite, the Leprechaun Museum.

At the end of the tour we could draw a post card, this was mine, it was even framed!

Ginger Ale and Jameson - so good!

Holly tried Black Pudding

Our last day in Dublin was spent driving along the Wicklow Mountains, which was nice to show Holly the Irish countryside. There was even a trail where you could see where the movie Braveheart was filmed. That night Holly and I flew out (stress free) back to London.