We haven’t set foot on Irish soil in 15
months! We were home in JulyAug of 2014.
It’s the longest we have been away
without a return trip. In 3 days time Mr.
D and I are heading back to Ireland for a brief Christmas visit. After much internet searching, I eventually booked flights. I’m always anxious when I click "confirm" also when I see the confirmation e-mail. Mr. D does not like
night flights or having to overnight at an airport hotel before an early
morning flight. He leaves the flight
searches and hotel bookings to me. So
the pressure was on! I decided to book a
flight to Vienna en route to Ireland!
The short flight to Vienna will break our trip as we will have 3 days
there before we fly on to Dublin. The
weather will be much colder than here and this week I’m trying hard to convince
Mr. D to bring a warm coat and extra warm clothes. For some strange reason he thinks he can wear
the same clothes as he wears here. He
was exactly the same 2 years ago when we flew into London from Istanbul. He wore a waist length jacket and was shivering as we briefly went around the
streets of London.
My case is already packed. We will be away for two weeks and only
bringing 2 changes of clothes. I can wash
them at my sister’s house so this will save us dragging heavy cases on trains
and buses. In the past, we used to travel with two 20kg cases. There was always much huffing and puffing from
Mr. D..... it went as follows: “OMG,
what on earth have you got in the cases?,
I’m not bring cases any more!!!” So now for the sake of peace we just bring a
hand luggage case each. On our way back
we get to stay in Vienna for one day. I’m
planning on breaking the rules! hoping I can pick up a cheap bag or a small
case and buy some goodies to bring back to Turkey. I hear the chocolate is Heavenly
in Vienna. Mr. D loves cheese so he
might agree to us doing some shopping.........I’ll let you know how it went,
later!
Nevertheless, I’ve been so busy in the last few weeks in
preparation for our departure. I’m doing
a ceramics course and I really put pressure on myself to complete my project. I
didn’t think it would be finished in time but I surprised myself! I was determined. It’s now complete and drying on a shelf
waiting for my return when hopefully it will have dried without cracking! and be
ready for the next stage, the kiln.
I always have this thing of getting
everything put away and tidied up before we leave the house. I packed away my
summer clothes and brought out the winter clothes, washed and put them in the
wardrobe ready for when we return. I did a bit of gardening, I’ve pruned some
of the big rose bushes and also cut back the bougainvillea. The weeding can
wait until January! Today I made 4 pots of marmalade.
The Clementines are perfect just now and I’ve
promised them to friends. I picked some large oranges too but will use those for orange juice. We will call
to them tomorrow to say goodbye. They
too will be travelling over the next few weeks and we probably won’t see them again
until January. On Monday, we will bring in the balcony furniture. I’ll clean out the fridge and the cooker. I’ll bring in the last of the washing from the
line. I’ll check yet again that the printed tickets, passports and money are in
my bag. Mr. D will pack his case, he
usually does this in five minutes on the night before we travel.
On Tuesday
morning, we will head out early having switching off the electricity and water,
we will head for the airport. I will
take a deep breath and relax when we have checked in................I’d love to
hear how other people deal with travel and being away from your normal routine?
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