I took a trip

I took a trip. I like travel, especially road trips, but I had always wanted to see the town in Ireland where my grandmother grew up. It is a town called Trim, in Co. Meath, near Dublin. My grandmother left there when she was 13 and never went back, though I believe she wanted to visit. My mother always wanted to see it but was afraid to fly and I am not sure there was money for that sort of thing. So the dream was passed to me and I have spent years wishing I could go. I had told my husband I wanted a trip to Ireland as a 50th birthday present but we know how that goes. Kids get married, other expenses come up, plans and dreams get delayed. Then they never happen. Last year I was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Around that time my friend Terri mentioned a trip, inviting anyone on our little homemaking group to go along. I said to count me in and England (her dream) and Ireland (mine) were to be the destinations. So we planned. Kind of. And dreamed. I got my passport. A huge deal to me! Then we picked dates for April of this year and bought our tickets. I would be flying out of Baltimore - alone!- by myself for the first time. I had no idea what to do! We would meet at the airport. Heathrow. A HUGE airport. Me at terminal 5, she at terminal 3. I arrived first so had to find her. Yikes! I was nervous all this time but somehow felt myself getting braver. I am almost 52. I should be able to handle this on my own, right? I did. We met up. Took a very expensive taxi to our hotel and headed out the door immediately to tackle London!

We bought tickets for the Original Bus. A bus we rode once and never saw one 'in service' again! Ha! But we saw enough in that one trip to get our bearings and in that first day saw many of the major landmarks and tourist destinations. By day two I think we felt like seasoned tourists. Even the money kind of made sense. We ate fish and chips at a pub. We drank a pint. We were cool. The third day we took a ferry to Dublin. The mood changed. It was Good Friday and we were a bit lost. The bus from the ferry dropped us off with a promise that our hotel was 'just a ten minute walk' away. Nope. Soon we realized we needed a cab. Price gouging, anyone? 60 euros was our first quote. Euros? Wait a minute, we were just using pounds! Oh, you don't take credit cards? Next cab wanted 50 euros. Third cab said 15 euros and he'd run us by an atm. Thank you! So we made it to our hotel and though it was lovely, I was rattled. It sure felt different from London and not like I thought it would feel. The next day I had planned for us to visit Trim. I talked to the staff at the hotel. Two to three buses, an hour or two, transportation is sketchy at best. I ended up hiring a cab to take us there and pick us up later in the day. Roughly $330 American dollars but I didn't come all that way to miss seeing grandma's childhood home! The cab driver ended up being very friendly, full of information, and it all worked out. Grandma's house was still there and the very nice tenant next door let us peek over her garden wall into grandma's back yard aka garden. The Yellow Steeple and Trim Castle were very much part of Grandma's playground and it was wonderful to actually see and touch the things she knew growing up. Her stories of yelling 'Hello Old King John' up the castle walls had more meaning. The banks of the River Boyne where she picked primroses were no longer strangers to me. Terri and I walked the town, stopped in a pub and had a pint, and by late that afternoon I was content with reconnecting with my heritage. A happy day. I had taken along pictures of my mother and grandmother so Terri could snap a picture of the three us 'together' in Ireland. I do believe mom and grandma were with me.

We visited Trinity College, the Old Jameson's Distillery (loved it!) and visited the standard touristy spots in Dublin, then it was back to London for the remainder of our trip. Oh, how I missed pounds!

We went to landmarks and museums. Took tours (Sherlock Holmes at 221b Baker Street was very cool and Westminster Abbey is a must see!) and took loads of pictures. We saw the Changing of the Guard - to American tunes, which confused and amused us. We got to know Big Ben and the London Eye and often saw it as we made our way around town.

Selfridges was insanely expensive. Harrod's food area was almost sinful. Kensington Park is gorgeous. I love London and wouldn't mind going back one bit!

We both kept travel journals, which was wonderful! Every evening back in our hotel we would write about our adventure of the day and glue. We glued in ticket stubs, post cards, brochures, anything at all. The books were full and bulging by the time we were done but even my husband said the journal was the best thing I brought back from that trip. I have to agree!