This story will be long…as it was filled with a multitude of emotions and experiences.
Let’s begin with the way to Ireland. We leave home-base around 8pm on Thursday evening, November 20, and Cobie, Margret, Dan, Fish and I made our way to Euston train station. We got there a bit early due to my planning (I was nervous about catching my first ever train) and as we were waiting at the station we gave Dan his surprise. Fish and I pulled out our handmade pinwheels and WEEEE!!! signs, and you can guess Dan’s overwhelming excitement. Anyways eventually our train arrived, we hoped on and were officially on our way!
First stop…Birmingham International. We arrived here at 1am, Friday morning now and our next train to Holyhead, Wales didn’t leave for over four hours, so it was time to try and catch some Z’s…the Z’s must have taken shelter in the warmth of some unknown location because they certainly weren’t present in the waiting area. It was extremely cold and even with massive layers of my warmest clothing I still felt like I was slowly becoming a popsicle. After attempting to sleep it was time for our train to depart. We boarded the empty train and continued on our adventure. I thought that the train would be a decent temperature so I could thaw, however, Virgin Trains decided to continue our misery by blasting the AC for the three and a half hours. Maybe you are sensing a pattern…I highly dislike feeling like I am freezing.
Anyways, back to the story…we arrive in Holyhead and have until 2pm before our ferry leaves, so we venture off to find food and warmth. We find both in a little café where we all had breakfast sandwiches and hot drinks while sitting there taking as much time as possible before heading back out into the cold, misty weather. During this period of procrastination we encountered a local who proceeded to give us advice about getting a cab, but all his advice came through in a think Welsh accent so we were unable to understand any of it unfortunately. When we were brave enough to head out into the cold again we came upon an old church which resembled a castle in my opinion. After exploring a little bit we decided to head to the station and rest before the ferry left.
Finally the Stena Line crew started the process of boarding the massive ferry. To me it resembled a small cruise ship. As we pulled away from port the excitement and exhaustion combined, so I explored the many levels of the ship, found the deck where you can stand outside and feel the sea breeze (or gale force winds in our case) and wrote in my journal while the rest of our crew napped and fought of seasickness. The seas were particularly rough during our crossing of the Irish Sea to Dublin which coincidentally is one of the most dangerous seas to cross. Arriving in Dublin we hailed a cab to take us to the airport so we could rent a car….this is where the story of our travels reaches an emotional low.
We arrived at the Budget Rental car service and well I will save you the agonizing details, but they refused to rent us a vehicle even after corporate headquarters confirmed it was ok, and they handled the situation extremely rudely and if I knew the guys name I would love to get him fired for the way handled the situation. So we desperately went from counter to counter asking if anyone would rent us a car…no…no…no…no…and then hope a yes. We will skip over the drama that ensued at the counter when no one’s credit cards would work and we thought we were stranded over an hour from our accommodations when finally a card cleared. With the paperwork signed, tears shed, and a ridiculous amount of money spent on a vehicle for 8 days we made our way to the car. Now our vehicle was tiny…and we had to fit five people plus luggage; my leg was asleep a good portion of the ride to our cottage. Finally we made it to our cottage and encountered further drama with the car, but when we walked into the cottage we all were relieved that something had gone perfect.
Our cottage…was perfect. Cozy, quaint yet spacious, clean, and it was set in the most beautiful landscape. Ocean views and rolling pastures and fields, complete with a loving farm dog, Ollie, and our own swing set and walking path! Green Meadow Farm in Redcross, Ireland was exactly what I needed for Fall break.
That was to story “to” it will be continued with the week in the wilderness and the journey “fro.”
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