Saturday, April 22
After breakfast I hauled our suitcases downstairs,
while Nancy settled the bill with Colette. Our hostess had been kind
enough to order us a taxi the night before. It arrived right on time.
Before we left I coaxed Nancy and Colette into posing for a quick photo
on the front steps of the house. We thanked Colette again for her
gracious hospitality. Then we were off. Although we had plenty
of time, our female cabbie covered the 7-8 miles to Dublin Airport in what
might have been record time for that route. Like most of the natives
we struck up conversations with, she was curious about what we had seen
on our visit and how we found her country. It’s always nice to have
a friendly cab driver you can talk with intelligently.
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Returning home is a lot different than the traveling done at the start of a vacation. The sense of anticipation, excitement and newness that made our journey to Dublin an adventure were gone, replaced by a sense of dread over the long trip home we faced. We tried not to think about the hour and fifteen minute flight to London, the rat race through Heathrow’s maze of terminals leading to our Washington departure gate, the nearly eight hour trip across the Atlantic in extremely cramped quarters, and finally the three hour drive from DC to Lexington. By the time we arrived at 402 Battery Lane, it would be around 6:30 EST or 11:30 Dublin time. That’s a long day in anyone's book. Thankfully our flights were smooth, the connections were good, none of our luggage got lost, Customs was a breeze, and I stayed awake while driving home to Lexington.
There were a few things about the return trip home worth mentioning. Our big excitement at Dublin Airport was a stop at the Duty Free Shop. You can't take it with you, so we had to go on a shopping “spree” to spend the rest of our Irish currency. This happened right after Nancy got a VAT sales tax refund from the airport’s CashBack Office for several items we purchased while in Ireland. The Duty Free Shop was slightly top heavy with tobacco and alcohol products, but we spent most of our remaining Irish money on chocolates for us and the folks back home.
It's fair to say that our mood on the transatlantic journey was somewhat subdued. Once again a selection of recent box office hits was offered in flight. Nancy watched a couple of them: “Anna and the King” and “Girl Interrupted.” Two very different movies from what I could tell with occasional glances at her mini-screen. However, the result was the same. She cried during both of them.
For my part, I was reluctant to don the headsets or start reading the SF book I’d picked up at Forbidden Planet. What I really wanted to do was savor the memories of our trip and all that was Irish as long as possible, before inevitably letting the intrusive outside world back in to break the spell. The many things we had seen and done during the past week ran through my head. Images of the beautiful, but surprisingly diverse Irish countryside. Interactions with the reserved, but genuinely friendly people we met. A people proud of their heritage without being in awe of it. Thoughts of the countless miles we walked on the streets of Dublin and how I wouldn’t trade those memories (or the accompanying aches and weariness) for anything. The fun places that Nancy, Allie, and I visited together.
Somewhere over the Atlantic I gave in to the monotony of the long flight, picked up my book, and started reading it. Soon I was in a world every bit as far away from Ireland as the miles our plane had put between us. When we’re back at home and want to feel a wee bit Irish once more in the months and years to come, maybe I can break out my tasteful green tie or Nancy can put on her warm Aran Islands sweater. Listening to our CD of traditional Irish music will certainly help, too. Or maybe we’ll pull out a copy of this “Ireland 2000" narrative or visit its Web site in the hope that the magic of our trip will somehow be rekindled, even if only for a little while.
back
to Introduction
map of Dublin
City Center
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Created by Nancy and Dave Badertscher
badertn@rockbridge.net
May 7, 2000