The Good News

Despite the last couple of entries, everything hasn't been Downersville and Bitterberg here in Jimbuck2. Just nearly everything.

The good news is... I've booked vacation time for the last two weeks of June. I'm finally taking an overseas trip! Going to London, and I also plan to take a side-trip to Dublin while I'm there.

This will be my first trip across the pond. I probably wouldn't be able to swing it if it weren't for the fact that I have a friend to stay with in London. Air fares were pretty affordable, too, compared to July, so I pulled the trigger and booked the flight.

The general plan is to spend the first several days seeing the sights of Londontown, then hop over to Dublin for maybe 4 or 5 days, then back to London for a few more days. Flights to Dublin are only about $70 return, so that's pretty good. I was thinking it would be more romantic to take a train to Liverpool, see a few sights there (apparently there was some famous band from said town), then take a ferry across the Irish Sea. But after some research, I discovered that the ferry ride takes about eight hours. That's a waste of prime Guinness-guzzling time.

The only problem is that it's difficult to book any accommodations in Dublin, not knowing exactly which days I'll be heading over there. And that sorta depends on the lay of the land when I get to London. I'm not sure if I'll need to book anything that far ahead. Maybe I can make arrangements once I get to London. Not sure if I want to assume that. More research is needed. Got some websites about Dublin hostels and B&Bs. Got a few recommendation about places to stay in the Temple Bar district. I may also saunter into a travel agency here and enquire about a "possible" trip to Ireland, and pick their brains.

But it's all very exciting. I'm really looking forward to it. I've been dying to go to Dublin for ages. I think it'll be incredible to be in the Mother Country, diggin' my roots, hoisting a pint of Guinness in a Dublin pub. And, of course, lots to see and do in London. Abbey Road, baby! Stone'enge! Piccadilly and all the rest. Should be cool. Should I take some courses before I go over, so I can speak the language?

I may even try to write a few travel articles out of it; maybe start a new career! I've always been told by people who've read certain of my articles that they've "felt like they were there." I love doing that--writing about a place or an event, trying to capture the essence of what it was like to be there: the sounds, the sights, the smells, what it felt like. So maybe my calling is to be a travel writer. I could handle that.

Toodles.