(Powerscourt Gardens, Ireland)
A couple days ago I got back from the U.K. and Ireland. It was a wonderful trip, 7 months in the planning. It's strange being back home and that it's all over. All the anticipation replaced by memories.
I've been fortunate to go on some nice vacations in my life, but this has got to be my favorite of them all. We visited/did: a Disney Cruise around U.K. and Ireland, Bath's historic sites, London, Dover and it's beautiful castle, Canterbury city center and its legendary cathedral, a stroll through Cobh and the Titanic experience, Dublin drive through, Glendalough monastery ruins, magnificent Powerscourt gardens, Stirling Castle and Robert the Bruce battle site, Liverpool port, and the Lake District with a boat ride to Bowness.
Goodness, just a week ago I had my last day at sea on the Disney Magic, last Sunday we were exploring Dover Castle with a focus on the Medieval parts (wish there was enough time for the WWII tunnels!!), and last Monday was Canterbury, less than a week ago. The trip already feels so distant. How does that happen?
I did so much planning, my Mom gave me free control. It all started last January when we decided we wanted to do a Disney Cruise, something I've always wanted to do, but they're so dang expensive! This was my first ever cruise. We looked at so many itineraries and decided it would be nice to return to the British Isles and Ireland, doing what we missed out on last time, having new experiences.
Last fall we wanted to experience Bath, but couldn't make it work, and after listening to the entirety of "The Plantagenets" by Dan Jones last Summer, and seeing that the cruise left and returned to Dover, I had to do Dover Castle.
Wales was something I wanted to visit as well, maybe some castle, the ocean, or Cardiff, but we couldn't fit that into this trip. I also wanted to visit Charles Dickens home in London and Jane Austen's home in Hampshire, but couldn't fit that in as well. Got to leave some things for another visit, right? Goodness, who knows when, but I'm always open to the possibility.
This was a good trip on many level. I'm a researcher, I need to know all the possibilities and what to do in certain situations, and there were some things I couldn't figure out in the planning stages of this trip.
This trip was a life lesson. I won't always know how something works, what needs to be done, how to get where I want to go, but have faith. Trust that when I get to a certain point, someone or something will be there to help guild me to the next step, or give the right answer. Don't stall, just move. Trust. Stop stressing so much!!!! So many things fell right into place when needed.
And jet lag. Jet lag!! It wasn't so bad when I went. Napped on the plane, took melatonin at night, a B complex in the morning, and actually slept. Coming back I didn't sleep at all on the plane, watched movies and documentaries. I now have major insomnia. Woke up both yesterday and this morning at 3:00 am and couldn't fall back asleep. Hopefully it evens out soon. Man, I miss sleeping on the cruise. The ships rocking was so nice.
(Random nerdy thought: so when circadian rhythms get messed up while traveling we call it Jet Lag. On Dr. Who would it be Tardis Lag? That's got to be a thing. Can you imagine how messed up you'd be space/time traveling? Or being on a planet that doesn't have a 24 hour rotation cycle? Seriously.)
(On a Hop-on/Hop-off bus in Bath, England)
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