Triplin and Dublin

Book of Kells

(Cute title, what does it mean? Wait, you'll see)

We went to Dublin, but almost didn't.
(There, that's half the title. The other half will be trickier)

We decided that we needed to go to the all-Ireland Zone Conference to do a bunch of office-related things, but a major part of our objective was just to see how things were there. Every time we travel to a mission area and interact with the missionaries, we learn a lot about how things work in that area and it always helps us in our work back in the office. And of course, it's an adventure. We decided to leave Edinburgh at crack of yawn on Saturday and catch the mid-day ferry and so we booked it that way. We got some of the last bookings available on the ferry as it was a holiday weekend.

The day before departure I was making appointments with missionaries as to when we would arrive to start doing flat inspections. I checked the ferry schedule to calculate when we'd be at the first flat and noticed something odd. We were sailing from Ireland to Scotland on Saturday and from Scotland to Ireland on Tuesday!
Oops!

(For any of you who are geographically challenged, it's the wrong way around. Can anyone really be so geographically challenged as not to know we are in Scotland and so need to sail to Ireland? I mean, apart from the person (we have both agreed he or she should be nameless) who booked the tickets.) (Oh I'm sorry. Where was I?)(You were counting the first 'trip' of the 'triplin' in the title. Oh yes, thanks.)

Fortunately we had paid extra for flexible tickets, which we could re-schedule without penalty up until shortly before departure. So, easy-peasy. Except not.

Firstly the computer interface didn't let you switch directions, nor did it let you return before you departed. However after a bunch of hacking we found a combination which was permissible but not possible. Permissible because the computer would accept it but not possible because the sailings we wanted were not available, all fully booked (long weekend, remember). So we created a new schedule. We are now sailing Saturday morning 7:30 AM and still returning Tuesday night. Except we are three hours plus from the ferry terminal, so some quick scouting found us a Friday night hotel in Stranraer on the south-west tip of Scotland, just a couple of miles from the ferry terminal.

So instead of a relaxed Friday evening and a good night's sleep in our own beds we had a too-busy Friday, scrambled out of the office late, stuffed all sorts of things into the boot of the car which we needed to take to Dublin, dashed out, dashed back for a bunch of stuff we forgot, dashed home, threw an assortment of things into a suitcase or two and scrambled down the road toward Stranraer. So our peaceful weekend didn't start peacefully at all, and yes, we did forget to pack all sorts of things we needed. (Does that fiasco count as the second 'trip'? I guess so)

We made it to the hotel quite late, slept well and made it to the ferry terminal by 6:45, comfortably before the 7AM cut-off time. Parking near the hotel is on-street, and apparently gets crowded from time to time, however Stranraer is a nice town, they just take care of the problem with a notice encouraging you to park, well, somewhere else, please.

Last time we went with a P&O ferry; this time we went with Stena Lines, and will for all future trips. On P&O we felt like pieces of baggage they were reluctantly carrying. (Sit here, don't go there. Most of the outside deck is off-limits, for no discernible reason, and the small available deck area is full of smokers who are not allowed to smoke indoors). Stena line has lots of entertainment and shopping and food and comfortable seating, and at least twice as much available deck space, indoors and out. This was enhanced by the fact that by re-booking at an unpopular time we saved money, so we upgraded to the first-class lounge and still got a small refund.

First class is very nice. Free snacks, lots of deep comfy seats and tables to sit at, a wide selection of books and magazines, several TV sets with different channels, waiter service for meals. It makes you sorry that it's only a two-hour ride.

We arrived in Belfast and scrambled around the city trying to get a UK prescription filled for a missionary in Dublin. We did not succeed, but we really tried and our running around did help us to see some of the city. We headed south for Dublin. Crossing the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is barely noticeable, by design and intention. The strongest indicator is that the signs change from miles-per-hour to kilometers per hour. Oh yeah, and all the signs are bilingual, Irish first.

The Irish countryside is beautiful. The missionaries we visited had a lovely clean flat and we took them out for lunch.

Dublin is a big city. It did not charm us, although, to be fair, we were visiting missionary flats in the seedier part of the city. Our hotel south of the city, however, was very appealing. Spacious, clean and self-catering, which perfectly suited us, especially with a large grocery store half a block away. Our general impression of Ireland is that the urban roads are much wider than in Scotland, and the driving is much more American in style. The rural roads are narrow, and the driving still tends to be more American in style, which is frankly terrifying.

Sunday we visited a ward where Javier Rosas is the bishop, an old friend from Provo now settled in Ireland. It was great to connect with the family again, and they invited us to supper.

In the afternoon we roamed into the countryside trying to get to some beaches and mountains we had seen in a brochure. This was the point where we realized our estimation of wide roads was too hasty. Country roads are, as we mentioned, narrow, even narrower than their Scottish equivalent. They curve around and roll up and down just as much or more and don't always have road markings, despite the two-way traffic at 50 mph.
(Is that another 'trip'? No, it wasn't that bad after six months of Scottish country roads. Just relax)

We did find a beautiful reservoir. Someone had whimsically built a castle tower over the drain control point, and then even more whimsically, mounted a giant-size bath plug on a chain to indicate the lake was draining.

Monday we inspected more flats and also just relaxed a little. Trinity College Dublin is the home of the original book of Kells. The queue was long but we each had great conversations with a guy in the queue and one of the security guards about the church and everything else under the sun, so our time wasn't wasted.

Trinity Fountain

Arnoldo Pomodoro Spheres

Trinity College has lots of artwork to inspire the imagination, from the fountain in the street outside to a large Pomodoro Sphere Within a Sphere on campus. The Kells display was terribly crowded so we only got a glimpse of the book itself, but we are tempted to get a complete replica of the book, for no rational reason except it is a beautiful thing. The tour takes you through the long library. It is visually very impressive but it feels rather like a show place. The books are real books but I have difficulty believing a huge amount of serious research or even reading takes place there. Very looming and intimidating though, and the spiral staircase was certainly worth a second look.

We went to the beach (of course) and watched people swimming in the chilly Irish sea.
There happened to be a James Joyce Museum there, small but filled with artifacts and tributes to him. I was enthusiastic for a while but soon was reminded why I don't much care for James Joyce, so we did more strolling along the seashore and had a relaxed evening.

Tuesday was frantic. In addition to all the things we planned to do, like inspecting cars, fixing Area books and talking to missionaries, we also squeezed in a trip to a clinic for a missionary, who was feeling truly rotten. The highlight was hearing the mission president and his wife speak, as well as the newly called first counselor in the mission presidency, who lives in Dublin. Some local members had prepared lunch for the mob, which was most welcome.

Late in the afternoon we shot out of there like scalded cats, heading for the ferry. We were worried about getting snarled in rush-hour traffic and missing our ride home, but it wasn't bad at all, and we arrived at the terminal in good time, only to be told that the ferry was delayed at least two hours, didn't we see the text message? (No! I was driving concentratedly through Irish traffic at the time it was sent.)

View from the Ferry Cafetaria

So we ambled around the ferry terminal cafeteria, chatted to the other waiting passengers and in the end our ferry was a good three hours late (So is that the third 'trip', making up the lousy 'triplin' pun? Yep that's it, Can I carry on with the story now?, Oh, yes, sure, please do)

Now we were most glad that we had booked a hotel in Stranraer for the homeward leg too, rather than trying to drive straight off the ferry and go for Edinburgh. A quick courtesy phone call to the hotel to warn them of our late arrival - they were most appreciative and told us they would just leave the keys on the front desk and leave the main door unlocked, Sorry your ferry is delayed, G'night and see you in the morning.

Yes, for those of you living in crime-riddled metropoli, (metropolissesseses?, metropolae?--oh well you know what I mean); That's the sort of town Stranraer is, and quite delightful too; Labelled room keys on the front desk and an unlocked door. Also a most attractive harbour and bay right across the road from the hotel.

Haste Ye Back

We drove off the ferry a little before 1am and were safely in our hotel within 30 minutes. We slept in on Wednesday morning and headed along the truly gorgeous Scottish south-west coast, through all the little towns; the sea breaking on the rocks on our left and hills and patchwork fields on our right, the rolling road through the woods and meadows straight ahead. "Haste Ye Back." Oh, yes indeed.

We drove back to Embra, arriving about lunch time to find that all our work had stacked up nicely and was waiting peacefully for us. Ireland was beautiful and we hope we will go back there, but for now Edinburgh is "home."