The Journey,
As most people read, travel in Europe around Christmas was nuts. The snow meant that most flights were being cancelled. I was taking a train and a ferry, so I knew I would be fine. This did mean that the train stations were packed. At about 8 pm I had a train out of London to the ferry port in Whales. I was shocked by the method for catching the train. An announcement is made, and everyone runs. It is crazy, and truly survival of the fittest. I was lucky enough to get on the train and leave (roughly) on time. My train had some problems so we switched to another train at Wolverhampton. That made us about 15 min. late for our ferry, but luckily there was another one waiting for all of us that were late. The ferry ride was nice, and lasted about 3 hours. I arrived in Dublin at 6 30. After taking a bus from the port I found a train out to Paul's house. 45min. later I saw Paul waiting for me at the station, and I knew Christmas was beginning.
Christmas time,
Being at Paul's was great. His family welcomed me and I really felt at home. Most of the time before Christmas was spent relaxing. We did some last minute shopping and ate tons of food. Paul and I went for a walk on the beach when I first arrived, and spend our nights playing Mario Kart with his friends. I was pretty much doing what I would want to do if I was back in the States. On Christmas Eve we visited Paul's aunt and her family. After visiting for a while we then went for mid-night mass. The church was amazing and it really put me into the Christmas spirit. After mass most of us went to bed, and Paul woke me up in the morning to see if Santa had come. He had come, and the morning was spent opening our gifts. There was even a stocking and a present for me. It was a great Christmas morning. Paul, his sister, his father, and myself went for a walk on the beach after opening presents. Paul and his sister even jumped in (with their feet). I could not be persuaded. It was cold. That night was Christmas dinner, and I have never eaten more in my life. There were a lot of potatoes, ham, and turkey. There were tons of deserts that were all new to me. It was great food. We took a break after eating to relax, and watched "The A Team". It was a terrible movie, but we had a great time laughing at it.
My last day in Ireland was spent in Dublin. Paul showed me around town, and I was able to check out his old university (Trinity). It was a beautiful campus and I see why Paul loves it so much. Dublin has a really great feel. Everything is very close, but there is still a bigger city feel. Not as busy as London, but not a tiny town. After checking out his uni we stopped by the Guinness brewery. That was a great tour with lots of information. It ended with a pint on top of the building. On the 9th floor Guinness has a bar with one of the best views of Dublin. I was able to see almost all of the city and I could see the mountains outside of town too. It was very nice.
At 8 I said good bye to Paul and set out for my ferry. I thought the trip home would be easier than the trip out to Dublin. The ferry was alright, but when I got to the station in Whales(12:30 AM) I found out the next train wasn't until 4:48 AM. It was cold in the station, but I made some friends and we chatted for a bit. I was even able to get about 2 hours of sleep on the floor. I got the train, and after about 4 hours of drifting in and out of sleep I was back in London. It was great to be back after the long journey home.
I am so thankful for Paul's family opening up their house to me and making me feel so welcome. It was one of my favorite Christmases yet. I can not thank them enough.
(it was hard to decide what photo's to include. Here are two. One from Dublin and the other of Paul on the beach by his house.)
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