When Plans Go Down the Drain ~ Dublin (Day 8, Part 1 of 3)

 

I had planned a wonderful day that started in Dublin ~ "Kilkenny, Wicklow Mountains, Glendalough, Sheep Dog Trials, Day Trip from Dublin."  We would need to take a taxi from the port in dun Laoghaire (pronounced dun Leery) to Dublin.  We were expected in port at 7:00 a.m. and needed to meet our tour group at 8:30.  We were less than 10 miles away. Plenty of time, right?  Unfortunately we did not get into port at the time scheduled, also we were anchored a bit out and needed to take a water taxi.  We were on the first water taxi off the ship and stepped onto the dock at about 7:50.  I had scheduled a taxi for 7:30 and they only waited until 7:45 before leaving.

I contacted our tour company and they were running a little behind.  If we had found another taxi we just might have made it, but there were no available taxis!  I watched the time slip by and watched my plans go down the drain...

At this point I had to dig deep to not let this bump spoil my entire day.  We found a local coffee shop and began to make new plans.

We found a train that would take us from dun Laoghaire to Dublin and started making plans to explore.  Les had seen some hats in Cobh that he liked but didn't buy, so that was part of our plan.  The train took about 25 minutes and was only 5 Euros each.  This would be our first time hoping a train on this trip, but definitely not our last.  With MAPS.ME in hand, we found our way to several shops...

Les found a hat which he wore for the rest of the trip.

We wandered around Dublin some more before finding the Dublin Castle.  It made up for what we missed out on and will get a full post tomorrow!

Travel Apps

Since we were going to be doing a lot of independent exploring, I wanted to make sure I had the apps I needed.  Being the organized geek that I am, my apps were all neatly in a folder on my phone...

The first one you see was the one we used the most.  MAPS.ME!  I had read quite a few reviews and this was the mapping app that came highly recommended.  Our phones were on airplane mode 99.9% of the time from when we left LA until we got back.  Our international roaming charges for our trip were less than $2.00!  The key was downloading the maps before we left home.  It took a little time, but was completely worth it.

 

We have been using TripIt for more than a decade.  Everything is so easy to organize, just forward your travel confirmation email and it's done.

The Viator app was a must have.  I could access all my tickets without being online.

 

The Princess MedallionApp is great onboard and seems to be improving since last year.  Eurostar and Rail Europe had our train tickets.  BigBusTours is what I used while we were in Paris. The great thing about it was when we connected to the bus WiFi we were able to see where our bus was, what our next stop would be and get an idea of when we would be back to our starting point.

And finally, Google Translate!  We only needed this while we were in France, but we really needed it!  Big cities like Paris typically have English speaking people, but Bayeux was a different story.  This helped us communicate and also helped us in translating menus.

Planning a 19 Day Trip ~ Los Angeles to London (Day 1)

There's not much to tell about the first day of our trip.  Our flight left Los Angeles at 5:00 p.m. which worked out great.  We got up, had time to run/ride, packed, had lunch, and got to LAX with plenty of time to spare. 

 

 

When we got home from our Alaskan cruise last year we immediately started getting promotional material from Princess Cruises.  We saw one that really peaked our interest ~ 12 day British Isles Cruise for May 2023.  We got home from Alaska on August 1st, I contacted our travel agent, Paula, on August 3rd, and we booked the cruise on August 4th!  Only 289 days to wait...

Buckled in United Airlines Flight 923 and ready to go!

Those first 200 days were gone in a flash and it was time to get serious about all the other details.  We decided to fly in to London and spend two nights there.  Our last port before returning to England was LeHarve, France.  The excursions included Paris or Normandy.  Any excursion from the ship to either of those places would mean 5-6 hours in a bus, leaving only about 4 hours to actually see anything.  We knew that wouldn't be enough so we started looking at options.  With the help of Paula we obtained a "Deviation of Itinerary" which allowed us to leave the ship a day early.  We rented a car in LeHarve and Les drove to Bayeux where we spent three nights, allowing us more time in Normandy.  It still wasn't enough time, but it was better than 4 hours!

 

Throughout our years of cruising, I have learned a little about excursions.  This time I did not book a single excursion through the cruise line.  We also did not plan something big for everyday.  We allowed time to just wander in cities.  That was a great decision.

 

 

The first thing I did was a make a spreadsheet with each day listed.  If we were on the ship, I included details like what time we would get off the ship and when we needed to be back onboard.  I read through the cruise line excursions, then started looking at independent sources.  Paula booked a couple of things for us using Viator, then I used Viator myself to book six excursion.  I also did online searches and found local bike shops that we could rent from.  We only did one bus excursion (this was also booked through Viator.)

There were lots of details to get us from one point to another and most of them went well.  I'll share those as I go.  We had one day that things didn't go to plan and I'll talk about it when we get to that portion of the trip.  I'll also do another post about what and how I packed. Otherwise, I am thrilled with how it worked out.  Les said as CTO (Chief Travel Officer) of our family, I have earned a raise!

Kick It

What’s the 11th item on your bucket list?

 

Do you have a bucket list?  I don't!  According to MacMillan Dictionary:  "a bucket list is a list of the things you want to do before you reach a certain age, or before you die.  The term bucket list is a relatively new one, popularized by a movie of the same name starring American actors Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman released in the early 21st century. Bucket list comes from the phrase ‘to kick the bucket’ which is a figure of speech meaning ‘to die’."

 

MacMillan continues, "People often create a bucket list as they near retirement age, striving to make time to do some of the things they may have put off in their younger years due to work or family commitments. While it’s become common practice for pensioners to pursue their bucket list dreams, a growing number of them are ending up in the hospital with serious injuries brought on by these activities."

 

So maybe it's not a bad idea that I don't have a bucket list!  That's not to say that there aren't things I want to do or places I want to go.  We will celebrate our 30th anniversary in May.  About 18 months ago Les asked me where I wanted to go to celebrate.  We were in Europe for both our 20th and 25th anniversaries.  I didn't hesitate with my response:  

 

Africa!  

 

IF I was writing a bucket list today, Africa would definitely be on it.  More specifically, I want to go on an African Safari.  I was to see the Big 5 -  lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants and African buffalo.  I also want to see giraffes, cheetahs, zebras, gorillas and chimpanzees.  These are the animals that fascinate me the most.  I know we wouldn't see all of them because Africa is so diverse and vast, but just the idea is so cool to me.

Of course, COVID has put any big travel plans on hold.  We hope to go somewhere for our anniversary, but I'm pretty sure it won't be an international trip.  I'm not giving up on Africa, though.  Maybe it'll be our 31st anniversary or one of our 60th birthdays (which are getting closer and closer!)

Do you have a bucket list?  Would you like to go on a safari?

Happy New Year!

One of the last things Les and I talked about last night was what the new year brings.  No matter how much we wish it was true, some things don't go away when we throw out last year's calendar.  The hospitals still have COVID patients.  That didn't change over night.  The drama of 2020 is still here this morning.  It's not going to change just because we want it to. I do like the idea of a fresh start, but that fresh start can happen in April or August or even December.

I don't tend to have new year's resolutions.  I want to continue forward and learn from the past.  I finished my Bible reading plan on December 30th - it was a 365 day plan that didn't consider it was a leap year.  I turned to You Version this morning looking for a new plan to follow for the year.  Instead I found dozens of short plans.  Most of them are five to seven days, a few are as long as 30.  I going to go from the plan to plan this year and see where that leads.  Today I started "Finishing Well:"

Anyone can start something, but to carry it out to completion? For your whole life? That’s a whole different matter. But, what if you could? What if the Bible offered insights and encouragement for moving you on toward finishing well? 

Today's Bible reading included Hebrews 11.  My devotional talked about it, "For instance, Hebrews does not herald the faithfulness of couch potatoes, pew-sitters, or worship-exchanging ball-game goers. Whether they saw the victory in this life or were sawn in two for what they believed, the aim was the same: Regardless of the cost, finish well."

 

Whatever 2021 throws our way, that is the ultimate goal - Finish Well.  To finish well, we've got to get started.  Or re-started.  Each of the great heroes of faith in Hebrews had to start before they could finish. 

I've finished four marathons, but I had to start running a little bit at a time first.  We will celebrate our 30th anniversary in May, but we had to commit to each other first.  I've read the entire Bible many times, but I had to read one chapter first. 

 

I wrote a blog called Lifetime Commitment ten years ago, here's a portion of it:

It's funny how we view age and aging. First, we're too young. Then somewhere around 20-25 we're finally old enough. Then come 40, it's over the hill! Who decided that, anyway??

There are so many Biblical examples of people doing great things at all ages. Young men like Joseph, David, and King Josiah who was 8! Older folks like Abraham and Sarah, Anna the prophetess, Caleb who 85! And people every age in between.

If you've got big goals, I say go for it!  If you've got small goals, I say go for it!  Whatever you need to see happen in your life, it's not going to happen by you sitting on the couch (figuratively, spiritually, or physically!)  Here's to a year of starting and finishing well!

Marathon Training

I haven't posted much about my running on this blog since I've been keeping it all over on McMarathon Moments.  I'm in my second week of 16 "official" training weeks and I've been writing about my running each day this week. 



Today was incredible!  It was windy, but I managed to beat my planned time by 2 seconds a mile.  That may not seem like much, but I was 37 seconds BEHIND that pace at the 3 mile mark with only 2 miles to go.  I was amazed that I was able to make up so much time in such a short distance.

I saw a Nike ad that said, "Ran Sounds Better than Run."  In other words, doing it, getting it done, sounds better than planning on it. 

Are your plans for 2012, whatever they may be, on target or is it time to up the pace a little?

Time Change on Saturday!

I usually do this post on Saturday, but I thought I'd give you a couple of extra days to think about this...

Aw, the time change ~ Fall Back time! Did you know it's this Sunday? Yep! An extra hour of sleep is waiting for you this weekend. As for me, I'm happy for a little more daylight in the mornings. It really doesn't matter what I've had going on, I'm going to wake up around 5:30 every morning. So waking up when it's starting to get a little light is a bonus for this runner/cyclist.


What will you do next week when you're awake an hour earlier than usual? Here are just a few ideas:

Catch up on your Bible reading.
Spend some extra time in prayer.
Go for a walk.
Fold a load of laundry.
Make a special breakfast for your family ~ surprise them!
Catch up on emails... or thank you cards.
Work on your Christmas list.
Go back to sleep!
Pay bills.
Surprise your pastor by being early for Sunday school!

To all my Arizona friends ~ I'm sorry you are deprived and don't get to enjoy this wonderful day of the year! Everyone else ~ do you love or hate this time change? Or does it make a difference in your world at all?

Youth Alive...

Is just around the corner!!


I'm making a trip to Knott's Berry Farm today. Lots to do! This has been a great event for many years and with the addition of Alive at the Park last year it just got better.



Y'all come join us, ya hear!