Now I don’t know why but these planes skeeve me out a bit. They’re safe obviously as I took one down and back but still they scare me a tad bit.
I slept most of the flight over because I was stuck on a shitty plane without the individual TV screens. So I landed in Shannon and had a very nostalgic morning. I caught the bus into Limerick city centre. My first stop in Limerick was the milk market. I was hoping to find some good cheese but it’s really changed and my favourite cheese stall wasn’t there so it was a little depressing. But I found a charity shop there and ended up getting a cute new coat, I’d underestimated the weather. I’d packed a really light jacket and I wanted something just a bit heavier. I also got a cute pair of shorts that look like a skirt when you stand with your legs together.
Then I wandered around city centre and took in the good old sights of Limerick.
And I met up with my host, Marco, and we chilled for a bit before he went to play football (aka soccer) and I opted for a nice nap. Later after I’d woken up and Marco was back he introduced me to his friends that lived in the same complex. He had to work that night but his friends were willing to babysit me for the night. We ended up going to The Parlour. It was a really cool place and it made me a little sad because it was so cool and to think that I wasted a whole semester going to Smyths and Icon. But no use dwelling on the past. I still got my Guinness and Bulmers so all was well. Going out also helped to sort of combat my would be jetlag because a it worked in my favour and b the next day it inspired sleep in time.
When I got up it was time to hit the city and see it in a way I’d never seen it while I lived there. I had done a wee bit of research to see where I should visit, like thee super touristy things. First stop Saint Mary’s Cathedral.
It’s the oldest building in Ireland still in everyday use. Just as a reference it was built in 1168...
Now when I thing of Cathedrals I always think of the opulent and grand cathedrals of Florence or Paris or Cordoba. All restored and wonderful and shining.
The exterior is wonderful obviously…
But inside it was the strangest mixture of dilapidated and poetic
I can’t quite put my thumb on it…
I guess the best way to describe the difference is like walking into someone’s home that has everything in order and you hate to make too much noise or disturb anything, that’s what it’s like to walk into a grand cathedral.
While walking into Saint Mary’s was like walking into your own home where it was okay to just be you and walk around and see and get close to things.
I loved it.
Then I wandered over to Saint John’s cathedral. It was built in 1861 and is the tallest building in Limerick. On the tall note it also has the tallest spire in Ireland at a whopping 94 meters.
I wandered over to the Hunt Museum. It’s a cool looking building but I suppose that’s to be expected when it was the old customs house. I wandered around and it was kind of cool with a mix of really boring. I love museums I really do but this one wasn’t very interesting. There were a hand full of cool things so it was worth my time I suppose.
Then i just wandered the city
When I’d arrived in Limerick I wasn’t sure if I’d be spending two or three nights there since I wasn’t 100% sure how I was getting to London. Turns out there was a very convenient route. A bus from Limerick to Waterford then to Rosslare harbour where you catch a ferry to Pembroke Wales and then bus it into London. Originally I thought it was going to be this difficult adventure since it was going to be 16 hours over to London. Well I just made it sound complicated when honestly it was rather easy. I was taking the evening ferry so I left Limerick at two in the afternoon on a bust to Waterford, which was an adorable town
When I got off the bus there I waited a bit before I hopped on my Euroline bus. Which I made an idiot of myself early on cause I hand the driver my ticket and he takes it. So I’m like do you keep the ticket? Because I’ll need it to board the bus in Wales. The driver almost laughs at me and he’s like no you stay on this bus till London. I just smiled and pretended like I knew what that meant. In my head I was like well how is this bus ferry part going to work. Silly me the bus drives on you get off the bus while the ferry is at sea then you get back on the bus and off you go to London.
The ferry ride was beautiful and awesome because I got to watch the sun set over Ireland!! And me being me I took a million and one pictures.
The ferry ride was only 4 hours so I stayed up to observe all there was to observe. When we landed in Wales we had to go through immigration which consisted of them glancing at my passport and having my bags sniffed by a dog. Then it was back on the bus and sleepy time till I got to London.
I had plenty of time to reflect while I was on the ferry staring out at black nothingness and my thoughts kept drifting to Limerick. It had been a fun few days there and I thought about how much fun it was to have gone to school there and I couldn’t help but realize that I never really wanted to go back. It was funny because while I waited in the Limerick bus station I couldn’t help but contrast it to the last time I was there. It had been at the end of my semester and Damien had showed up to go to the airport with me. At that time I had been so afraid to leave like the moment I was on the plane home a spell would be broken and I would loose something. I’ve grown a lot since that time and it showed in the fact that I was excited to leave. I was after all facing an adventure that I thought would show me more of the UK. The excitement in the pit of my stomach was something I never wanted to loose and to not loose it I had to chase it. It’s hard to really explain what that moment was to me. It was like an epiphany and reflection all rolled up into a ten minute wait. Little did I know I’d be chasing that feeling to the other side of the world in a two weeks.
Cheers,
