The Grand Tour : Sept 21-29-London, Glasgow, Dublin, Connemara

Arriving in London bleary-eyed at 6.30am—Heathrow is a zoo! So many people. So early in the morning!

I take the Heathrow Express into Paddington…another zoo, a sea of briefcases

I drop my suitcase at my hotel—check-in is not until 2 pm

It’s ok…I have a plan

The Tate Modern!

I figure out which underground to take and I’m back at Paddington on my way to Black Friars ( Every station reads like a novel!) Cup of tea in the caf and I’m off to explore my favourite gallery

At one point I actually fall asleep in a chair. It’s almost 2 so I head back to my hotel…this time in a black London cab

Thus turns out to be a great idea because I get an unexpected tour of London highlights from the taxi window …Bankside, the Thames, Westminster Bridge and Abbey, Parliament buildings, Hyde Park into Sussex and finally home, or at least my bed for the night

Next morning I’m on the train to Glasgow to spend a few days with my friend Ros on Glasgow Green…and that’s all I saw out the train window…miles of fresh green!

Ros and I went for walks with crazy dogs, saw Dracula at the theatre in Stirling (Ros is s horror buff), explored every ‘treasure shop’ along the way and I reconnected with my great friend Charlie!

Have you ever tasted Cullen Skink?? Me either…it’s delicious!

From Glasgow I flew to Dublin and took the train to Galway in the rain, followed by a bus to Connemara to visit my second cousins and kiss the ground of my Irish roots…my great grandmother was from Leenane , my grandfather from Letterfrack and of course the amazing poet John O’Donohue is from Connemara

I felt filled with the beauty of the landscape, the Irish gift of language and the warmth of fragrant peat fires.

Of course no trip is without its drama.Mine came when I leapt from the bus in the pouring rain and wild wind to meet my cousins who kindly arrived to pick me up

Three seconds later I realized my small orange bag was missing and the bus had left…. with my passport, phone , glasses and money sitting comfortably on my now vacant seat

My cousins were intrepid…chasing the bus which seemed to have vanished into the fog

We finally phoned the bus company who miraculously reached the driver before his shift ended and arranged to have him deliver my bag to the same bus stop at 7.15 the next morning

Many prayers of gratitude were said to saints Jude and Anthony and anyone else who pitched in!!!

The famous bag…safe and sound