Meg in Transit

19 Aug 2023

Well, I’m back. Not, back, back. At least, not yet. Back, as in, hello, remember me, the ~blogger~ ? (You, to me: “please stop saying ‘back.’”) Today is my last full day abroad. Three months and one day ago, on the 18th of May, I got on a plane. Three months ago, on the 19th of May, I got off of the plane in Dublin, Ireland. In approximately 17 hours, I’ll be back on that plane. Well, maybe not the same plane, but who knows. (“stop saying ‘plane.’”) Are we all clear on the timeline? I’m not stalling, I have a point.

My dearest reader, I really did intend on writing as the happenings of my summer were happening. As I said in my very first post, I could not promise that I would follow through. Here I am, many, many days later, attempting to catch up. I wanted to structure my blog like a book, since some of my inspiration came from my favorite adolescent novels. In keeping with that attempted format, this is the Epilogue – Part I. And yes, I am writing the ending first, sort of.

Before you decide to give up on me, let me assure you, though I have not officially published anything, I have been keeping notes! For example, one of the first notes is: “Cut reeds. Dig/soil.” See? I remember everything. One of the most recent notes is: “Overheard in book shop- ‘I didn’t know English men could fall in love.‘” That was funny.

In an effort to encourage you to keep reading my book… I mean, blog… though some of the events have long past, here are some highlights combined with a few facts about the past few months:

• Cities/Countries visited:
  • (Republic of) Ireland: Dublin, Galway, Moville, Greencastle, Buncrana, Cork/Blarney – swam at The Forty Foot, worked on a farm with animals AND potatoes, made new, lovely friends, and so much more.
  • Northern Ireland: Bushmills – and more, because this was a 60 mile round trip bike ride with, surprise! mostly hills.
  • Croatia: Dubrovnik – like walking in a movie, lived off of spinach & cheese bureks and gelato – also Game of Thrones was filmed here, see, there’s something for everyone in this blog!
  • Greece: Athens, Santorini – my mom and sister came over, I was a lil grumpy, comedy and drama ensued.
  • Sicily (Italy): Palermo, Cefalu – mom and sis still present for this part, still a lil grumpy! And great food!
  • Malta: Valletta – lemon loaf & iced mocha aka the most important part, nothing more to say at this time.
  • England: London, Bath, Stonehenge, Salisbury, The Cotswolds, Bristol, Cambridge – there’s a lot to be said about my time in England. If Ireland was the Pray, and Greece/Italy were the Eat… are you following?
  • Netherlands: Amsterdam, Haarlem – the sweetest B&B owners, art, history, a canal tour during which I tried out my tight ten.
  • Belgium: Bruges, Ghent – I went here because my Haarlem host told me to. Worth it. Lived off of waffles and fries. Made it my personal mission to complete the Musea Brugge Card. Watched ‘In Bruges,’ which, turns out, is a very upsetting film. Got very sick in Ghent, was handed what can only be called a potion from the only open pharmacy.
  • Scotland: Edinburgh, Glasgow – read a lot of poetry, met an old friend for the first time.
  • France: Paris, Versailles – had the best touristy time in Paris with one of my best pals. Baguettes, berets, boys… calm down, nothing that exciting involving boys, but needed another “B.” Or…?
• Types of animals who were also my flatmates, many of whom snuck into my room when they knew they were not allowed*:
  • dogs – Border Collies, Dachshunds (adorably nicknamed sausage dogs), a Brussels Griffon named “Flan.”
  • cats – many cats, but I am not a breed of cat expert. I promise to share photos.
  • a pig – named Mrs. Sweeney, literally was my neighbor, will explain.
  • The Farm Animals – were not exactly sharing a flat, but they are worth including. Donkeys, sheep, cows!
  • * I welcomed the sneaky visitors, these were their rules, not mine!

Though I am kind of on a roll with this whole writing thing, I have to stop for now. For my last day over here, I made a plan to visit all of my favorite places in Dublin and I still need to grab that pint (okay, half pint) of Guinness.

Stick around, there’s more to come.