Olive fields by Noreen

Olive fields by Noreen
Mysterious, primordial world

Saturday 28 November 2015

The ritual before I travel



We haven’t set foot on Irish soil in 15 months! We were home in JulyAug of 2014.  It’s the longest we have been away without a return trip.  In 3 days time Mr. D and I are heading back to Ireland for a brief Christmas visit.  After much internet searching,  I eventually booked flights.  I’m always anxious when I click "confirm" also when I see the confirmation e-mail.  Mr. D does not like night flights or having to overnight at an airport hotel before an early morning flight.  He leaves the flight searches and hotel bookings to me.  So the pressure was on!  I decided to book a flight to Vienna en route to Ireland!  The short flight to Vienna will break our trip as we will have 3 days there before we fly on to Dublin.    The weather will be much colder than here and this week I’m trying hard to convince Mr. D to bring a warm coat and extra warm clothes.  For some strange reason he thinks he can wear the same clothes as he wears here.  He was exactly the same 2 years ago when we flew into London from Istanbul.  He wore a waist length jacket and was shivering as we briefly went around the streets of London.

My case is already packed.  We will be away for two weeks and only bringing 2 changes of clothes.  I can wash them at my sister’s house so this will save us dragging heavy cases on trains and buses. In the past, we used to travel with two 20kg cases.  There was always much huffing and puffing from Mr. D..... it went as follows: “OMG, what on earth have you got in the cases?,  I’m not bring cases any more!!!”    So now for the sake of peace we just bring a hand luggage case each.  On our way back we get to stay in Vienna for one day.  I’m planning on breaking the rules! hoping I can pick up a cheap bag or a small case and buy some goodies to bring back to Turkey. I hear the chocolate is Heavenly in Vienna.  Mr. D loves cheese so he might agree to us doing some shopping.........I’ll let you know how it went, later!

 Nevertheless,  I’ve been so busy in the last few weeks in preparation for our departure.  I’m doing a ceramics course and I really put pressure on myself to complete my project. I didn’t think it would be finished in time but I surprised myself!  I was determined.  It’s now complete and drying on a shelf waiting for my return when hopefully it will have dried without cracking! and be ready for the next stage,  the kiln. 
I always have this thing of getting everything put away and tidied up before we leave the house. I packed away my summer clothes and brought out the winter clothes, washed and put them in the wardrobe ready for when we return. I did a bit of gardening, I’ve pruned some of the big rose bushes and also cut back the bougainvillea. The weeding can wait until January! Today I made 4 pots of marmalade. 
The Clementines are perfect just now and I’ve promised them to friends.  I picked some large oranges too but will use those for orange juice.  We will call to them tomorrow to say goodbye.  They too will be travelling over the next few weeks and we probably won’t see them again until January. On Monday, we will bring in the balcony furniture. I’ll  clean out the fridge and the cooker.  I’ll bring in the last of the washing from the line. I’ll check yet again that the printed tickets, passports and money are in my bag.  Mr. D will pack his case, he usually does this in five minutes on the night before we travel.  
  On Tuesday morning, we will head out early having switching off the electricity and water,  we will head for the airport. I will take a deep breath and relax when we have checked in................I’d love to hear how other people deal with travel and being away from your normal routine?

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