JOURNEY TO DUBLIN

'Fake snow' we both said at the same time as we were approaching Dublin this morning. We looked at each other in disbelief as I was looking off into the distance, half asleep, and he was looking the other way when we both uttered those words. We were referring to the lone mountain I pointed out which was white. I said 'snow!', he said it was not snow. 'Salt?', I suggested in a sarcastic tone. As we approached closer, we noticed an entire mountain range covered in snow behind another mountain range which was bare.

Arriving in Dublin at 10,30 this morning, we were both still tired as we awoke around 5,30h. The drive was long and I was feeling the effects of my motion sickness early in the drive so I remained as still as possible and even fell asleep for an hour. It was my intent to find 3fE as soon as we arrived. Having been there twice before over a year ago, I knew the general direction and was proud of myself for not getting us lost and ending up on the exact street which would take us to the corner where it was located.

It took us half an hour from the bus stop on D'Olier to arrive at the coffeehouse. The small tables were all full, save for the two outside in the cold. I ordered us two cappuccinos and a cranberry almond scone whilst my boyfriend grabbed two empty seats at a high community table. As we waited, we kept a lookout for people who might be vacating the lower, more comfortable tables. As soon as one became open, we ran for it.

'Where now?' he asked as we left the coffeehouse. 'That way' I said pointing in the direction from which we came. I knew the way. Not exactly, but the general direction. I knew, as I had walked all the way from my hotel in Clontarf to the centre of Dublin in search of the O2 back in November 2013 when I needed to know where Depeche Mode would play that night. It took me two hours to walk all the way and explore the city centre.

A year and three months later, I was back in Dublin exploring the city once more albeit this time with my boyfriend.