A Journey And Back Again

Introduction: I live a life full of incidents especially whenever I go away. As the years tumble by and as I look at them, they seem quite amusing now than on the day they happened. The following records a journey my wife and I took many years ago to The Viking Hotel then owned by Irish singer Daniel O’Donnell. My wife is a great fan of his and I have to confess I have met him a few times myself. Day One: We arrived at the coach station early with overnight bags packed, waited, and waited until finally our coach turned up a half an hour late. A bad omen for a start for all the misadventures that were to follow. We travelled up to north Wales incident free to stay in a hotel for the night. Day Two: After breakfast, we boarded our coach and then down to the Ferry Port only to find there was no Ferry there. Someone had forgotten to inform everyone that at this time in the morning the tide was out and a Ferry cannot sail without water. Finally, the tide decided to come back in an hour later and with it came our Ferry. The crossing was quite quiet even for the Irish Sea and soon we were on the other side on dear old Ireland’s shore an hour late, but what is an hour between friends. We drove up to Dublin and all its road works there with detours to run us around in circles and more time lost there. Finally, out of Dublin we headed north and an all day drive to Donegal. Now we were only halfway through day two and the incidents were piling up. A Ferry with no water on which to sail, detours to hamper us on our way and still a long journey ahead. We stopped off at a watering hole for a bite to eat only to hear the IRA had robbed it a couple of weeks before. After an hour break, we were on the road once more. Now all the road signs in Ireland are in English and Gaelic except for one county. You guessed it that county was Donegal. Now we have a coach driver from Hasting and an Irish tour guide from Ireland and neither can read Gaelic. Here we are quite lost two hours late and no one knowing which way to go. Thank goodness for the mobile phone, our tour guide used hers and got directions to the hotel. On arriving, half starved and two and a half hours late, we booked in and took our bags to our rooms. My wife and I were on the first floor with a window facing out from the back of the hotel. Underneath the window was a skip in which they threw the rubbish in. A soft landing if you need to make a quick exit. Leaving our bags it was downstairs again to get something to eat. After our meal, we felt quite tired and back to our room we retired with thoughts of wondering what day three might bring. Day Three: I woke up quite early just as the sun was about to rise, getting up quietly to allow my wife to lie in. I grabbed my camera and went to unlock the door. Low and behold, as I tried to unlock it I found that I was locked IN! We have all heard the jokes about being locked out, but I just had to be different and get myself locked in. Seeing the funny side of this I rolled about with laughter and woke up my wife who then went into panic mode, “How are we going to get out? ” I answered through my laughter with a grin. “If the worst comes to the worst there is a skip below the window we’ll just open it up and jump in.” “I am not jumping in with the rubbish.” She made herself clear. We telephoned down to reception who said they would send someone up. We waited until they finally came. I could see the bolt moving, but the door did not open. The person they sent then disappeared, I thought he was going to get some oil to help release it, but he never came back again. We waited and waited thoughts of our breakfast getting cold ran through our mind. My wife was getting even more panicky. We phone reception again, but they thought we had got out. I tried our key repeatedly until the bolt finally moved and we got free and so started day three. At breakfast, everyone had heard of our plight and the jokes were rife. A good laugh just to start the day. Later we went out sightseeing, visiting an Airport with no planes, even thought we had crossed the Atlantic Ocean for on a front lawn we did see a smaller version of the Statue of Liberty. The rest of the day was quiet and we all said three cheers to that. We made new friends while we were there that we still have. When it came to retire my wife and I were taking no chances, we left the door unlocked and wondered what would happen on day four. Day Four: The day awoke overcast and threatening of rain. We went for a walk to take photographs and thankfully, no rain came. The day was spent relaxing, no incidents did we incur, just joked with our new friends on what had already been. Tomorrow we had to go back, a sad day for us all. After diner, we got packed ready for day five and the homeward journey. Day Five: We woke up in the morning the wind blowing a gale. I looked out the window and was surprised to see a poor lone bird trying to fly forward, but was flying backward in the wind. After having breakfast and paying our bill, the staff of the hotel formed a human chain to our coach and we struggle with the wind to get across. Everyone began to wonder if the Ferries would be running today. Once everyone was aboard, we started our journey to Dublin and our Ferry to north Wales. As we said our goodbyes to Donegal, the winds abated. We saw two men in a rowing boat and someone said it was the second boat in the Irish Navy. Getting down to Dublin Town there was not even a breeze and we caught our Ferry, sailing across the Irish Sea with ease. We stayed that night in North Wales and the following morning headed home. And was it enjoyable? I would say it was, just look at all the funny memories; we have to keep alive and share with everyone. Then my life is always like that. An old friend once said to me, Dave if you fell down a sewer you would come up smelling of roses. Though I hate to admit it, I think my friend might have been right.