All posts by midnightmurphy

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Limerick to Dublin to Amsterdam to Dublin to Limerick

Pandemic travels – Oslo, Norway, October 2021

Coronavirus, Covid-19, Pandemic Travels, Travel, , ,

The decision to travel to Norway was made in the early summer. It’s a country I had never visited, and knew very little about (Sue Townsend’s famed anti-hero Adrian Mole had once done a school project on the Norwegian leather industry so I was reasonably well versed on that facet of the country. I was also aware of legendary Norwegian pop and A-Ha). My friend R had previously visited, loved it and so we decided that to celebrate the possibility that life might be going back to normal, we booked a trip.

Our early October travel dates were deliberate. The days were still long and the bitter cold that Scandinavian winters are known for hadn’t arrived yet. The SAS flights cost only 120euro for a return trip.

Oslo airport was as clean and neat as you’d expect. What was not so expected was the chaos in the off-license at the duty-free. Norway is one of the world’s most expensive countries when it comes to booze, so the natives purchase as much as they can in the duty free upon arrival back in the homeland. We weren’t there for the duty free. We made our way to the station and the half hour trek to Oslo central station.

We were staying in different hotels both within a three minute stroll to the station – which became our meeting point.

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Pandemic travels: having recovered from Covid, I went to Gran Canaria. September 2021

Coronavirus, Covid-19, Pandemic Travels, Travel, ,

Catching Covid-19 while visiting London in August had given me quite a shock. My symptoms were very mild, and in fact if my friend had not tested positive for Covid-19, it would have been unlikely that I would even have gone for a test. Nevertheless it gave me pause for thought. Was I needlessly endangering other people’s health with my excursions? Then I remembered that I live on my own; work from home, and that my life is a socially distant exercise as a default setting. This trip to Gran Canaria would be my first excursion after emerging from the mandatory fourteen days quarantine. I decided that it would be low key, and that no pictures would be shared of this adventure. It wasn’t that I felt any guilt or shame about my decision. I just didn’t want to have to answer questions about my intentions.

The trip to Gran Canaria had only been booked a few weeks earlier. A friend from my Amsterdam days was now residing back in her home country of Finland. She was taking a trip in early September and wanted to know if I’d like to join her. To my surprise I managed to snag the last seat available there and back, on the dates she was visiting.

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Taberna el Picoteo
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Pandemic travels: Catching Covid in London – August 2021

Coronavirus, Covid-19, Pandemic Travels, Travel,

My flight was at 16.30. so leaving my house at 14.00 should leave me with sufficient time to check in, and have a coffee in the deeply unlovely Terminal 1 of Dublin Airport. However I hadn’t factored in how unreliable Dublin Bus can be.. The number 41(the airport bus) didn’t arrive at 14.15 as scheduled, nor 14.30. Instead I hopped on the 41C at 14.40. This chariot only takes you to the airport gate though. I ran the 20 minutes distance to the terminal building. The crowds were at pre-Covid levels. It was now 15.45. My gate was closing in 15 minutes. I’d never make it with that queue. The security guard pointed me in the direction of the Fast Track gate (who knew that such a thing existed?) which solved my dilemma. I sprinted to the gate for final call to London Stansted.

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Pandemic travels : Andalusia July 2021

Covid-19, Lockdown, Pandemic Travels, Travel, , ,

Non-essential travel from Ireland was re-permitted from the end of July. Having bought a flight to Malaga on the Costa Del Sol earlier that year, before the date when restriction were eased, for the day after said restrictions were finally lifted was perfect timing. This would be my first trip to Malaga – though I’d been to sister Andalusian city of Seville en route to Morocco some years earlier. My preconception was that Malaga was a gateway to Torremolinos and Fuengirola and those massive sun holiday resorts so beloved by the Irish and our northern European neighbours.

Alhambra from the Mirador de San Nicolas

What hit me first as I disembarked the plane at 8pm was how hot it was. I’d forgotten to take into account the sweltering heat of southern Spain in summer. I should have known – I’d been to Greece and Malta during high season on previous travels. My lack of foresight was my own fault. I wasn’t worried – I was on holidays. I would struggle through. More concerning was my lack of digital Covid vaccine certificate. Having been fully vaccinated since May I should have received this soon to be compulsory travel pass. No such luck. I had the cardboard HSE card detailing my status but was worried it might be looked at askance by the Spanish authorities. There was nothing I could do about that now. I wasn’t going to delay my trip for the sake of a QR code.

Gibralfaro Castle

My hotel was in the centre of the surprisingly large city. My research indicated that Malaga was Spain’s sixth largest city with a population of 600,000 people. Good news. This wasn’t just a beach resort.
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Pandemic travels: The Scottish Highlands and Hebrides, July 2021

Coronavirus, Covid-19, Lockdown, Pandemic Travels, Travel, , , , ,

By July of this year, international travel out of Dublin Airport remained banned (in theory) for all but essential purposes. Obviously a hastily muttered ‘funeral’ to any inquiring policeman would see you waved through security. I am not a convincing liar however, so I performed my usual clever trick – I flew from Belfast for my upcoming trip. My destination was the Scottish Highlands. The plan was to visit the city of Inverness to where you could get a direct flight. I contacted a Glaswegian friend M, and asked her if she had any recommendations for Inverness and the surrounding area.

‘When are you going?’ came her reply. I told her early July. To my astonishment she told me that she and her partner D had bought a camper van and were planning a camping holiday in the Highlands at the same time I was visiting. An offer of a tent and a seat in the van was made. This was a welcome development. Solo travel is very enjoyable, and I have become a veteran of such excursions. Traveling with friends is preferable, however. Shared experiences take the edge when it comes to travel.

My EasyJet flight was early morning from Belfast International. The thought of rising at 5am to catch a bus from Dublin filled me with horror. I booked a room in a youth hostel close to the Europa bus station in Belfast that would allow me to emerge from my crypt at a more humane 8.30am and reach the airport on time for my flight. I ignored the fact that I was at least twenty years older than everyone staying in the hostel – I had paid for a private room so I could close my door on the world.

The flight the next day was uneventful, short, and almost empty. The bus to Inverness town from the airport departed once an hour. The next scheduled service was in twenty minutes. I asked the driver if he was going to town. He said that he’d be back in the airport in twenty minutes but if I wanted to board the bus now that was fine. The airport shuttle was a back-and-forth service. I may as well see some of the Highlands. I hopped on the bus and went on my way. The landscape around Inverness is very like West Cork – very beautiful.
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Pandemic Travels – London – May 2021

Coronavirus, Covid-19, Lockdown, Pandemic Travels, Theatre, Travel,

As the second year of the pandemic draws to a close, I decided I would do a review of my year in foreign travel. Merely to record my traveling excursions during these strange times. I will do an account on a daily (or thereabouts) basis for yours (and my) amusement.

January to April this year were stationary of course. The lifting of lockdown last Christmas had a dreadful impact on Covid numbers, hospitalisations, and deaths, early in the year. Therefore, foreign travel was banned for all but essential purposes. These early months of the year also saw the rollout of the vaccination programme. As an individual in a high-risk category, I was fully vaccinated with both doses of the Moderna vaccine by May.

Travel was still not permitted though. From Dublin Airport I mean. Travel to Belfast from Dublin was fine. Travel from Belfast to London was also permitted. Being someone who willingly wears a mask, respects physical distancing; and maintains hand hygiene, I granted myself a pass. Not the wisest some might say. Selfish and self-centred others might declare, as they say to their partner / housemate sitting in their back garden. I had made the decision to ignore any lectures from people who didn’t live alone in a small apartment.

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Theatrical: ‘Faith Healer’ at the Abbey

Abbey Theatre, Lockdown, Theatre,

In December 2019, upon the announcement of the Abbey Theatre’s 2020 programme of events, I bought a ticket to see ‘Faith Healer’ by Brian Friel for its March revival. Starring Niamh Cusack, Aidan Gillen and Nigel Lindsay, it would be my first time seeing an adaptation of a Brian Friel play. Obviously the production was cancelled, along with all other live events. These have only just reappeared in the last couple of months, after almost two years of darkened stages.

I met Aidan Gillen randomly, early during the lockdown. At least I think I did. When I say I ‘met’ him, it may be more accurate to say I ‘encountered’ him. I recognised him from ‘Queer as folk’ from the tail end of the 20th century, and from various other shows. Imagine my surprise when one lunchtime, last spring I was crossing the Samuel Beckett Bridge to my northside of the Liffey, laden down with a bag full of insulin and needles, when he almost crashed into me on his bicycle. I was crossing at the green pedestrian light, and I imagine that he was trying to zip through before the cycle lights turned red. He was quite apologetic as he went on his way. My internal response was ‘Oh look it’s Stuart from Queer as Folk’. I think it was him anyway. If it was, then his politeness was impressive. If it wasn’t then, I retract the cycling slur from his good name. In either case – watch those lights.

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Covid booster shot

Covid-19


I received a text to tell me that I needed to present myself at the National Show Centre between the airport and Swords, on Sunday evening at 5.30pm, for my Covid vaccine booster. I was slightly disappointed by the news that my booster was going to be the Pfizer version. A worthy and effective vaccine no doubt, but it lacked Dolly Parton’s imprimatur of approval in the way that the Moderna vaccine did. I had been very pleased to receive the Moderna shots on my first trip on the vaccine merry-go-round. I wasn’t going to reject the Pfizer booster though. I’m careful and responsible about mask-wearing; physical distancing and hand hygiene already, but I am also willing to get injected with chemicals to stay healthy. Why wouldn’t I be? As a Type-1 diabetic since the age of four years old, I have taken an estimated 50,000 injections. Another one is no big deal.

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Concert: John Grant at the National Concert Hall

Music


In January 2020 I bought a pair of tickets to see John Grant in the National Concert Hall that was scheduled for May 2020. I had seen him the previous March in the Bord Gais Energy Theatre, and had been awestruck by his voice and music. Another show was welcome. Obviously the May 2020 show was postponed – until August 2020. Remember those innocent days when we believed that the pandemic would last a few months. That postponed show was again rescheduled to May this year. Did that show proceed? Of course not. By this point the concert was an article of faith. I was not going to get a refund. It would happen one day. That day was yesterday. On the fourth attempt, the concert finally went ahead.

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Review: ‘Straight to video’ at the Project Arts Centre

Theatre

Last night I went to see ‘Straight to video’ by Emmett Kirwan at the Upstairs Space in the Project Arts Centre – my first trip to this theatre since ‘Well that’s what I heard’ in the Downstairs Cube in December 2019. I was looking forward to it. Emmett Kirwan’s last play ‘Dublin Old School’ was excellent and was adapted into an impressive film. I’d last seen him perform in ‘Riot’. That was a collaborative piece however. This was entirely his script.

Set in the 1990s the play is about the staff in a rundown video shop named ‘Video Venture’ in Tallaght. Owner Barry (Emmett Kirwan) has installed a sunbed in the corner to try to diversify his business (he’s been losing trade to the ‘video van man’ who has been renting illegal videos from the back of a van). Barry lives in the walk-in safe in the shop, after his wife threw him out for engaging in a sordid sex act with a hairdresser to whom he was not bound in holy matrimony. Shop assistant Carl (Colin Campbell) is bored with his life – a semi-closeted gay guy who lives with his gangster brothers – dreams of a new life. His best friend is fellow shop worker Claire (Kate Gilmore) who is caring for her ill mother while her feckless brothers idle about.

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