Farewell Europe

So I’m sitting at Dublin airport feeling a little bemused. There is no customs/border control. Ireland didn’t seem interested that I entered the country nor do they care I am leaving. Unless something is done behind the scenes with passenger manifests then how would they know whether I’m here legally or not.
I also managed to stuff up at security. Not only did I still have water in my water bottle but i had put the food items I’d bought in my backpack for easy reach when I get to customs in Perth (assuming we still go through customs). I’d bought a bottle of Guinness steak sauce for Caleb as a thank you for house and dog sitting but it’s counted as a liquid so sorry Caleb, no sauce for you!

My trip has been fantastic but (flight aside) I’ll be glad to come home. It’s a beautiful if cold day in Dublin, unfortunately I’m looking at it through the window. At least the weather should be good for the flight.

As there is still so much of Europe I want to see I don’t think I’ll be back in Switzerland or Ireland to stay again. If I was I’d love to go and stay in St Moritz for longer (only possible if I win lotto!) and back to Galway and Donegal in Ireland.

Would I do anything differently? Apart from not walking up and down all those steps in Rapperswil I think staying three night in St Moritz and Zermatt would have enabled me to see more.
I was really lucky with the weather really, especially in Switzerland.
I had a simple wishlist for Switzerland - see/touch snow, eat fondue. Those I did. I’m pretty sure I saw a marmot coming down a mountain in St Moritz so that was an added bonus.
Wengen was everything I had hoped it would be and the cow parade was another bonus.

The travel system in Switzerland is great. By using the app I didn’t need to but a travel card and could both look up the schedule and then buy my ticket on the same app. Having the half fare card was definitely worth it.

I don’t think I made as much as I could have of my time in London. That was partly due to my leg injury (which I’m hoping has healed, it hasn’t given me any trouble since Donegal although I’m still avoiding stairs). I still haven’t made it to the Victoria and Albert Museum but there is always next time.

Ireland has been fantastic. It has confirmed that travelling on a group tour isn’t for me. Wherever you go there is always a crowd. I’m glad I spent the extra time in the Connemara area, it is truly beautiful. Going to the Gaeltacht areas was a fortunate choice. They were also quieter with less people and tourists.

It’s been interesting travelling throughout the different countries. Throughout Switzerland the bathroom always had a handheld shower, sometimes just a shower, other times a over a bath. Each time I got to a new place I’d have to work out how to turn the shower on as usually the same tap operated the bath and shower.
In Ireland (and NI) the shower was always fixed and over a bath. There was always a good grab handle on the wall in the bath though. Switzerland was missing those.

Each new place I stayed I took a photo of the view from my window (except Dublin apparently, obviously I was too tired after a long day).Read more