Ireland, and home...

This is the third of three blog entries I've written this morning, so check below first, about Switzerland and Paris.

Yesterday morning we went through the wild escapade of getting up at four, packing our things and walking to the metro for the first train sometime after five-thirty am, and getting ourselves to the Porte Maillot stop to catch a bus run by Ryanair, our cheap airline to Ireland, to get out to the Beauvais airport 80 kms away to catch our plane to Dublin. When in Dublin, we ate and began to figure out how to see Dee's family. By the time we got off the bus in Enniscorthy (Dee's father's hometown) we had been up for thirteen and a half hours.

But here we are, having spent last night with Dee's Aunt Ann, uncle John, and cousin Joe, and then a couple hours at the greyhound races, at her uncle Victor's house, catching up on sleep (I slept 10 hours, very uncharacteristic for me), and waiting to visit family and see Enniscorthy before heading back to Dublin tonight so we can come home tomorrow night.

Visiting family is the perfect way to end the trip, in an English speaking place, just across the ocean from home. We're ready to relax a bit at home, but are excited about our move to McAdam this weekend and starting at the church on the weekend. We've missed all of you, and really enjoyed your comments on our blog and emails through the month.

Some quick stats, as of today: 28 days, nine countries, countless new friends, eight significant visits in major world cities (and lots more short or long visits in other small or large places), nine foreign languages encountered, seven overnight trains, about 900 pictures (no joke), and one big ache for sustained normal homecooked food again.

Thanks for reading the blogs about the trip!