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Old 06-07-2016, 03:07 PM   #1
SillyAnonymousPianist
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Cool A three day trip to Ireland... Almost everything went according to plan ! Almost...

JUNE 1, 2016
Location : France
Exterior temperature : not brilliant for june
Weather : flooding


At first I thought I'd take a train very early (think 4am) on june 2 to get to the shuttle that was going to the airport, buuuuuuut with the strikes in France, the super bad weather, and a tingling sense at the back of my neck, I thought it would be a good idea to get a room in Paris and get there the day before.

Wise decision (for once) especially since the normal 1h train trip to Paris turned out as 3h a little because of said strikes, and more specifically because of landslides and collapsings under the rails : we did have to switch train, swap train itinerary to the west of Paris, and so on and so forth... I was starting to get a tiny weenie bit of anxious to be honest.

I mean things had already started to NOT go according to plan when I received (while in the train) the notification of delivery from Amazon for an item that was supposed to be here a week ago and that I wanted to hand to Lisa to have it autographed.
Be cursed Amazon ! I was imagining myself pinning needles on their logo in a helpless Voodoo attempt at getting revenge...



Finally reached my hotel in the outskirts and got greeted, out of the metro station, by some architecture I totally forgot still existed in Paris.



Then again, in the same vicinity was some another bizzarre one of a style I didn't think ever existed in Paris.
Oh well let's take pictures and start getting warmed up with the camera.



My bedroom at the hotel was... "Quaint" !
But it sure was cheap so i'm not going to complain.
That said, the walls were thin as cigarette paper or so it seemed and I actually spent the night NOT sleeping, or maybe barely a couple hours before my 5h30 taxi to get to the shuttle.


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Old 06-07-2016, 03:07 PM   #2
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JUNE 2, 2016
Location : France, then Ireland
Exterior temperature : worse than the previous day, then much better (and by a wiiiiiiide margin)
Weather : ditto


A bit before 6am I was at the shuttle departure.
A few people were running left and right in disarray, one of them stopped next to me with a sad look on his face :
: "-Half the planes are cancelled due to strikes !"
The world was suddenly crumbling around me, it's as if I was hearing thousands versions of myself suddenly crying out in terror before being suddenly silenced.
I was affraid something terrible had happened.

Turned out my plane wasn't one of those that got cancelled.

When we got to the airport it was pouring and I felt like about to board THE ark...
I really was feeling like a poor animal about to get saved !






A few minutes after take-off : oh look there is actually VERY nice weather above the clouds !
So NO : noone stole the sun after all...

I think I've never felt so good being in a plane !

Especially since I thought what could have gone wrong was behind me and that now nothing could stop me on the way to the shows to see Lisa Hannigan's gigs in Kildare (one actually in Newbridge at the Riverbanks Art Center, and then the next day one at Cunningham's bar)




Ahoy ! LAND !
So much green... That must be Ireland !

"Paper House, We The Drowned, Passengers, Songlike Treasures, and all the others :
Here I come !!! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee !!!"





Then, after finally realising we had landed it suddenly dawned on me that a few hours ago :
I was in Paris with IRISH WEATHER, and now was in Ireland with FRENCH WEATHER !!!

What a topsy-turvy world...

But then... I also realised that for a few days I'd be on the winning-team side !
So... For now... I was keeping quiet... FOR NOW...




Reaching Dublin with AirCoach.


And being dropped in what I thought was the middle of the city, on a bridge.




Took me a few to reach the train station called Heuston, but it sure was a very pleasant stroll along the river.

Especially when you consider you're lucky enough to be able to take a picture of the famous Dublin Sea Sparrow :
geez those things are stout AND unimpressed !




A bridge I liked !
(So I took a picture, heh...)




And there I think I took the picture probably so as to remember there was a place somewhere on the planet that actually sells shoes my size...





Eventually caught the train to Kildare, and while in the train I saw a tweet saying "some tickets have been put back to sale" !

You do remember I was super tired, and in fact more like exhausted.
What you don't know is also I had tried to email the venue, a week prior to the trip, to know what it was I had to print as a ticket...
And didn't get an answer in return.
Hence me bringing copy of the receipt, the invoice, the internet menu showing I had bought the ticket, and well like 5 printings of several documents, not knowing which one would testify for me buying the ticket...

I. STARTED. TO. PANIC.

Like for real...

"some tickets have been put back to sale"

Sorry WHAT ???

You guys think I'm joking I'm sure.
Well sadly I'm not : I was really in a state of humongous panic !!!

I checked in at the hotel in Kildare with the certainty I was going to spend the evening in my bedroom instead of at the gig...

Later on I met the 3 following jolly eskimos : Caroline, Stephan and Martie. and they spent (poor them) most of the afternoon trying to calm me down. The word I heard the most was :

: "-Relax !"

It... DID become a private joke later on...

Because well yes, and I feel so stupid about it now :
my ticket was indeed waiting for me at the box-office.
It just is some people had cancelled and actually there were a couple empty seats in front of me at the venue... Of course...
But instead of that I KIND OF had the "Nino is late" (Amelie Poulain) syndrom, if not a worse version of it.
And I'm not even telling you some of the other stupid details and irrational thoughts that crossed my mind, silly me, so silly me. Probably the dark side of the song "I don't know..."
(...but I sure am imagining ALL sorts of things)


LESSON OF THE DAY (if not of the WEEK, or MONTH) :
Sleep deprivation is rarely your ally (no kidding...) !

- - - - -

Pics taken by me in between songs because I was shy (even without flash) :




Those are the only 2 that are somewhat viewable, the rest are...
Well I'm not showing them : They're so blurry you wouldn't recognize anyone anyway...
Takes LOTS of skill, I don't have, to take a picture without flash during a gig.
LOTS !
So about the show, I'll relate this in
the relevant thread in the Lisa's subsection of the forum,
this here thread being in the general/everything else section...
Then after the show : meet and greet with the artists.
I didn't imagine this would happen (yeah yeah yeah : I admit I'm an utter noob about tiny gigs)
and...
And then...



So [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] that [REDACTED], then I got super surprised because [REDACTED] actually [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] [REDACTED] and I wasn't prepared at all and thus most probably looked like a rabbit in front of the headlights of a car at night, frozen, paralyzed, for what was like prolly a few seconds but actually felt like... [REDACTED] !

I swear I was like "WHAT. JUST. HAPPENED. !?!"



What an evening, what a day...
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Old 06-07-2016, 03:08 PM   #3
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JUNE 3, 2016
Location : Ireland
Exterior temperature : 21°C
Weather : Exceptionally exceptional for Ireland

I didn't sleep that night, I slept in the morning instead, I think from 7am to 10am or something like that.
Not too sure. I was happy though and went to explore the city surroundings. Here are a few pics :












Oh and that here is the mythic place where we were about to go for the second show : Cunningham's



Here's a view of the advertising in another part of the city.
Do notice the sign warning there is a curling competition ahead...
(or maybe a game of Hockey ???)



Also that afternoon Verenista joined us !


- - - - -

I only took ONE picture during the gig.
Well not exactly during, just before it started in fact.
Before the gig we had agreed to not be too close, but of course "they" *had* to change their mind and get in the front row.

The front row... No stage...
You'd stretch your legs : you'd risk being stepped on by one of the musicians...



Yes this is how close we were.
This pic above is taken exactly from where I was seated.
That's the first time I've ever been so close during a gig :

It. Is. Daunting.

In a good way sort of, but still super intimidating.
It might not be for many people, but for me it was like standing on the edge of a cliff (and I have fear of heights) :
ya know what I mean, the view is beautiful, breathtaking, and at the same time : your stomach, heart, senses, they all tell you that...
Well... You see what I mean...

Good thing the 4 other eskimos didn't tell me what they had in mind beforehand, I'd have freaked out soooo much...
They tricked me ha ha ha ha !!!
I mean, an hour before, I had told them :
"-Hey how about we get seats but like 2nd or even 3rd row so as to not be too close, we don't NEED to be that close right ?"
And they were : "yeah yeah yeah : sure !"

That said... NOW... With retrospect... I'm really glad they kind of forced my hand : So *yeah* thx guys !
It really was a unique experience : this gig, and also the gig and the meet-&-greet of the day before.

Unforgettable !

More specific details about the gig : There.
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Old 06-07-2016, 03:08 PM   #4
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JUNE 4, 2016
Location : Ireland, then France
Exterior temperature : 22°C then 12°C
Weather : Very nice (for Ireland), then sh!tty

Then next day, was checkout and time to go back :
All good things must come to an end !

Oh and before I get to the end of the story :
Do remember I still was lacking LOTS of sleep time...

Kildare => Dublin/Heuston station





On the way from the train station to the city center on foot, because having a stroll along the river with super weather is super nice.

Took this picture below because of a conversation we had while drinking the other night.
Made me think about it...




A few hundreds meters later...
And DO remember this flying animal here on the ramp because I'm pretty certain "HE" knows... (more on this soon...)




I then reached the city center, back to the street where the shuttles and buses to the airport are.

I was feeling lightweight...
Happy...

MP3 player was playing you-know-who on repeat, of course...
Great day, sunny, having a stroll... Living the dream...

Definitely happy ! Definitely feeling lightweight...

Lightweight...

Yeah lightweight...
...Literally !


WAIT !!!



WAIT !!!

WHERE.

IS.

MY.

LUGGAGE ?!?


To anyone looking for a definition of :
#AwayWithTheFairies
Well... You just witnessed one... Sort of...

OR...

You want to know what :
MOR-TI-FIED

means ?

Well : look no further...

Took a tram all the way from Henry pedestrian street back to Heuston train station ("-Heuston : I have a problem !") to ask customer service :
Nope, didn't forget it in the train it seems...

I paused... And tried to think... What was in there that I... LOST... ?!?
Let's try to remember and make a list :
  • Set of underwear and socks for june 1 (not a big deal)
  • Set of underwear and socks for june 2 (oh well)
  • Set of underwear and socks for june 3 (will have to buy some more though)
  • Toothpaste, toohbrush and anti-perspirant (I can buy those again...)
  • A shirt I liked even though 3 sizes too big now (I'll survive...)
  • A new pair of trousers I wore once (not a big deal)
  • The "Rose & Briar" CD of "Ye Vagabonds" (DRAT ! Well I can still buy one from their website later...)
  • USB chargers, converters, current transformers (oh well...)
  • My phone charger (now THAT is a problem since my old clap-phone is from the nineties and I'm never going to find something to charge my phone or it's going to cost and arm and a leg. Well it's going to cost me less to get a new phone : about time though)
  • My tablet charger (tested home : I can recharge it from the PC : so not really a loss)
  • Several USB cables and stuff (oh well...)
  • My ticket to the Riverbanks gig (THAT hurts, I felt super sad when I realized that !!!)
  • Something that will be left undescribed but was a gift from my brother last X-Mas (OUCH ! OH SH!T !!! NOOOOES !!! )
  • The cabin luggage itself and the lock on it (See if I care...)

Well apart from the gig ticket and a gift from my brother that I *really* didn't want to loose, there was nothing else of real value OR that I can't buy/order again, I mean nothing else of sentimental value...

BESIDES :

That *excessive* amount of "contraband" that I smuggled on the way in ?
It actually saved my favorite pair of shoes (not that I have that many to begin with) since I couldn't bring them because not enough room in my luggage :
SO THERE'S THAT !
(Realized that later on but at the time I can tell you I wasn't feeling proud AT ALL !)

Oh and now that I think about it, the item that wasn't delivered on time, that I thus didn't bring and thus didn't get autographed : well that item got saved too, sort of !

Anyway, I then took the same path along the river from Heuston station to O'Connel bridge to try to spot my luggage.
Already in my clouded mind there were images of a bomb squad placing a detonation container over my luggage and Lisa's Riverbanks gig ticket being turned into countless confetti alongside my brother's gift...

My heart bounced when I saw all the Garda and their van not too far from the wooden bridge pathway I had been accross, stopped to take that pic with the pidgeon, and most likely forgot to pick my luggage back up after I took the picture...

MOR-TI-FIED...

"-Hi hmmm, excuse me officer, is this about some forgotten luggage on the side perhaps ?"
He looked at me like... I mean... Well... Eeeeer...
"-No no... This is just an ID check, what about this... Luggage ?"
And he pulled a notebook and a pen...
"-Ok soooooo here's the thing, I'm foreign, and... I mean I'm super tired... And well... I lost my luggage... I don't remember where !"
He looked at me and I sort of felt he was pondering if it was perhaps a good idea to call a psychiatrist's team with a secure cushion-stuffed van and the loooooong sleeve shirt that goes with it.
I swear...

Turns out he just asked me what was inside the luggage, my address, phone number, email, etc...

MOR-TI-FIED...



Still I went on along the river trying to see if I could spot my luggage somewhere...
Up to O'Connel bridge : nothing...
From that bridge to Henry Street : nothing...

In Henry street I got stopped by a joyous grandpa with a beaming smile.
He started telling me about Jesus and several other related topics/people/things.
He was so small, a little "bent" on top of that. But he was joyful, smiling and well : nice and kind...
Normally these (sorry about this) "kind" of people I tend to brush away with a :
"Sorry I don't believe in these crap, have a good-day, bye..."
But at that time I didn't, I mean he was so friendly and he felt so genuine, I didn't have the heart...
So I told him about my luggage... Long story short : before he... "let go" of me, he told me that for sure the Lord knew where my luggage was.

Yeeeeah... Okay...
But "HE" isn't very talkative with me right now, I thought, as I waved goodbye...

Sigh...

Fast-forward to getting at the airport very early so that nothing else of the sort would happen to me.
After security and while inside the duty-free zone I felt the "urge" to get a souvenir to replace the loss of the gig ticket.
Yeah... Something to cling to...

So here's Craig the sheep, I thought he/she was cute.
(Also it's only when I got back home that I realized the dang thing didn't "meeeeeeeh" when turned upside down but instead was under the snow : I can live with that, cute too...)


Then... Oh geez... When I think about it...

After the gate, I didn't see anything of the sort that would look like my departure area.
So I asked and well, guess what... I had taken the wrong gate door number.
"-You have to exit ! Totally... Then go through security again, then to your gate, oh and if I were you i'd hurry..."

It felt an eternity trying to find the exit.
On the panel my gate door number had the sentence "Last call" next to it...
It felt an eternity finding back the security area.
I felt HEARTBROKEN when the boarding pass was showing red at security.
Then relieved when finally the guy checked my ID again and let me go through.
I ran and ran and ran through what seemed a path that was actually stretching bigger as I ran, like in a freaking NIGHTMARE !
HEARTBROKEN again when at the boarding gate it was written in BIG HUGE RED LETTERS and there was noone around :

CLOSED

MOR-TI-FIED...

The plane was already gone ???

No it wasn't, and the guy at the boarding gate showed up from behind a counter and signaled at my terrified face :
"-C'mere !"

He was checking my boarding pass and ID, I must still have looked terrified, or in absolute anguish, or whatever :
"-Relax !" he said as he pointed to the gate.

Did he just say... Did he... What ?

I boarded the plane, door closed behind me, all passengers were looking at me... Like... I mean... Well...

MOR-TI-FIED...



Plane took off, I was slowly realizing it was the end of my nice little 3 day trip to Ireland.
It's always a bit sad when you come to the end of a vacation.
That said there's something that NEVER gets old :




Plane landed in BVA on time : 10pm.
Because it was late, because of the strikes, because of the flood, and because she likes me, and so that I don't end up sleeping in the street because I couldn't get a train back to my home, my mom came to fetch me.

When I told her about almost missing the return plane, about my luggage still somewhere in Dublin she looked at me with a tender smile, slowly shaking her head :
"-What are we gonna do with you ?"
"-Heard that before..."
I said...

She laughed...
I laughed...
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Old 06-10-2016, 10:20 PM   #5
eva_arg
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nice pics!! loved all the details of your trip
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Old 06-11-2016, 02:14 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eva_arg View Post
nice pics!! loved all the details of your trip
Oh thank you lots Eva !
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Old 06-12-2016, 10:34 PM   #7
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Thanks a lot !
Nice story and great pictures,
thanks for sharing this amazing adventure with us !
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Old 06-13-2016, 08:23 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Claude View Post
Thanks a lot !
Nice story and great pictures,
thanks for sharing this amazing adventure with us !
Merci Claude !
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Old 07-14-2016, 01:10 AM   #9
Claude
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Joyeux Anniversaire SillyAnonymousPianist !
Une très bonne journée à toi !
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Old 07-14-2016, 11:12 AM   #10
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happy birthday! have a wonderful day
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Old 07-14-2016, 02:39 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Claude View Post
Joyeux Anniversaire SillyAnonymousPianist !
Une très bonne journée à toi !
Quote:
Originally Posted by verenita View Post
happy birthday! have a wonderful day
Oh thaaaAAaaAAAanks !!!

#OhYou guys !!!

Cheers !!!
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Old 07-14-2016, 11:35 PM   #12
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happy birthday!
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Old 07-15-2016, 02:37 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eva_arg View Post
happy birthday!
Thank you Eva !!!
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Old 01-24-2017, 01:16 AM   #14
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hey, my pm box is 98% full, so i think i can't get pm from u in the future. Most of the time u dont get what i mean but u're really a nice guy
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Old 01-24-2017, 09:18 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by damien lisa View Post
hey, my pm box is 98% full, so i think i can't get pm from u in the future. [...]
Well you can always delete a few to make room heh !

Quote:
Originally Posted by damien lisa View Post
[...] Most of the time u dont get what i mean but u're really a nice guy
Ha ha thanks I appreciate mate !
Also... That made me laugh !
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