Visit Every City

October 8th, 2022

Morning came at nearly the right time today. It was a beautifully sunny Sabbath morning. The only real responsibility we had was to get ready for services before Luke arrived. That gave us enough time to walk down the street to one of the open cafes in the neighborhood, at least within a couple of blocks. If we ventured too much further we’d end up having to quickly eat our breakfast and have to rush back to get ready. Gerard’s made me a tasty cortado that paired well with my blueberry scone but I forgot to take a picture of the coffee. I did manage to capture the hot chocolate and the scone. We sat in the cool morning air as the sunshine made its way up above the buildings and watched locals come and go. Some moves quickly and some sauntered by with their dogs who had to stop and smell everything. Thankfully the seagulls left us alone so we didn’t have to share our breakfast.

We head just enough time to get ready for services and meet Luke. There were two options for buses. We chose to walk a like further in hopes that we could catch a bus that might drop us off closer to our destination near Clondalkin on the western side of Dublin. It was either the fact that the bus line we took is notoriously unreliable, or divine intervention. Either way the bus was there when we rounded the corner and it even seemed to wait specifically for us to climb aboard. We sat on the upper level and enjoyed the architecture of the city while reminiscing with Luke about New York City. A few friendly locals heard some of our conversations. One lady suggested a national park we should visit on a future trip. One man, whose English vocabulary wasn’t very good, was trying to tell us something about the kinds of people who live in Ireland. I’m still not sure what his point was, but he was smiling the entire time.

We reach the hotel where Sabbath services were going to be held. It was a short walk from where the bus had dropped us off. We were there early enough to meet some of the brethren and grab some coffee before services began. It’s always wonderful to meet brethren from different arts of the world and even from different Churches of God. We are bonded by God’s Holy Spirit which is a stronger and more unique bond than any other. After services has ended we fellowshipped for quite a while. Then it was time to walk back to the bus stop and head back to the city centre. We had a lovely dinner with Luke before parting ways. We know we’ll see one another again, but we’re never quite sure when and where.

The three of us headed down the street past Trinity College and up toward the river. We made an impromptu stop for the restroom at the same busy bar where we had the night before. This time Riley and I took the opportunity to try some Irish whiskey before leaving Ireland. I’m sure he’s glad that we ended the evening on a milder note. We stopped for coffee at the Starbucks just up the street before walking back to our hotel. We booked a taxi and a wake-up call for early in the morning and then packed our bags. Tomorrow we head out across the Irish Sea.

– Lewis VanAusdle