A visit to Dublin
Introduction
This is a story about a single woman in Dublin during the Pandemic. She had to be vaccinated as well as wear a mask. In addition to this she had to have a Covid-19 Pas to access all the amenities so as to reduce the chances of passing on the virus to other people.
She went to the hotel in which she was staying and the hotel gave her a list of tourist sites to visit, museums included. She went to the History Museum looking at the artefacts from the past. She adored it.
She visited the National Gallery of Ireland first, then The National Museum of Ireland. She loved the creativity of the pieces. She loved Art and History. She got great solace from Art. She was able to escape from life's troubles for a while.
It felt lonely going through the Gallery rooms by herself with a mask on her in case the virus would spread. You couldn't take any photo of paintings in case they would be damaged by the light.
She saw the Masters Van Gogh, Leonardo da Vinci, Jack B Yeats and many more. Her curiosity started to get the better of her. She wanted to ask about the other rooms that were open in the Gallery. She couldn't stand it anymore. She went and asked if the other rooms were open, because she had a great interest in Art and Drawing. One of the employees answered her: "We have to be very careful about Covid-19 these days as only two rooms are allowed." "We would love to have opened more rooms, but we can't because of the rules of Covid.
She was disappointed about that. She was really looking forward to this trip, because she hadn't visited a Gallery with years. She felt that a balloon had suddenly burst beside her and that was the end of that. She went home feeling sorry for herself and decided to create her own artwork.
A stranger suddenly came to her: "You are coming with me." She fought against him, because she didn't know what he had in store for her. He continued talking to her: "There is no need to be afraid, I am not going to harm you. I would like to get to know you." She asked him: "Where are we going?" He said: "To a restaurant close by."
She agreed to do it, but he had to be more mannerly from this point forward. Both of them met in the restaurant close by. You couldn't deny that both of them were nervous, because they had no experience of dating other people. You could say that both of them were virgins.
They started to talk:
"I am Amelia N? Lochlainn," said the woman.
"I am Feargal Mac Gr?inne," said the man.
Feargal continued: "Have you any other interests besides Art and History?"
Amelia started talking again:
" I like films and looking at dancing programmes."
Fergal started talking again:
"That is strange, because I like them too. Where did you get your lovely name?"
Amelia started talking again:
"My Mother is French and my Father is Irish. They loved the Arts and History."
Feargal's curiosity was heightened about Amelia and he continued on talking: "Do you speak a lot of Languages?"
Amelia answered him:
"I speak 3 languages, Irish French and English."
Feargal said that he would pay for their meal, and he told Amelia that he would be going to The National Museum of Ireland and that he had a spare ticket and would she like to come with him. She agreed and off they went. They had to show their tickets and Covid Passes at the door before they were allowed in. They were told that no photos were allowed, and they were given maps of the rooms.
They made note of the fact that the Covid regulations weren't that strict in The National Museum. They were given a very interesting tour by a guide. The guided
tour covered a lot of periods of history. They had a hard time keeping up with the amount of information that was given to them.
Feargal said: "I am half Spanish, half Irish. My mother is from Madrid and my father is from Ireland. I am moving to Ireland at the end of the year."
Feargal asked Amelia if she enjoyed her trip to Dublin. Amelia said that she did enjoy it. But that she would love to return to see the other rooms in the National Gallery.
Feargal said: "I would like to see The Natural History Museum the next time I'm here. Would you come with me ?"
Amelia: "I definitely will. We will do the National Gallery too."
Feargal:" I will enter this date next year in my diary."
Amelia: " Brilliant. Until then."
Amelia and Feargal: "I will be looking forward to it."
She thanks him for his company during the trip.
He gives Amelia a kiss on the cheek as he departs.
He stops for a minute and returns to her.
He asks her: "Would you give me your mobile phone number so that I can contact you before I return to Dublin?"
Amelia agrees with this and gives her mobile phone number to him and Feargal gives her his mobile phone number.
Christmas comes. Amelia is thinking about her time with Feargal: "Is Feargal alright?"
She waits until the New year, still no contact. She continues on doing her own things.
The months go by. December to January. January to February. February to March. Amelia starts getting worried. She sends him a text wishing him a Happy St Patrick's Day. She waits two or three days for an answer. No answer came.
Then in April, Amelia's phone eventually rang. It's Feargal. She asks Feargal: "Are you alright?"
Feargal answers: "I am. I live in a place that has terrible mobile phone coverage. We are looking for another house to rectify this." Amelia: "That's alright. I was worried, that's all."
Feargal: That's fine. I will send you a text when we have moved into our new place."
Amelia: "No problem."
Another few months rolled by with no contact from Feargal.
Amelia accepts that he is looking for a new house. She is not waiting for her phone to ring anymore.
June arrives and a text from Feargal saying:
"We have bought a house in Ballyea, County Clare. We have a communications mast close to us and an internet connection in the vicinity too. You don't have to be too worried about me anymore."
Amelia: "Brilliant."
Amelia thinks nothing more of the conversation between herself and Feargal until her phone starts to ring in July. It is Feargal: "I am sorry about the delay in contacting you. The house search took longer than we thought."
Amelia: "I am happy that you got a new house with all the creature comforts. Good look in the new house."
Feargal: "Thank you. I would love to go to Dublin with you sometime. Are you still willing to do that?" Amelia: "I am happy that you got a new house with all the creature comforts. Good look in the new house."
Feargal: "Thank you. I would love to go to Dublin with you sometime. Are you still willing to do that?"
Amelia: "Yes, I would love to. I have to check my diary first. I will send you a text with a date."
Feargal: "That's fine Amelia. The shoe is on the other foot now. I will have to wait for you to contact me. He starts to laugh down the phone. Amelia laughs too.
Amelia starts checking her diary in detail again and again.
She is thinking that 22 June is the only date that she is free.
She sends a text to Feargal:
"Feargal, I am after checking my diary again and again. It seems that ? an 22 June is the only date that I am free to go to Dublin with you. Is that OK with you? Amelia."
Feargal answers her: "I was checking my own diary, and it seems that 22 June is the only date I have free too."
Amelia answers him: "Is it certain then that 22 June is the date that we will be going to Dublin?"
Feargal answers her: It is. I will pick you up at Col?iste Muire at 8am that day. I will be driving to Dublin.
Amelia: "That's fine. I will see you there on 22 June." Amelia and Feargal have been up since 7am. Both of them had a good breakfast. They meet at Col?iste Muire and off they go to Dublin. They don't travel too long when Feargal stops the car. "Amelia, I didn't plan this very well. I will have to search for the way to The National Gallery on the Satnav."
He starts to search. He finds the direction eventually. He chooses it, and they start the journey eventually from that point onwards.
Four and a half hours later, they reach the Capital, and The National Gallery of Ireland. Feargal apologises to Amelia for the delay. Amelia says to him: "It is alright" "We all make mistakes" she said to him.
They book the tickets. They receive the map. The receptionist tells them: "Every room is open now. We close at 6pm. Enjoy your visit."
They thank him and off they go.
They are only halfway through the visit when Feargal stops.
"Are you OK?" Amelia said.
"Yes and no." He said to her.
"Tell me what is wrong with you." Amelia said to him.
Feargal starts telling his story to her: "I cannot deny this anymore. I have to admit that I am in love with you. I would love to say this is not true, but it is. Would you forgive me?" Feargal said to her. Amelia looks at him like a rabbit caught in the headlights.
"I didn't know that you felt that way about me." She said to him.
"I understand to a point, Amelia," Feargal said to her.
He continued on: "I am wrestling with these emotions since we were together the last time we were in Dublin. I can't help it." He said to her.
"I understand, but I thought you weren't interested in me when you didn't contact me again after Christmas. Amelia said to him.
"As you know now, that is not true," he said to her.
"I have to think about this," Amelia said to him.
"We'll continue on with the visit anyway," Feargal said to her.
"Please do." Amelia replied.
They continued the visit. They finished visiting the rooms by 5.45pm and they return to the reception desk. They return the maps to the receptionist, and thank him. Feargal
inserts the way home into the satnav before they leave Dublin. They start their journey home. They reach home at 8.50pm. Feargal asks Amelia if she would stay the night.
She agrees, because she is too tired to walk into the house.
Feargal says to her not to be worried. He asks her:"Would you like to have a personal romantic relationship with me? She answers: "I would." They have a great night together. They get up the following morning, and they are full of beans to face the day. Amelia tells Feargal that she wants to continue with the relationship. They both agree to continue the relationship over the phone and in person over the next months. They stay at each other's houses; Feargal at Ameli's and Amelia at Feargal's parents' house.
While the relationship was moving along quite nicely romantically and personally and both of them were fulfilled, Amelia rang Feargal after a few months to break the news to him that she was pregnant. He said: "That is wonderful news, Amelia. How do you feel about it yourself?" Amelia said: "I am still getting used to the news, but I am happy that I will be a mother after nine months."
She continued: "Would you move in with me Feargal? Feargal thought for a moment and consulted his parents too. All of them agreed: "My parents and I think it would be best if I move in with you.
Feargal moved in the following day. He was so excited that he was going to be a father. The day came for Amelia to have the twins. They were a boy and a girl. They continued on being a happy family.
The months flew, scan after scan revealed that Amelia was having twins. She said: "It is a miracle that I have no morning sickness, but I am tired." Suddenly she started to feel the babies moving.
?
Introduction
This is a story about a single woman in Dublin during the Pandemic. She had to be vaccinated as well as wear a mask. In addition to this she had to have a Covid-19 Pas to access all the amenities so as to reduce the chances of passing on the virus to other people.
She went to the hotel in which she was staying and the hotel gave her a list of tourist sites to visit, museums included. She went to the History Museum looking at the artefacts from the past. She adored it.
She visited the National Gallery of Ireland first, then The National Museum of Ireland. She loved the creativity of the pieces. She loved Art and History. She got great solace from Art. She was able to escape from life's troubles for a while.
It felt lonely going through the Gallery rooms by herself with a mask on her in case the virus would spread. You couldn't take any photo of paintings in case they would be damaged by the light.
She saw the Masters Van Gogh, Leonardo da Vinci, Jack B Yeats and many more. Her curiosity started to get the better of her. She wanted to ask about the other rooms that were open in the Gallery. She couldn't stand it anymore. She went and asked if the other rooms were open, because she had a great interest in Art and Drawing. One of the employees answered her: "We have to be very careful about Covid-19 these days as only two rooms are allowed." "We would love to have opened more rooms, but we can't because of the rules of Covid.
She was disappointed about that. She was really looking forward to this trip, because she hadn't visited a Gallery with years. She felt that a balloon had suddenly burst beside her and that was the end of that. She went home feeling sorry for herself and decided to create her own artwork.
A stranger suddenly came to her: "You are coming with me." She fought against him, because she didn't know what he had in store for her. He continued talking to her: "There is no need to be afraid, I am not going to harm you. I would like to get to know you." She asked him: "Where are we going?" He said: "To a restaurant close by."
She agreed to do it, but he had to be more mannerly from this point forward. Both of them met in the restaurant close by. You couldn't deny that both of them were nervous, because they had no experience of dating other people. You could say that both of them were virgins.
They started to talk:
"I am Amelia N? Lochlainn," said the woman.
"I am Feargal Mac Gr?inne," said the man.
Feargal continued: "Have you any other interests besides Art and History?"
Amelia started talking again:
" I like films and looking at dancing programmes."
Fergal started talking again:
"That is strange, because I like them too. Where did you get your lovely name?"
Amelia started talking again:
"My Mother is French and my Father is Irish. They loved the Arts and History."
Feargal's curiosity was heightened about Amelia and he continued on talking: "Do you speak a lot of Languages?"
Amelia answered him:
"I speak 3 languages, Irish French and English."
Feargal said that he would pay for their meal, and he told Amelia that he would be going to The National Museum of Ireland and that he had a spare ticket and would she like to come with him. She agreed and off they went. They had to show their tickets and Covid Passes at the door before they were allowed in. They were told that no photos were allowed, and they were given maps of the rooms.
They made note of the fact that the Covid regulations weren't that strict in The National Museum. They were given a very interesting tour by a guide. The guided
tour covered a lot of periods of history. They had a hard time keeping up with the amount of information that was given to them.
Feargal said: "I am half Spanish, half Irish. My mother is from Madrid and my father is from Ireland. I am moving to Ireland at the end of the year."
Feargal asked Amelia if she enjoyed her trip to Dublin. Amelia said that she did enjoy it. But that she would love to return to see the other rooms in the National Gallery.
Feargal said: "I would like to see The Natural History Museum the next time I'm here. Would you come with me ?"
Amelia: "I definitely will. We will do the National Gallery too."
Feargal:" I will enter this date next year in my diary."
Amelia: " Brilliant. Until then."
Amelia and Feargal: "I will be looking forward to it."
She thanks him for his company during the trip.
He gives Amelia a kiss on the cheek as he departs.
He stops for a minute and returns to her.
He asks her: "Would you give me your mobile phone number so that I can contact you before I return to Dublin?"
Amelia agrees with this and gives her mobile phone number to him and Feargal gives her his mobile phone number.
Christmas comes. Amelia is thinking about her time with Feargal: "Is Feargal alright?"
She waits until the New year, still no contact. She continues on doing her own things.
The months go by. December to January. January to February. February to March. Amelia starts getting worried. She sends him a text wishing him a Happy St Patrick's Day. She waits two or three days for an answer. No answer came.
Then in April, Amelia's phone eventually rang. It's Feargal. She asks Feargal: "Are you alright?"
Feargal answers: "I am. I live in a place that has terrible mobile phone coverage. We are looking for another house to rectify this." Amelia: "That's alright. I was worried, that's all."
Feargal: That's fine. I will send you a text when we have moved into our new place."
Amelia: "No problem."
Another few months rolled by with no contact from Feargal.
Amelia accepts that he is looking for a new house. She is not waiting for her phone to ring anymore.
June arrives and a text from Feargal saying:
"We have bought a house in Ballyea, County Clare. We have a communications mast close to us and an internet connection in the vicinity too. You don't have to be too worried about me anymore."
Amelia: "Brilliant."
Amelia thinks nothing more of the conversation between herself and Feargal until her phone starts to ring in July. It is Feargal: "I am sorry about the delay in contacting you. The house search took longer than we thought."
Amelia: "I am happy that you got a new house with all the creature comforts. Good look in the new house."
Feargal: "Thank you. I would love to go to Dublin with you sometime. Are you still willing to do that?" Amelia: "I am happy that you got a new house with all the creature comforts. Good look in the new house."
Feargal: "Thank you. I would love to go to Dublin with you sometime. Are you still willing to do that?"
Amelia: "Yes, I would love to. I have to check my diary first. I will send you a text with a date."
Feargal: "That's fine Amelia. The shoe is on the other foot now. I will have to wait for you to contact me. He starts to laugh down the phone. Amelia laughs too.
Amelia starts checking her diary in detail again and again.
She is thinking that 22 June is the only date that she is free.
She sends a text to Feargal:
"Feargal, I am after checking my diary again and again. It seems that ? an 22 June is the only date that I am free to go to Dublin with you. Is that OK with you? Amelia."
Feargal answers her: "I was checking my own diary, and it seems that 22 June is the only date I have free too."
Amelia answers him: "Is it certain then that 22 June is the date that we will be going to Dublin?"
Feargal answers her: It is. I will pick you up at Col?iste Muire at 8am that day. I will be driving to Dublin.
Amelia: "That's fine. I will see you there on 22 June." Amelia and Feargal have been up since 7am. Both of them had a good breakfast. They meet at Col?iste Muire and off they go to Dublin. They don't travel too long when Feargal stops the car. "Amelia, I didn't plan this very well. I will have to search for the way to The National Gallery on the Satnav."
He starts to search. He finds the direction eventually. He chooses it, and they start the journey eventually from that point onwards.
Four and a half hours later, they reach the Capital, and The National Gallery of Ireland. Feargal apologises to Amelia for the delay. Amelia says to him: "It is alright" "We all make mistakes" she said to him.
They book the tickets. They receive the map. The receptionist tells them: "Every room is open now. We close at 6pm. Enjoy your visit."
They thank him and off they go.
They are only halfway through the visit when Feargal stops.
"Are you OK?" Amelia said.
"Yes and no." He said to her.
"Tell me what is wrong with you." Amelia said to him.
Feargal starts telling his story to her: "I cannot deny this anymore. I have to admit that I am in love with you. I would love to say this is not true, but it is. Would you forgive me?" Feargal said to her. Amelia looks at him like a rabbit caught in the headlights.
"I didn't know that you felt that way about me." She said to him.
"I understand to a point, Amelia," Feargal said to her.
He continued on: "I am wrestling with these emotions since we were together the last time we were in Dublin. I can't help it." He said to her.
"I understand, but I thought you weren't interested in me when you didn't contact me again after Christmas. Amelia said to him.
"As you know now, that is not true," he said to her.
"I have to think about this," Amelia said to him.
"We'll continue on with the visit anyway," Feargal said to her.
"Please do." Amelia replied.
They continued the visit. They finished visiting the rooms by 5.45pm and they return to the reception desk. They return the maps to the receptionist, and thank him. Feargal
inserts the way home into the satnav before they leave Dublin. They start their journey home. They reach home at 8.50pm. Feargal asks Amelia if she would stay the night.
She agrees, because she is too tired to walk into the house.
Feargal says to her not to be worried. He asks her:"Would you like to have a personal romantic relationship with me? She answers: "I would." They have a great night together. They get up the following morning, and they are full of beans to face the day. Amelia tells Feargal that she wants to continue with the relationship. They both agree to continue the relationship over the phone and in person over the next months. They stay at each other's houses; Feargal at Ameli's and Amelia at Feargal's parents' house.
While the relationship was moving along quite nicely romantically and personally and both of them were fulfilled, Amelia rang Feargal after a few months to break the news to him that she was pregnant. He said: "That is wonderful news, Amelia. How do you feel about it yourself?" Amelia said: "I am still getting used to the news, but I am happy that I will be a mother after nine months."
She continued: "Would you move in with me Feargal? Feargal thought for a moment and consulted his parents too. All of them agreed: "My parents and I think it would be best if I move in with you.
Feargal moved in the following day. He was so excited that he was going to be a father. The day came for Amelia to have the twins. They were a boy and a girl. They continued on being a happy family.
The months flew, scan after scan revealed that Amelia was having twins. She said: "It is a miracle that I have no morning sickness, but I am tired." Suddenly she started to feel the babies moving.
?
Support Róisín Ní Cheallaigh
