Day tripping to Dublin

This week’s adventure was a day trip to Dublin. It was an early start with a 5am taxi but all was good with a 9am landing in Dublin for a day of meetings and a quick return home planned for 5:30pm. That’s fast fashion!

The spring-like weather of the Easter weekend had vanished and Dublin was very cold and wet as we arrived at Head Office.

A typical day ensued with seven fast-paced back-to-back meetings, five minutes for lunch and then back in a taxi to head to the airport.

And then things ground to a halt. Of all the days to visit the Emerald Isle, Joe Biden decided to arrive in Dublin just as we were trying to get out. Traffic was stopped, the airport was closed, nothing moved and we sat for forty five minutes in a taxi in pouring, freezing rain before deciding to walk the last kilometre.

It was a very long, wet and cold kilometre. I was wearing a suit but no coat as I wasn’t supposed to be out walking. I tied a wool scarf around my head and looking like an Albanian refugee, battled my way up a hill in strong winds with a distinct lack of humour.

Needless to say our flight was delayed and so having dried out over the two hour wait, we finally boarded the plane. First however we enjoyed a walk across the tarmac in torrential freezing rain and a climb up the steps in buffeting winds. Wind-swept was an understatement!

After a 4:40am start, I finally made it home at 9:30pm where I managed a bowl of soup and went to bed exhausted. Another glamorous day on the road!

Fast cleanse

After all the travel, eating on the hoof (bad food in Brussels, curry wurst in Essen, lots of buffet breakfasts and lots of coffee), lack of sleep and general hard work, I decided to have a mini retreat at home.

It’s been a long time since I did a green juice cleanse and I wasn’t sure how it would feel. I decided it would be a gradual build-up.

The first two days, I replaced breakfast with green juice. Barely noticeable!

The next two days I had juice for breakfast and lunch with a homemade vegetable soup (cauliflower and onion) for dinner. A little more challenging but easier by the second day.

And then I was ready for the full juice experience. Three days of juice (I’m just at the end of day two) and I’ve been feeling good. The trick is to drink plenty of fresh juice and so I’ve juiced more celery than I can poke a stick at!

Coupled with a little yoga, early nights, no alcohol and a quieter week at work, I’ve been feeling good.

I’ve found the gradual build-up a good approach to juice fasting. It’s less of a shock to the system and the will power can kick in slowly.

The reason, a detox (think curry wurst), a rest to the digestive system and a chance to take things a little easier, at least for a week.

Still to come, a mad twelve hour trip to Dublin so the fun’s not quite over yet!