Hop, skip and jump across the pond

I'm headed for London, again, after the first of the year. It's a quick trip -- just 4 days to pack some rare books for shipping -- but it'll be fun. What's hysterical is the bouncing around I did trying to get a decent fare. After dealing with ridiculous offerings from Hipmunk, Travelocity, and Expdia -- like leaving from Toronto, but having to change not just planes in NYC but airports, in the middle of rush hour with only a 3 hour window -- I was cross-eyed. Talk about absurd. (Though there was one that tempted me with a return trip by way of Oslo that included a several hour layover; I've never been to my other mother country.)

Turned out the cheapest way to do it was one-ways -- Buffalo to London Heathrow, Gatwick to Dublin or Belfast, and Dublin to Buffalo. Meaning, I'm hitting Ireland, too. I'm debating between Belfast and Dublin; I want to do Belfast because PRONI (Public Record Office of Northern Ireland) is there, but they aren't open on a Saturday and I wouldn't get into Belfast till just a few hours before they close, on Friday, unless I was willing to nearly spend the night at Gatwick...which I'm still considering.

However, that would also entail a trip from Belfast to Dublin on the train so I wouldn't get to see much of the city. And it's not like Belfast really plays much into P/S (that's what I'm calling Place of Safety, from now on; POS is too distracting), not until a section after Brendan returns home.

Alternatively...I love Dublin. I could do the Guinness Storehouse Tour, again. I could hop up to Tara and see the smaller mounds...if they're open. Hmm...better check into that. I could do a tour of James Joyce's city. Hit the archive library there. I think I still have my membership card.

Too much to decide...but I am leaning to Dublin. It's an easier time and fits in with my script and play, Wide New World, as well as the things I've been reading, lately.

Whatever I decide, I've got two legs of this trip bought and paid for -- so I'm arriving in London and leaving from Dublin, no matter what. In-between is me blowing my budget.

Can't wait.