The Beast from the East
What’s a girl who grew up in Florida to do when snow is on the forecast? Well, the first thing I did was buy a brisket and sausages. I guess you can take the girl out of the south, but you can’t take the south outta the girl.
Last week Ireland experienced some of the heaviest snows they’ve seen in years. The Irish, I’ve noticed, tend to be a bit overdramatic when it comes to snow. A few flurries and suddenly no one can drive and schools shut down. I’ll admit, I thought it would just be a couple of flurries but instead we have gotten a few inches. I know, I know, not a huge deal for most cities but Dublin is ill prepared to handle even flurries so what do you think happens when actual snow falls and sticks? Cue panic mode. I must have officially lived here long enough because I fell victim to running to the store and buying too much food and milk. And wine - couldn’t forget that.
Flights were cancelled, school was called off, and most people (hopefully) were told to work from home. Public transportation was a no go. P and I went for a walk on the first ‘snow day’ because did you really think I would let all this snow go to waste in terms of photos? THINK AGAIN.
Day 2 and the news started to claim we were going to get blizzard conditions. MORE WINE PLEASE. P charged up our big back up battery just in case the power went because some people did lose theirs. Thankfully we never did. We (read P – I wasn’t leaving the house again) also popped to Tesco to get bread and more wine. Just in case! All fuel for fires was gone in our local shops at this point. Thankfully our apartment doesn’t get too cold but who doesn’t love a fire? I especially love to Boomerang them for my Instagram story so all my friends living in warm climates can be jealous that we have a fireplace we actually use for something besides decoration. Because I am sure they are so jealous of the below freezing temperatures!
Day 3. Tragedy struck. We ran out of cookies and coffee pods for the Dolce Gusto. We still had wine though, so I suppose it could have been worse! Luckily, the basic pumpkin-loving American in me always has some pumpkin puree (thanks, Fallon & Byrne!) around so I was able to bake us some pumpkin bread for something sweet. This was a day of non-stop snow; definitely the most we had all week. This was meant to be the last day of snow but after thinking this whole situation would only be flurries, I was not so sure about that. The forecast predicted rain, but we didn’t get any….yet. It wouldn’t be Ireland if she didn’t give us a little bit of rain after all this sneachta.
By day 4 of the snow I had to get out of the house. I honestly felt like my legs were going to fall off if I didn’t. Walking from one room of the apartment to another just wasn’t cutting it. Fresh air was absolutely needed too. P and I walked down to some where local shops are and surprise, most were closed. We were able to get some more fuel for the fire though. The snow had started to melt so the walk which would take less than 5 minutes normally took slightly longer. Some kids on the road were building snowmen and we saw a few others around. I didn’t get to see this growing up so I thought it was so cute!
Day 5 was when the snow really started to melt. What was once a picturesque winter wonderland is now a dirty and wet mess just asking for someone to slip. Stores are starting to open back up and it is will be back to a regular work week for most. I used this last snow day, a Sunday, as I would any other Sunday – lazy!
I didn’t think I would ever be one to suffer from cabin fever (I LOVE to stay home!) but staying indoors without any choice in the matter was the most annoying part of the whole ‘snow day’ ordeal. My mom asked me if P and I were annoying each other, and I told her we weren’t. But like P said when I told him that, “Things would be different if we didn’t have the internet”. Truer words have never been spoken. Overall, I enjoyed being home and the snow. That said, if we don’t see snow for a few more years I don’t think anyone in Ireland would complain.
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P.S. We ate that freakin’ brisket before the snow even started to fall. Oops!
Author’s Note: This post was originally published on my old blog in March 2018.
*all images original to Alexandra Furbee