Dublin Stories.

Dublin was... exciting, and wonderful, even though getting there was a tiny bit scary - I knew I'd be travelling alone, and taking two large suitcases. Plus a backpack. Plus a handbag... maxing out my luggage allowance on all counts.

[caption id="attachment_4776" align="alignnone" width="412"] Tell me again who is going to be lugging all this to Dublin?


Because I was rather nervous about not making the airport in time, I took a really early train, which meant, of course, that everything went smoothly and I arrived with plenty of time to spend knitting at the airport. Changing trains was also going well - I did have a helping hand for all exits and entrances that involved stairs, and a very friendly couple helped me (and a group of fellow travellers from Taiwan) to pick the right S-Bahn to get to Munich airport, as there were currently construction works going on, mangling the usual schedules. (Things like that are wonderfully reinforcing my belief that most of the human beings on this our planet are lovely people who are willing to help, and happy to make the world a little bit better by their actions. Thank you.)

So... everything went smoothly, we landed in Dublin wonderfully on time, I collected my things and went straight to this place:



which is the Convention Centre Dublin. And then I started getting to work, as in getting my stall set up. I had some help from Gillian Polack, who was one of the volunteers in the Dealer's Hall, helping everybody to find their way around and to get set up. (Of course, as always, I had to hand-write a few of the labels. And also of course, as always, I finished set-up the next morning.)

In the end, the table looked like this - at least it did so at one point, things changed slightly in their layout as some stuff was sold out:



Being at a WorldCon is something lovely, and special, and exciting - and for me, being part of it by having a stall in the Dealer's Hall is something extra-special on top of all the "normal" WorldCon excitement and enjoyment. Every show and every fair has their own distinct flavour, so to say, but I think that the WorldCon flavour is far, far different from any of the other fairs that I have done until now. And personally, I find it very, very tasty.

Speaking of tasty - I was totally delighted when I found out my accommodation came with breakfast included, and actually treated me to the possibility of having a Full Irish Breakfast each day, complete with white and black pudding:



That set me up nicely for the day to come - which was good, because between the programme items I was on, the programme items I got to see, and standing at my table meeting so, so many wonderful people (plus looking at their t-shirts and badge ribbons) did not leave much time for eating!