We have commented before on how helpful French and German people have been to us on our Gap Year. It has to be said that the same also applies to Irish people and this is why…

As you know, I have had trouble with my knee since we were in Strasbourg in July. I rang in advance of coming home and my doctor, Robert Scanlon, agreed to see me the first morning I got back. He arranged for me to get a scan on my knee. The MRI scan machine in the Sports Surgery Clinic is the most powerful in the country and it is booked out for months in advance, but the staff on hearing about the Gap Year arranged for me to get a scan done on the Bank Holiday Monday (still a week later).

Adrian & Nuala leave for Germany- note Adrian has borrow a walking stick

They ensured that the results were back with Robert the next morning. He rang me at 10am, to tell me the bad news that I needed to see a consultant and that he would try and arrange an appointment. When I heard nothing back that day, I assumed he was not able to get an appointment and went ahead and confirmed the return flights to Germany for the next day. The consultant’s office rang the next morning and told me to come in straight away. By 11 am,  I had seen the consultant and he had worked out a treatment plan and said I could go back to Germany on the afternoon flight. How is that for service? How else in Ireland could you get to see a consultant in less than 24 hours?

Back in Zeuthan – breakfast on the boat

Nuala had a similar experience. She is getting work done on her teeth. She had made an appointment to get her teeth checked when at home. Her orthodontist Dr Shona Leydon was redecorating her surgery and, as the builders were behind schedule, she had no surgery in which to see Nuala for the booked appointment. Rather than cancel, as Nuala was going away again for another 5 months, she asked another dentist in the area if she could use his surgery after hours and saw Nuala that evening.

Marc and the reliable Starlet!

Similarly, Nuala’s car broke down the day after we got back. I took it to our garage man Tom Joyce Electronic Tuning Services and as it would have taken him too long to fix the car, he put me in touch with another garage Baker Motors in Santry. David, on hearing our story fixed the car in 48 hours, for almost half the price originally quoted. This got us back on the road. In the meantime thanks to my son Marc, as I had to borrow his 19 year old Toyota Starlet (Nuala’s original car and still going strong!!)

So you can see, people at home also made great efforts to help us when they heard of our Gap Year Story… We are starting to get used to all this 5 star treatment…  I wonder what will happen when the year is over ????