Tuesday, December 17, 2013

I met at astronaut!

Last Saturday, I awoke at 5.30am, hopped on a train to Cork city, then a 3 hour bus to Dublin for a small adventure.

Commander Chris Hadfield was doing a book signing in Easons on O'Connell Street and I was determined to see him. He was incredible during his time on the ISS, sharing details of life in space with everyone via twitter and youtube. I am a huge fan, and so to Dublin I went.

For some reason, I was not expecting there to be many people at the signing. I figured maybe 50 or 100 people would show up to see an astronaut signing his book. This is Ireland after all, and I didn't think there was a particularly huge space fan-base here. 

Boy, was I wrong. 

I arrived in Easons at 11.10, and saw what looked like a fairly short queue so I had a little wander around the shop for a few minutes. I figured I should pick up a copy of the book, but I couldn't find one. I asked an assistant, who seemed awfully stressed and she told me that they were selling so fast, they had moved all the remaining copies behind the counter. I headed up and bought one, and the lady behind the counter told me they could no longer guarantee a signed copy to anyone not already queuing. So I went to the back of the queue where I was met by a security guard who directed me out the door to the actual back of the queue, which stretched several hundred people down the street! 

I was amazed to see so many people there. And such a mix of people. I was speaking to an elderly man for a bit, and there was a family with a little girl in the queue in front of me, and a family with two teenage boys behind me. And absolutely everyone was in such good form. Despite the pouring rain and freezing cold, and the fact that we were queuing outside for 2 hours, everyone was visibly happy and excited. It was brilliant to see. 

So 2 and a half hours after I arrived in Easons, I got to meet Commander Hadfield. He was super nice, very humble and gracious. I had to shake his hand, cos you know, when am I going to get to touch an astronaut again?! He said 'Thanks for waiting' and I said 'Thanks for coming to Ireland!' 

A super nice security guard took this photo for me. I think my excitement is visible. Also my damp coat.

All in all, it lasted about 30 seconds, but it was completely worth it. A great day! 

PS. His book is a great read. Highly recommended.

3 comments:

  1. That it awsome! Congratulations!!! Watched him on the TV the weekend, he seems like a really nice guy too :)

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  2. Great blog! Love the home made filter and the Skywatcher 130 review - thinking of getting one of these and your rewiew was very helpful.....mainly due to enthusiasm!!

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