GRAMMAR: Verb forms to talk about the past

As Anne drove west, she felt almost as though she were driving in a
dream. But as she got closer to home, there was an excitement she
hadnt experienced for years. She had lived/had been living abroad
for so long that she had forgotten what it was like to feel that you really
belonged somewhere. Her family were there, in her village, and they
were waiting for her. As she came over the hill, the view was the same
as it had always been/always had been. She noticed a young man
who was walking purposefully towards the centre of the village. As the
car drew near, he turned and nodded as people do in this part of the
world. She hadnt realised until then that it was Niall, a boy she had
babysat many times when she was a teenager. So not everything had
stayed the same. Anne herself had also changed of course. The night
before , she had stayed in a hotel in Dublin and the receptionist had
asked her Have you been to Ireland before? But what could she
expect when her accent had almost disappeared?