Advertisement
Geo: 53.3441, -6.26749
Yup, we are STILL alive! It's been a hell of a long day.. or two days, I guess. I'm not really sure anymore. I am definitely a zombie, but a happy one.
Both flights were pretty uneventful. It was raining pretty hard when we left for SFO this morning, but it stopped by the time our plane took off. The plane we took to Newark was kinda lame- we didn't have personal TVs. Chris managed to cat nap most of both flights. I was insanely jealous. I only got 3 hours of sleep before we left Thursday morning, even in spite of drugging myself with Soma. Just too damned excited! =) I didn't sleep on either flight, but I cat napped for an hour on the flight to Dublin. Which, I might add, was equipped with the personal tvs (tons and tons of movies, tv shows, music and games at our disposal- I watched Narnia: Dawn Treader and Burlesque finally).
We didn't have to go through security at Newark, and we got through passports surprisingly quick in Dublin. It took me TWO hours last time, and we breezed through it in twenty minutes. So, we landed about 6:30am... got through security...
grabbed our packs (both of which made it intact!).. and then promptly got lost in the first five minutes trying to find the bus parking lot (where our shuttle was supposed to pick us up). We ended up finding it, though! We got this navigatin stuff down! Plus I'm willing to ask Irish people for help- they're just so nice.
Check-in wasn't supposed to be until 1pm, but the girl at the desk let us get our beds early. Everything just sort of kept falling into place... =) Now we just needed to clean up and wander around Dublin like zombies.
First on the to-do list was find coffee and breakfast. So we went to this place called Queen of Tarts, which I had wanted to go to last time I was in Ireland but couldn't get anyone to accompany me. I had an amazing mocha and a raspberry scone (with cream and jam). Heaven. I love Irish scones. They kick any scone's ass you can find in America. We had all day to kill, and with the caffeine and sugar high, we decided to walk a mile or two to Kilmainhim Gaol (I'm tired... I probably spelled that wrong). Gaol =
Bastard Sleeping on the Plane
Of course I'm not so blessed as to be able to sleep on planes...Jail. We walked.... and walked... and walked... and it really seemed like we were walking alot more than we should be to find this jail. Geneva had suggested I see it the last time I went to Ireland, and I didn't get the chance to go. Just as we were about to ask for directions I saw a bus go by that said Kilmainhim on it. Shortly thereafter the street name changed to Kilmainhim. So we kept walking... and walking... and where the hell is this jail?! We decided to ask for directions again... mainly because there was no crosswalk in order to keep walking down the same street in the same direction like we had been for an hour. So we went right. And saw an old stone building. "That building looks old..." - me. So we walk towards it... and an Irish guy is biking towards us. So, already knowing the answer (because inevitably I was going to look like a stupid tourist) I asked him where the jail was. Yup, it's the building right smack in front of us. lol.
The jail was amazing, though. We only paid 2euro each and got a whole tour of the place
SCORE!
Personal TV for the win (complete with informative slideshow, walking tour and museum). I was amazed how awesome the tour was for the price! Aileen was just telling us earlier this week that the tour for Graceland (Elvis' place) was like $50 (or was it $70?)!!! Stoopeed Americans. Anyway, learned lots of neato things.
After that it was finally lunch time... fish 'n chips time... the time Chris has been waiting for for months. So we walked back to the City Centre to Leo Burdock's. It was every bit the heaven I remembered it, and Chris said it was everything he imagined and more. It's a take-away (take-out) place only- so they give you your food, and seating is up to you to figure out. So we found a spot on the sidewalk and ate.
Me - "I love you."
Chris - "Why?"
Me - "Because we're sitting in Dublin eating fish 'n chips."
Chris - "On the sidewalk."
Me - "Yup." Oh the simple pleasures.
We were pretty zombied out after our fatty fish meal. We walked around St. Stephen's Green and then decided to head back. So here I am... updating you folks. =)
I asked Chris if it was weird being in Dublin for him. He said it was... it's
Waiting at the Bus Stop in Dublin
lol, the Paddywagon bus arrived... dropped off a bunch of people and then sped off immediately... we were just sitting there... zombie-like... wondering what the hell just happened... why didn't he pick us up? He was early and I think he just went on a break- he came back for us 10min later. like being in a tourist in San Francisco, which is weird. He's also very fascinated with the cars. They're smaller and different brands than our typical American cars. And he pointed out there's no sports cars. And very few gas stations. The things this kid notices.
Anyway, I think we're beat for today. We'll save our first drinks in Dublin for tomorrow. Also, tomorrow we plan on either going to Glendalough (if there's room on the free tour) or going to Howth. Either one means beautiful outdoors in great weather (that's the odd thing... it's not freezing here... it's cold... but not freezing. And not raining. The sun is even out!).
I love you guys!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.049s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 10; qc: 25; dbt: 0.0228s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Michelle Vu
non-member comment
All that walking is definitely going to keep you in shape! Haha, you're gonna come home super skinny! ;) Also, how's the weather over there?