Safe and sound in Ireland thanks to Rick Steves!

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Hello all, greetings from the cloudy and rainy island of Ireland. Chelsea and I are having fun in Dun Laoghaire (pronounced dun leery) and Dublin. We are staying in a cute B&B, painted mostly the color salmon pink, with creaky old beds and the most confusing shower I have ever use. I broke the controls the first time I tried to use it, the look on the owners face was of annoyed bemusement when I told him.

Thanks to the Meier kids for their prayers for a good flight, we were given an upgrade to World Traveler Plus for free! That gave us better seats in a more private section of the plane. (think somewhere between coach and business class). It was my first flight on a 747, and it was nice! Unfortunately our plane luck ran out in Heathrow, our flight to Dublin was delayed 2 hours, and it was on a very cramped and crowded Airbus. Upon hitting the ground in Dublin, it promptly started to rain causing Chelsea to say that she felt right at home!

The familiar feelings continued as we took a bus through terrible traffic towards our B&B. We had to dodge cyclists and watch as too many people tried to drive on a small and underbuilt road system that traversed the water front full of boats, piers, and loading docks. One difference from Seattle is there are very few dogs here, and definitely no dogs in baby strollers. Though we still saw dog-doo on the side walk near the sign stating a $3,000 fine for such an offense.

Today we went on a walking tour of Dublin and learned many interested things about Irish history. Did you know the average Irishman before the potato famine ate 15lbs. of potatos per day? Yeah, I don't see how that is possible either.....but they say you are eating one, peeling the other, the 3rds on your plate, and your eye's on the 4th.

We love you all and hope life is good wherever your feet are hitting the earth!

We will have some pictures when we get wifi access with my laptop.

David

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Comments

[Edmonds dad]

Ireland safe and sound
We have been thinking of you both since our last phone call before you entered the plane. We are so excited for you. You are in IRELAND!!! Wow. I hope you are going to stop at a pup, dance to a riverdance tune, and sing an Irish song with the locals. We love you and can hardly wait to hear about more of your adventures, including the doggy doo.

[Edmond's mom]

thank goodness for potatoes
You made it! Through customs and baggage (now, how did that go!) and Dublin bus rides! You are there! PS Thank goodness for all those potatoes. Now I know my vegetarian daughter will not starve.

[cousin john]

fantastic
I'll be checking in from time to time. Congradulations Chelsea on graduating hope you and David have a fantastic adventure travelling through Europe.

[Grandmother Cook]

Many dogs in England
Hi........... This message is a comment to your remarks on the scarcity of dogs in Ireland. Don"t count on this being true in England. The British have a love relation with all animals. You will see dogs in the City of London, in the pubs and I once sat in the same train compartment all the way to York with a Golden Retriever. He and his mistress each had their own ticket. She had the outside seat and the dog had the window seat and never a peep was heard from either one of them. Please keep blogging. It is becoming the joy of Southshore to read your adventures. Love Grandmother