The Trip, Day 1
The Penguin Consort and I got back from our Ireland trip yesterday evening, ate some pizza, and promptly fell asleep. The trip was wonderful, and we had the chance to spend time with the spectacular stellanova and leedy, which was fabulous fun.
This week I'll do several posts on the trip.
Milwaukee to Dublin
Here is Milwaukee the day before we left:
This is why people leave Wisconsin in February.
I have discovered that there is no limit to the number of times I can check for my passport and still feel a minor panic that I'm about to leave it behind.
The flight was as long, cramped, and uncomfortable as you would expect, complete with a crying infant and two jerks sitting in front of us who insisted upon leaning their seats all the way back. For me, this is merely irritating, buy it leaves the Consort with nowhere to put his legs (he's 6'5" tall), so the poor guy wound up basically straddling the seat in front of him. But, as we approached Dublin, we were chasing the sunrise -- such a beautiful horizon view from the plane.
Our plans to "push through" the jet lag were largely based on the assumption that we'd sleep on the plane. As this proved impossible, the Consort was learning to drive on the left side of the road through Dublin traffic on four hours of sleep over the course of 36 hours. Ouch. But, after a false start with our very first round (and around) about, we got into Dublin and arrived at the Jury's Inns Christchurch. Not the Jury's we were booked at, but we figured that one Jury's Inn could direct us to the other one.
Hah.
They did give us directions... using a tourist map kindly provided by the Guiness Storehouse. Great for finding the Guiness tour, but not so much for finding anything else. The grid system of street layouts that we're accustomed to in the States does not exist in Ireland. Also, street names change every other block. Which adds to the amazing old-world beauty of the city, but is confusing to navigate. But after a few tries we found the hotel, but were too early to check in. So, after a bit of coffee and soup in the hotel restaurant, we settled into the lobby for a bit. And... promptly fell asleep in the lobby chairs.
Once we were able to check in, we discovered that we were being followed... by the Dumpster of Doom (so dubbed by stellanova). You see, it always seems that when we are in hotel rooms, we get a view of the dumpster area. Here it was no different:
The dumpster looks like it's up to something, doesnt' it?
We spent the rest of the day wandering around Dublin just absorbing the atmosphere, too tired to do anything in particular. We did discover that Ireland has an "Everything's €2" store, which is basically the same as "Everything's $1" in the US. Except with different cheap candy.
A few photos from the first day:
The Penguin Consort with a much needed coffee
First look at Trinity College
Dublin at Dusk
We tried to get to sleep early (8:30pm), but of course once we were in bed, neither of us could fall asleep. Tune in tomorrow for Brunch, Seriouspenguin's First Guiness, and the Vibra Tron!
This week I'll do several posts on the trip.
Milwaukee to Dublin
Here is Milwaukee the day before we left:
This is why people leave Wisconsin in February.
I have discovered that there is no limit to the number of times I can check for my passport and still feel a minor panic that I'm about to leave it behind.
The flight was as long, cramped, and uncomfortable as you would expect, complete with a crying infant and two jerks sitting in front of us who insisted upon leaning their seats all the way back. For me, this is merely irritating, buy it leaves the Consort with nowhere to put his legs (he's 6'5" tall), so the poor guy wound up basically straddling the seat in front of him. But, as we approached Dublin, we were chasing the sunrise -- such a beautiful horizon view from the plane.
Our plans to "push through" the jet lag were largely based on the assumption that we'd sleep on the plane. As this proved impossible, the Consort was learning to drive on the left side of the road through Dublin traffic on four hours of sleep over the course of 36 hours. Ouch. But, after a false start with our very first round (and around) about, we got into Dublin and arrived at the Jury's Inns Christchurch. Not the Jury's we were booked at, but we figured that one Jury's Inn could direct us to the other one.
Hah.
They did give us directions... using a tourist map kindly provided by the Guiness Storehouse. Great for finding the Guiness tour, but not so much for finding anything else. The grid system of street layouts that we're accustomed to in the States does not exist in Ireland. Also, street names change every other block. Which adds to the amazing old-world beauty of the city, but is confusing to navigate. But after a few tries we found the hotel, but were too early to check in. So, after a bit of coffee and soup in the hotel restaurant, we settled into the lobby for a bit. And... promptly fell asleep in the lobby chairs.
Once we were able to check in, we discovered that we were being followed... by the Dumpster of Doom (so dubbed by stellanova). You see, it always seems that when we are in hotel rooms, we get a view of the dumpster area. Here it was no different:
The dumpster looks like it's up to something, doesnt' it?
We spent the rest of the day wandering around Dublin just absorbing the atmosphere, too tired to do anything in particular. We did discover that Ireland has an "Everything's €2" store, which is basically the same as "Everything's $1" in the US. Except with different cheap candy.
A few photos from the first day:
The Penguin Consort with a much needed coffee
First look at Trinity College
Dublin at Dusk
We tried to get to sleep early (8:30pm), but of course once we were in bed, neither of us could fall asleep. Tune in tomorrow for Brunch, Seriouspenguin's First Guiness, and the Vibra Tron!