1. Just as I was about to walk out the door, I decided to stick ONE last thing in my carryon and promptly broke the zipper off while trying to close it. NOT good. Quickly moved everything into a duffel and added a set of sheets that I now had room for. Great. I realized right away that not having a rolling suitcase was going to be cumbersome, but I was anxious to get out the door and didn’t really have another option. Off I went!
2. Traffic jam. It’s Michigan, I know. Still annoying and never get used to the long delays.
3. I was VERY stressed about my luggage. The scales at home are rather unreliable and after weighing my checked bag a few times, there was a 6 lb swing, all around 50 lbs. My bag was a cool 48.5 lbs, but I’m glad they didn’t weigh my carryons because they were definitely about 30 lbs each! Lots and lots of walking at DTW due to construction.
4. Chicago O’Hare… I am either very bad at following directions (possible) or people were just not helpful. I went in many wrong directions before getting on the right tram and going to the international terminal—wayyy far away! I had to go through security again but there were literally ZERO lines. I breezed through and then walked to my gate.
5. The flight to Dublin was rather nice—definitely the most food I’ve ever been served on an aircraft. Met a guy going to Trinity to study abroad so it was nice to have someone to talk to. The pilot was named Bob Jolly and had a super thick Irish accent. This may have made me more excited to arrive. I slept very little and arrived very excited but sleepy. Customs took FOREVER because someone ahead of us took about 25 min. I took about 2.
6. Trees. There are TONS of them, mom.
7. I decided to save money by taking a bus to the hotel instead of a cab. I had exchanged money at the airport (got a great rate because the exchange agent gave me a discount for being a student. I got 73 euros for $100. Much better than I was expecting, though I decided to wait and exchange more money at the banks on Monday. I started off by buying a city bus ticket instead of an AirCoach ticket accidentally. However, I’m pretty sure my 6 euro day pass was cheaper than the AirCoach, so perhaps it worked out for the best! I waited quite a while and then boarded the Dublin Bus. I understood that I needed to get off at City Centre/O’Connell St but I didn’t quite get what I was supposed to do after that. Once I got off I wandered around, trying to find the “5” bus stop the driver told me to walk to. I ended up asking a tour bus driver where I needed to go. He was VERY friendly and told me to just hop on and he would take me right where I needed to be. Yay!! This made things so much easier. Didn’t charge me anything and I got about 10 minutes of Dublin city trivia!
8. Checked in, met a few girls at breakfast, went online to call mom and tell friends I had arrived
9. We decided to walk around Dublin during the afternoon as we had until 5 pm to explore. Walked a LOT and really got a feel for Dublin. It’s an incredible city—I’m in love. It’s just adorable and the people seem very friendly. See my video and pictures for more details!
10. Internet is not cheap and I will probably be writing these entries in a word document and uploading them later… it’s VERY different not being able to be online all the time and not having a phone. That part is crazy… luckily I have seen pay phones around if I ever really needed something.
11. Dinner was good but the service was incredibly slow. Perhaps this is a cultural thing though, and they just drag out meals on purpose to encourage conversation. It was really nice getting to know everyone better and I’m curious as to whether or not they put the Jets game on because we were the only ones in the particular room and very obviously Americans.
12. Our Butler guides took off during dinner and we were left to find our way back to the hotel. We wandered probably several miles around town, exploring. Observations:
a. Street musicians everywhere!!!
b. Pubs really are quite lively, but it seemed very touristy where we were
c. Black tights and tennis shoes are a rather common sight. Really?!?!
d. I am the only 21-yr-old… everyone else is younger and is crazy excited to drink…. I feel very old but I just want to rest tonight and go out proper tomorrow!
LOVE LOVE LOVE DUBLIN!!!
