And a really, really early morning it is. I flew from Richmond through Newark to Dublin. The rest of the family flew later via Philly and will arrive in Dublin three hours after I did. My body thinks it’s 3:23 a.m, but of course in Dublin is 7:23.
Lessons I’ve already learned…don’t fly through Newark if you can help it. It’s nasty looking, full of construction, and hard to get around. My United Airline’s flight was nice and the Are Lingus one was lovely. Although I had a middle seat, there was no one beside me on one side, so I had a little extra room. The flight was only 5 1/2 hours, so not enough time to really sleep. I probably got about 3 hours and not consecutively. My second lesson was don’t do a red-eye without a neck pillow. I gave mine to Audrey, so I hope she slept well. I woke myself up twice snoring – how embarrassing!
My third and final lesson (for now) is that, if you can help it, don’t check your bags, especially if you are waiting for your family for three hours at the airport. Once you’re through customs, you cannot go back into the airport. I could’ve taken advantage of the lounge, but I was worried about picking my luggage up at baggage retrieval (aka baggage claim), so I’m sitting in this lovely coffee shop Caffe Nero right outside of customs.
So far, I’ve only run into a couple of actual Irish people. One was funny, shouting loudly trying to move us through customs quickly. His last comment to me was, “You should see me with a couple of pints of Guinness in me,” with a lovely Irish lilt. He even had red hair. The airport constable wasn’t in such good humor. He was the one that informed me that I could not, under any circumstances, go back into the airport. Noted! The final Irish person was a younger woman sitting beside me in the coffee shop. I commented on her broken arm and she began such a sweet conversation about where to go and what we might do to enjoy Ireland.
So, once the family joins, we’ll pick up the rental car and head to Newgrange. We splurged for an automatic. Steve didn’t think that as tired as we’d be trying to drive on the opposite side of the road and having a manual car would bode well for us. Smart man!
Can’t wait to get “day one” started.
Glad the trip went smooth! Barley misses you all but is adjusting well to us. She actually ate a bit!
Such an exciting time. Be safe and enjoy your adventure. Thanks for sharing.