We began our trip with a toast in the Sky Lounge at the airport, toasting good friends, an amazing adventure, and Vic and Liz's 19th wedding anniversary. After all of the dreaming and planning, we were finally getting underway. Our flight from the Twin Cities to Atlanta was short and uneventful. We had enough time to get something to eat and drink and then we boarded the plane for Dublin. Unfortunately, due to some storms in the area, we were #30-40 to take off with a one hour delay. The pilot and flight staff were very friendly (I know, hard to believe, right?) and so were cool about people moving about the cabin while we were just in a holding pattern on the runway.
The flight to Dublin was approximately 6-6.5 hours long and no one got much sleep. The very amorous couple with the husband who felt the need to talk CONSTANTLY and very loudly throughout the entire flight made it quite difficult to sleep, even when the flight staff lowered all of the lights in the cabin. Friendly traveling tip: when you're on an international flight overnight and the lights are turned off, that's a signal that you and your fellow passengers should try and get some sleep to help you adjust to the time change and that you should not be talking above the sound of the plane engines and keep everyone else up. Needless to say, we were all very tired when we landed (approximately 7:45 a.m.) but were so excited to finally be in Dublin that we got a second wind.
After getting our luggage and catching the Air Coach to Dublin City Center, we dropped our bags off at our hotel which is right off of O'Connell Street. We couldn't check in until later in the afternoon so we set our on our first mission to switch over our sim cards in our cell phones for phone calls/data internationally. After going to the first Tesco (a store kind of like Aldi), we were informed that they didn't have the sim cards we needed so we were directed to another Tesco at a mall kiosk. On the way there, we passed by a Starbucks for some refueling. We got the phones all set after monopolizing the Tesco kiosk staff for quite some time, but mission accomplished.
Oh, and travel tip #2: if you're traveling internationally and when you land you turn your phone back on, but don't turn off your data services, you may end up with a $50 charge for receiving data and forgetting you didn't yet have international data and sending Kik messages to your daughters to let them know you arrived safely. Yes, that was me. Oops!
We explored some of the shops in the mall and got some delicious croissants and a lovely serrano ham sandwich at a French bakery among an outdoor market. Some member of our travel group who shall remain nameless, did not like that we started our culinary experience with a French bakery. As it turns out, it was a homage to Michelle's French heritage.
We decided to start our sight seeing on the Hop On/Hop Off bus. This is a great service. There are numerous stops and buses throughout Dublin and as the name says, you hop on and hop off as needed as different attractions around the city. We decided to ride on the upper deck of the bus and listen to the commentary about the different sights. However, after heading started nodding and leaning against windows, we decided we needed to get off and walk. We decided to hop off at the Jameson Distillery. Jameson distilled whiskey at this facility for over 200 years, but stopped in 1971. They still have the structure with a great tour. The tour lasted about an hour and we had the best guide, Claire, with a very dry sense of humor. She asked for volunteers to participate in a tasting of three types of whiskey at the end of the tour, and as luck would have it, Dan, Carl and Vic were all chosen. Everyone at the end of the tour gets a glass of straight Jameson whiskey or Jameson and Ginger. Michelle, Liz and I enjoyed a very generous and delicious Jameson and Ginger. The boys taste tested and compared Jameson whiskey, Johnny Walker Black, and Jack Daniels. Guess which one was picked as the favorite?
After the tour, we decided to hoof it back to the hotel to get some more fresh air and exercise, and (haha) sun to help with jet lag. We enjoyed the walk back along the River Liffey with a quick stop back at the Tesco for provisions (water and snacks for the hotel room), before checking in to our room and having some time to nap before enjoying the evening.
And a great evening it was! The short rest rejuvenated us and we began our evening with drinks at the Parnell Heritage Pub. Thank you to the Kenny's for buying us our first round in absentia!
Drinks, round #2 were at a fabulous place called The Living Room, which is adjacent to a restaurant called Murray's. They had a very lively Irish band playing in the restaurant and a great beer garden. It was a beautiful evening so we ate in the beer garden. The food, as well as the beer, was fantastic!
After dinner we walked down to the lively Temple Bar area (known as the cultural, artistic area with many bars, restaurants and night life) where we enjoyed a pint at The Temple Bar.
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