We started our trip on a Monday. I actually went
to work that morning, because our flight from Baltimore to Boston didn’t leave
until 4pm. After arriving in Boston, we hung out in the Air France lounge at
Logan Airport until our flight left at 9 pm. With the 5 hours we picked up from
the time change, our flight arrived in Dublin, Ireland at 8 am local time.
After a quick freshen in the airport bathroom and €50 out of the ATM, we hopped
a bus to Dublin City Center (AirCoach). Since we arrived so early, we weren’t
able to check in at our hotel (Abbey Hotel), so we just dropped off our bags.
Honestly, we were a little skeptical – the “luggage room” was just a corner of
the bar next door. But what were we to do? No time to babysit our luggage. The
first item of business? Getting donuts at the Rolling Donut! Lindsay had raved
about this place for the last decade, so it was finally time for me to give it
a shot. We got “Sugar and Cinnamon” - very tasty!
Lindsay with a Rolling Donut
Next, got on the Dart and
headed to Graystones. Walked around town and headed to Coolnagreina - the YWCA
where Lindsay stayed for a semester in 2003. We quickly met one of the interns
(Mandy) and explored the recently upgraded grounds. We also checked out the
"improved" harbor area, then went down into town to get a quick bite –
a sausage biscuit and fruit from the grocery store (SuperValu).
Came back to Coolnagreina to visit with Vance and Tammy, the program leaders from Lindsay’s semester. After some chitchat (and a much needed cup of coffee), they took us on a tour of the new dorms.
We said our goodbyes and walked back to the Dart, taking it to the town of Bray, just one stop down the line. Bray has a beautiful beach, so we took a few minutes to just walk around.
Finally, we hopped back on the Dart and went all the way back to Dublin. We were pleased to find that our bags were still in the “luggage room” when we officially checked into the hotel. At this point, we were pretty tired/jet-lagged, so we quickly found some dinner at a pub near the hotel called “The Oval”. I had an Irish Beef Burger and Lindsay had the Irish Stew – both were good, if unremarkable. This was our first experience with “European Service” – more on that later, but it’s not so much “bad” as it is “different”. We also got a chance to try out the “credit card machine” which was ubiquitous on our travels. Apparently Europeans are not fond of letting servers abscond with their credit cards; it doesn’t bother me.
By this time, we felt like it was about 2 AM (or later), but it was only 9 PM. We were planning to plug in our electronics and go to bed, but the newly-purchased power adapter we brought wasn’t cooperating. Being in Ireland, we needed the “two horizontal, one vertical” plug. Unfortunately, that part of our adapter wouldn’t work. Lindsay had the great idea to go borrow an adapter from the hotel – they only required a 5 euro deposit. Surprise! They only had other European adapters. So we ended up having to plug our adapter (with the “two round pegs” setting) into the hotel’s adapter and finally into the wall. By the time we got this all jerry-rigged, we excitedly fell asleep at the end of a very long day.
The new and improved Graystones Harbor.
Came back to Coolnagreina to visit with Vance and Tammy, the program leaders from Lindsay’s semester. After some chitchat (and a much needed cup of coffee), they took us on a tour of the new dorms.
Covert shot of Tammy and Lindsay!
The new grounds at Coolnagreina.
We said our goodbyes and walked back to the Dart, taking it to the town of Bray, just one stop down the line. Bray has a beautiful beach, so we took a few minutes to just walk around.
The Beach at Bray. Yeah, I took a lot of panorama shots. Get over it.
Finally, we hopped back on the Dart and went all the way back to Dublin. We were pleased to find that our bags were still in the “luggage room” when we officially checked into the hotel. At this point, we were pretty tired/jet-lagged, so we quickly found some dinner at a pub near the hotel called “The Oval”. I had an Irish Beef Burger and Lindsay had the Irish Stew – both were good, if unremarkable. This was our first experience with “European Service” – more on that later, but it’s not so much “bad” as it is “different”. We also got a chance to try out the “credit card machine” which was ubiquitous on our travels. Apparently Europeans are not fond of letting servers abscond with their credit cards; it doesn’t bother me.
By this time, we felt like it was about 2 AM (or later), but it was only 9 PM. We were planning to plug in our electronics and go to bed, but the newly-purchased power adapter we brought wasn’t cooperating. Being in Ireland, we needed the “two horizontal, one vertical” plug. Unfortunately, that part of our adapter wouldn’t work. Lindsay had the great idea to go borrow an adapter from the hotel – they only required a 5 euro deposit. Surprise! They only had other European adapters. So we ended up having to plug our adapter (with the “two round pegs” setting) into the hotel’s adapter and finally into the wall. By the time we got this all jerry-rigged, we excitedly fell asleep at the end of a very long day.
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