Well it’s rainy morning here in Dublin and I finally found someplace where I can use the internet, so here comes the first post!<\/p>\n
I landed here yesterday morning at about 8AM, which is 2AM back home I think… getting to the airport was a little hairy and I had a couple of scares thinking I was going to miss the flight. My favorite was when I was eating in the airport before security and I noticed that my ticket said the gate closed at 5:50 and it was 6:00… I scrambled through security and got to the gate right as they started pre-boarding. I guess they just stopped issuing tickets at 5:50, so phew! Still, I got mine at 5:40, so that was close! Yeesh!<\/p>\n
Aer Lingus is a cool airline, even at the gate the ticket counter was full Irish folks in vivid green outfits and everything was brightly lit and clean looking. The plane itself was full of green apholstered seats… it was only half full! I had a window seat and one empty next to me, so it was nice to be able to spread out my stuff. I only slept about 2-3 hours… they served dinner about an hour in, I wasn’t expecting that! I didn’t know airplane food still existed… it does, and it hasn’t changed. It was good though, they had cheesecake that was actually pretty tasty. They also served a light breakfast 30 minutes before landing, so booyah!<\/p>\n
Once I landed I grabbed a bus to the city, it was only about $3… the houses in the suburbs out here look pretty charming… kind of like adobe style in new mexico but with shutters and vaulted tiled roofs. I also spotted a rental car company that was advertising or just had the peculiar name of JAPCARS… wish I could have gotten the photo in time. I think they have a website, need to check that out!<\/p>\n
I missed my stop so I had to walk for about 15 withboth my bags, it wasn’t that bad actually. Thank goodness it was nice and sunny. They didn’t have my room ready when I got there at 10:30, so I wandered around a bit. They have a few parks here that are basically a couple city blocks square, and there is a wall of greenery that makes you forget you’re in the middle of a bustling city. Pretty awesome…\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
I had a huge lunch in the pub I’m staying at, chatted with some old dudes from Denmark… they told me to make sure I hit Copenhagen before I leave, so I may just do that! The big lunch was a big mistake, I finally got a shower after that and jetlag hit me badly. I’ve never been tired like that, usually I’m tired but I still have plenty of will power… this was like I didn’t have control over what I was thinking… I had to lay down and I was out for about an hour. I had to fight to wake myself back up, but I knew I needed to get up so I did. Once I had my coat on I felt alive again.<\/p>\n
I spent some time just walking around before dinner, I found a wifi spot that didn’t work… I ended up feeding some coins into a terminal to use the internet for 10 cents a minute, which is 6 euro\/hour, which is about $8 an hour. I thought my wireless wasn’t compatible, but the spot in this restaurant is working fine, so that’s a relief!<\/p>\n
I found a coupe hostels walking around, price is about 18 euro for a dorm stay… today or tomorrow I’ll book a couple nights somewhere. It’s amazing to think I can find accomodations for about $25 per night… try finding that in Chicago!<\/p>\n
I had an awesome dinner at a Thai restaurant, it was in the basement of an apartment building but was actually really nice… I was the only one in the place, apparently Friday night dinner doesn’t happen until 10 when people are smashed and hungry. It was nice and peaceful though, and the waiter was a friendly lad from Nepal… I’m not sure how he ended up here, but he said he came for the job… must have been a family owned restaurant or something. I had some sizzling seafood dish, which was awesome. Included in the mess of variety were crab claws and fish balls… I didn’t know anyone served just the claws, but they were tasty!<\/p>\n
After dinner I walked around a bit more, apparently you can drink on the street in Dublin and every bar had about 12 people standing near the doorway holding their pints. I had resolved to sack out early and keep it tame the first night, but it was tempting to stop in! I resisted and made it home around 8:30… crashed and woke up at about 9:30 to get ready for sleep. There was a bustle of noise outside my open window even though I’m on the 4th floor… I fell into a deep sleep for 12 hours and today I feel great!<\/p>\n
The sink in my room has a separate faucet for hot and cold, and both become extremely hot and cold after about 30 seconds of being on… so that sucks! I guess you’re supposed to fill up the sink or something… the shower is awesome… it’s phone booth style with no place to even put the soap, but the water pressure is fantastic!<\/p>\n
Anyway, I’m sure future posts won’t be this verbose, and hopefully I’ll get some pictures up… I’ve got to say it’s been nice to just chill out a bit after all the weeks of scrambling to prepare and socialize back home. Speaking of which, hello blueberry muffin with cream!<\/p>\n
Keep it real yalls,<\/p>\n
Moike<\/p>\n
PS: It’s friggin green here! And they have no sales tax, friggin awesome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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