Beannachtaí ó Bhaile Átha Cliath (Day 9 - GToE)

Translation: Greetings from Dublin

I have arrived in the very pretty city of Dublin. Because I'm on very little sleep, today has already been a very long day and it's only 3:30pm. When I last posted, it was just a little after 1:00am this morning and I had to wake up at 4:00am in order to be on time for my 6:50am flight out of Gatwick airport. Consequently, because I was a little worried about not getting up on time, I barely slept last night. Additionally, I've been feeling a little under the weather. I think something I ate yesterday is causing a little intestinal distress (TMI?) and that always makes for happy travels...not. 

You may ask: Sandi, did you get up on time? Yes, I kept waking up every 30 minutes or so to check the time and got up precisely at 4:00am. I departed from my friends' flat by 4:15am. (Jen and Bill even got up to say "bye" to me...awwww...that's love.)  I was very emotional leaving this morning because I had the best time in London and will miss Jen, Bill, their amazing friends, and a city that I love, but all good things must end. I hailed a cab which got me to Victoria Train Station in very little time, where I caught the 4:30am Gatwick Express which delivered me to the airport by a little after 5:00am. I zipped through the check in process and waited for my flight to Dublin. The flight actually departed slightly early (by 5 minutes) and arrived a little early into Dublin.

Here's a difference between the English and the Irish:  

Arriving at Heathrow Airport last week: Immigration Officer (looking at my declaration form): "So you're staying in the UK for 8 days." Me: "Yes." IO: "What is the purpose of your visit?" Me: "I'm on vacation." IO: "What are you plans while staying in the UK?" Me: "I plan on touring Edinburgh and London and visiting friends." IO: "You have friends here?" Me: "Yes." IO: "Who are these friends?" Me: "A couple of friends from college." Giving me a hard stare, IO: "Where will you go after the UK?" Me: "Dublin and then Amsterdam." IO: "Okay, have a nice trip."

Arriving at Dublin Airport today: IO: "How long will you be staying in Ireland?" Me: "4 days." (Stamping passport) IO: "Have a nice day."

I was waiting for the Heathrow IO to give me a colonoscopy before letting me into the UK. But I also expected perhaps a little more from the Dublin IO. Very strange.

But I digress, after arriving at the airport, I grabbed a bus into the city center and fairly quickly found my hostel - I only had to ask directions once. I checked into my hostel, but unfortunately my room would not be ready until 2:00pm (it was 9:00am). The receptionist informed me that there was a free walking tour of Dublin starting at 10:15 am. What to do? Breakfast, first! Even though I was still feeling slightly under the weather, I needed to get something into my belly, so I headed to a local bistro and had a "Mini-Irish breakfast" (egg, sausage, hash browns, toast, tea). Pretty yummy.

I then went back to the hostel to wait for the start of the walking tour (which technically starts at 11am, but they swing by the hostel to bring us all over the starting point). While waiting for the tour to begin, I chatted with a very nice woman from New Jersey. She had a fascinating life. Born in Communist China, she spent some time in the Middle East learning to be a nurse. She then was allowed to emigrate from China to the US, where she finally gained her citizenship in 2008. 

The tour started at 11:00 am and was 3-hour tour which gave a brief overview of the history of Dublin and showed us the highlights of Dublin's most famous sites. Dublin Castle, Christ Church, and Trinity College were just some of the highlights. The tour guide was phenomenal but, man, are my legs and arse still killing me. 

I returned to my hostel where I took my bags up to my room. It appears that in my 6-room dorm, there are only 3 of us in the room. We shall see if that remains the same. There is one thing I'm not a fan of with this hostel. The only place to access the Wi-Fi is in the common areas. So I have to lug my computer down two flights of stairs and the music that they play blows. Plus, it'll keep me from being able to watch anything online - there goes my ability to watch episodes of The Good Wife before heading to bed. Other than that, it seems like a nice hostel. They offer free breakfast in the morning and there are laundry facilities in the building.

Okay, I think I'm done for the day. The last thing that I'll do today is find some dinner, but otherwise, I need to rest up if I'm going to survive the next two months. As I just mentioned to Jen, I'm completely knackered! Don't forget to check out Day 9 photos on my GToE photo site. There aren't that many today (by comparison to others days). It's hard to take photos when on a walking tour.