Day 2 - Dealings with Dublin, a Surge Snafu and a Spectacular Sunset

After we got to the hotel and checked in, we weren't able to go to our room just yet because they only had smoking rooms available at that time. We decided to go into the heart of Dublin to purchase some food and have a look around. We were able to take the bus, a double decker one that was almost totally full so, much to Nick's disappointment, we weren't able to ride on the top level. We got off on O'Connell Street and on one side of the street was McDonalds and on the other side was Burger King. Nick wanted to go to one or the other but I was adament that we would go to an Irish cafe/pub/something and get food that didn't originate in America.


Picture of the monkey when we were walking around, trying to find food.

We walked all around and, finally, I gave in. He was cranky and tired and I didn't blame him. This was one of the battles that I chose not to fight anymore and we headed into McDonalds. The crew there was wearing shirts that either said something in Irish Gaelic or said "My boss is a clown." Who wouldn't want that shirt?! The meal itself was a little expensive but not too bad; around $14 for a Happy Meal and a 6 piece value meal. Nick and I decided to go upstairs and sit on the 2nd level. There was a mother and her 3 kids right behind us and the little boy was playing with his toy which flies. All of a sudden it came and hit Nick on the head, not too hard but it was noticable. The lady apologized many times but, since Nick wasn't hurt, I thought it was really cool to have an interaction with an Irish family like that.

Below are more pictures of the sites when we were touring Dublin.

A Bailey's sign for a certain person who loves the drink (and you know who you are)!


The River Liffey.


The bird Nick insisted that I take a picture of.


And the reminder to always look left for oncoming traffic (as a pedestrian of course).

We took the bus back to the hotel and were able to sit in the upper section; Nick was so excited!

Once we arrived back at the hotel, we were able to check into our room and bring the luggage up. I promptly tried to use my adaptor/converter and forgot to plug in the converter and fried my surge protector. When we left the next day, it still smelled fried. *blech*

Nick and I were both quite exhausted so we opted to have dinner at the hotel and were evel able to take it up to our room in order to relax.

Below are some pictures of the view from our hotel room.

Day 2 - Eamon

Okay, I've been a bit remiss in my duties of posting pictures. I'm starting to get in the groove but today's activities sort of threw that off as well (more on that later).
The first pictures that you're lucky enough to receive are those of Eamon, our car. ;)
I just wanted to get caught up on those before continuing with new blogs...so here you go...


Isn't Eamon cool?! (He's no Bob but he rocks!)

Day 2 - Arriving in Dublin and Misadventures in Driving

After we landed in Dublin (perfect landing thanks to Aer Lingus...I think I might start plugging them all the time because they were my heroes! :p), Nick and I went through Passport Control (which, of course, takes awhile for non-EU citizens) and then grabbed our luggage and then we didn't have to deal with customs which was surprising.

Then, we went to the rental car agency. I have to admit now that I was totally and completely terrified about driving. Thanks to the worry gene that runs rampant in my family, I worried about every little detail of driving. The fact that I would be driving a stick shift after being out of practice, the fact that I would be sitting on the right side of the car, the fact that I would be driving on the left side of the road, the infamous British Isle roundabouts...Yeah, I was scared.

We did our bit of paperwork and then drove over to the rental car location. We received our car, now dubbed Eamon ("aim + an") and I got in, with much apprehension, and took a turn about the parking lot. The snag came when it was time to reverse. I couldn't get that car into reverse for the life of me so I went back into the agency and confessed my problem. The gentleman showed me that you have to lift up on the ring around the stick to put it into reverse.

After that, I couldn't stall any longer and we headed out to go to our hotel. We drove for about 1/2 a mile and were trying to find a roundabout and I ended up turning left and going towards the airport instead. So we headed back to the rental car agency and passed by it on accident. I had to turn around in a parking lot and I decided to rest a bit before continuing on our way.

Nick was excited beyond belief about the car and driving and the whole adventure. I was still petrified but I knew that if I didn't get my butt in gear, we'd never get there. Back to Dan Dooley's we went and I got the directions again.

This time we got back on the road and found the first roundabout. I gamely drove into it and then realized that we were in the center ring and I would have to get into the left lane to get out of it. There wouldn't be enough time with my novice right side of car-left side of road driving skills (there are stop lights to get on the roundabout and stop lights inside the roundabout) so we went 'round again.

The next roundabout didn't look like a roundabout so we circled that area twice before we tried another direction. Nick was thoroughly enjoying this "adventure". Finally we were headed the way we needed to go. After another couple of turns and one minor mis-(not "step"...would it be "misdrive"?), we arrived at the hotel.

I was SO excited to get there. Unfortunately, I do not have the video that I promised. I was tired, stretched all out of shape, upset, stressed, etc, etc, etc and I forgot to ask the monkey to tape the drive. However, we will document our drive to our next location. We have time tonight to get ourselves organized. =)

Nick's take on the driving: It was scary driving from M-o-m because she got close to the lines on the left side. (It was not...there were no cars when I was more towards the left and monkey praised me for being right in the center of the lane when we were on a highway so HA!)

He's not in the mood to say anymore right now...he's watching some t.v. after the long day. I only drove for that wee bit today (although it took a long time to get there so it wasn't so "wee") and tomorrow should prove to be more challenging but I'm for it. I thought that driving on the left side of the road felt more natural although being on the right side of the car didn't.

If there's anyone reading this and you have comments, questions or just want to make fun of me...post away. ;)