Getting to Ireland!

Hello friends! This is where I will be documenting my travels and adventures! Come read along if you want to know what I'm up to in Europe.

We'll start by talking about getting to Ireland. Of course I had to stop by the Stone Brewing in the airport to get my last San Diego beer for while. My friend's husband works there so I made sure to say hi to him.

Hi Pete!

While at the bar I practiced my talking to strangers skills and had a friendly chat with the guy at the bar stool next to mine. I gave him a code for a free $25 Lyft ride, so I'll also get a free $25 added to my account! After I had a beer and a chat, I had to go off to catch my plane.

Found my plane!

I had a comfortable flight to Chicago, where I had just enough time to grab a snack and take a restroom break before hoping on the next flight. Next stop, Ireland!

I'm seated next to an American guy. He doesn't talk much, despite my attempts at being social with the person whom I will be crammed next to for the next 7 hours. I decide to make up a back story for him to entertain myself. He is dressed nicely, button down shirt, slacks and dress shoes. He had told me he is going to meet his dad who lives in Dublin, and that's about it. So in my head I named him Scott Gimple and he is going to try and make amends with his strict and disapproving father, Patrick (because all Irish dads are named Patrick, right?). Patrick met a woman from the U.S. named Sheila who was studying at Trinity College in Dublin, where after a whirl wind romance they produced a love child. But Sheila had to return to the U.S. because her student visa was expiring. She wanted Patrick to come with her, but he didn't want to leave Ireland. He wanted Sheila to marry him and stay, but she couldn't leave her family back home in Detroit. They fought, and had a big falling out and their romance came to a bitter end.

Sheila went back to Detroit, she gave her son her own last name, hoping to distance him from his father. But little Scott Gimple is the curious type of lad, and as he gets older he asks about his father, and Sheila finally looks up Patrick so Scott can get to know his father. Scott visits a few times to Dublin as he grows up, and his father hopes that Scott will one day become a banker, like he is. Scott however, has different dreams. He wants to be a travel agent, and help people see the world. Patrick thinks this is silly, and travel agents are a dying breed. This causes a rift between Scott and his father, and so he is traveling to Dublin to try one last time to convince him that being a travel agent is a worthy position and something his father can be proud of. I hope you convinced him, Scotty. Or whatever you were really doing in Ireland.

After making up stories, drinking a few glasses of the free wine (Dude, free wine and beer on international flights with American Airlines, win!) and eavesdropping on the chatty Irish teenagers in front of me, it's time for the meal service! Pretty decent meal if you ask me.

Cheese tortellini, bread & butter, salad, mini bottle of water, cheese and crackers, a kick-ass caramel brownie, and of course some wine.

After eating I read for while and then attempt to sleep. I snuggle under a blanket and proceed to toss and turn, trying to get comfortable. I probably kept Scott Gimple awake (Sorry dude) but sleep eluded me. I give up on trying to sleep and watch the last half of The Avengers, the in-flight movie. They serve breakfast, and soon the plane lands. Touch down on Irish soil!

I get through customs, and on to a bus that will take me to the train station. I get to see a few bits of Dublin through the bus windows.

Hey there, River Liffey!

At the train station I have about 2 hours until my train to Westport arrives. So I go into the pub next door and have my first Irish Guinness. I've had Guinness in the U.S. before but I had to drink one while in Ireland!

Mmm!

Finally the time to board the train comes and I settle in for the 3 1/2 hour ride to Westport, County Mayo.

Livestock is what you see out the windows of the Irish countryside.

I make it to Westport, about 3:45 PM Ireland time which is about 11:45 AM in San Diego. My flight left at 11:45 AM the previous day and I had been awake since 7:00 AM so I have now been awake for over 24 hours. I'm greeted at my hostel which will be my home for the next month. I'd read that the best way to beat jet lag is to stay up until bedtime in the local time zone. So I went out to the store to get myself something to eat, and managed to stay awake until about 8:30 PM. I slept until 9:45 AM the next day and felt fully refreshed! I actually managed to beat jet lag in one day! Go me!

The next blog will detail the town of Westport and my adventures around town!