Ireland Day 1 (15 June 2018)



Remember when we were in elementary school, and we learned about a whole lot of amazing foreign countries?  Ireland and Scotland have been on my list to visit since I first learned about them in 6th grade. It’s been a long time coming to get here!



The first morning of travel is full of promises and neatly arranged suitcases. Then you remember you don’t have the best of luck with flying, and so what was a four hour layover, has you walking through the airport and to your next gate with 15 minutes to spare.

It was only a supposed to be a seven hour flight, but it was a little shorter than that. It was fantastic...until it took over an hour and a half to go through passeport control. I asked Tami to show how we felt about waiting FOREVER...


After making it through, we exited and found Darlene waiting for us on the other side of the exit. We made our way to what we thought was a check in counter for the rental car company. It was actually a sort of verification checkpoint, which allowed us to go find a shuttle to the rental car location. The driver was impressed with our Ireland itinerary, as was the rental car agent. I wasn’t super impressed with the horrible car rental insurance coverage. So, we ended up purchasing theirs too. 😶

We found our cute little white car, which the steering wheel on the opposite side, and it was a standard transmission. It takes a second to change your mindset, but then it’s all good!

We arrived at the hotel pretty early, and were going to ask them to hold our bags. As it turned out, they had a room ready for us!  So, we freshened up, and then walked over to the shopping plaza to find an ATM (Which didn’t work with my card, but Darlene bought a cute scarf), and walked over to get on the bus...EXCEPT you need exact change to get on the bus. The driver doesn’t handle money at all. Back off the bus, and over to Starbucks we went to get the all change we needed. After waiting another few minutes, we finally got on the bus to head into Dublin!

What a cool, funky town!  I am constantly amazed at how kind and polite the people have been. They are extremely accommodating, and have been happy to help the whole time. Hopefully this kind streak continues throughout our stay!

We got off the bus near Trinity College, so we found the entrance and went in to take a tour and see the Book of Kells and Long Room. 

Here are a few fun facts I learned on the tour:
  1. Post-Graduate degrees are awarded in the summer. 
  2. Bachelor’s degrees are awarded in November. 
  3. They graduate by class ranking. So, if I’m first in the class, I’d be the first to walk across the stage. It sounds pretty nerve racking, but the whole ceremony is in Latin, so maybe it doesn’t matter as much. 
  4. If you’re caught walking under the bell tower as it chimes, superstition says you’ll ever pass another test or graduate from Trinity College. (Who comes up with these?!?)
  5. There are 17,000 students who attend the college.
The Book of Kells was given to the College in 1661. However it was transcribed in 800 a.d.  It is said to have inspired the Celtic alphabet. You are (sadly) forbidden from taking pictures of it. However, the letters were all perfectly formed. It kind of felt like watching the steady rise and fall of a heartbeat. It was mesmerizing to see!  Not surprisingly, the book revolves around religious text. So beautiful!

Just when you were feeling fulfilled, you walked upstairs to the Long Room. (Evidently they were not creative in naming different structures on campus). They say the library in Harry Potter was NOT based off this library, but it felt like it!  However, the Star Wars Jedi archives are based off this portion of the library. Talk about a book lover’s paradise!  






After the tour, they dump you out into a gift shop. I looked for a poster of the Long Room. I gave up and settled for a magnet. However, I found one on the way out!  In my next house, I’ll get it framed and hang it. So beautiful!


After Trinity College, we needed to find a place to purchase tickets to go on the musical pub crawl, and so we did!  We also had dinner included. What a delightful way to spend an evening!  











We walked from one pub, over to another, and then finally to a third one. We listened to cultural information, as well as fantastic music and impressive dancing!  

The food was delicious too. 😊





It’s almost 10:30 p.m., and I’m functioning on very little sleep. I am excited to be in Ireland, and am looking forward to some great experiences we shall have here. 💕










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