We got to the airport at 4:30, talked to the ticket agent and she assured us that our luggage would make it to Dublin, but we had to check in again at JFK. Our luggage would make it, but no guarantees on us.
The flight was good, no major turbulence. We landed at 2:30 PM Eastern time. Walked around the airport a bit looking for something to eat. $13.00 for a hamburger. Forgot we were in New York.
4:15 – The Jersey Reddens arrive. Met up with Katie, Kel and Stacey. Saw Matt Ryan and family at the Food Court.
We then move into the seating area (had to wait for the Istanbul flight to leave). People are starting to filter in. It’s great seeing a lot of the same people from the first trip and meeting the new people for this trip.
The Chicago contingent was held up for 15 minutes. Not sure why, but keeping in touch with them through SMS.
Luggage weight was coming close for everyone. A lot of people are leaving things in Ireland only to replace with new things. Hopefully the new things don’t weigh too much or some people will be buying a new bag out there.
We finally boarded on the plane as our group of 39 settled into cattle class. But the dreaded announcement: We will be delayed for a bit as the emergency kit needs to be replaced because it was used on the previous flight. 30 minutes to replace the parts.
Then because of that delay, we had a further delay because we lost our place in line and traffic was heavy: 30 minutes. An hour later, 9:00 PM Eastern, we started the path down the runway. Finally could take off.
As dinner ended (choice between chicken or tortellini), the group slowly nodded away.
Everyone is preparing for the first day in Dublin.
The landing was a bit rough and sudden, but the flight not too bad. We had the fun of exiting outside with stairs going down on the tarmac instead of on the jetway.
The Chicago group had a bit bumpier flight and landed only a few minutes after us. They did see us deplaning as they were pulling up.
We had about a 2 hour wait at the airport waiting for one more group coming out of Newark. They had 3 ½ hour delay. They were supposed to land an hour before us and ended up 2 hours after. With this group arrival, we’re up to full strength at 49. Everyone was a bit tired but jumpy awaiting the ride to the hotel and getting our holiday started!
It is now 10:30 AM Ireland time for which we have been up for 24 hours. Maybe a bit of nap before the vacation really starts.
Our driver is Tom O’Brien. It’s 11:00 now, we are disembarking for real this time. We have to do a small tour of downtown Dublin because the hotel rooms are not ready.
The weather was very nice out, with the sun shining and avoiding the clouds. That’s the power of Tiny’s Tours bringing the sun to Ireland.
Our route took us along the river Liffey and past the Custom House. The river area is now the financial district for Dublin and Ireland.
Of course in Ireland, you have to go down O’Connell Street. As we circle around O’Connell, we pass by Trinity College, which houses the Book of Kells. We also passed by the Irish Parliament, which is the now Bank of Ireland.
We stopped off at the hotel to check if the rooms were ready. Unfortunately, they were not, so a group went off to tour Dublin some more on the bus and a group exited and toured on foot (or hit the pubs!!).
After about an hour, most of the rooms were ready. However, Murphy’s Law really took into place here: the Phoenix group, who was going on the most time awake, were the last to get the rooms.
Once settled, the group split up and went their separate ways. Some down to the Temple Bar district and some local pubbing whilst others did some local eats. As for us, we did the pure Irish dinner by going to Café Topolis, a traditional Italian café in Dublin. It actually was quite good! We met up with a group back at the hotel and decided to call it a night.
The under 30 crowd started at O’Neill’s (dull, no music) and met up with a couple locals from previous trips (Kevin, Barry, Natalie, Anthony and Allen), then on to Gogarty’s that had disco and traditional music, then off to Mc Gowan’s. They spent about 4 hours to there with good dance music. Katie had her first legal drink!! 3 Smirnoff Ice’s, 1 Sex on the Beach, and shots of baby Guinness.
They ended up coming back to the hotel about 2:30.
The flight was good, no major turbulence. We landed at 2:30 PM Eastern time. Walked around the airport a bit looking for something to eat. $13.00 for a hamburger. Forgot we were in New York.
4:15 – The Jersey Reddens arrive. Met up with Katie, Kel and Stacey. Saw Matt Ryan and family at the Food Court.
We then move into the seating area (had to wait for the Istanbul flight to leave). People are starting to filter in. It’s great seeing a lot of the same people from the first trip and meeting the new people for this trip.
The Chicago contingent was held up for 15 minutes. Not sure why, but keeping in touch with them through SMS.
Luggage weight was coming close for everyone. A lot of people are leaving things in Ireland only to replace with new things. Hopefully the new things don’t weigh too much or some people will be buying a new bag out there.
We finally boarded on the plane as our group of 39 settled into cattle class. But the dreaded announcement: We will be delayed for a bit as the emergency kit needs to be replaced because it was used on the previous flight. 30 minutes to replace the parts.
Then because of that delay, we had a further delay because we lost our place in line and traffic was heavy: 30 minutes. An hour later, 9:00 PM Eastern, we started the path down the runway. Finally could take off.
As dinner ended (choice between chicken or tortellini), the group slowly nodded away.
Everyone is preparing for the first day in Dublin.
The landing was a bit rough and sudden, but the flight not too bad. We had the fun of exiting outside with stairs going down on the tarmac instead of on the jetway.
The Chicago group had a bit bumpier flight and landed only a few minutes after us. They did see us deplaning as they were pulling up.
We had about a 2 hour wait at the airport waiting for one more group coming out of Newark. They had 3 ½ hour delay. They were supposed to land an hour before us and ended up 2 hours after. With this group arrival, we’re up to full strength at 49. Everyone was a bit tired but jumpy awaiting the ride to the hotel and getting our holiday started!
It is now 10:30 AM Ireland time for which we have been up for 24 hours. Maybe a bit of nap before the vacation really starts.
Our driver is Tom O’Brien. It’s 11:00 now, we are disembarking for real this time. We have to do a small tour of downtown Dublin because the hotel rooms are not ready.
The weather was very nice out, with the sun shining and avoiding the clouds. That’s the power of Tiny’s Tours bringing the sun to Ireland.
Our route took us along the river Liffey and past the Custom House. The river area is now the financial district for Dublin and Ireland.
Of course in Ireland, you have to go down O’Connell Street. As we circle around O’Connell, we pass by Trinity College, which houses the Book of Kells. We also passed by the Irish Parliament, which is the now Bank of Ireland.
We stopped off at the hotel to check if the rooms were ready. Unfortunately, they were not, so a group went off to tour Dublin some more on the bus and a group exited and toured on foot (or hit the pubs!!).
After about an hour, most of the rooms were ready. However, Murphy’s Law really took into place here: the Phoenix group, who was going on the most time awake, were the last to get the rooms.
Once settled, the group split up and went their separate ways. Some down to the Temple Bar district and some local pubbing whilst others did some local eats. As for us, we did the pure Irish dinner by going to Café Topolis, a traditional Italian café in Dublin. It actually was quite good! We met up with a group back at the hotel and decided to call it a night.
The under 30 crowd started at O’Neill’s (dull, no music) and met up with a couple locals from previous trips (Kevin, Barry, Natalie, Anthony and Allen), then on to Gogarty’s that had disco and traditional music, then off to Mc Gowan’s. They spent about 4 hours to there with good dance music. Katie had her first legal drink!! 3 Smirnoff Ice’s, 1 Sex on the Beach, and shots of baby Guinness.
They ended up coming back to the hotel about 2:30.
No comments:
Post a Comment