Ireland: Day 1

We landed in Dublin IRELAND on Friday, tired, but so excited and in complete disbelief that we were 4,000 miles away from our home and our children.  As I mentioned in my previous post, it was 8:30am Dublin time, but only 2:30 am in Kansas City.  We now truly know what jet lag means - I had the WORST headache that even painkillers were having trouble touching.  We got off the plane, got our bags, and headed to the rental car booth.  We rented a car while we were there because it seemed to be the most convenient form of transportation.  The guy at the counter was SO nice and talked to use like he had nothing else to do or no other customers to wait on (note: we were third in line and it took FOREVER for them to wait on us... and then we understood why).  It was quite refreshing though.  We then had to wait another small forever on a shuttle bus to take us to the rental car lot.  This is the first time we've been to a place where cars drive on the left side of the road, and the drivers seat is on the opposite side of the car.  It was so fascinating - and very weird. It was a manual, so the shifter was operated with the left hand vs the right! Steven drove all week and I was the navigator.   I love Jesus with all of my being, but I am pretty sure I said more curse words in one week than I have my entire life because of this situation.

We spent 6 days in Ireland and had a lot that we wanted to see and do, so we decided to only spend that day in Dublin.  We met others along our journey that spent much more time there, but: it was a big city, and we decided that we just weren't big city kind of people.  Our first stop was a tour of the Guiness Storehouse (that came recommended from several people!)  It was pretty cool and we learned how to properly taste beer in order to experience its full flavors.
We also learned that craft beer is poured into a glass - never drink it from a bottle :)  With our tickets we got two free pints of beer.  I hate beer.  Steven had half of one - because he was, driving after all.  (side note: did you know that Irish people... people who love drinking.  People who let their teenagers sip wine with them at dinner, people whose smallest towns, have a pub - think that its ridiculous that America has the drinking and driving problem that we do. When we were on the bus headed to get our car a couple was behind us talking about it - and how they just couldnt believe that it was such a big problem in America.  Interesting.)  There was a beautiful panoramic viewing deck and we could see the whole city!  We spent a few hours here and once we were finished, we headed to our next stop!

Trinity college was next on the list and was only 3 miles from where we were.  I opened my map app and there it was "2.9 miles."  Estimated time: 29 minutes.  Wait, what?? But maps wasnt kidding.  It took us 29 minutes to drive 3 miles in Dublin.  And we remembered instantly why we aren't fans of huge cities.

We found a car park (because they are not called parking spots or parking garages there) and had to walk a few blocks.  We got our directions a bit backwards and ended up taking the most ridiculous route into the campus, through a lot of construction.  We finally found what we were looking for and decided to go in and see the book of Kells.    I know that this was an amazing sight to behold and I feel awful for saying this, but  neither of us were super impressed with the experience.  It was around 26 Euros to go in and there were so many people, and were probably just too tired to take it in and absorb what was in front of us.  We got a glimpse of the book, which was in a case, and that was about that.  There was a beautiful library that we loved!

 At this point it was probably 4 in the afternoon and we messaged our host for the evening and asked if we could check in to our airbnb early.  We stayed at AirBnbs the entire trip, minus the last night (stayed at an airport hotel) - and I HIGHLY recommend doing that!!!  My friend Callie Lindsey went to Ireland last year, I believe, and stayed with this family and recommended them to me.  Their home was an old farmhouse built in the 1800s and was exactly what we pictured Ireland to be.  Heating was not central - and we were freezing when we got there (the highs were around 50 everyday) and we had a unit beside our bed that we finally figured out how to turn on.  There was a switch on the wall we had to push in order to heat the water for a shower too.  Our room was an addition to their home that they built for Heather's (the host) ill father to live in, but he passed before it was completed.  The entrance was separate and it was our own little space complete with a beautiful bathroom and continental type breakfast area.  The room was amazing, the bed was heaven - and when we got there, we took a short, 4 hour nap (oops)  When we woke, we were welcomed into the main home by our hosts, heated up the microwaveable Chinese food we bought at a grocery store, and spent two hours chatting with and learning about this family.  They had two daughters, 16 and 18 and they were a hoot. They were well educated, bilingual, and talked so much about Poetry.  It was impressive.  

 Overall our first day was nice, but I think we were just too tired to really enjoy it.  We were snappy
and cranky - but the nap helped - and we LOVED the airbnb we stayed at!  It really was quite the treat to spend time with Irish people and learn about their lives.  They recommended some great stops for our 2nd day.  If we ever go back to Ireland, we will absolutely stay with them again!!  Here are some photos of the property we stayed at

PS:  Irish people really do have the accent that you hear on tv!

the grey door with the oval window was our room!