Day 1 - Dublin, Ireland

We had to drive to Orlando for our flight to Dublin. As usual we were a half an hour late heading out the door, but we had plenty of time and so after picking up Grandma Mary Anne we headed east. About a half an hour from the airport, we stopped at a rest area we knew quite well from our travels to visit Aunt Sharon. Finished, we were getting into our car when the first mishap of the trip occurred.

I was in the back of the van, having given Grandma the front seat to bond with her firstborn. As I got into the back, griping about some spot I had just discovered on the seat, I swung my butt around and was just fitting it into the seat when Grandma slammed her car door with a bang. On my fingers. I was stuck, attached to the car, and my mind registered pain immediately and I screamed. It took my brain a bit longer to realize the source of the pain and even longer for that electrical circuit to make it's way around so that I could form the words that opened the door.  

Mary Anne quickly opened the door and I pulled my hand to my chest protectively. Tom helpfully said, "Keep your fingers away from the door" after asking me how many fingers I had broken. Madison, having had her fingers stuck in a door, immediately winced and offered comfort. I could move my fingers and my hand, and after a few tears, I realized it had only affected the fingertips of my second and third fingers. I wrapped the throbbing, painful tips in Keleenex soaked in water and an alcohol wipe from Sonny's BBQ and held them up to the air conditioning vent. By the time I got them in a cup of ice the pain had weakened, and I knew I was going to live. 

The seven and a half hour plane ride from Orlando to Dublin wasn't bad. There were three rows of seats, two on either side of the plane and five in the middle. We had three in the middle and two on the right side of the plane. We followed the seat assignments on our tickets without really thinking it through, and poor Tom spent most of the ride with his knees under his chin. 

Ireland's time difference is five hours ahead of Florida time so while we boarded at 8:00 pm our time it was 1:00 am in Dublin. When we landed it was 9:30 am in Ireland and our bodies were saying it was 4:30 am. We were exhausted. Only Mary Anne and Darcy slept on the plane ride. The rest of cat napped, probably because we were offered food or drinks every two hours or so!

When we got our luggage in Dublin one of our suitcases, the one I had borrowed from my friend SueG, looked like this:

We marched to the airline customer service counter and were promptly given a brand new American Tourist suitcase bigger than the one that was damaged. We repacked the new case and boarded the van to take us to the car rental agency. 

The seven seater we had reserved was actually a five seater and that is being generous. It was a Kia and a stick shift, and once the luggage was stowed and we were all inside it was just a tad cramped. We set the GPS and headed off to our hotel in downtown Dublin, driving on the left side of the road. To say this was scary is an understatement. There was quite a bit of shouting and gasping (especially from our newly licensed sixteen year old) as Tom struggled with shifting with his left hand, manuerving the roundabouts, and not panicking at oncoming traffic from the opposite side. It was very hairy and I sat with my eyes closed through most of it. Note: Irish drivers use their horn WAY more than Americans when they are annoyed. 

Our hotel in Dublin required parking in a covered garage with an entrance and space so narrow we could barely get in and out of the car. Driving in and out was like walking through a cave's tunnel, and once we were finally parked Grandma Mary Anne suggested, "We look into taking a cab the rest of the day."

We could only get into one of our rooms, and I fell asleep while the others sat around discussing a course of action. Eventually Mary Anne, Tom, and Darcy headed off (in a cab) to tour Trinity College and do some shopping.  I stayed back with Madison who was so tired she wasn't making sense. She immediately crawled into bed and went to sleep. I showered, texted with my SIL, and slept some more. 

That evening we walked around Dublin and ate in a pub. I had fish and chips and a wheat beer and then helped Maddy finish her "special" which was a spicy, delicious pork dish. We were all in bed by 7:00 pm and we didn't wake until fourteen hours later!