We've arrived

We've made it. We got into Dublin this morning about an hour ahead of schedule at just before 7:00 local time. It was a bit early, but due to the high latitude and altitude, the sun had been up since about 4:30 am, and so had I. We were only able to sneak in a few hours of sleep on the flight, but the view coming in to Dublin was absolutely breathtaking. We came in from the southeast over the ocean, which had a mixture of small rocky cliffs and soft sandy beaches, all of which were surrounded by surprisingly blue and beautiful seawater. We had to make a circle around the airport, as there was a plane on the runway they had told us to land on, but it just gave a chance for us the see the other side of Ireland, beautiful green fields as far as the eye can see. After that we were able to land and taxi in, but there happened to be a plane in our jetway, and we were forced to wait on the tarmac another 30 minutes or so for them to clear out. All in all I got the impression that Dublin airport is not a terribly well run operation.

After landing we were dealt with by the friendliest customs agent I have ever met and made our way into town. Our hostel for the evening is called the Ashfield house. It is a very typical youth hostel, lots of bright colors and young people from other countries. We are sleeping in a 16 bed room tonight. The hostel is, however, in a wonderful location. Our hostel is right in central Dublin, about 1 block from Trinity College and the Temple Bar district on one side, and one block from the River Liffey on the other side. Which is absolutely beautiful.


Once we made it to the hostel we stashed out backpacks and walked around for a bit, looked at some local shops and such. Unfortunately, we were quite exhausted and as soon as we could check-in to our room at 12:30, we did, and zonked out for about 4.5 hours. Now I think it is time to eat, though.