We made it!

We flew into the Dublin airport at 7:25am this morning. Bleary eyed from another night of 4 hours of sleep, this one crammed into a coach seat. But lifting the plastic airplane window and peering out to a sunrise and jagged pieces of green land dotted with sheep stretching to the horizon, was a welcome change from the rigid and perfectly square efficient plots of land in heartland America.

First impressions: Dublin is a big city busier than we thought it would be in the middle of the day on a Wednesday. And after living in San Francisco cursing tourists the tables have turned, we are now slow, awkward, lost, and seeming to get in everyones way as they barrel down the street. Everyone in Dublin walks fast. There are places to go, and beer to drink.

Crossing the street is a disorienting and perilous experience because we keep looking left instead of right and I had to pull Ron back from getting run over by a city bus on our first walk out in the Temple Bar area.

We have mainly just wandered the city today by foot: picnicking in Parnell’s Square, lounging on the grass in St. Stephen’s Green, visiting St. Patricks Cathedral, The real Irish Bank (and not one of our favorite SF bars that got sued for using its name), and of course a pub or two.

Later that night we went out for the obligatory fish and chips (with curry sauce, yum!) and I don't know how they make it so good here and not at all greasy. Then to a pub near our hotel for some local irish music, complete with a fiddling version of pachelbel canon.

Based on the first day of our trip, Ron and I feel this is going to be one tough year ahead. Yea right. We feel so lucky!