I had an hour and a half to kill before Kristen arrived but the station had wifi! I ended up skyping a friend who is teaching in Japan for a while and then watching Wednesday's episode of Happy Endings (great show).
Kristen made it on time and we waited for a bit and then boarded the train to Vienna. I was surprised that our passports were never checked either at the ticket counter or when we arrived in Vienna. After a bit of mix up regarding where the bus to the airport was we figured it out an arrived at the airport hotel where we would spend Thursday night with no other problems.
The hotel was nice but they originally had us in a smoking room with one bed instead of a non-smoking room with two twin beds. The situation was resolved and we ended up in a nicer room before heading to the airport to get dinner. Kristen and I ordered a gnocchi dish and a pizza and split them. The food was delicious, especially because I was feeling a little light headed from not really eating much during the day.
After dinner we headed back and I passed out around ten. Traveling exhausts me even when I'm just sitting on trains or in train stations all day.
This morning we woke up and headed back to the airport, this time to catch our flight. I had a moment of panic where my carry on wasn't fitting in the luggage measurement thing, but I shoved it a couple times and the guy let me slide saving me a 30 euro charge to check the bag.
The Vienna airport has a TON of really nice duty free shops after you get into the boarding pass only area. Kristen and I ended up grabbing breakfast and I got a Carmel macchiato and a bagel sandwich. (side note: I have missed bagels since coming to Hungary. I got some from Emily after I visited her but they just aren't really available normally) The sandwich was actually pretty good, the herbed cream cheese spread was particularly fantastic.
After breakfast there was more waiting as you can't go through security (which is right before your gate) until the previous flight has cleared out. Unsurprisingly, I got patted down as an extra security measure. The last few times I've flown it's happened, so I've given up being annoyed. Strangest thing was, there was a kid playing with a lighter while we were waiting for the plane, so they must be allowed past security here. Maybe because so many people smoke in Europe?
Only bad thing about the flight so far is that you have to pay for any kind of drinks. We should arrive in an hour and a half.
To be continued.....
We made it to Dublin and after running around the area outside the airport because no one could tell us where the city bus picked up we finally found it, (thank you helpful other kind of bus driver) and made it to our B&B. Ashling House is lovely and my bed is comfier than my Hungarian bed so I'm a happy camper.
Bernadette let us settle in and then helped explain the buses we needed to get to the city centre and back home. Our first plan was to go to the tourism office and get these Freedom Passes that allow us 3 days unlimited city bus travel and 2 days hop-on-hop-off bus travel (the tour bus that stops at all the touristy areas). It ended up that Bernadette actually had one for us to purchase and then very kindly sold me the city bus and hop-on-hop-off separate passes for the same price as the freedom pass. Nice people for the win!
We ended up just walking around the city for a while and taking in the sites. Our quest for (relatively) cheap food was stymied by the fact that everything except junk food in Ireland seems to be extremely expensive. Luckily we found a place that had lunch specials until 6pm and we both ordered Irish Stew and brown bread with Harp. The food was delicious, the beer was cold, and we both felt much better afterwards.
Wandering in the Temple Bar area on a Friday night right before Halloween was an experience! A fair number of people were in costume (sorry no pictures my camera is no so great at night time pics) so that was amusing and I appreciate the Halloween revelry as Hungary does not celebrate it.
Pics are taking forever so go look for them here. (only works if you're my friend on Facebook). I'll add more to the next post when we did the tours and such.
Next Post: First Full Day in Dublin
We made it to Dublin and after running around the area outside the airport because no one could tell us where the city bus picked up we finally found it, (thank you helpful other kind of bus driver) and made it to our B&B. Ashling House is lovely and my bed is comfier than my Hungarian bed so I'm a happy camper.
Bernadette let us settle in and then helped explain the buses we needed to get to the city centre and back home. Our first plan was to go to the tourism office and get these Freedom Passes that allow us 3 days unlimited city bus travel and 2 days hop-on-hop-off bus travel (the tour bus that stops at all the touristy areas). It ended up that Bernadette actually had one for us to purchase and then very kindly sold me the city bus and hop-on-hop-off separate passes for the same price as the freedom pass. Nice people for the win!
We ended up just walking around the city for a while and taking in the sites. Our quest for (relatively) cheap food was stymied by the fact that everything except junk food in Ireland seems to be extremely expensive. Luckily we found a place that had lunch specials until 6pm and we both ordered Irish Stew and brown bread with Harp. The food was delicious, the beer was cold, and we both felt much better afterwards.
Wandering in the Temple Bar area on a Friday night right before Halloween was an experience! A fair number of people were in costume (sorry no pictures my camera is no so great at night time pics) so that was amusing and I appreciate the Halloween revelry as Hungary does not celebrate it.
Pics are taking forever so go look for them here. (only works if you're my friend on Facebook). I'll add more to the next post when we did the tours and such.
Next Post: First Full Day in Dublin
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