Pints, Proposals, and All Sorts of People

We left our hotel in Paris early this morning. Luke, Dad's housemate in Paris, drove us to the airport with his friend (I'm not sure of his name). With a bit of force, all 3 suitcases fit in the back and Mom, Dad, and I crammed into the backseat. We found our way to the airport easily enough and made our way to the check-in counter.
Moving on to the security check point, I set off the damn metal detector again. What am I wearing that consistently sets off the machine? Agh! After a thorough frisking by one of the personnel, I headed over to my gate.

The flight, itself, was rather uneventful. Oddly, Aerlingus charges a fee for the in-flight snack. After spending so much on a flight, one would think that a small drink and bag of crackers or something would be included. Apparently not if you fly through Aerlingus. Adding to the craziness, the flight attendants move on to peddling Air Mall items. Quite odd, indeed.

Flying over Dublin, it was plain to see that Ireland is really a beautiful country. Along the way, Dad pointed out every golf course he could see. I decided to insist that there are no golf courses in Ireland... just fields with spots of sand scattered around them. Lol, in reality, there are a lot of courses.

We landed and made our way to retrieve our bags. Along the way, we were passed through the immigration area to have our passports stamped. The wait in line was pretty long, but once I got to the window, the interview was pretty short and I now have my second stamp this trip! Yay!

Since Mom & Dad were farther back in line, I made my way to the baggage claim and got everyones' things piled on a cart. Once they made their way to the area, we passed through customs rather easily and headed for the rental car agency.

The small car Dad had been hoping for turned out to be a rather massive boat on wheels. Couple the enormous vehicle size with fact that the Irish drive on the "wrong side" of the road, the journey by car was relatively daunting. The GPS from National was utterly useless, but we still managed to find the hotel.

The parking garage is under the hotel. Dad's maneuvering of the boat on wheels was hindered by rather small passageways in the garage. I got out and attempted to guide him through one of the turns. Eventually, he made it to the parking space and we checked in to our hotel.

The room is nice, has a few odd features. In order to keep the electricity on in the room, you have to leave your keycard in a thing on the wall. Somewhat irritating, but a decent idea for saving on energy costs.

Mom and I went to the little grocery store next door to pick up lunch while Dad took a nap. The lunch counter has a nice value meal arrangement that includes your choice of sandwiches and wraps, a bag of chips, and a 500ml bottle of Coke... all for just 4.99 euro. After the craziness of food and drink costs in Paris, 4.99 euro for all that was fantastic.

Returning to the room, we decided to walk around the block and see what was around. The Jameson Distillery is very close to our hotel. We are going back when the Gormans get here. I saw a sign for "hot whiskey" in the distillery. Very interested in checking it out. The description sounds pretty cool.

Walking along, we found a cute little pub called The Richmond. I partook in (2) 1/2 pints of Bulmers Cider. It has a mild apple flavor and is a bit too easy to drink. Haha, this should be fun! Dad got a couple pints of Fosters. The bartender told us to come back in the evening for some music at around 10. Cool, we'll be back!

We had dinner at a relatively expensive pizzeria near the hotel. It was tasty. The soup was good and the pizzas were unique and delicious. I followed dinner with a short nap before returning to the pubs.

Mom chose to stay in the room for the night while Dad and I went pub hopping. We returned to The Richmond where I upgraded to a full pint of cider and Dad continued with a pint of Fosters. The "music" turned out to be a guy with a laptop and guitar singing karaoke songs. The average age in the pub was about 50 (that's if you factor my 25 years in to the mix). Pretty fantastic, really, if you enjoy the humor.

Leaving the pub, 2 clearly drunk individuals followed us out. They were highly talkative. One talked to Dad while the other proposed and detailed the marriage/honeymoon plans... 7 kids? Hahaha, I would advise against that. We shook hands in agreement that we would not, in fact, be getting married. Hahaha, only in Ireland, I suspect. Eventually the pair hailed a cab and left us alone.

Rather than returning to the hotel, Dad and I made our way to the Number 6 for another pint. Number 6 reminds me of a trendy bar one might find back home. It definitely doesn't have that cool Irish pub vibe, but it was still pretty nice. They were having a party for Halloween and the crowd was much closer to my own age, which was refreshing. I made a new friend from Sweden named Ace. He's a pretty cool kid and it was nice to have a conversation with a foreigner in English. lol.

Looking forward to my upcoming Irish adventures. :)

Jenn's Irish Pint Count: 3

Hamburgers & Parisians

As I look out the window of the plane, I am already missing the beautiful city of Hamburg. Mere minutes away and I want to go back. With so much left to explore, a return trip is inevitable... perhaps during the warm summer months next time.

The flight, a 1 hr 15 minute hop to Paris, is rather pleasant. Despite the short nature of the flight, Lufthansa airlines still provided a sandwich and 2 beverages at no extra charge. Granted, the 2 beverage thing was probably due to the relatively empty flight, but who cares? It was still nice. I had a cheese sandwich, apple juice, and coffee. The coffee wasn't the best I've tasted, by far, but it was caffeinated. Maybe I'll try the tea next time. :)

Landing in Paris, I retrieve my bag and make way to the metro station. The decision has been made... for my next trip through Europe, I will not be bringing a suit case! Haha, they are completely unneccessary and difficult to maneuver through large crowds. Next time, the pack I'd been planning to use will actually be used. Here's a useful tip for you: get a pack like the Terra 45 pack I picked up at Gander Mountain before I left home. I really wish I would have brought it instead of the suitcase. But no worries, we live and we learn. Perhaps you can learn from my mistake. :)

My first stop after picking up my bag is the newspaper booth. I purchase a map and make way for the metro station. Here's another tip: in Paris, you don't need to buy a map. Many hotels and tourist areas have free ones that contain a map of the city that includes the land marks, metro system, and bus routes. Don't waste the euros you could be spending on a great cup of coffee or tea for a crummy map at the newspaper booth. The free map is also smaller and easier to use.

The hotel is easy to find and I arrive in time to pick up a late dinner at the restaurant next door. Although it's a bit less relaxed than Hamburg, I think I'll like Paris just as much. So far, it's not bad and the metro system is so easy to figure out! Yay!

Ferries, Flights, Language Barriers

We left quite early this morning in order to catch the ferry to the mainland. Of course, as we were in Italy, everything was in Italian and my parents weren't sure where we were going. Thus, another Lynch family saga began before the sun came up.

The online ferry itinerary said the first boat was scheduled to leave Lido at 4:50. We left extra early in order to make it. The dock was completely silent without a life in sight. Accompanied by nothing but the rain drops crashing against the windshield, we found ourselves to be in a difficult situation. Perhaps there is no ferry today? Could this be the wrong place? What's going on?!? We really need to catch our flight!

We drove over to the bus/vaporetto ticket booth, as it was the only populated business on the island, to ask for assistance. Through broken English and really bad Italian, we were able to communicate with the men. We learned that the ferry would leave at 5:00 and it was only 2 kilometers away. Ok, so the dock we found earlier was the right one... where are the people? How do we get a ticket?

We waited at the dock for a few minutes until deciding to go on another search for the ticket booth. Driving around the dark streets of Lido, we eventually found the proper signs and followed them to the booth. As it was quite early on a cold, weekend morning, there weren't many cars waiting to board the ferry. It left at 5:30.

The ride lasted about half an hour and we were not permitted to stay in the car. We went to sit in the lounge on the second floor. It was freezing and the coffee counter wasn't open yet, but the furniture was more comfortable than it was on the way over. So, half asleep, I relaxed in the chilly room on my way back to the mainland.

We returned to the car shortly before we docked and I fell asleep promptly after securing my seatbelt. As far as I know, we made it to the airport without getting lost. I'll never know. :)

It was a bit of a hike from the car park to the airport, but it wasn't bad. We were pretty early, so our flight hadn't been assigned a check-in desk. The gate was assigned, but we couldn't check in... weird. Eventually, after every flight listed on the screen had been assigned, our flight was assigned to desk 13. The girl behind the desk took a very long time to get everything in order, but she gave us a map of where we'd be landing and how to get around once there. It was a nice gesture and quite appreciated.

Going through airport security, a very polite security agent asked if he could inspect my purse. He was not rude or pushy like the TSA people at home tend to be. I said, "Of course, I have nothing to hide." He looked through the bag, found nothing out of the ordinary, and tried to close it. Well, of course, the zipper decided to act up and he was a bit embarrassed, but I just smiled and said not to worry. The zipper gets stuck when opened fully.

Our gate was pretty easy to find and I took a short nap before the flight, using my backpack as a pillow. When it was time to board the plane, we hopped on a shuttle and waited about 10 minutes or so for everyone to get on. The shuttle went about 30 yards, stopped, and we were at our plane. It would have been so much faster if we could have just walked over to our tiny plane. Oh well, that's airport security for you.

The flight was pleasant. At one point, the puffy white clouds we were flying over were broken up by the peaks of a mountain range. That mountain was huge, climbing higher than the clouds. Interesting, beautiful, and slightly terrifying... nothing should be that big! :)

As we were en route to Paris for our connection to Toulosue, I was curious to see if the demonstrations and strikes had made their way into CDG. Gladly, it wasn't and we were able to pass through relatively smoothly. Hindered only by the ridiculous practice of having to exit the secure area to pass through carry-on security yet again to reach our connecting flight, everything went smoothly. I doubt I will ever fully understand the reasoning behind leaving a secure area only to pass through screening again before a connecting flight.

There's a bit of advice for all you happy travelers out there, if you'll be flying internationally and have connecting flights, make sure you leave plenty of time to go through security again.

We arrived back in Ambialet and it was another beautiful evening at the priory. :)

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

but the plane is not...

I get to the airport, quite ahead of schedule. Check-in and security go smoothly, with limited hassle. On to the gate… all is well, flights appear to be running on schedule. Europe, here I come! But wait, the 4:50 flight to Washington (IAD) has been delayed! Oh the humanity! It has been bumped back to 6:45 and there is no way I will ever make it to my 7:00 flight out of IAD for Frankfurt, Germany. Time to stop at the United desk and get a new flight plan.

New plan: 8:15 out of IAD to Munich, Germany for my connection to Toulouse, France (TLS). Okay, it will be tight, but I can make that work. I think I’ll relax, grab a cup of coffee, and Skype with my family for a little while. There is plenty of time before the PIT-IAD flight leaves.

Fast forward 20 minutes, I’ve checked the flight times online. Uh oh, PIT-IAD has been bumped back yet again. 7:40 this time. I’m not going to make my connection to Munich now. Damn, better go back to the desk.

The woman at the desk tells me to wait half an hour to see if the flight gets bumped up. I think to myself, “the only way I’m going to make that connection is if we fly through some sort of magic, time changing, worm hole.” I keep my thoughts to myself and do as she asks, time to wait again. Of course, the flight is not bumped up to an earlier time. To the contrary, it gets pushed back to 7:56. Now I can be absolutely sure I’m not going to make my connection to Munich.

Back to the desk… fingers crossed that they can find a new flight for me. After 20 minutes of waiting to catch the woman’s attention, she searches for a flight. What luck! A seat has just opened on the 9:59 flight to Frankfurt. It’ll be close, but with any luck I can make the flight to Europe. As long as the 4:50 turned 7:56 flight departure doesn’t get pushed back yet again and we leave “on time”, I’ll finally be on my way across the sea.

PIT departs at 8:00, another 4 minutes have been lost, but there is still hope if the gates are close to one another. At 9:03, the PIT to IAD plane has landed, in a couple of minutes we’ll be taxied into the gate. Man, this is cutting it close, I hope the next flight is nearby. Of course, the travel gods are laughing so hard they have started to roll out of their first class seats. The next gate is on the other end of the airport. Better start running!

I reach the gate just as they are preparing to close the doors. I’m the last passenger to board the plane, but I’ve made it. Now to find my seat. .. 17E… yuck. It’s directly in the middle of the row. I won’t complain though, I’m lucky I got on the flight to begin with.

Wait a minute! 17E is in the front of the Economy Plus section! I got a free upgrade. Thank you, travel gods, perhaps I’ve misjudged you. The extra leg room and cool dinner tray and TV screen set up are pretty sweet. Plus, I’ve made a new friend, Kyle. For the next 8 hours, we spend the time chatting, watching cartoons, and listening to music. Probably should have gotten some sleep, but who can pass up friendly conversation and watching cartoons? I know I can’t. It’s just too much fun!

The plane lands, it is time to get off and move onto the final leg of my journey to Toulouse. First, a stop at the passport check counter. I’m pretty sure everyone and anyone that has ever had a passport decided to fly today. The line is incredibly long and slow moving. Will I make it to my flight on time?

I’m finally through the passport check. On to the gate? Nope, on to security checkpoint 2. Apparently the US security workers don’t do a good enough job of checking travelers, so this airport decides to go through the bags again. Of course I set off the metal detector for some reason, the wand is passed over me, I get frisked. Ok, that ordeal is over, time to move on to the gate. I better hurry, there is barely enough time to make it.

Is this some kind of a joke? Where is Gate A9? Ha! Let me tell you where Gate A9 is… it is in what looks like a refurbished basement down a series of corridors, elevators, stairwells, etc. As you can clearly guess, I didn’t make it to the gate in time. Fantastic. Now what?

I am told that the flight has already left. Ok, where can I get a new flight to Toulouse? Well, apparently I have to go to the United desk in the B Gate area.
Ok, time to find the United terminal in Gate B. That’s odd. There is no United anything, let alone terminal, in Gate B. Panic starts to creep in. How am I supposed to get to Toulouse? I can’t even find the airline! I wander around some more, frantically searching for the United name. As the wandering around has gotten me nowhere, I decide to ask someone.

There is an employee at the gate of an airline I have never heard of in my life. He doesn’t have any passengers to deal with yet, so I’ll ask him where I should go. Success! There is a United Airlines area in the airport. Failure… it is outside the secure area. But I know where it is now. What a helpful and friendly man.

After another series of scavenger hunt style flight booking, it is time to go through flight security yet again. My bags are checked for the 3rd time in this series of flights, the metal detector goes off for the second time, and I get frisked yet again. Ok, on to the gate.

Finally, a gate that actually looks like it belongs in an international airport! I find a seat, pick up a carbonated apple juice, and relax until it’s time to fly. After such a long day, I’m glad I’ll be in Ambialet in a matter of hours.
This new flight arrives on time, departs as scheduled, and I land in Toulouse shortly after 6:00. Later than originally scheduled, but I’ve made it and my next stop is Ambialet. Miraculously, my bags have succeeded in meeting me at the pickup area. Now that took some serious skill and organization on the airport community’s part.

Off to Ambialet…