The End To A Very, Very Long Day

Well the day finally arrived. Thursday, March 10th a day I had been intently planning on for over a year. But actually had been pointing towards for most of my adult life. My big adventure was about to begin. Although I had planned and done my due diligence in preparing for my trip I knew there would be bumps in the road. What I didn’t know was just how soon one of those bumps would appear.

After a fitful nights sleep I was up at 6:00 am. Cleaned, dressed, breakfast and another check of my bags found us out the door by 9:00. A short trip to Brownsville International Airport (yes, we do have flights to Mexico…:) Said my goodbyes to mom and Bob, hard but we got through them. Then it was time for my Embraer 145 United flight to Houston. Very good flight or as good as it can be flying in a Pringles can with wings! Damn those things are small! Pretty uneventful at Houston. Checked in at British Airways. Actually a smooth trip through TSA security, YEAH! And a couple of hours to kill at the gate. It was then time to board. All I can say is wow! I was on a Boeing 777, the largest airplane I’d ever been on. Hard to describe the feeling after riding “regional” jets most of my life. Cabin so spacious. Seat was wonderful. They had a pillow and blanket waiting on the seat. And my own tv! Nine hours was going to go by pretty fast. But no it gets better. A tasty craft beer about a half hour into the flight. A very good meal with wine followed. I then watched “Creed” and then the lights went down. I tried to sleep and maybe got a hour. Oh well, watched “The Big Short” and then lights back on. Breakfast and final preparations for landing. It went by fast and was a wonderful flight!

Heathrow Airport is a interesting place. One of the busiest in the world. But really pretty easy to get around. I negotiated passport control and in the process got my first passport stamp! Then it was off to find my gate for the flight to Dublin. The gate hadn’t been posted yet and I had a couple hours to kill. So I found a good seat and did some people watching. I have to say judging from some of the sights this place has the Iowa State Fair beat! But in a upscale, worldly way. No mullets, scooters or people walking around with food on sticks. But fashionistas, rolling suitcases and kebabs were out in force. All was good until my phone buzzed with the first update. And the beginning of the rest of the story.

Things had gone so well up to this point. I was starting to pat myself on the back. When the update about the Dublin flight being delayed arrived. Oh, oh. But it was just a hour. Wheels up at noon instead of 11:00 with landing at 1:15 instead of 12:15. Not bad still plenty of time to get through the airport and to my lodging. With time left for a stroll and my first Guinness. Well that was just the beginning. My flight kept being delayed and delayed and delayed. Until I was just hoping I’d get to the apartment before dark! Well we finally took off at 3:30 pm. We arrived at 4:30 ( good tail wind I guess!) Going through the airport went well. (I’ll tell you more about my trip through immigration in a later post. It deserves its own story!) Found my express bus into the city. Sat down in my seat on the upper level of the double decker bus in the very front! Breathed a sigh and settled in to enjoy the scenery on my way to the city center stop. Now this is where the real fun begins!

I had booked an apartment off AirBnb. Great location and nicely appointed. A very good base for the girls and I to explore Dublin. Cathal, the owner, and I had been corresponding in the months leading up to my trip. The plan was he would meet me at the apartment and give me the keys. I would email him from the bus as it had wifi when I left the airport. He contacted me a day before I was to leave and informed me his son was in the hospital and we would have to make other arrangements. No problem. So the new plan was one of his mates would meet me at one of the bus stops before my apartment stop and hop on the bus and give me the keys. Since his mate couldn’t meet me at the apartment. And he didn’t know which stop he would be at until after lunch we couldn’t set up the meet until I arrived. He’d let me know which one when I emailed him from the bus. Great!

So I’m on the bus settled in and I send the email “I’m on my way”. Wrong! Sorry your mail can’t be sent at this time. WHAT! My phone showed a good strong signal. Tried again. Same result. I tried and tried and tried. Same outcome. It dawned on me. I’m screwed! I had no way to contact Cathal and I didn’t know which bus stop his friend would be at. I’ve got to say folks I was a little down right about then. Plus add in the fact I had been awake for 25 hours straight and you have all the makings for a melt down! But I held it together. I just reminded myself that I knew there were going  to be challenges and this wasn’t the end of the world. I decided to go to the apartment building. And if no one was there I’d try to find a Internet cafe or pay phone as I had Cathals phone number.

I get to the apartment and nobody is around. It’s a secured building so I couldn’t even get in the lobby. By this time the street lights are coming on and it’s getting dark. Walking from the bus stop I didn’t see any Internet cafes and the only pay phone had the receiver ripped out! I’m standing there on the sidewalk with my backpack planning my next move when it came to me. What do you do in Dublin when you need help? Why go to the nearest pub of course! It just so happens right across the street was John Fallons pub. So I walked in. Man, I must have been a sight. A old man with a backpack and a searching look on his face. This is a real local pub folks and the locals must have wondered how lost is this guy! I go to the bar and the barkeep asked me what I needed. A couple of things I said. A pint of Guinness but what I really needed first was some help. He smiled and said something that was music to my ears….”I can help you with both”. I explained my story and asked him if there was a pay phone nearby? He said no but I’ve got the bar phone you can use! And the guy sitting next to me added if you need it you can use mine to! Wow! Talk about a feeling of relief. I called Cathal who was worried about me and would have his friend meet me at the pub. His friend Adrian arrived with the keys after walking about 20 minutes! I thanked him and offered something for his trouble. But he declined stating again they were all worried about me and was glad to do it. And after two pints of Guinness I thanked Jerry the barkeep. And left to goodbyes from all around. When I finally crawled into bed I’d been up for 32 hours. As I drifted off to sleep I knew two things that I didn’t know 32 hours previously. One, was that I think I’m up for any bumps in the road. The other, the hospitality of the Irish people is grossly understated!