Whew! We finally made it!

Thirty two hours after leaving our home in Hawaii, we are finally in Dublin. This is a record breaker for us. AND, I managed to get a cold along the way. Upon landing at Dublin Airport, I could have kissed the ground (in reality, dirty airport carpet) for two reason. # 1 We were finally on Irish soil after hours waiting in airports and sitting like sardines in airplanes. #2 The flight from England to Ireland was the most hair raising experience. The plane felt like a giant was swatting us about like a annoying fly buzzing around his head. Of course, I hate any turbulence. Fletch and I immediately showered and went to bed after checking into our hotel, Harrington Hall , which is located close to Trinity College and St. Stephens Green. The only Dublin we have seen was from our taxi ride from the airport to here. It is hard to judge a city in such a short time, so I won't. But, there seems to be many lovely old buildings with a few modern structures here and there. They love color, doors and window frames are painted bright shades of reds, greens, yellows... it's charming. Our hotel is an old brick Georgian house with a bright yellow door to greet its guests. Once I passed that door, it was all a blur. After a 6 hour sleep, it is now, 10:30 at night and Fletch and I are unpacking, washing our clothes in the bathroom sink and drinking Irish blended tea or so it says on the packet. Fletch thinks we will be able to download photos so hopefully I can get a few out to you. In closing, according to our chatty taxi driver, the most favored sport in Ireland, and it is only played in Ireland, is a game called "hurling". The first thing that popped in my mind was "hurling" after drinking too much Guinness. Hurling is actually Gaelic football, played like soccer but with a small ball and sticks. By the way, hurling does not pay its athletics, and Dublin has not won a tournament in 14 years. That honor goes to the team from Kilkenny, a town we will be staying in this Friday. Off to bed with Rick Stevens~ the travel book ~ and also an Eyewitness Travel book, which I believe are the most helpful and user friendly books for daily touring. Until next time.....