Travel Journal

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="002285a1erlcgo.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>www.chapmansfriend.com</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="default.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.chapmansfriend.com"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="001d2c00dkelyh.gif"> <div> <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="My Big Fat Irish Vacation"><U>My Big Fat Irish Vacation</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Traveling Man"><U>Traveling Man</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pictures of Ireland"><U>Pictures of Ireland</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Travel Journal</B></div> <div> <B>3:52 PM</B></div> <div> <B>Tuesday, January 14</B></div> <div> <B>Somewhere in the swamps of Jersey</B></div> <bR> <div> OK, it's actually the Newark Airport.</div> <div> I'm in the midst of a nearly 6-hour wait for my next flight, and it's almost exactly as exciting spending 6 hours in the Newark Airport as you'd expect. Well, it's not Newark's fault... any airport would probably be the same.</div> <bR> <div> How did this come about? I have a week's vacation time from Pizza Hut that I have to use before the end of February. My class for the spring semester begins on January 23. And I just felt like doing <I>something </I>interesting for that time. A what-the-hell search of websites for cheap roundtrip airfares turned up a package to Dublin for less than half of what it might cost during peak season... and Ireland is a good combination of</div> <div> a: Someplace I've never been;</div> <div> b: Someplace that, unlike most destinations on the Continent, I felt I could undertake with only a week's notice. I'll be spending much of my time in Dublin, with probably one excursion out into the rest of the country, and;</div> <div> c: Guinness.</div> <bR> <div> So, less than a week after making the final decision to go for it, here I am. Today began with a trip to O'Hare that occurred during rush hour, making it over a two-hour drive, but in plenty of time to get an 11 AM flight to Newark. (Interesting airline note: It's actually cheaper to fly roundtrip from Chicago to Newark to Dublin than it is to fly roundtrip from Chicago to Newark!) By just before 2 PM Eastern time, I could see the Statue of Liberty  during landing, but for the first time while landing in New Jersey. It's an 8:40 PM flight to Dublin, so as I write this I have nearly four hours left before boarding. And, I don't have that much more to write now! So I can always study some guidebooks a little further.</div> <bR> <div> I should be getting into Dublin at 8:10 Wednesday morning, and I'll be in the city for Wednesday night. My current plan is to travel outside Dublin for Thursday, and come back to the city on Friday to stay there for the remainder of time before my return flight on Sunday morning. Enough of this for now... maybe I'll write another dispatch on the flight. I'd post a picture of where I am right now, but seriously, it's an airport waiting area.</div> <bR> <div> <B>3:38 AM, Dublin time</B></div> <div> <B>Wednesday, January 15</B></div> <div> <B>Eight Miles High</B></div> <bR> <div> I'm in the air somewhere over the Atlantic. It's about two hours since taking off from Newark, and surprisingly, the trip is almost half-finished. Instead of the 6 and a half hours or so it looked like the flight would take, they are estimating time in the air to be around 5:30. We should be in Dublin about an hour earlier than scheduled... but on the other hand it cuts back a little on the nap time I figured I'd be able to take. I just don't want jetlag to hit me too hard during the next day. </div> <bR> <div> In-flight movies? Something called <I>Spirit of the Cimmaron</I> and <I>Tuxedo</I>, which I believe was the first (most likely only) pairing of Jackie Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt. Pass.</div> <bR> <div> In four hours, I should be in Dublin, or at least at the airport waiting to go through customs.</div> <bR> <div> <B>8:19 PM</B></div> <div> <B>Wednesday</B></div> <div> <B>Dublin</B></div> <bR> <div> We landed in Dublin about 7:30 and I took a bus into the middle of the city. I went to my hotel thinking I might be able to leave my bags until I was able to check in, but to my surprise I was able to check in right away. After taking a few minutes to rest, I headed out at around 11 trying to get as much done before the inevitable jet lag kicked in.</div> <bR> <div> St. Stephen's Green is just a few blocks from where I'm staying-- it's only a few square blocks but looked very nice, especially in the unexpected sunshine. Forecasts had been warning me of rain for the entire week. Trinity College is only a little bit away from there, right in the center of town. The main street leading up to it is Grafton Street, where there's no car traffic and they've turned it into a pedestrian mall.</div> <bR> <div> The streets were full of marching transit workers, who were striking for part of the day. Hope they don't repeat it tomorrow, because I'm planning on using a train. </div> <bR> <div> Other than walking around aimlessly and picking up the atmosphere, I took some time to visit Christ Church Cathedral, the oldest church in Dublin (though, interestingly, not a Catholic one anymore), and the Book of Kells exhibit at Trinity College. The Book of Kells is a reproduction of the Gospels handcrafted by monks and dating back to the 9th century. I, on the other hand, usually can't remember where I put the TV Guide 5 minutes ago :)</div> <bR> <div> It gets dark earlier here than at home (the sun doesn't come up until nearly 8 AM either), so I was back at my room a little after 5... mainly because, yes, I'm finally pooped after over 24 hours with intermittent rest. I know I should go out and sample some pubs, and I feel like a wimp for not doing it, but there are three more nights for that and I'll probably just take it easy for the rest of the night. Tomorrow I'll have to be up early if I want to catch the earliest train that will get me to Dingle, where I'm hoping to spend tomorrow night.</div> <bR> <div> <B>7:01 PM</B></div> <div> <B>Thursday, January 16</B></div> <div> <B>Dingle</B></div> <bR> <div> Today's been made up mostly of traveling. I got out of my hotel at about 7:30 to get to the train station by the 8:30 train to Tralee. (Wasn't Roger Bresnahan called the Duke of Tralee?) It was then a 4 1/2 hour ride to Tralee, which is the closest stop to Dingle. At Tralee, I picked up a bus to Dingle which got me here at a little after 3. Unfortunately, during the ride to Dingle the weather finally turned bad, with some rain and (so they are reporting) 50 MPH winds coming in off the ocean. Interestingly, MPH relating to wind gusts is the only time I've heard a non-metric measure over here. </div> <bR> <div> After a few stops, I found a good B&B. Lots of the ones which operate normally seem to be closed down for the winter. Then, for a little while I braved the gales coming off the water to walk around the waterfront and into the town... also scouting out pubs where there might be some traditional Irish music tonight. Dark hit after only an hour or so, but I should have a little more time in the morning before my return trip to Dublin begins. I also found an internet shop to check up on messages and send some greetings out. As I'm writing this, I know it won't be posted for at least another day, but I am keeping up.</div> <bR> <div> Just for the record, the place I found to log on today bills itself as the westernmost internet cafe in Europe. Everybody's got to have a gimmick. I'm off to try some pubs and check out some music...</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>9:39 PM</B></div> <div> <B>Friday, January 17</B></div> <div> <B>Dublin</B></div> <bR> <div> Last night I went out to a few of the Dingle pubs, and eventually some live traditional music started up. One of the musicians was actually familiar to me... because he and I had both come in on the same train and bus, and I had heard him say he was playing that night. It was a great experience, helped along by (at least) several Guinnesses. During the course of the night, I was asked by a woman from Holland, "Are you Dutch?" Apparently according to her I look <I>exactly </I>like a famous Dutch pianist. So, if I'm ever in Amsterdam I can be mistaken for somebody important!</div> <bR> <div> In the morning, the skies finally cleared at least temporarily, and I was able to take a last swing around town before my bus left. After arriving back in Tralee, there was a two and a half hour wait for the Dublin train, so I toured the town as much as I could and also found an internet cafe to catch up on messages. Then a four and a half ride to Dublin, where I arrived at about 6:30. My hotel for tonight and tomorrow is located in a different part of downtown, north of the river, and by the time I walked there and got settled it was 7:30. I've taken a little rest and now I might try to check out some different places, maybe try a pub or two. Tomorrow will be my last full day here, and if the rain doesn't interfere too much, it should be busy...</div> <bR> <div> <B>7:01 PM</B></div> <div> <B>Saturday, January 18</B></div> <div> <B>Dublin</B></div> <bR> <div> As I'm writing this I can hear rain pounding against the room window, meaning that any pubbing for tonight might turn out to be a little damp. </div> <bR> <div> Last night I went to the Temple Bar section of town, which bills itself as the "left bank of Dublin"... it's where most of the most famous and popular pubs are. I dropped into a bar, actually <I>named </I>The Temple Bar, and stayed for a while-- even though it's one place, there are a myriad of rooms in it to make it seem like you've been in several different pubs at once. </div> <bR> <div> Today was dry until later in the afternoon, so I didn't get wet on my last day of seeing sights. Being at a hotel near the top of O'Connell Street, it was an easy job to see most of the attractions on the north side of the river since they're practically all on the street. There's the still-incomplete Dublin Spire, which is a huge steel structure being put up in the center of the street, for reasons I'm not certain of. They've been trying to put the last sections up to complete it, but the weather has been getting in the way, so it's sitting there half-finished. Then there's the General Post Office, where the Easter Proclamation of 1916 was announced by Irish rebels, causing the British to pulverize them and much of the city itself. It's still a working post office, even with its historical significance-- I bought a phonecard there!</div> <bR> <div> South of the river, I'd seen a lot of the attractions on Wednesday, so I scoped out a few I'd missed (Dublin Castle), and went back towards St. Stephen's Green and Grafton Street. With the "checklist" of things to see mostly complete, I was able to do what I like to do, which is just wander the streets picking up atmosphere. And souvenirs :)</div> <bR> <div> If the rain isn't too bad, I'll try Temple Bar (the neighborhood, but probably the pub as well) tonight, and then there's getting ready for my flight in the morning. Cheers (they say that a lot here!)...</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Monday, January 20</B></div> <div> <B>Back in the USA</B></div> <bR> <div> The time since my last post has been filled either with travel or sleep, so this is really my first chance to finish up. On Saturday night I spent some time back at the pubs before arriving back at my room to prepare for my flight. The rain held off for the most part during the evening... My flight from Dublin left at around 9 AM, but it was just a short 25 minute trip to Shannon Airport near the western coast of the island, where even though the same plane would be continuing onward to Newark, Dublin passengers had to take all carry-ons off the plane and go through the customs process again. The flight from Shannon finally left at about 11, with the next stop back in the states. I needed a little sleep, so unfortunately I couldn't spend much time watching the movies-- a Woody Allen double feature (<I>Hollywood Ending </I>and <I>Curse of the Jade Scorpion</I>). </div> <bR> <div> We were in Newark at 1:30 Eastern time (6:30 PM back in Dublin), where, guess what? Customs again. It was perfunctory all three times, but it still seemed redundant, especially since everybody on the flight had already gone through the US customs process before leaving Shannon. The flight back to Chicago left at 4:30, and by a quarter after 6 I was back at O'Hare.</div> <bR> <div> Even now, 24 hours or so after getting back home, it's somehow difficult to comprehend that I did what I did over the past week. Maybe it's because the trip itself was not planned in advance and I didn't spend weeks anticipating it... but it was a great time nevertheless. It's too bad I didn't get to see more of the country, but on a short trip like this I think I did as well as possible.</div> <bR> <div> It's possible that I might add a little more material in the days or weeks ahead, if something strikes me-- so keep an eye peeled. I'm also going to add a links section of sites relevant in one way or another.</div> <bR> <div> Until then, <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#336633" FACE="Baskerville Old Face" ><B>Slainte!</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#336633" FACE="Baskerville Old Face" ><B> </B></FONT>and<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#336633" FACE="Baskerville Old Face" ><B> </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#336633" FACE="Baskerville Old Face" ><B>Slan Agat!</B></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>