Dublin, Day 1

We made it! We are here in Dublin, just finished breakfast and waiting to go on a guided tour of the city. Lots of history here....famous bridges and cathedrals and what-not.

We left Great Falls two hours late because of weather, which meant that we were probably going to miss our connection to London. The steward on our flight to Denver was assuring us that they were going to hold the plane for us, but that we needed to run when we got to Denver. We arrived at gate 94 and sprinted through the airport to gate 36, only to have the jerk at the gate tell us that we were too late. The plane was still there, but they weren't going to let us on. Miracles happened, though, and the plane pulled away from the concourse, and then came back to get us! Amazing. We missed our connection in London, but Aer Lingus got us all on the next flight, so we made it to Dublin.

We were greeted at the airport by our tour guide and promptly taken to a pub called Portabello's to meet up with the rest of our group. There are four other groups traveling with us. We ate a delicious meal at the pub and were taken to our hotel. The hotel is on the outskirts of Dublin, but Brian, our tour guide, said that tonight after supper we can stay in the city and he will show us where to catch a bus back to the hotel. We also have the entire afternoon free, so we are trying to figure out where exactly we want to go.

We are going to get to go to Cobh, formerly Queenstown, which was the port where most of the immigrants left Ireland for America. It is also the place where the Luisitania survivors were taken when their ship sank. I'm excited about that.

The weather here has been scattered showers. Dubliner's don't seem to be bothered by the rain. They just go on about their business. It is very muggy and humid here. The hotel doesn't have air conditioning, and the window only opens about 4 inches. We were up early this morning, (5:30) and came down to the lobby because it was so uncomfortable upstairs.

I am paying for internet, and am just about out of time, so I'm going to end here. Remember, if you don't have a blogger account and leave a comment, please leave your name so I know who it is.

Love you all and miss you loads.