Europe 2016 - Jetlag, Guinness, Jameson & Vikings

After my 24 hour layover in Chicago (see Europe 2016 - Off to a Slow Start) it was good to finally board the plane for my flight. I was excited when I found out that I had been upgraded to Economy Plus. I had never been upgraded before and I never mind extra leg room. Then I saw I was also in an exit row, even more leg room! One downside, exit row seats don't recline as much as other seats do. And since other seats don't recline much, that meant sleeping would be hard to come by.

 

And it was. I tried not to watch movies or TV and to get some sleep, but between the no reclining, being in an aisle seat and the stress of the day before starting to get to me, there would be no sleep for me. When we landed in Dublin, I had a decision to make. Because I had lost a day should I just go to the hostel and relax or do all the touristy items that I had planned to do that day.

I'm afraid to say that the plan maker Natalie won out on this one. I still planned to take day trips to other parts of Ireland, which meant this was my one day to explore Dublin. So I grabbed my bags, found my way to the tourist shop and bought my one day Dublin City Pass.

*Side note: I highly recommend looking into city passes whenever you travel somewhere. You can get great deals and are usually able to get some transportation as well.

I don't know why but this mural catches my every time I go by it.

After dropping off my bags at the hostel I knew the first place I wanted to visit was Dublinia. I had seen the outside of this museum the last time I was in Dublin and wanted to go in so badly, but didn't have time. It is a museum that shows the history of Dublin including the Viking periods. That is what I most wanted to see.

As I walked through the middle of the Viking Ship I realized that late spring is prime time for field trips. The museum itself was good, but geared quite a bit more towards families than I thought it would be. The kids on the field trips seemed to enjoy it and loved the interactive displays. Especially dressing up like a Viking.



Looking up the tower

While Dublinia wasn't quite all that I hoped it would be, it did offer me a couple of gems that I didn't expect. The first is that the museum itself is situated in an old church, so it allows visitors climb up stairs into the medieval St. Michael's Tower and see the city skyline.



Looking out toward Christ Church Cathedral

Viewing Dublin's mountains

 

Looking back at how high I had climbed.

The second gem is that it is connected to Christ Church Cathedral by an archway over the city street. I fell in love with the looks of this archway two years prior, so getting to walk in it was exciting to say the least.

My next stop would then be Christ Church Cathedral. It was founded in 1030A.D. and the Cathedral Crypt is the oldest structure in today's Dublin. I was in awe of the architecture.

 

Headed across the Arch

These are medieval floor tiles (the oldest ones of the cathedral).

Costumes from The Tudors



Of course I find a bit of Messiah history here. :)

 

Strongbow's Tomb

By this time it was well after noon and I knew that while I wasn't hungry, I did need to eat. While looking for something small, I decided a classic meal was just the ticket.

The restaurant I ate at, Beshoff Bros. These are also the busses that I was able to take a tour on.

Really good Fish & Chips

City Hall

After a quick stop at City Hall, it was time to make my way towards the Guinness Storehouse. The Guinness district is extremely large. The museum itself is 7 stories tall! It is a self guided museum, which I normally don't prefer, but with that big of a place I was glad I could go at my own pace. It was interesting to see how it all came about. And how Arthur Guinness basically built himself a city in order to make sure his workers had what they needed close at hand. And that they were close at hand to the Storehouse.



City Hall

My exhausted, jet lagged selfie

The water they use for making Guinness

 

I am not a fan of beer, but I knew that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to drink free Guinness at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. They did give me a free ticket for a drink after all. I also knew that the jetlag was setting in and that I wasn't starting to feel well. Lucky for me there was a demonstration that was for tasting Guinness. First they ushered us into a white room with different smell tanks. Each one had the smell of one of the ingredients. Then they had us go into a dark, man cave looking room where they told you how to properly drink Guinness. For a girl that doesn't like beer, it doesn't matter how you drink it. It's still gross!

One of the ingredient tanks you smell before you taste.

My baby Guinness

*Tidbit for those that know me. I didn't even get the alternative to the free Guinness, which was a free glass of pop. That's how out of sorts I was.

*Interesting fact: The harp was a symbol for Guinness before it was a National Symbol of Ireland. Also the National Symbol hap is a mirrored image of the Guinness Harp, so as to not infringe on the registered trademark.



A view from the Sky Bar

Had to take this pic of the Sodexo truck (the company I work for) driving through the gates of the Guinness factory.

By the time that I made it out of the Guinness Museum, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to make it to the Jameson Museum in time. As this is the drink of choice of my brother-in-law I decided to try my best to make it there. So on the bus I went. It was really starting to hit me that I was tired, and I had to try everything in my power to stay awake.

 

I made it to the Jameson Museum just in time to get into the last tour group. They did a good job of describing what makes Jameson and other Irish whiskey's different from American or Scottish whiskeys. I must admit that I was so tired that I had to sneak a few snacks to stay awake during the talks.

 

 

 

When it came to the tasting, I discovered that I'm not a huge fan of whiskey either. They first had us taste the Jameson. Then they had us taste a scotch and back to the Jameson. Lastly they had us taste an American whiskey. To be more specific, Jack Daniels. After that one I flew back to the Jameson and swigged the rest down. There is no comparison between those two!

The 3 whiskeys

 

Once again, I passed on the free drink of Jameson. If I was tired before the tour, I was definitely exhausted now. I made a beeline to my hostel and gave into the fact that I wouldn't be going on a day trip out of the city the next day. I wasn't even sure I was going to wake up before noon.

Europe 2016 - Off to a Slow Start

Two years ago when I got back from Sweden I had no idea that I would be headed back into the world of international solo travel so quickly. When I had finished that trip, I knew I wanted to go back to Ireland and that area of the world. It was just a dream though. A dream that ended up coming true.

Last June was when this whole adventure started, but I didn't realize what that adventure would be for many more months. In June and on into July I was feeling an overwhelming sense that God was freeing up my 2016 summer. I had absolutely no idea why. Some (including myself) joked that maybe I would be planning a wedding. Obviously that wasn't the reason at all.

In the fall I found myself looking through some travel books and coming up with a dream plan to see Europe. It included starting in Ireland and traveling through Scotland, England, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and ending in the southern part of Sweden. These countries included some of Europe's most famous royal cities. And I love a good castle! When trying to fit that into a 3 week period, I realized I wouldn't have much time in any of the countries. So I decided Ireland, the UK and then over to Denmark/Sweden would be a better route to go.

Then winter came around and I put the dream on a back burner. I don't know why, but in February it started coming back in my mind. I even used an app to track airplane ticket prices. By March I had looked back over my dream plans. Even going as far as looking at hostel prices. I realized that I would be so close to Paris, that if I were to take this trip I would regret not going to Paris. I mean, who wouldn't want to say "I've been to Paris"? However going to Paris would mean that I would have to give up Denmark and Sweden. That was a really hard decision!! The chance to cross another city off my "To Travel To" list won out.

I realized that plans were falling into place. I started praying quite a bit, as I wanted to make sure these were the plans that God had for me. It wasn't until I was at a Vineyard Church Conference in Kansas City, that I fully gave into His plan. That I was going to Europe.

That brings us to May 31. The day of my departure. I had chosen to fly out of Wichita this time so that my family didn't have to drive as far to drop me off. Leaving my family is always the hardest for me and I'm used to Kansas City where we can sit outside the gate until close to boarding. In Wichita that wasn't the case. I couldn't even really see how long the TSA line was and hearing of all the horror stories of waiting forever I decided to say goodbye with plenty of cushion time.

I just didn't know how much cushion time that would end up being. I got through TSA just fine and then my flight was delayed. Chicago was having storms and grounded all flights. I had a couple hour layover in Chicago so I wasn't too worried. That is until my flight was delayed for a couple of hours. The pilot was very nice coming out every half an hour or so to explain the whole situation to us. Unfortunately I didn't have many options. I could stay and take the flight hoping that since all flights were grounded my flight to Ireland would be delayed as well or I could go home and come back the next day. As my parents were already home by that point I decided to try my luck. Besides even if I were just in Chicago I was still on vacation.

I made it to Chicago just a few minutes after my flight for Dublin had taken off. And this is where this part of the story gets interesting. After standing in line for half an hour and re-booking my flight for the next day at the same time, I had almost 22 hours to kill. Because the Wichita flight was delayed due to weather, I was on my own finding lodging for the night. Part of me was excited to finally have a bad airport story, but another part of me was tired and not wanting to make decisions.

This is what I looked at while standing in line to get my tickets changed.

 

Luckily for me my sister came to my rescue. She found me a hotel room and took care of the booking. All I needed to do was get to the shuttle. I joked with dad that this debacle was because I had reserved lodging for the entire trip. Something I hadn't done in previous trips which led to wandering adventures.

Another stroke of luck was that while I had packed light, I decided to go ahead and check my backpack (my main bag). I did have the foresight to put my pajamas in my carryon. This meant I only had a couple small bags that I had to take to the hotel. This would make returning quite a bit easier. So off the shuttle stop I went. I stopped at what I thought was the right spot. Of course it wasn't. Just as I realized I needed to go across the street, I got another stroke of luck.

A guy was walking past me. He was talking with another guy and asking if the shuttles were across the street. He was looking for the same shuttle as I was. I kept my distance, but knew that two sets of eyes looking for the shuttle were better than one. Then he mentioned that he should have been on his flight to Dublin, but instead was stuck in Chicago. And that's when I took a chance. I said I was supposed to be on that flight as well.

Motel in Chicago

We did the usual name exchange and where we were from. Turns out 'J' knows where Lindsborg is and knows someone from the area. He did his undergrad at KSU and is now getting his graduate degree. He was headed over to Ireland to work on swine statistics for school. After squeezing into the shuttle and getting our rooms worked out, we were able to have a decent supper. We decided we might as well stick together the next day as well. I mean we did have several hours to kill in the airport.

It was nice to have someone to talk with and help pass the time. We had enough in common that we were able to carry on conversations easily. We even found out that we could tease each other, as he made a point of making a big deal of me tying  my shoes, while he just slipped on his boots. The TSA guy even got a kick out of J's big belt buckle. I ended up buying a deck of cards in the airport and we passed the time playing. At one point a fellow traveler asked if I was winning. J was keeping score and turned and said "No, she's killing me". 


One of the best souvenirs.


After seven hours at the airport, our flight finally started to board. J ended up at the back of the plane, while I had been upgraded to Economy Plus. That is where J and I's airport adventure ended and my Europe adventure started.

*I'll be honest, I had the thought at least once that maybe meeting J was a meet-cute moment. Alas, it was not. However it was a way of God telling me that He was watching out for me on this trip and that this hiccup at the beginning would actually be one of my favorite memories of the trip.