We have only been here a few hours, but so much has happened. Our whole adventure started with the ride to the airport! A friend took us- mind you this friend is an Aussie who grew up in Africa, so his driving technique is a bit different than the traditional methods. After getting turned around and taking us through little india on the backside of Chicago, nearly crashing and breaking more than a few laws, we finally ALMOST make it when we crash through a gate- leaving me screaming and our friend laughing... anyways we finally got to the United Airlines terminal where we were able to fly through security with minimal effort and be on our way. The flight was of course long, however the seating was 2-4-2 so we had our own little area on the side of the plane- probably a good thing because for the first while we were a giggly mess. A "dinner" and "breakfast" were provided... yum... Sleeping on the plane was of course a difficult thing. Off and on, off and on. Its hard to get comfortable when you have an inconsiderate person sitting in front of you who leans back ALL THE WAY. But I figured they needed the rest more than I needed comfort and let it be.
We finally landed in London and were able to breeze through immigration. No biggie at all. We then quickly located the underground system, purchased tickets and hopped on the Tube. 45 minutes later we found ourselves emerging from the dark caves of the London underground into the incredibly busy Piccadilly Circus- an area of downtown London just bustling with activity. From there we were L-O-S-T. After consulting one to many maps, we finally decided to simply strike out and head for locations by sight. Good thing to! We found our way quickly and soon found ourselves in the heart of history and amazing architecture. Its almost overwhelming. Towering cathedrals and big ben, the London bridge and the river. London was such a beautiful city, what bit we saw of it. We had our fill and were tired of walking- we were afraid of running out of time you see so we had pounded the streets hard to make sure we saw all we could, so we actually ended up seeing all we had planned to quite quickly, so we wandered our way back to the underground for another 45 minute trek back to the airport. Once back we breezed through security in five minutes and ended up having about two hours to wait. I attribute the ease of travel to the time of year!
After another hour flight from London Heathrow to Cork Ireland, we once again breezed through immigration. Were talking 5 minutes folks! Then another two minutes to collect baggage and maybe about ten to collect rental car and we were out the door! A very simple and smooth process! Upon wandering through the rental car parking lot, we found our (not so compact) "compact diesel", but its a beautiful little car! Hopped in (on the wrong side...) and headed for our hotel only 5 minutes down the road! Or so we thought...
Driving on the opposite side of the car is fine and dandy, that I was able to master quickly, however the opposite side of the road posses a much bigger issue! Cork, as it turns out, is a bustling college town with lovely drivers all over. This resulted in one to many small quibbles between navigator and driver, yelling at the gps, a few slammed brakes, curbs ran over, stop signs blown through and a very very stressed Houston. Our GPS of course did not take us to the right place - she got us close, but not right on. Its dark, its rainy, im driving on the other side of the road, im freaking out and my GPS continues to say in a meloncholy voice "at the next intersection turn right". SHUT UP. We finally stop for directions, make the loop twice, STILL cant find our hotel. We call, get directions, STILL cant find it. We end up ringing some poor families doorbell far to late at night only to be told the place we were looking for is next door. Great! However... there is no parking. So we had to loop around twice more, park on the street and walk up and down, up and down until we find this little alley that is the deemed hotel parking. Finally, finally finally! At this point im near a premature heart attack, we are exhausted from 36 hours of travel and we are starving because the last thing we have eatn was that pathetic "breakfast" on the flight. We make our way to our room (which turns out to be a tiny dorm-room style room with two bunkbeds... but I digress). And after hitting the sack exhausted, I have now awoken after only a handful hours of sleep because my time clock is all sorts of backwards!
So that was OUR first experience! It was great, overal, just a bit nerve wrecking! Later today we have a LOAD planned- I cant wait!
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