We arrived at SeaTac earlier than we had planned due to getting a call from British Airways a couple of hours before the flight. In that phone call the lady on the other end was saying that the flight was overbooked by 4 people and since our party was 4 people they were asking if we could take a different flight. We hung up saying we couldn’t switch due to our connecting flight in London to Ireland being so close time-wise to this new flight but as the thought of getting upgraded to business class for free on another flight marinited in our minds we started to think that maybe we could make some other kind of switch work out. But, BA wasn’t answering the number they called from and the 800 number couldn’t connect us to SeaTac. So off we went a bit early in hopes of switching.
We arrived at SeaTac without incident & with no traffic (Friday slightly before rush-hour) and the BA switching deal was no longer available – oh well! We waited for the flight, ate some burger king, and read some British newspapers that had arrived from the plane we would soon be boarding.
The scheduled boarding time came and we eventually got on the plane. We paid for slightly better economy seats – ones touted as having power and more legroom – but they were actually quite cramped and I could never get the power outlet to work. They were probably slightly more comfortable than regular economy in that my knees didn’t touch the back of the seat in front of me but that’s probably about it.
The flight lasted forever as they always do when you’re cramped and uncomfortable. I’ve flown business class in the past (and on longer flights!) and those flights are a dream – they’re just un-Godly expensive and can only be done when I’m not the one actually paying for everything. Anyway, we got to London’s Heathrow airport on-time and quite anxious to start our next leg which at the time we didn’t know would be so tedious and time consuming!
Heathrow is huge! After walking quite a bit from terminmal 5 where we arrived on BA we finally found the area where we had to wait to catch a ‘transit’ (read: bus) to terminal 1. We waited and waited and finally the transit arrived. I’ve been on shuttles/trains/trams/busses at other airports and it’s usually a minute or two ride just getting you from one side of the airport to another but this transit ride to terminal 1 was literally 10 minutes long!
We got to terminal 1 – finally – and our epic march to the Aer Lingus terminal had now begun. First, we had to go through immigration. Since we were doing a non-BA connecting flight we had to officially enter British soil to continue to terminal 1. This process took forever as there was 1 guy processing the non-EU passports and there were already several people ahead of us in the ‘queue’ (read: line). We were already slightly confused – wondering if we were in the right place – because we had to fill out immigration cards and if you’re unfamiliar with these cards they ask where – and how long – you’ll be staying [in the country you've just arrived]. The problem we were having is that we weren’t staying in London so we were unsure what to put on the cards and there was no one around to help and time was quickly approaching for when we needed to board our flight to Ireland. We filled in nothing for the days and location boxes and waited in the queue. Finally we reached the man and he stamped our passports super quick – compared to the quickness of the others before us in the queue – and we were now on British soil and back on our way to terminal 1.
After going through immigration we continued to follow signs for terminal 1. We also needed to find an Aer Lingus desk as we weren’t able to print out our boarding passes at home the day before. We walked more and eventually had to go through security again – meaning pull out laptop, take off shoes, take out liquids bag, etc. – but once through security there were signs saying flight desks were near. We made it to the Aer Lingus desk eventually and got our boarding passes with ease – and also got exit row seats. Sweet! However, the guy indicated that the plane was at gate 80 and that it was about a 15 minute walk from our current location.
We started walking once again and finally made it to gate 80. Along the way we had to forfeit going into many good looking shops due to being so rushed for time. We had planned to get lunch before the flight as well but that also didn’t happen due to time constraints. When we arrived at gate 80 we ended up waiting about 10 minutes before the flight started boarding – which was awesome for me since I have no patience waiting for flights once a trip has begun.
We got on the plane – an A320 – and found our seats and immediately started talking about how these seats were so much more comfortable and how we had so much more leg room than the previous flight. The issue with this is that this flight from London to Ireland cost about 5 euros – ie. its SUPER CHEAP – and the flight we just came from where we paid extra for the better economy seats was SUPER EXPENSIVE. Ugh. Anyway, the flight boarded and we finally got clearance to push back and started to taxi and then finally we were up in the air on our way to Ireland!
The flight from London to Dublin was only an hour which was awesome and before we knew it we had landed at Dublin and were headed for immigration and customs! We all pulled out some eruos from an ATM on our way, too.
We were now through immigration and customs (sidenote: so easy going through these processes compared to Tokyo) and were headed to the Budget rental car station to get our car and get on our way to the B&B. There was a little bit of delay at Budget until they found an automatic with sufficient trunk space. We ended up getting some 4 door Skado (?) thing – think Toyota Camry-ish – and now had to walk out and pick it up. We got the car, put our stuff in it, and it was now time to head off to the B&B.
We do a couple of laps around the Budget parking lot before entering actual roads and WOW IT WAS WEIRD. (They drive on the left in Ireland). I kept wanting to look to the right for the rear view and, like when starting to drive originally, depth perception and the ‘feel’ of how wide the car was was totally off. Feeling kind of comfortable from the parking lot laps we got on the street entering traffic and head off for the B&B.
We had some google maps and a really awesome [allegedly] map book but we still got lost SEVERAL times trying to find the B&B. Weirdness of driving on the left side of the road aside, the road signs are weird and aren’t really matching up with the maps we printed and the map book. We drove on the M1 (like a main highway thing) for a bit before realizing we had gone too far north so we got turned around and on some route 132 road heading south and were doing quite well until a roundabout unexpectedly dumped us back on the M1 heading south toward the airport! The B&B was allegedly a few minutes from the airport so we were semi-ok with heading back towards the airport (due to how far north we had gone) but as we were coming south on the M1 we were getting closer and closer to the airport and the exit we decided to take was actually the airport exit. Doh!
We drove a bit following some signs for Malahide as the B&B was near Malahide. The signs were like ninjas, though, and didn’t pop out or make themselves visible until it was too late. One missed turn and a u-turn in a roundabout later and we were back on a road to Malahide. Going to Malahid would be too far as the B&B was somewhere on the way to Malahide but not in Malahide.
We drove for a few kilometers and finally saw a sign for a castle that we knew was a short walk from the B&B so we knew we were really close! We drove a little further and decided we needed to turn around so we did a u-turn at some building with a bunch of bikes in front of it and decided we would take the first road we encountered on our way back since we believed we were so close. We took the first road and it was indeed the road we needed. Another turn later and it was now time to find the B&B on the tiny road we were on. We ended up passing the B&B as we only saw the sign for it as we passed by so another u-turn later in someones driveway and a bit more driving we were finally at the B&B!
We were greeted by Olive, the owner lady, and she was super nice and inviting and showed us our rooms and offered to make us a tea or coffee. I accepted the tea offer and after we unpacked the car we talked with her briefly about what was around us and where to go for – and how to get to – dinner.
Olive drove us into Malahide herself and dropped us off near where we talked about eating dinner – Smyths. After finally finding the eating section (as the place had a small bar area and a larger bar area and behind that was an area for food) we sat down and ordered some food. I also got a Guinness. And then another.
The Guinness’s were awesome and the food was regular ‘pub grub’ as people and guidebooks call it. I got some sandwhich thing, Amber got fish and chips, Carol got some french fries covered in cheese and bacon pieces, and Kathy got a veggie burger. After eating, and because we were so tired, we jumped in a cab and went back to the B&B.
The cab driver was a douche, though, as he clearly missed turns on the GPS to run the meter up. It’s bad when we’ve only been there for an hour or so and were telling him he should have turned somewhere. It should have been a 7 euro trip but it turned into 14 euros. We’re not going to let that happen next time.
Back at the B&B I made some twitter and facebook posts on the public computer they have sitting out while Amber showered. Then, while I did my laundry in the sink and showered, she did the same (facebook, email). After that it was bed time eventhough it was only about 8:00 PM. I threw a melatonin into my nightly pill regiment and passed out. Amber was pretty much asleep by the time I got into bed.
Just like the Tokyo trips I’ve taken I woke up pretty early and very wide awake. It was about 5:30 AM when I started typing this all up and it’s now about 6:22 AM – still too early to do anything. I think I’ll try to get a little bit more sleep as breakfast doesn’t start until 8 AM. I wont’ be able to post this until later, too.