Safe and Sound in Dublin

After leaving my house at 8am yesterday, I finally arrived at my flat in Dublin at 10:30 this morning. Let's back up a bit: we departed from Pittsburgh on schedule, which meant that we had a 4 hour and 45 minute layover in Newark. I walked the terminal for a few hours, and killed some time at the Garden State Diner. Our 7:10pm flight to Dublin was a full one. I was able to request an exit aisle while still in Pittsburgh, so that helped a bit. The couple beside me were from Ireland, and were traveling with the 40 high school boys in the back of the plane. They had traveled to Youngstown on a band trip. They also spent a day at Duquesne University, which I found interesing since I earned my doctoral degree from DU. Apparently the boys school and Duquesne were both Holy Ghost schools, so they wanted to check it out. The flight was uneventful, other than a request for a medical personal to check out a women in some type of distress. One of my students is a trained EMT and he went forward and treated her. It wasn't anything major, but I know his presence made a lot of people feel better. I was proud of him, and I'm glad he was with us.

Our flight arrived an hour early to Dublin. I'm not sure how that happened. I guess we caught a good tailwind. So, we had to wait an hour or so for John Nolen to pick us up. He gave a little bus tour of the city to kill some time and we started dropping off the students at 8:45am, waking up a few host families in the process. I failed to mention that it was pouring rain this morning. We had to make seven stops for our 16 students. I walked each pair/three to the door and met their host families. I was getting pretty wet and trying to fight off a wicked headache. I finally got to my flat around 10:30, and after a half hour explanation from the landlord on how to use the keys, intercom system, TV, fake fireplace, shower, heater, washer/dryer, etc. he finally left. Within minutes I took some motrin and crashed for a three hour nap.

When I woke up the rain had stopped, so I ventured out for some fresh air and some food. It was a very good feeling to know where I was and where I was going. I headed to Kilkenny for a late lunch and tea. Kilkenny is a very nice store on the first floor and restaurant upstairs. It is a very popular place. You can get a hot meal, soup or a sandwich, a meal of just various salads, or the ever popular pot of tea and something sweet. It is about a 10-15 minute walk from the flat. As I sat there observing the locals in the shop and the double decker busses that drove by at eye level, I looked at the pen in my hand. It was a Steelers pen that I got at the Steelers-Vikings game last week. I can't believe I was watching Brett Favre get beat at Heinz Field just

one week ago. I think I visibly shook my head in disbelief. After leaving Kilkenny, I then did some window shopping, ducked into a few stores, took a picture of the Molly Malone statue, and enjoyed some street musicians on Grafton Street. I was thrilled that I remembered the shortcut through St. Georges arcade to get to Dunne's, the local grocery store. I picked up some essentials: pepsi, soup, crackers, apples, tea bags and scones for breakfast tomorrow. I got back around 5, just as it was getting dark. Dublin is a pretty safe city if you stick to the main streets, but even so, I don't think I'll be going out too much after dark.

Now I wait... it is 10:30pm here in Dublin, but I still have over three hours until Joe Blanton throws the first pitch in game 4.  I might have to take another nap! My sister skyped me this afternoon when I returned so she gave me the details of last night's game. This is a must win, for sure. The Eagles cooperated and took the first game against their NY foe in South Philly today, now it's time to complete the sweep. We will see...