To Dublin I go!

Well, the day has come for my first trip. I had everything booked out - ended up being more than I had originally priced because I waited till last weekend to book things. But aside from getting things ready and trying to pack and everything Thursday night - it's been interesting so far but kinda boring too. I had issues trying to pack and what to bring etc but that is behind me now and I've got all that I should need.

So I wake up this morning, hit the snooze and sleep for a bit more cause I was tired... wasn't such a great idea. I ended up waking up later than I had planned and as such was unable to do some random last minute shopping I thought I needed (mainly a scale and an adapter.) So I was finishing packing things up, getting ready to head out when I realized it was getting late and I had to take the metro to catch my shuttle to the airport. However I realize in gathering my paperwork I printed out... I forgot to print out the ticket saying I paid for the shuttle already! So I loaded it up on my laptop and figured I'd try to see if they'd be able to use that just by looking at it - worse case I would have to pay for another one. So I rush out of my room, and hop on the metro. As the stations slowly roll by, it's getting close to 3 pm when the shuttle was supposed to leave Gare Lille Europe and it's about 10 till and I'm still a few metro stops away. So I finally get to my stop, hurry uptop and realize I'm not exactly sure where I need to meet the shuttle... or what it even looks like. So I asked the two busses that were there if they were the one I wanted - neither was. Meanwhile it's about 3:05 now... and I'm on the verge of panic thinking I'm going to have to find another way to get to the airport which is going to cost more money.... and the shuttle shows up and a bunch of people flock to it. Thankfully they took my pass on my laptop and I was good.

So we're going along... and then we come to the Belguim border. (I was flying out of Brussels Charleroi Airport b/c that's where RyanAir is closest to me. RyanAir is dirt cheap flights over Europe) I see the sign for Belguim and think that'd be a cool pic... so I go to get out my digital camera .... and then it dawns on me after it's not where I thought I put it... I left it on my desk in my room. I thought I had taken it out of the case last night, as I wasn't planning on bringing the case along, so I didn't think twice seeing the case pushed off to the side of my desk when I left this morning. I double checked everywhere and when we got to the airport I checked in my other bag too - no camera... which completely sucks because I take a ton of pictures .. :-(

But anyways... I get to the airport and after realizing it's tiny and there's not much there... I settle down to wait. I had to take the 3 pm shuttle b/c it was an hour and half shuttle ride to the airport but my flight didn't leave till 9:35 pm. Naturally the airport is outside the city so i couldn't even go into there and look for a cheap camera or something. So I couldn't get the wifi to work in the airport so I sat there on my computer (I had to charge it as it was dead from not fully shutting off when I left :-() I'm checking the departure board the whole time as well. You can't check in for a flight until 2 hours before departure... so around that time I notice that it says closed! So I grab my things thinking I missed the time limit to check in... when it changes to checking in and there's a long line of people too. So there's panic attack number 2 or whatever which wasn't fun. So I get checked in, had to pay more money b/c I didn't say i was checking a bag in when I made the reservation online. Thankfully my bag was underweight! (I was worried and that was why I wanted to get a scale.) I go through security only for my shirt to set it off (metal snaps) and I forgot to take off my belt too! But after that I was good and headed to the better part of the terminal.

They had a tax and duty free shop there which souvenirs and other things from perfumes to alcohol and more. I found my playing cards there as well as the shot glasses. So I picked up those for me and my mom for Belgium and Brussels, one for matt... didn't have spoons for steph so she get's a china plate and dad get's a thimble! I also got the European plug to UK plug adapter (I couldn't find one before) so I can charge my one phone. Though I ended up spending more than I thought as well which isn't that good.

So after I grab a drink I have to go to the international part of the terminal - and apparently I should've had my passport stamped when I arrived in Paris b/c they didn't do that. But they stamped it and I was good to go. Our plane finally started boarding. I was waiting in a long line, but had priority boarding so was confused why the line wasn't moving - I was in the other line! So I got in the right line and was good to go, walking out to the plane and up the steps. The way RyanAir works is you buy a ticket but seats aren't assigned. I wasn't happy with the plane nor the flight even though it was cheap. The seats weren't comfortable and the engine was really loud. It was a hideous yellow all over inside as well and thankfully it wasn't that long of a flight. It didn't help that there was a huge group of I think high school kids on the flight as well, and a baby who didn't stop crying.

So I land, walk along I don't know how many moving walkways to get to baggage claim. My bags were there when i got there which was surprising and nice, and I headed out through customs where they stamped my passport again. Then I had to ask someone how to get to the Connelly Station in the city center which is near my hostel I booked. I finally got on the right bus, paid for that ticket, and was good to go. The drive into the city center was quick and nice. I got out at my stop, and got lost again - realizing I didn't have a decent map either. I finally ended up asking someone and the hostel ended up being right around the corner! But I got there, got checked in, semi checked the place out - not the best but it'll work. I'm in a dorm room with 8 beds, and a shared bathroom. I'll probably either sleep with my laptop under my pillow or pay for a safe - not sure yet... but I have to pay to keep my luggage and stuff stored during the day.

I'm not sure yet what I'm going to tommorrow but I'll talk about aout it in the next post! Laterz!