First day in Ireland

Theres nothing like the first good night of sleep in a while to really make you start feeling better.  Of course, yesterday was quite tiring, after the adventure of ending up London on my way to Dublin, I was left with only a few good hours to see the city on day one.  And as they say when in Rome...... Yes, I needed to find Guinness and quick :)  And where better to go then the place they brew the stuff?  Yup, off to the Guinness factory, where not only do they let you drink some of the glorious brew, but they certify you in pouring the stuff.  :).

Walking to the factory, I started walking along the main river in the city.  The setup of the city reminds me so much of my trip to Copenhagen 9 years ago.  Of course, there weren't so many warnings "look right" and "look left" painted on the road, so those of  us from "not 'round these parts" don't get run over by a car coming from an unexpected direction!!!!  As I continued along the river, I started to be super ADD, what's that building, where's that lead to... After going up too many steps to count, walking in circles (literally, once you get to the place you literally have to circle around to the back of the building before they'll let you in), I made it to the factory.  The tour is a pretty basic self guided tour and you learn all of the expected items about beer making and the technical advancements along the way.  Two things really stick out in my head.  First is that Guinness has a 9000 year lease on the land it has.  Talk about positive thinking!  And the 7th floor bar gives you a nearly 360 panarama of the city, which is great to just get a feel for where things are, when you're new to the city.

For those of you not familiar with Dublin Ohio (named after Dublin, Ireland), there's a little popular place named brazen head.  Well, I found myself in Dublin Ireland eating at the truly original brazen head.  And by original, I mean started in 1128.  Holy Moses!  It is so weird to think of things being founded that long ago and still operating.  With another Guinness down the hatch and minimal sleep o'er the last several days, that was about all I could take.

Departure day

9 years ago I went to Europe for the first time. It was a part of an MBA program. For those of you living in the northeast at the time, you'll remember the weekend I traveled as the great power outage. My group was supposed to fly through Detroit however as the city had no power we were diverted to Boston. One would think not a bad thing until there's a great thud while we are trying to land. Long story short, it was an overnight in Boston, a very long day in the boston airport the next day and a completely walked sleep cycle.

You're probably asking yourself, and why does this matter. Because it may be starting all over again. I left my house with a flight on time and now it's been delayed not once by twice and I'm still an hour away from the original flight departure time. A this rate I'll be missing my flight to Dublin from philadelphia and they tell me that I may need to get routed to London before going to Dublin. I'm all about going to London, but just not yet :) as I write they just broke in to say they're also working some crazy plane and crew switcharoo deal which may make this all turn out. Fingers are crossed!!!

Other than this potential minor set back it's still been a productive day. I did an olympic distance triathlon this morning and did alright for a guy who's out of shape compared to years past and only slept a few hours the last couple nights. Hopefully being as tired as I am will mean that I shall sleep like a baby on the flight over and wake up on European time. I'd Hate to spend any more waking hours walking around like a zombie :(

Come Sunday evening, I will be embarking on a one man adventure to western Europe. The greatest part of what lies ahead is that other than the date of arrival in Europe and the date of departure, there's nothing truly planned in stone. It will be day by day figuring out where to go, what to see and simply living in the now of the experience.

Of course, as with anything of this nature, there is a draw, a spark that makes you want to go forth and explore. Much of this comes from two countries in particular, Ireland and Spain. Ireland is where my paternal grandparents came from, so the pure sense of heritage to see the old country is appealing. I don't know if I will ever be able to explain what draws me to Spain, but I just know that I've wanted to go since I was a wee lad. To be able to see both on a single trip is incredible.

However, before I go, there is still so much to do: have my last day of work at a company I've been at for over 14 years, figure out what to pack and how to have what I need or want for 6 weeks of travel in a single carry-on bag, and on Sunday morning I am still going to participate in an Olympic distance triathlon (How else will I be tired enough to sleep on the fight over?)