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We took an overnight flight from Chicago to Ireland. Not much sleep on the plane, it was noisy and the space was small and uncomfortable. They did serve dinner, we had a chicken dish. They also served a small breakfast of yogurt and granola. Molly got the seat by the window. We got excited when we could finally see the land from the plane. Everything looked green with a beautiful sandy coastline. Wow, we made it. We got off the plane with some anxiety as we headed for customs. The lady at the counter looked at each passport, gave them a stamp, and said go. That was it. Now to find the baggage claim and see if our luggage made the flight change in Chicago. Molly’s suitcase was easy enough to find, but Jonathan and I had large black bags that looked like 50% of the luggage coming off the plane.

After collecting the correct bags, lol, we went out to catch the shuttle to the rental car lot. We noticed pretty quickly that all of the signs at the airport were in, what we think is Gaelic, with English subtitles. We caught the shuttle and collected our car, but noticed that there were a fair amount of scratches on the car. When I pointed that out to the lady helping us she whipped out a reference card and explained if the scratches were not deeper than the paint and dents were smaller than the diameter on the card, it was fine. Ok, good to know. This would be my first time driving on the left, so having a small forgiveness margin was a plus.

We loaded our luggage in the boot and got in for our first thrilling experience, just getting to our accommodations. It wasn’t bad. The motorways in Dublin were two lanes and as long as I stayed on the left we were good. Then, the motor ended, and we were on a smaller road, one lane each way and a bit narrow. But then, the dividing line was gone and the road became even more narrow. OMG! We are gonna die! These roads are barely wide enough for one car and the hedges along the sides are encroaching upon the road. OH NO! A car is coming from the other direction, what do I do, hug the shoulder and hold my breath. We made it to Multyfarnham in one piece, though my heart is in my forehead.

Pat and Una own the restaurant in front of our vrbo as well as our rental. They were super nice and were waiting for us when we pulled up. Pat has a springer spaniel pup named Poppy. She instantly became attached to Molly. Poppy is only two, she runs around like a crazy thing and jumps in the garden pond with the frogs wagging her tail and waiting for you to jump in too.

Jonathan helped Pat unload some turf from the local bog. Turns out locals burn turf in the winter to heat their homes. They only get a limited amount and they have to go load it and haul it themselves. Jonathan offered to help Pat ho fetch the last of his turf, so we all rode with him to see the bog and help load turf. It was interesting and not very heavy or hard to load. Molly caught a frog at the bog and Poppy tried to eat it.

We got back home and settled our stuff in the cupboards and became familiar with our space. Then, we needed to find a store to buy some groceries for the week. Una gave us some suggestions and some shopping bags, as they only use reusable bags here. We went to a store called Dunnes, we had to pay to park, put a coin in to get a shopping cart, and bag our groceries in our own bags. Shopping is a lot of work here. The selection of items in the store was also a new challenge. Nothing was familiar. They had almost no fresh produce, ground beef is beef mince, and bacon looks like ham. After a few guesses and some compromises, we left the store with a few familiars and many unknowns. Now we are tired and ready to try to catch up on missed sleep. Jonathan set up his computer and tested his connection. It was slow. He had to call someone at work and set up a local connection so things could work more smoothly.

We tried to stay up until after 8pm local time to help acclimate us. Our first adventure is tomorrow.

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