The Longest Short Day

There isn’t much to say about this day. We left our house at 7:30 AM, and we landed in Dublin at 7:30 AM the next day. It’s only 16 hours, because of the time change, but I like how it looks like one exact day. Josh drove us to the airport, which was very nice of him. When we got there the lines at security were really, really long – but we have KTNs, which means we get to go through the TSA pre-check line. Except there was no line. Just walk up, show your ticket and ID, keep everything on your feet and in your carry on, through the old-style metal detector and boom, you’re through.  I was very excited on the first flight (Alaska Airlines) because the seats had 110 volt and USB outlets. Also enjoyed their boarding process, which had very early preboarding for people who were wearing Timbers gear (they are a major sponsor) and also for people who weren’t putting things in the overhead bin. Do you have any idea how fast you can load a plane when people just get in and sit down? On the plane we watched The 39 Steps, which had bemused us at the Coaster Theatre inn Cannon Beach this summer. It turned out that the play had been a very faithful adaptation of the movie. I wasn’t crazy about either.

In Chicago we had pizza at the Wolfgang Puck café, which was very, very tasty and would have been even better if our server had brought it to us right away. I mention the pizza because in addition to sausage and bell peppers, it had pepperoncini on it which both Dave and I really liked. So that’s something to try at home. The flight to Dublin never showed up on the departures board, which was weird. It was an older 767 that hadn’t been upgraded, so no power in the seats. Dave dozed for much of the flight; I ended up watching a couple movies and TV shows, none of which were memorable enough to mention.

We arrived in Dublin and so did our bags, which was a big relief. We were supposed to take the AirCoach bus (#700) but we ended up taking the AirLink bus (#747, an excellent number for an airport bus) so we had to walk a few blocks further, which wasn’t a big deal. Traffic was terrible, though! We got to our hotel and checked in. It is the Dawson Hotel on Dawson Street, and we’re in room 402, the Aphrodite Suite. It is enormous and has a clawfooted bathtub, one of my favorite things. You could easily fit two of our NYC hotel rooms in it, but oddly it has fewer places to put clothes. But it does have free wi-fi which is how you, faithful readers, are able be kept informed.

Even though Dave reminded me to pack my bathing suit, I forgot. Now I can’t decide if I should try to find one here or see if I can get someone to mail me one from home. Other than that, things are very good.

Then it turned out there was a lot to say. Don’t worry, the 25^th is a short day as well.