Traveling to Ireland
Friday we left for Ireland. Our plane took off a bit early, just before noon. We flew to Chicago and arrived a little before 5 p.m. We had just under two hours before the Aerlingus (Ireland’s national airline) took off. We rushed off to take the train from the domestic terminal, where U.S. flights fly into and out of, to the international terminal. We were in such a hurry that we didn’t think about what food might be available on the other side of the security checkpoint. There were only a few vending machines so we managed with the water bottle that we filled from the drinking fountain and the cookies, gorp, and bananas we’d brought with us.
Our flight to Dublin left at 6:45 p.m. Friday and arrived in Dublin on Saturday after 9 a.m. There’s 8 hours time difference between Ireland and the Pacific coast of California so it has taken a couple of days to get used to the time change. I enjoyed watching the display on the plane; it was on the seat back in front of me. You could watch videos, play games, but I liked following the progress of the plane. On the other plane, the one to Chicago, you could listen to the cockpit radio conversations with the ground.
I don’t enjoy the tight seats and the long flights. The flight crew does a good job of trying to make it pleasant, but it’s still a long time to sit still in a small space.