Day 4/5: NYC to Limerick

Traveling is fun.

That's the positive thought of the day. I left New York City and America sometime yesterday and flew to Dublin and then Limerick via Shannon Airport. Surprisingly the plane was only delayed 30 minutes out of JFK. Upon finding my seat (again, planes are made for people 5-9 and shorter) some cheery lass came on the PA and told us that there would no in-flight movie. Sigh. I guess now I'll just have to add Penelope to my Netflix queue.

The flight was long, especially without many distractions. I finished up my ESPN: The Magazine and several newspapers. They gave me some pretzels and Whitney-sized ginger ale. It was a good dinner. One time I actually tried to fall asleep and thought I was close until they announced that dinner was going to be served. Pleasant. It was a chicken/rice/vegetable mixture that wasn't quite an Asian dish. They also gave us four leaves of salad a breadstick (my favorite part) and cheesecake -- which I ate for the second time in my life, but not before spilling it on my lap. Yeah! My biggest complaint was they served a full meal and only gave us three ounces of water to wash it down. As someone who drinks a lot when they eat, this was a tricky task.

With several more hours left to fly, I thought it would be best to get some shuteye. This was almost an ideal flight to avoid jetlag. Sure it was a 5-hour time jump, but given the length and timing of the flight, I thought I could trick my body into thinking it got a full night sleep. Nope. Here's the thing: I have never been able to sleep well in any sort of non-reclining apparatus. Cars, planes, chairs, desks, bikes, etc. My usual trick is to wedge my head up again the window and turn on my hip, but since I was in the middle section the best I could do was lean against the headrest next to me (which was unoccupied). But the lack of leg space prevented any form of relaxation and comfort. But somehow I managed to get an hour or two in. I did wake up before they handed out the morning orange juice. Score one for the good guys.

Eventually, we landed in Dublin. Walked 10 minutes to immigration, got stamped and turned right back around and retraced the same walk. Luckily the wait was only for an hour. Then up in the air for 30 minutes and in Shannon we are.

The adventures begin in earnest in Ireland at the luggage reclaiming station. I waited there, but my suitcase did not get the memo as to where I was waiting. There were three of us that lost bags (we fear they continued the trip with the Dublin-Shannon plane on to Boston). I sat next to one of the girls who also lost a bag in the JFK terminal and the other one on the plane. The girl from JFK was near crying, convinced that the airline had tried to screw her, a 15-year-old, over. Luckily I was not too distressed because I had most of my essentials in my backpack and carry-on. Good thing my mother told me to split up the packing to have sets of clothing in both bags. I return to Shannon tomorrow to hopefully retrieve my bag.

While in New York, I looked up some bus routes and was convinced that this was a much cheaper route to get to the place I was staying than a taxi. There was only one bus agency at the airport so I purchased a ticket to Limerick. Twenty minutes later I'm in Limerick, but still 10-15 minutes away from my final destination. I should point out that I don't know the exact address of where I'm staying. And I'm only about 70 percent sure I even know the name of it "Brookfield or Brookview" "Field View". Also, the only way I know the location of this is a quick mapquest search. It's about a mile south and I have a vague recollection of what the building looks like. Despite all this, I think I can get to my final destination. Whatever.

I get to the bus station in Limerick and ask the information lady how to get to the University of Limerick. She gives me a map of the city (which does a poor job of mapping the city) and says there is a local bus route about four blocks away on William St. After blindly walking a block or two, I orient myself and find the street. A lady at a bakery points me in the right direction. I get on the bus and hope some more. Surprisingly, I identify my stop the first time it passes by, but I don't get off until the route loops back. I wanted to spend that extra 20 minutes sightseeing anyway.

I get off the bus and walk about a half-mile to the buildings I think look familiar. Bingo Bango. Score one for the good guys. I find the reception area and more good news: it is locked up and closed. I don't have the management's number on me and even if I do, I have no phone. I eventually locate the number on an "In case of emergency call:" sign. But still no phone. One girl walks into the building and lets me in, but she has no phone. The next girl says her battery is dead. Whatever. Finally, the third guy (The Good Samaritan?) has a phone. I call management and they will be down in five minutes.

I get my room and settle in, take a nap and plot my return to Shannon tomorrow. I also watch TV for the first time in about four days (my choices: Matilda, Wimbledon or a senior equestrian event). Oh, it's almost 10 p.m. Just about bedtime. Yes!

I'll post pictures of the apartment and hopefully my missing suitcase tomorrow.

A few catch-up details: My trip to Ellis Island never happened because the wait to get on the ferry was too long. So instead I treated myself to a trip to the NBA Store, where I purchased an NBA Draft hat. Then a quick visit to Andrea and I packed and rode the subway to JFK. Also, I went to the United Nations on Thursday. 

Good times.