I awoke in my hotel in the Montmartre neighborhood (my favorite area) of Paris that Saturday morning still full, as I had been eating roughly 2-3 French baguettes a day since my arrival in Paris (April 21). Despite that, I needed to catch my Aer Lingus flight out of Charles de Gaulle International Airport to Dublin. Checking in for my flight at the airport was simple and the Aer Lingus staff were very friendly. I had always heard how nice the Irish were and the airport staff did not disappoint me! Having never flown the airline before, I was really pleased with the cabin crew and with how clean the airplane was.
Recognizing I didn't want to spend my first day in Ireland at an airport hotel, I took a taxi into Dublin city center. Having just been in France, I had to get readjusted to being in a right hand drive car on the left side of the road - as they do in Britain. I asked the taxi (or in Gaelic 'tacsai') driver to drop me off along the River Liffey near the center of downtown. It had stopped raining (I would come to learn that the weather changes constantly in Dublin) and I was able to explore.
An Aer Lingus plane on the tarmac at Charled de Gaulle International Airport (Paris, France)
An Aer Lingus plane wing - in flight!
I spent the short 90 minute flight from Paris to Dublin reading Aer Lingus' inflight magazine Cara. As an international airline and the national air carrier of Ireland, I was interested to see how Aer Lingus marketed not only itself, but also the destinations it serves.
To be honest, I am still not sure who Aidan Turner is! But, I may have to check out his show Poldark!
It was interesting to see/read how Jamie Heaslip, a Rugby Union player (not sure what Rugby Union is) spends a lot of his time in the United States; specifically in California and Florida. Apparently he does this because the Irish weather is not as comfortable as he finds it in the United States. This should've been the first sign that I was in for a rude awakening about the Irish weather!
Unlike in both London and Paris where I had stayed in unfamiliar lodging (I rented someone's apartment through Air BnB in London and had a small boutique hotel in Paris), my first night in Dublin was spent at the Radisson Blu Dublin Airport. The hotel had the look and feel of many hotels I have stayed at in the United States.
To be honest, I am still not sure who Aidan Turner is! But, I may have to check out his show Poldark!
It was interesting to see/read how Jamie Heaslip, a Rugby Union player (not sure what Rugby Union is) spends a lot of his time in the United States; specifically in California and Florida. Apparently he does this because the Irish weather is not as comfortable as he finds it in the United States. This should've been the first sign that I was in for a rude awakening about the Irish weather!
Also, it was interesting seeing how a foreign business (Aer Lingus) markets/advertises destinations in the United States and how it promotes the American markets it serves.
On approach into Dublin it was raining pretty good. And once I walked off the plane and into the jet-way, I quickly realized why Mr. Heaslip spends so much of his time in both California and Florida! It was cold!
Also, at the airport I was struck by the airport signs. The signs consisted of two written languages, one was English and the other was in some language that confused me (turned out to be the other official language of Ireland, Gaelic). This was my first experience with Gaelic; seems very complicated!
Recognizing I didn't want to spend my first day in Ireland at an airport hotel, I took a taxi into Dublin city center. Having just been in France, I had to get readjusted to being in a right hand drive car on the left side of the road - as they do in Britain. I asked the taxi (or in Gaelic 'tacsai') driver to drop me off along the River Liffey near the center of downtown. It had stopped raining (I would come to learn that the weather changes constantly in Dublin) and I was able to explore.
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