Day 1 -The journey

Aaah the joys of travel! I had forgotten the stresses and strains, but they came back to me full blast over the past 24 hours. I had a tour of the long term car park at Dublin airport this afternoon, because I caught the wrong bus to get to my hotel. Then I handed in my voucher at the Radisson Blu hotel, only to find it was not pre-paid as I thought it was....

So i immediately went a bought a half pint of Smithwicks to console myself after searching voraciously for my receipts for said voucher... Still haven't found it!!! 😓

Smithwicks  to calm the nerves!

But anyway, let's start at the very beginning - a very good place to start!

I arrived out at Perth airport early on Sat night, courtesy of my friends Kerry and John, and so I decided I would have a nice glass of wine. (Apologies to those who have already heard this story!)

The barman asked me would I like a small or large, and as it was the first day of the holidays and I wasn't driving, I chose the large option. Paid by credit card and then just asked him how much it was  ...  $22.70!!!! eeeeekkkkk.

Expensive wine at Perth Airport

I only had one at that price!!! Anyway got on the plane quite successfully and, as some of you know, I've been having a bit of trouble with my guts and have found it hard to find food that's compatible with my stomach. So I had chosen the "bland" option from their menu.  Luckily I had eaten a small bowl of pasta before I went on board, because neither of the two meals I had on the first flight contained food I could eat.

Airline Food 1

Airline Food 2

So much for "bland"!!! However the lunch we had on today's flight from Dubai to Dublin was actually quite nice - roast chicken Mashed pumpkin and beans! Didn't take a pic of that though !!

The flights were both good, although the first flight from Perth to Dubai left Perth at 10.20pm. I always find it hard to sleep on the night flights and it was 11 hours, so I found it pretty long! Had a young girl beside me who was struggling with being on a plane, and she kept crawling over me to go and stand near the toilets.... I think she was a bit anxious, poor  kid. Didn't think she was going to make it for a while! But nowhere to escape to... 

Arrived at Dubai and had a 2 hour stopover. I had come prepared for breakfast, with some Weetbix and a vegemite sandwich - closest I could get to toast. But I couldn't take any milk with me, because of regulations about how much liquid you can take on international flights. So when I reached Dubai airport I had about half an hour to spare, so I went to Costa's coffee shop and asked for a cup of hot milk - and I had even brought my own bowl, so we were away!!!!

Dubai airport

Flight to Dublin was nice, because it was in the daylight. Had a lovely couple sitting beside me who came from Perth (Jolimont) and were going home to Northern Ireland for her brother's 80th birthday. They were easy companions for the journey. Watched a couple of films that kept me entertained.

Eventually got through customs at Dublin airport, and the next trick was to find the bus that took me to Radisson Blu hotel at the airport, where I'm only staying overnight to recover from the journey, As mentioned above, I took the wrong bus but the lovely driver showed me where to stand for the shuttle bus from the hotel.

Then I had the drama about the prepaid voucher - which stressed me out for a little while.

And this is all functioning on minimum sleep!

So I've had my Smithwicks and I'm about to pop down to the restaurant and see if I can find something to eat on their menu.

I can't believe I'm on the other side of the world already... The last few weeks have been so hectic and full that I'm really looking forward to just slowing down a bit when I hit my mother land in Lahinch in County Clare. I pick up my hire car tomorrow and then we're off to the beautiful country.

Thanks for coming along for the ride with me.