Joe Rawley was kind enough to take me to Intergalactic on his lunch hour. Interminable time to check in…over an hour. 45 minutes on the tarmac. Fun. At least
this time, as opposed to the SJD trip, the AC worked…and no “chicken or fish!” 😉
What’s worse than a baby crying on a plane? Two babies crying on a plane. Tag-team screaming against my cold and me. We were soundly defeated. Maybe got a
couple of hours sleep on the nine-hour fleet. At least I got to finally see Star Trek: Nemesis.
Arrive an hour late (take-off delay plus weather re-routings). Luckily, I didn’t cut try to cut it fine on the flight to Dublin, so had time to drop off my big
bag at luggage storage and just take my overnight bag (and laptop, of course) with me. Arrive in Dublin, cold and rainy, around 11:30. Take a taxi to the hotel,
call Syl, and coordinate meeting at 3. I crash.
Syl arrives, looking gorgeous as ever. We wander all over central Dublin, getting coffees and chatting. We go make it over to their flat, where I finally get
to meet Jeff. I wish it had been on a night when they had a concert, but they had a series last week (which Syl missed preparing for her brother’s wedding…and
missed seeing Moire by a day!). Jeff was zonked, so Syl and I went and grabbed dinner at a very nifty Indian place called Jaipur in Dalkey, just southeast of
town. Before dinner, though, I had my first full pint of Guiness (when in Rome…).
We came back into town (after I badgered her into getting gas, since her tank is perpetually empty), and went to their local pub, John Fallons. The pubs in the
Temple Bar area are all themed, high-priced, aimed at tourists affairs. This was a true local pub. Syl knew everyone, and everyone knew her…their version of
Bibas’. We had a few more pints sitting next to a guy named John, who brings in his own glass and orange juice to mix with the vodka. Great craic (Gaelic for fun
times).