Day 1 - September 20, 2017

This morning we woke up at 5:30am to get ready for our adventure! We made it to the shuttle on time, and the shuttle got us to the airport in plenty of time.

We made it to the shuttle on time!

When we arrived at the airport we tried to check our bags but were told that we were unable to check in because our connecting flight from Philadelphia to Dublin was less than 1hr which is an illegal connection.

Illegal connection?! You must be joking!

 So I had to call our tour company to see what they were going to do. I spent the next hour or two on the phone with people trying to find out if our whole trip would be a bust. After much frustration (but no tears!) the tour company rep was able to conference call American Airlines and get us booked on new flights. So now we would be going from Seattle to Dallas, Dallas to London Heathrow, London to Dublin.

You weren't joking...

My head was definitely in the clouds for most of this trip.

View over Texas

Oh, us? We're just on a flight to London. (Insert excited squeal here!)

 **May or may not have watched the original Beauty & the Beast while on one of our flights**

    

We're in LONDON!!!!

Harry Potter shop in the airport?!

Boots store in the airport. They didn't sell actual boots... :)

We would end up getting into Dublin late and would now be missing the bus from the airport to the hotel and the welcome drive around Dublin, but at least we won't be missing the whole tour! It was not a good way to start the trip but we were just happy to actually make it to Ireland. When we arrived in Dublin we had to take a taxi from the airport to the hotel (which was an adventure itself as we did not have any local currency so had to wait for a cab that accepted credit!) and got all checked in. I do regret missing the first drive around Dublin with the group but it was very nice to check into our hotel and get to shower after a very long day of travel and get a little down time before dinner. We did get to have dinner with our group and were able to meet our tour guide. We took pictures in the cab on our way to the hotel and even the view from our hotel room. We were so excited to actually be in Ireland. I have waited over 10 years to make this trip and I literally pinched myself a couple times to make sure I wasn't dreaming. My heart was filled to bursting with the realization that I was actually in Ireland!!

WE MADE IT!! WE'RE IN IRELAND!!!!

View from our hotel room... you can actually see water in the distance.

  

Dinner menu

Dessert