It was a near miss. We got to the airport, only to realise that Franks watch had stopped and we were actually late, and checkout had closed. We sought out the airlines desk, only for the lady to tell us that we were so late we couldn't go through and we couldn't go because we needed visa's. I looked at her with my I-really-want-to-go-to-Dublin eyes and said "Wirklich?" (Really?). We have German residential visa's, and Dublin is part of the EU, so no, we did not. Clearly this lady was not wearing her helpful-customer-service-gloves, because we had plenty of time. Eventually, after much begging, a few stern sentences from Frank and a bunch of phone calls she gave us a temporary boarding pass, which basically says these people are late and in a hurry. Actually it doesn't, but it should!
Next was passport control... loooooong line! But wait... there is a guy opening his booth! So we jumped the queue (as the lady at the ticket desk had told us to) and walked up. He looked down. He looked away. He looked anywhere but at us. Oh dear! Until I remembered the great lesson I have learnt since being here: There is only one way, and that's the German way. So I flicked my German tongue and obviously managed to make sense because he actually looked at us and let us through.
Onto the baggage queue. And lucky us, we picked the day when they decided to check every one's bags thoroughly!
I'm sorry for ranting... it's just that, while I have had my South African passport disrespected about a gazillion times, I've never had a problem once people see my visa... it made me so cross!
So it is no surprise that when we finally boarded the plane, the mood was set for a drink or few.
Apparently we had the best weather they've had all summer, not a single drop of rain. We were, therefore, very thirsty!
It was quite interesting to hear how widely spoken the Celtic language still is (well, in Dublin at least.) At least it SOUNDED like Celtic, but we may just have been unable to understand the Irish people around us :)
On Friday we went to the Guiness Museum. Now, I am not a huge fan of Guiness (possibly because of that one night when Beuster turned 30 and I downed one) but I am a fan of all things historical PLUS they have an amazing advertising section with an interactive display of all the advertising through the years so you can headphone up and zone out! It's a few floors, so by the time you get to the top you really want to redeem your Guiness token. Plus, the top is surrounded by floor to roof glass windows so there is an amazing panoramic view of the city, and since we had such great weather, we could see for miles! Score!
After that we moseyed around town, stopping for a beer/Bulmers every time we took a picture of the outside of the pub, or needed to consult the map, or needed to use the WC - which was often because of all the stops and subsequent beers after WC usage), or wanted to sit down, or saw an Irish person, or got a tickle in our throat.
On Saturday we went to Grafton Street to see all the shops and sights and St Stephen's Green, and then over to Trinity College and finally to Dublin Castle, before heading to The Woolshed (owned by an Aussie and a South African) to watch the rugby, and then to the Temple Bar district, as one must "When in Dublin," where we rounded off the night.
On Sunday we took a train out to Dun Laoghaire to see the little coastal town which was quite pretty, had a spot of lunch, walked around, came back, chilled out for a little bit (making the most of the English TV channels! What luxury!) before going out for some Mexican dinner. Nom nom nom nom.
And then we were back at the airport, and before we knew it, back in Munich.
Back home, to work, to normal life, and, of course, back to The Countdown.
Which, by the way, is currently standing at: 19 Munich sleeps and 1 Airplane sleep.
Ok, I better go move the lawnmower (in case we have one of our awesome Summer storms) so I can finish off the job tomorrow.
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