So it's been a couple weeks since the Dublin trip was completed, and I feel like I should finish out the trip with some closing thoughts. Also, Eric was badgering me about not posting lately, so here you go.
My last post was after our last night there, and for completeness' sake, I'll tell you the trip home was rather uneventful. Customs coming back in the USA is 100% different than getting out of the USA. We weren't late for our flight, but the huge line caught us off guard and we certainly weren't much ahead of schedule. The flight was 8 hours or so, and really, it wasn't bad for me at all. The flight attendants seemed to be constantly heading up and down the aisles for something, which seemed to break up the trip. I watched a couple movies, played some PSP, finished reading a book I've been working on for about three years now. Actually it was relaxing to be forced into sitting in one spot for 8 hours entertaining myself. Okay, so "relaxing" is a stretch, especially with the baby in the seat ahead of us, whose mother was hoisting it high into the air constantly. Although to be fair, the baby was actually pretty reasonable, considering it was a baby on an airplane - it was no worse than sitting behind one for an hour at church, I'll say that.
Overall, it was an awesome trip, no doubt. Would I go back? Yes. If I was planning an overseas vacation for next year, would it be on the top of the list of places to go? No. I mean, we hit a lot of the stuff we wanted to see - I think we were 17 of 30, which considering our list, was plenty successful. There were definitely lots of sights that we didn't see that I would really like to, but for me I don't think what's left on the list would be cause for a return trip, at least immediately.
And no doubt, that opinion is heavily influenced by all the other places in the world that I'd like to go. I mean if we're really talking about an overseas destination, there are so many to choose from you know? And especially destinations with tropical climates! Don't get me wrong, I didn't particularly dislike the rainy Ireland climate. It was cool to see, and I'm totally cool with rain. The cold was pretty similar to here, which I also don't mind. But for as much as I complain about the hot weather, on vacation I'll survive it for the picturesque views that tropical climates often bring (see Molly & Katie's blog for examples).
I was really surprised by a number of things on the trip. It was my first vacation overseas, and it was also my longest vacation to date (in a destination anyway). I think what surprised me the most, was how out of place I felt by the end of the trip. Not to knock Dublin or any of its inhabitants, but at the end of the week, riding home on the train with rush hour traffic, I really felt like a tourist. And I'm sure that's going to be the case anytime you're vacationing in a big city - big cities are full of people that actually live and work there, obviously. In comparing this vacation to what has become a frequent vacation to me, Las Vegas, it's pretty much the exact opposite. Vegas (the Strip) isn't a real city at all, it's like the world's biggest outdoor shopping mall. Dublin is a legit big city, with businesses that aren't tourism. Which really, is good, because it was really cool to see such a thing!
Alright, in closing, Ireland was really cool. I may put together a "highlights" photo collection and post it on my gallery server - I have over 500 pictures (if you haven't seen them already), and putting all of them out there might be a bit unreasonable. There were a lot of cool things that we saw, and I've been asked a bunch of times what my favorite part was. I've given different answers as I've thought about the trip more, but I think my final answer on my favorite thing was just being there. I know, that's really the most cliche and lame answer possible. Okay, so maybe just being in Europe is a better answer. Having never traveled overseas, just going into a "Spar" and seeing a whole store full of stuff that I have no idea what it was, that's pretty awesome.
And I can say this now that I'm home alive, but driving was pretty sweet too. I guess not so much the driving itself, but having to pay attention to so many different customs of the road. I think I said this before, but it makes me realize how many things we take for granted driving here in the states. Not "better" necessarily, just more familiar to us.
One more thing, metric paper sizes are indeed awesome. My mouse is currently hooked elsewhere so I can't get the wikipedia link for you, but do yourself a favor and check out the article on metric paper sizes and how sweet A4 really is.
0 comments:
Post a Comment