Delays? Again?

Well I made it into London last night, but not without some complication. A train delay!!! YIPEE. Only about an hour late, but we had to take another train to re-route around a broken train on the tracks. Hopefully to see some good sights around London today. I hope to have some pictures up later tonight! Cheers!

All Around Ireland

I found an Irishman today!!!

Tunnels dug out of the mountains

Dad decided to walk up the mountain

And he decided to still go further

And finally to end off the day with some amazing fish and chips from Ireland, probably caught in the ocean right outside the window of the restaurant.

Scenic Ireland

Saw some beautiful sights in Ireland today. Went around to see the ocean at many points. The cliffs were just breath-taking. Pictures cannot capture it quite as well. Never thought there is this much beauty in Ireland. Plus, the weather has just been amazing. Usually rain in Ireland, but today just two brief 10 minute showers, but sunshine most of the rest of the day. Yesterday, all sunshine.

Golf course on the edge of Ireland, right on the shore of the Atlantic

Behind us, you can see the golf course on top of the plateau.

No better way to end the day at a little local pub with an original Irish Coffee. You can't find one like this in Chicago.

A GOOD DAY!!

Kinsale, Ireland

Well if this sign is true, then I guess I should start drinking a lot of it. Better get started.

Poppy plant... Might take it...as a souvenir of course

Castle in Kinsale with my uncle

I think this bull was ready to charge me, it was only 10 feet away.

I'm in Europe! (but it wasn't easy)

So, day 2, I'm back to the same terminal, and they flew in another plane to Chicago. (It looks the same, but its a different plane). We get in, we take off, everyone claps. Haha. So, I'm pooped, we spent so much of the day in the airport and I figure I'm going to get some sleep on the plane, but who knew that there would be about 10 small kids/babies who decide to cry every 15 minutes. As soon as I started to fall asleep, WAAAAH.

So, we make it Dublin. We have a tour which takes us around Dublin a bit. Pubs on every block within the center of Dublin. Drove by the Brazen Head, Ireland's oldest pub from 1198. Hopefully I'll get a drink when I go back to Dublin in a few days.

Part of the tour was to Newgrange. Newgrange was constructed over 5,000 years ago (about 3,200 B.C.), making it older than Stonehenge in England and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. Newgrange was built during the Neolithic or New Stone Age by a farming community that prospered on the rich lands of the Boyne Valley. Archaeologists classified Newgrange as a passage tomb

Newgrange Tomb

Newgrange tomb ceiling (looking up).
Its all pretty amazing that it was built over 5,000 years ago.


Outside of the center of Dublin. Yes, there is a lot of green. Not a lot of forests, but lots of green grass.


Ok, so the trip ended and we needed to take a train to Cork, Ireland, where my uncle was going to meet us because he lives nearby there and was picking us up from the train station. We find the station, but of course, the train is delayed. The first train that was scheduled to come broke and 30 minute delay. Which turned into 45 minute delay and then turned into a 1 hour delay. Something is making me think that these are signs i shouldn't be here? Well, I trek on. We make it to Cork and to the city of Kinsale. In Cork, they have to tallest building in all of Ireland (probably about 20 floors).
Well we arrived, and that is all for today folks!

Problems Already

So, I'm all packed, waiting at the airport, we start to taxi (on this plane) and they tell us we need to return to the gate because one of the generators are not working. We sit in the plane one hour, and then they kick us off because they will need 2 hours to fix it. We wait, get back on, and sit for at least another hour and a half because there is engineering paperwork, and low and behold, Aer Lingus in dublin (my airline) does not approve of the new generator which was installed. Flight cancelled. I'm staying in a hotel in Chicago for my first night. This stinks. Attempt to fly on this plane will happen tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully they put in a generator which will be approved by Dublin Aer Lingus headquarters.

Welcome to Dan's Europe Blog!

Leaving to Ireland on June 9th. Will keep posting as my trip around Europe continues. Check for updates! If you want an email notification of updates, send me your email to whycheck@gmail.com. Enjoy!