Eitiltí Amach -- Departures

Thursday, June 4th

Dublin Ireland and Chicago, IL

Here's my last email from the trip!

First thing's first: the most mysterious Irish word in the world -- Ghrianghrafadóireacht. It's the word for photography, we saw it several times at the airport on our first day and today as well. Here's the thing: no one knows how to say it!!! I literally asked 5 Irish people at the airport and no one knows. We may never know. I may make it my personal mission to find out.

There's really nothing else to say about this. Leaving sucks.

It was an easy drive to the airport, less than 15 minutes! We said goodbye to Prudence and Declan (the Audi), and got on the Hertz bus driven by a Frenchman who helped us with our bags. Not sure what the deal is with the French in Ireland, but there seemed to be many.

Prudence saved our lives. We would have died twelve thousand times over without her.

Saying goodbye to Prudence and Declan was so rough. See our emotions?

Sniff. But we don't want to be Eitiltí Amach!

Sidenote: I love seeing the Irish on the signs. I should learn the language.

BUT HOW DO YOU SAY IT??? Longest word ever...

There was a loooooong line to get boarding passes at the kiosk, then we saw that the lines were split into flights, which was better. Then there was a long walk through airport to security where took things out to scan. That was annoying, I had so much stuff! 

We had to go passed all of the shops and food to get to US pre-clearance, where we did another security check with taking stuff out. Steph's mom packed a souvenir anvil from Gretna into her carry on and got buzzed for it. She couldn't find it forever in the bags, then started crying, so the nice lady said she would ask our flight attendants if they would hold it for get for the flight. 

THEN we got to customs (you can do US customs in the Dublin airport so you don't have to worry about it when you actually get in the states. Nifty!), put in info at the kiosk, and got our lovely picture taken (basically mug shots), then handed everything to the nice man who welcomed me back....while I'm in Dublin. Very odd.

We waited for Steph's parents outside of the area and I started eating chocolate covered cranberries. "I'm having chocolate covered cranberries for breakfast, no judging!" A lady walking by laughed and I gestured grandly and said "Thank you," which she really appreciated. I think I really brightened her day.

Finally we got to our gate, and we needed food. There was limited access to food on our side of customs so we made do. We went to the duty free shop by customs. Someone dropped a bottle of Jameson's whisky and it was a strong irritant, so we got to experience Irish whisky after all!

Ahhhh, Jameson's.... On the floor.... I could almost smell it. Kid you not.

Then..... I got a scone and cocoa for breakfast! Thanks, Ireland!

My last memories of the country of my heritage... And what delicious memories they are!

The sweet Irish lady that took the anvil came onto the plane and hand delivered it to us before we left Dublin and said "I cleared it with my manager, I didn't even tell the crew. Just hang onto it and don't tell anyone." Marilyn gave her a hug and we all laughed a lot, then she said "I need to get off the plane or they'll leave with me on board!" So awesome.

This flight was sooooooo long. Way longer than the first one. And there was a really annoying kid who kept running up and down the aisles trying to get people to play tag. Lunch was chicken and mashed potatoes (fake and gross!) but the crackers and cheese were good. Listened to music, listened to the Irish guys next to us, watched the insane child keep running up and down the aisles, pretending to stick my foot out to trip said insane child...

Sniff. WHY CAN'T WE STAY???

No! No, get me off the plane!

MY HEART. NOOOOO!

DUBLIN! WE LOVE YOU, DUBLIN! NOOOO!

We pause our mourning to pay tribute to Skittles... They taste different over there. They taste like GOD'S GIFT TO CANDY LOVERS ALL OVER THE WORLD. You want to know what heaven tastes like? Go to Tesco and get the Fruits bag of Skittles. Devour. Praise the candy gods. Repeat. Okay, back to the trip.

Wait, is that ocean or sky? Oh man. That's trippy. Where's my Guinness? Right, I don't drink... Ginger ale, it is!

And guess what! We got ice cream! On an airplane! Blew my mind. Bonus -- it was pretty dang good! Then second lunch was a chicken margherita wrap and a rich chocolate sponge (aka a cake or brownie) that was SO GOOD. I like international flights!

Then we were back! We got our bags, took the train to the parking lot, and headed out! Driving on the right was weird, big roads are strange, and billboards are annoying. But hey, it's cheaper and we have really awesome bathrooms! Go USA!

Jet lagged, weighed down like nothing I've ever felt before, and pretending my heart isn't broken.

And we're wearing sweatshirts and fleece jackets in June... Because we don't know where we are. And we didn't have room in the bags for them, to be honest.

Middle of the escalator selfie!

Middle of the OTHER escalator selfie! And we bring it back full circle... The first selfie was on this escalator, as is the last. Sniff. We'll never forget ye, beloved Isles across the sea. Dinna fash, we'll haste we back as soon as we can, ye ken?

And now we are home.... Or somewhere... We're not quite sure. It's hot, it's humid, and people talk funny... I think we're lost.

Anyway. It's been fun sharing my adventures with you! Hope you've enjoyed them!

[And a post-recap note.... I know how to say that word now. Progress is progress.]