Day 6 - Travel Back to America

Wow. Today (1.27.09) we had an EARLY start. We woke at 5:30 am to get ready, and say our goodbyes in enough time to catch our cab by 6:30 to the bus station. It was particularly hard for Marla and Cathy of course, but only being there for five full days still made it hard on me. Mike called us a cab and we were off, in the darkness, to the train/bus station. It was about a two hour trip to the Shannon Airport, with multiple stops. We both dozed on and off the whole way there, especially since there was nothing to look at through the darkness! The last half hour of the trip, the sun was starting to reveal the landscape and I found Ennis to be absolutely beautiful. We arrived at the airport and after checking in, did some final shopping and ate breakfast. We boarded the plane to Dublin on time and arrived 20 minutes early. All passengers had to exit the plane after arriving in Dublin, in order to go through customs. Essentially, they just checked our passports and then let us get back on the plane. Again, like my flight to Ireland, it was a very empty flight which enabled everyone to have full reign of the plane for the eight hour duration. I had two seats to myself, as did Marla. Something about flying with someone, instead of alone, made it all go very quickly. I also read for most of the flight, which I'm sure helped as well. Once we arrived in Chicago, my parents had arranged for a car service to pick us up. There was zero traffic compared to my traffic standards and we made it home without a hitch. Eighteen hours of travel later, and we were happily hugging our parents - ready to eat a square meal.

I forced myself to stay awake, even though it was 1am in Ireland by the time I was exhausted. I stayed up until it was 4am there to knock myself back into this time zone - I think it worked. :)

It was an amazing journey, although quick, to Ireland. I'm glad that I was finally able to make it to Europe. I have been out of the country before, but to Canada and tropical places like Cayman and Curacao (not Mexico surprisingly enough). I'm sad it has taken me so long to get there, but very grateful all the cards fell into place for me to finally take the leap. Thanks again, to my awesome sister. If she hadn't been pushing me to go for SO long, and didn't generously foot the bill for the ticket - I never would have gone. I feel as though it has opened the door for me to go again, and not be so scared to travel for 18 hours to get to a destination. :) It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It's actually quite amazing that in our lifetime we can simply hop onto a couple planes and be 3,000 miles around the globe in less than a day (and only with minimal motion sickness :).

I hope that some people have followed this blog and I hope it was somewhat enjoyable to read. I enjoyed tracking my experience this way, much better and faster than keeping a journal like I've done in the past!

Now, for the next five days I will be in 12 degree, snowy, windy Chicago - but it will be awesome.