First Contact

We arrived in Dublin (the Republic of Ireland) at 9am in the morning after a 24 hour trip (we had a lay over in Philly for 3hrs), on Thursday, June 25th. Immediately, we hit the ground running as we breezed through customs and found our rental car. Climbing into the driver’s seat, with no steering wheel, just re-edified the obvious differences. Even though they drive on the correct side, it’s not right! He, he, a little Ireland humor. And, oh yeah, if you didn’t get it , they drive on the left here, steering wheel on the passenger side, stick shift for the left hand. Great for a left paw like Brian, but extremely difficult for a normal paw like me! Good thing I have not driven yet, nor plan to! Ever. Meow (feed me, pet me, hold me). About 30 seconds after getting the car out of the lot Brian was driving like Formula 1 driver.

Making our way downtown Dublin, we stopped off for some lunch and to see the sights. Using the good book - Lonely Planet Ireland, we find our way, and have an amazing meal at “Gruel”. Off to the Dublin castle and a quick look around the gardens. In the essence of time, we take off to Newry to meet up with Peter, the captain/owner of the boat we will be traveling on. A quick stop at the Internet cafe to print out an old,, 1908 letter from Brians Irish kin and a failed phone call attempt later, we get on the road.

With me navigating and Brian driving, we were making great time, except for one small detail - Jet lag! Brian just couldn’t take it any longer, and we had to pull over for a 15 minute nap midway. Recouping and back on the road, we pulled into Newry and located the boat straight away. Brian and I just walked up to 1 of the 4 boats docked on the canal, and asked the gentleman working on it if he knew Peter. “Aye, tis here is his boat, let me get eim.”

To Peter’s complete surprise, we had arrived. He was so shocked as he had been sending us Skype messages for days, with no reply from us. To our equal dismay, we had sent him a couple of messages as well, that he did not receive. Therefore, we both were not getting through and he thought we had fooled him and were complete flakes! He was so shocked that it took about ½ hour for him to believe it, and as he did, his whole demeanor changed. Before long, He was jovial and so excited as he took us all through the boat.


Good thing we decided to make contact instead of going on our tour of Ireland. All is well, and this trip is going to be so fun!