Ireland Day 1 - Better to be in the same underwear than the same city.

Well, it's been an eventful 36 hours! Mom and I made it to Dublin despite multiple obstacles from Continental and Newark/NYC air control. Our connecting flight from Boston to Newark was delayed 2 hours 45 minutes due to weather/air control issues at Newark airport. Coincidentally, our layover was 2 hours 30 minutes, meaning we pulled up to the gate 15 minutes after our flight to Dublin was supposed to leave. Having been informed at Logan that this flight was the last flight to Dublin on Tuesday, that both direct flights the Wednesday were full, and if we were to miss our flight, the earliest they could get us to Dublin was 10 AM Thursday morning, we grabbed our carry-ons and ran for it anyway.

Thankfully, our plane to Dublin was having mechanical problems (did I really just say that??) and had been delayed until 10:15 PM. We arrived at the departure gate at 10:10 PM, with four other passengers in the same boat, to be told the plane was still there but the ramp had already been removed and the engines started, plus our seats had been given away. Apparently once the engines are started it's a big deal to let additional passengers on. After several minutes of frantically trying to contact various people, sending us back and forth on the boarding ramp, and watching five more people show up who wanted to board the plane, we were frantically waved to the plane door, which was open, and told to take the 1st seat we could find. Mom and I were the 3rd and 4th late passengers to board, and were able to find seats (of course, not close to each other) to a chorus of applause from the passengers already sitting on the plane.

We were able to grab a few hours of sleep before landing in Dublin at 9 AM GMT. Our elation at arriving at our destination on the right day was dulled as we watched everyone else pick up their luggage with no sign of ours. Well, almost everyone else. The other 4 people who had been on our flight from Boston had no bags either. I guess it was naive of me to believe that while I was running through terminal C of Newark Airport trying to catch the next plane, the baggage handlers were doing the same out on the runway with our bags.
Mom in front of some part of Dublin Castle (we think).

We decided to make the best of it. After all, I would rather be in Dublin with no luggage than in Newark with luggage. We were able to check into our room at the hotel without any major issues. In an effort to get adjusted to the time difference as quickly as possible, we skipped napping and walked to Saint Stephen's Green, Trinity College (where we saw the Book of Kells), Dublin Castle, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and Christchurch Cathedral. After a very nice afternoon, we had a delicious dinner at Dobbin's Wine Bistro, and trudged back to the hotel to pass out. A quick check online told us the current location and arrival time of our luggage is officially "unknown". After 3 hours sleep over the past 36 stressful hours, I don't really care at this point and will deal with it tomorrow!
Christchurch Cathedral