Arrival (9/11)

[Chris] 

After landing, we made our way off the plane.  We were in IRELAND!

• Customs was a little confused and patronizing about the purpose of my trip.  They were trying to determine my exact % work time to determine the color of my stamp.  Admittedly, I could have had more documentation ready (easy to find on phone, but I had intended to bring a paper folder.) 
• Took a shuttle bus to our rental car, there was a long line, straightforward rental (other than they told me it was unleaded, but it was actually diesel, which fortunately I realized before I needed it.) 
• Cute white Opel Crossland hatchback, plenty of pre-dents in the car (which is probably good for insurance purposes.) 
• Despite the trunk being advertised for 2-3 bags, we fit in 4 carry-ons and 4 personal backpacks. 
• I asked Lily why she was in the driver's seat, but of course it was the passenger seat.  We've been here almost a week now, and I'm pretty used to the side of the road and roundabouts and everything, but I still can't get used to the swapped seats. At least 5 times on the drive home I looked at the car next to me and thought THE DRIVER IS ASLEEP!!!! only to remember it was the passenger.  One car didn't even have a driver, which was scarier.  I constantly get into the passenger seat when I go to drive.
• The left-sided stick was real now.  I wanted to have some space and time to practice driving a stick, much more so a lefty one, but it was pretty much rental car lot to service road to interstate on-ramp.  Although in my effort to avoid the highway start, I ended up in a parking garage I didn't want.
• Lily was my navigator (she has the personality and attention for detail).  She was a champ.  She has navigated the entire week, and we use "tight left" and "wide right" at every intersection as a reminder.
• We avoided tolls (more to avoid the disruption and need for euros than the expense) which added 30 minutes
• Kate and Sam zonked out in the back seat
• Lots of roundabouts that all have a Left, Straight, Right option.  Like clockwork.
• Driving quirk: the car is pretty much mirrored compared to a US car except two things - the pedals are the same (thank goodness!! can you imagine clutching with your right foot??) and the blinker is still on the left of the steering column, at least in this car.  This is more intuitive, except that it means your left hand is shifting and blinking, and you need to do both repeatedly in a roundabout.
• Another thing I have not quite fixed yet is drifting left in the lane.  Part of it is because I want to avoid oncoming cars on my right.  And I think part of it is that the driver's view in the US is from the left side of the lane, so that seems natural.  I think I'm getting better though, but my lane-departure sensors go off every 2 minutes as a background soundtrack to me driving.
• Stopped at McDonald's at a rest area to get some food.  A shot of caffeine didn't hurt me either.  Got in the wrong door again as we left, of course.
• There were no accidents or scratches on the ride "home", but there were some nerve wracking moments
• Despite the scariness of the walls and hedges, it was going 80 kph through a little town with high curbs against oncoming traffic that proved the most nervy.  I still am not sure how I drove past those cars while hitting neither them nor curb.  I would love to have seen my face.
• There was one roundabout where I was so focused on following the path of the car ahead of me that I forgot about traffic already in the roundabout.  Fortunately the other guy was paying attention and I profusely apologized (not that he could hear me, but he certainly had a good view of me since I was about 24 inches in front of his windshield.)
• There was one 100% blind left turn I made (8 foot walls up to the corner of the rural intersection) that suddenly had oncoming headlights at 100 kph.  My instinct was to move right to avoid them, which I did, but fortunately the other driver was paying attention and my brain kicked in just in time to override my instinct.
• I did stall once on the drive home, but it was a offsetting mistake, since I was in a bus-only lane I wasn't supposed to be in, which was empty, so I didn't inconvenience anyone.
• Somehow, despite it being a 2:45 hour drive, it was 6 hours between our plane landing and arriving at our place (but that includes deplaning, customs, rental shuttle and line, getting situated in the car, driving, one wrong turn, stopping for food, and stopping to call our landlord to let her know our ETA).  We were also in no hurry.
• I think the challenge of driving so far has not been driving a stick, but driving THIS stick.  After 5 days, it still feels like 1st and 3rd are 1 mm apart, as are 3rd and 5th, and 2nd and 4th, etc.  So I know where I want to shift, but I occasionally up or down shift too far.  I've stalled a couple more times this week, but now it is less stressful since I can get it running again very quickly.   I'm not sure who decided that stick shifts should be covered by a blanket of pleather rather than letting you see exactly which slot you are in.
• At around 4 pm we arrived, and the details of our housing will be the next post. 
• The farm manager Ger let us in the gate because our phone wasn't working, and he gave us a great tour of our house.
• Our landlord left us some nice local treats and groceries, including Irish butter and bread from Hickey's Bakery.
• The girls settled on bedrooms pretty quickly, which avoided some stress.  
• We did manage to lock ourselves out almost immediately, which added some stress.  Fortunately Ger was still on site, because otherwise I have no idea how we would have gotten in.  We are very isolated, and Ger lives 30 minutes away.  We now have access to a hidden key (which we did need again last night.)
• I met Alexander from Ukraine, another resident on the property. (There are a lot of Ukrainian refugees in Ireland.)
• After unloading the car, we went to Aldi for some staples like pasta and bananas.
• We had grilled cheese for dinner, and managed to stay up until 10 pm to ward off jet lag a bit (~24 hours after leaving our house in GR) 
• Zzzzzz 

Welcome to Dublin!

Taking it all in.

She's a beaut! (missing hubcap and all)

Ummmm....

It's real!

Familiar, and yet different, Aldi for the win! when in Ireland....

Oops, wrong gate.

Right gate, Ger showing me how it works.

Our house

The castle right in front of our house (we are in the same spot, only rotated from the previous picture).  Also note the weather/sky change 15 seconds later.

We got this!

Would you like to come in?