Deilginis & Flight

Today we went to Dalkey, which is effectively a suburb of Dublin. We went there because we have distant relatives in the area and wanted to visit them. They took us for a walk around the hill in Dalkey from where you should be able to see magnificent views over the harbour, but there was a heavy mist there this morning and so we only saw mist. We could hear the water, so knew it must have been close, but that was the extent of our water views. The mist was great though and made for some interesting photos.

It was nice to meet our relatives (my grandmother's cousins) for me, and nice for mum to see them again (she first met them when she was in Europe with my dad in 1976).

After the visit, we returned to Baile Átha Cliath for a few hours, which gave us enough time to wander through Grafton St and then head back to the hotel to collect our baggage and head off to the airport.

Our flight was delayed by about 20mins, according to the notice in the airport, but I think it took off about 30mins behind schedule, which meant we landed about 20 to 30mins late in Paris-Beauvais. The flight was uneventful aside from the lateness, which is probably good for something like a flight.

We were both tired when we landed. I walked through the passport check, with no problems, as usual, and then saw an office selling the tickets for the bus back to Paris. We didn't have much cash on us, so I wanted to buy the tickets with my carte bleue (debit card). Unfortunately, this office didn't accept payment by cards and told me to go to the office outside the airport. So I did. With mum following me, trying to ask me something. I got to the office window, bought the tickets, and was thinking about jumping on the bus which was right there, when mum finally got the chance to ask me where our bags were. Bugger. I'd forgotten to collect them, and we'd passed through the "customs" check already. I returned to the airport, and explained my mistake to the information desk woman, who was actually rather friendly, and she told me to go in through the security doors to get the bags, after seeing our boarding passes. Luckily it all ended well, though if mum hadn't been there, I may have only remembered halfway to Paris on the bus, which would have been very annoying indeed.

So, we're back in Paris now. Ireland was fantastic, and I want to return one day.

Photos of the flight here.

It's late, after midnight, and time for bed.