Wayfaring Day 195

January 12, 2026

Travel day to Dublin, Ireland.

This morning we were up early enough to get everything ready and have some breakfast before walking across the street to the terminal. There were no lines at bag check, security or anywhere in the airport. The only line was the line to check in and head to the aircraft. Ryanair is a very laid back airline as we have discovered. Our boarding information communicated that the door would close at 8:00 for our 8:30 flight. At 7:45 we had no gate assignment and there had not been any announcements. At about that time they posted the gate assignment on the departures board and then people started coming from nowhere to get in line for the flight. They started checking people in for the flight and by about 8:05 everyone had been checked in and were waiting to go to the plane. Still there had been no announcements. It was not a big deal but just so unusual. This flight was operated by Maltese Air and the flight attendants had Italian accents. Just like their British/Irish counterparts they spoke very fast and as if they were really bored with the whole thing. They were friendly enough but just not into it all. The flight was about 35 minutes and maybe that’s why everyone seems so blasé. If you have ever flown Lufthansa then you know exactly what is the opposite of Ryanair.

We looked into taking a bus to our hotel but though cheaper the taxi/uber was still the best way to go. We were at our hotel at about 11:30 and had in mind that we would store our luggage and go about town for awhile. However, when they offered early check in for €15 we felt that if we could spare £22 for not parking then we would splurge to get a room early so that we could relax and charge our phones. We had been unable to charge our phones in the hotel at Liverpool which was somewhat surprising. We made it to our room and recharged both ourselves and our phones.

After an hour or so we decided to walk to St Stephen’s Green which is only about a 5 minute walk. We walked through the park, took pics and sat on a bench for a little while. The vibe here is so young and fresh. We fit in comfortably having spent our entire lives around those younger than ourselves. After the park we decided we would go to Trinity College and visit the courtyard before it closed for the night. We rode the tram to the College and enjoyed the grounds for about an hour before climbing back on a tram back to St Stephen’s Green. The trams are easy to use and come by each stop about every ten minutes.

It had already been decided we would stop at Bambino’s Pizza and get some slices to take back to our room which is very near our hotel. When we walked by earlier the line was outside and down the sidewalk. This time there was only a short line. We hear that the lines get really crazy in the late evening. We bought three slices and drinks and walked to our room so that we could comfortably have our dinner. The pizza was delicious but the flavor is not what we usually experience in the US. It may be the cheese but it’s hard to tell. We may stop by and try some of their other combinations later. After a little while we decided to go pick up some soft drinks for later and then some gelato before returning to our room. We ordered the caramel sundae and shared it back at the room. Then it was time for Bristish game shows which we have gotten into during our time across the pond.

We have a 7:00am meet up for our tour tomorrow so we turned in at a reasonable time which is not our usual custom.