First day in Ireland

As we approached Ireland from the Irish Sea I noticed that the cloud cover was practically complete. It was overcast most of my stay and rarely did skies turn sunny. Perhaps it was too early in summer.

I was fortunate to be sitting on the left side and my first sight of the island was the prominent Howth on the eponymous peninsula. Ireland's Eye, a small island off Howth, is outside the frame to the right.

I had two things to get at the airport terminal: a return shuttle ticket to Dublin, and a Leap card, for public transport. I looked in vain for the public transport desk mentioned in articles, and in the end found it in the SPAR convenience store. I guess the other outlets were closed due to lack of custom in recent times.

The other annoyance was that the bus stand could be reached only via the overhead walkway you see in the photo. I should have paid attention to the signs.

While I was waiting for the coach a sudden shower blew up. This was to be a feature of Irish weather.

In the city I got cash from an ATM. I didn't have mobile connectivity at this point and wasted time looking for the right bus stand. Should have written instructions down.

City streets in Dublin are narrow and cycle lanes abound which is why double decker buses are necessary.

The hotel was from another era but the interior had been modernised. In general Irish buildings were well insulated. After checking in and depositing my luggage, I crossed the street to buy provisions at the Tesco as well as a SIM card, the fourth item on my list. At the hotel I activated it and got connectivity but for some reason no 4G data. Turned out later that it was just not available at the hotel location but didn't slow me down much.

By this time it was already the small hours of the morning by my body clock so I ate the sandwiches I bought at Tesco and had an early evening.