The Commoner Goes to Europe

That's right The Commoner went to Europe.  Well I went to Ireland to visit our family but it's so much cooler to say Europe and have you think I cruised The Mediterranean. 


Ireland pretty much is a commoner's place to visit.  It's the closest European country, they speak English, and almost everyone has family living there and that means no need for a hotel.  Okay maybe not everyone, but we do!

I was very apprehensive about making it all the way to Ireland especially since we had to go through Chicago, and especially since we've done this before with limited success.  Also, I'm still battle scarred from my ill attempt to get to NY this summer that I don't trust any airline to get me anywhere.

I was glad in San Francisco to meet up with a High School Rugby team along with coaches and parents who were on their way from California to get demolished in some games in Ireland.  If they were playing in Dublin I might have watched them play.

  But still it was nice to have company through the whole process all the way to Dublin.  Last time we flew with the family that own an Irish restaurant in Gilroy-they were rude, and I've never returned to The Claddagh   since that trip.

So we made it to Chicago no problem.  We had a 4 hour layover which I didn't mind because it meant no stress.  We waited at the Aer Lingus counter because Rob is not an American and needed to get his bording pass from the Irish airline. I'm always glad to be an American.

So we made it through to the security line when we were lucky enough to be advised get your food out here from the crappy food court before you go through because there is no food on the other side.  Thank God for that guy.

There we found the rugby team and I ate McDonalds french fries and a sandwich-seriously it's the international terminal-it's great that they serve such healthy-whole food options to sit in your stomach for at least 7 hours!  Brilliant!

The thing about going to Ireland is that a lot of families with young children are also always going to Ireland.  We did it a bunch of times when they were little.  Children under 2 fly free and there's always someone to stay with.  Hence the plane looks like it's going to Orlando. 

Waiting, starving, and thirsty with the rest of the refugees -I mean terminal-things hummed along nicely.  The rugby team ran around and all of the kids were good-except-this one screaming toddler-screaming bloody murder (what does that mean) for 2 hours.  Red faced, screaming.

We all stared at each other and were thinking the same thing-please don't let that kid sit near me.  I heard all kinds of threats, dirty looks, and lots of compliments to parents of 'good kids'.

Finally we board the plane when Rob says to me, "Behind you, the kid who was having the temper tantrum."   Folks this is a three part blog, I'll talk about that little treasure, as well as the wonderful Australian family we met on our trip home.