The First Days

Jenny's Notes:
Welcome to our blog! Glenn and I promise not to let this blog suffice for actually communicating with our family and friends, but thought it might be a good way to journal our move to Ireland and keep anyone interested posted on our journey.

After months of planning, packing, and goodbye-ing, we are finally here in Dublin. I don't think the reality of our situation will set in for quite some time now. We are both still reeling from the last weeks of activity and some jet lag. I can't get enough of this city. Our temporary apartment is really in the heart of the City Centre. We step out our front door and can be on Grafton St. in 60 seconds, in St. Stephen's Green in 2 minutes and just about anywhere else with just a short walk. I am getting spoiled. Glenn, on the other hand, is thinking he might enjoy a place with fewer people. My guess is that our budget will work in Glenn's favor when it comes time to pick our permanent place.

Our first day is a distant memory. Once we landed, we checked into a hotel and slept for hours. In the afternoon we went to the realty office managing our apartment and picked up our keys. Once we checked out our new pad and walked around the city (yes, we were lost) for a bit, we went back to the hotel, changed and went to dinner at a great little restaurant that Glenn remembered from one of his interview trips. Still on EST, we weren't the least bit tired after dinner so we went to some bars to do some more exploring. Somehow, I managed to drag us into the oldest gay nightclub in Dublin. It was actually a fun people watching spot. I'm sure you'll be surprised to hear that Glenn did not want to dance.

The next day we spent moving into our new place and unpacking. We did a bit more exploring (read: 'getting lost') and got new cell phones. If you want the numbers, just send us an email. These phones have free skype, so send us your username if you skype.

We started today with a nice long (chilly) walk around and throughout St. Stephen's green. It was so beautiful and the city was very quiet on a Sunday morning. We just returned from an afternoon adventure to Dun Laoghaire (a coastal town just south of Dublin). We successfully navigated the train system and enjoyed a lovely afternoon of walking, eating, card playing, and exploring. We decided to make this kind of trip a Sunday tradition. Or maybe to start a Sunday afternoon card playing club....we'll see what shakes out.

We have two more days before Glenn starts work. That will be one step closer to settling in and getting out of vacation mode. I'll start to seriously look for a place for us to live permanently and a spot for the wine bar.

Some observations so far:
The Irish really are as friendly as they seem. Everyone we've met has wished us well on our moved and offered some sort of assistance.
Clothes dryers in this country really don't work. I'm not sure how people get their clothes dry in Dublin as there is no space for drying lines. I'll have to ask someone when I get a bit more confident.
The web cam is a brilliant invention!
It's fairly easy to live with only a very small number of possessions (I have no idea what we are going to do with our 14 boxes of stuff when it arrives next month).
The Europeans got it right with energy efficiency, plumbing, and transportation.

That's it for now. I'm sure these blogs will become less detailed as we get used to life on this side of the pond. Feel free to comment and we'll get back to you. Thanks for reading!