I woke up at 3:30am Pacific Time on 9/27.
I couldn't sleep the night before, which was unusual because I usually can't sleep the night before the trip, but this was two nights before. So I actually had seven hours of sleep on the eve of my trip, and that probably helped.
I finished packing and headed to work around 5am.
The journey
Around 2pm, I was trying to summon Uber. For some reason, it now says that my Google number is invalid. It was fine before. And it doesn't warn you until you're hurrying to get to the airport.
After unsuccessfully trying to remember my password to change the phone number on record, I gave up and installed the Lyft app.
The airport security line wasn't long. So I had a relaxing wait at the gate.
In the way to Dublin, I had a window seat on a two-seater row, and the guy next to me moved to a different seat, so I was lucky.
The 8-hour flight didn't seem so long. I watched "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" after dinner, then slept for 3 hours. Only ate half of breakfast because I couldn't scrape the cream cheese off the bagel entirely.
It was cloudy, but Dublin looked like a pretty town from the air. Lots of green, which I didn't expect in a major city. Maybe it was just the side of the city where we approached it.
It looked like they were doing renovations at the airport, so it was a long maze-like walk to the main section of the terminal. There was a quick passport check, then I headed to the gate for my connecting flight.
I saw a sign for a fresh salmon breakfast for less than €9 in the main shopping section. I should have gone for that, but I kept going, thinking there'd be other restaurants near my gate. I was wrong, so I settled for a cold sandwich and coconut water from a store near my gate. It was supposed to be €6 total, but the clerk gave me less than €3 in change. Is that because of the VAT? Or was I duped? She wasn't friendly to me (she was to the next customer), so I assumed she was prejudiced and decided to dupe me. I just got off a long flight, I had no patience for that BS.
On the shorter flight from Dublin to Amsterdam, I was nodding off even before we took off. But I wasn't really planning to sleep because I was in an aisle seat.
And I was very surprised that a small can of (fake) orange juice on the flight wasn't free. It cost €1.5. I guess European airlines are also cutting costs.
Amsterdam!
Anyway, the immigration line wasn't that short. After a seemingly strange question about my final destination, the agent asked if I was planning to live in Amsterdam. I said, "I wish!" And he laughed and let me go.
I spent extra time at the airport to take cash out. (I exchanged some cash at SFO, just so I wouldn't be euro-strapped and I'm glad I did so I was able to pay cash for my lunch in Dublin.)
I also bought an Amsterdam train+bus pass for 3 days for €25. (Rick Steves recommended it, but I only took a few rides in those three days so I didn't recoup the cost.) And a one-way ticket to my lodging. (The pass didn't cover the rides to and from my lodging.) I didn't want to waste one of the days for just one train ride.
The ticket counter agent also insisted that I didn't need seat reservations for domestic trips, contrary to what raileurope.com said. So hopefully, everything works out fine.
My first Airbnb experience
The walk from the train station took longer because I started out going in the wrong direction.
I went back to the train station to buy another cold sandwich and to ask for directions.
My Airbnb host Ken had posted a video of how to get there from the train station but I watched it a couple of months ago and didn't have time to watch it again. So I ended taking a different route. But the street looked familiar when I finally got there.
But my door code didn't work. I rang the bell, but no response. A black cat with brown spots snuck between me and the door and meowed to be let in too.
I was trying to connect my Bluetooth headset to use Skype when the door opened. And both Ken and I were surprised. He was about to go outside for a smoke.
The cat slid in meanwhile. It looked like it was actually their cat.
So, Ken postponed his smoke to give me a tour of the 100-plus-year-old house he was born in. Then he gave me info about sightseeing locally. Then, I asked him about the power plugs because they looked like big round holes and my adapter only had pins. (The two round pins plugged in at the bottom of the big holes.)
After checking my code (I had the wrong one), Ken finally headed outside again for his smoke.
I got organized a bit and had my cold sandwich dinner on the patio, while I went over the sightseeing materials he gave me.
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| On Ken's patio. Two more photos in Flickr. |
It's a very nice quiet neighborhood. The clouds were rolling in and the wind was blowing but it was still very pleasant.
I even startled Ken, inadvertently, when he came out to collect the laundry that was hanging to dry nearby.
I headed back in when it got too dark to read. Unpacked. Took a shower. Went to bed at 9pm local time.
Woke up at almost 1am to use the bathroom. Was wide awake, so writing this blog post. It's 3am now (local time on Thursday morning), so going back to sleep.
Will try to post a few pictures tomorrow.
Observations
I didn't have problems with my blonde hair not matching my passport picture. But two Filipinas at SFO (an airline ticket agent and a TSA agent) were surprised that I'm from the Philippines, which they saw in my passport. I didn't even know it said that.
People were either unusually friendly or wary. But I was definitely not ignored.
I was probably one of the few non-Caucasians on the leg from SFO to Dublin. But I was very surprised to see a lot of Asians going from Dublin to Amsterdam.
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