We made it to Dublin but it was a little later than planned.  Here’s what was on our initial itinerary for our two days in Dublin:

Day One:
The Book of Kells and the Old Library
Pat Liddy’s walking tour
The HOHO (hop on, hop off) Bus
Christ Church or St Patrick’s Cathedral
The Guinness Storehouse

Day Two:
Newgrange
Kilmainhaim Gaol
A ghost walk

What actually happened was a little different and reminded me how important it is to be flexible when you travel.  Thanks to a malfunctioning cargo door, we landed back in New York 45 minutes after we took off.  A couple of hours later, we had a new plane and were finally on our way.  Instead of landing around 7 am, we landed around 10.  The other wrench in our plan was that there was a protest march against a new tax on water that basically shut down all of the transportation options in the city center.  Because of our delayed arrival, I knew we would have to make some changes.  What follows is what we actually did while in Dublin.

After a solid ten hours of sleep, we woke up feeling refreshed and ready for our first full day in Ireland.  After a delicious breakfast at The Shelbourne, we decided to try our luck at the sightseeing bus again.

When you decide to travel from the US to Europe, you will likely have a couple of options.  Leave in the evening, fly overnight and land in the morning OR leave in the morning, fly all day and land in the evening.  I personally would rather book the overnight flight or red eye.  I see it as getting an extra day of vacation.  You can leave late on a Friday night, land early on Saturday and have most of the day at your destination or you can leave on a Saturday morning, land Saturday night and have time to find your hotel and maybe grab a bite to eat.

However, it's no surprise that red eyes are not fun.  I can usually catch a nap on a plane without a problem but there is a big difference between a nap and trying to get close to a full nights sleep.  A coach seat on any airplane is a far cry from the Ritz Carlton but there are ways to make your experience a little better.  This is an overview of what has worked for me.

I’ve always heard that Ireland was really beautiful - lots of lovely green scenery, old castles, quaint little towns and who hasn’t heard of the Cliffs of Moher – if not from Harry Potter then surely The Princess Bride?  I’d like to say that these were all reasons that I decided to go to Ireland, and indeed they are reasons why it was on my radar at all.  However, the decision was completely random and purely because American Airlines was having a sale and round trip tickets to Dublin were dirt cheap!  I talked my daughter, Sabrina, into coming along (not too hard to sell an all-expense trip to Ireland and nine days of quality time with her awesome mother) and started planning our trip.

Since Valentine's Day was last week, I thought I would take this post to discuss love.  Not love of a person or a place, but the love I have for my suitcase.

Okay, I know it sounds crazy but when you travel a lot, a good suitcase is a necessity.  After having a not-so-great suitcase, I'm a firm believer that everyone should invest in good luggage, regardless of how often you travel.

First, I'll share the five reasons why I love my suitcase so much.  Then, I'll tell you about my Valentine's Day dinner.

The Traveling Gourmand…sounds fancy but when you break it down, it’s not and I’m not.  The image below should clearly prove that, along with why I'm not starting a fashion blog.