Our August travel from the U.S. to Belfast

For those of you who haven't flown from the U.S. to Europe, you might be surprised to learn that the flights all happen overnight. I imagine that travelers are supposed to sleep part of the way in order to help everyone adjust to the time difference (5 hours). Of course, no one in my family sleeps well on a plane. How does anyone? I always marvel at the people sitting straight up with their head to one side, completely asleep. How do they do that? Drugs? 

Anyway, my Father drove us from Lansing to the Detroit airport (thanks Dad!). Tearful goodbyes all around. We have never flown with so much luggage before - 1 large checked (all just under the 50 lb limit; thanks Pat and Eric for your sabbatical bags!) and 1 smaller carry-on suitcase each for J, W, and me, in addition to each of the 3 of us carrying a small backpack or laptop bag, as well as pushing the stroller and diaper bag. I have to say that I am already dreading the return trip with all of that luggage! Anyway, bag check and security went slowly but fine, we boarded relatively painlessly, and we were on our way. We flew American Airlines (AA) from DTW to Chicago and then Aer Lingus to Dublin. Did you know that at Ohare, you have to leave the domestic terminal and take a tram to the international terminal, which means that you have to go through security again...with 2 kids, a stroller, 3 roller carry-on sized suitcases, a diaper bag, 2 backpacks, and a laptop briefcase...I plan to avoid to Chicago in the future. Oh, and, the AA flight attendant (the grumpiest one I've ever experienced) told us the wrong gate to go to, so we walked extra far! Ah well...We had a couple of hours in Chicago, so Jubin and I got dinner at Frontera Grill (yummy sandwiches) and we got white rice and noodles for Watson (recall that our son is on the "white diet"). There was a 40 min wait for a table, so we made a nice mess in the hall eating at benches! I am sure that the gobs of people walking by us were appalled, but we didn't have many options. Of course Jubin was perturbed by us spending over $30 on this meal, but hey...that's airports, right?

It is about a 7 hour flight from DTW to Dublin, arriving around 5:15 am. Perhaps the longest 7 hours ever? None of us had slept very much the night before. Watty had gone to the Lugnuts with Izzy and got home about 10pm, and J and I were up til 2am packing and then up again at 6am packing... How tired we were hit us about an hour into the flight. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open. Luckily Jamieson slept on me for about 3 hrs off and on so I slept when he did. Watson loved the movies and shows - each person had their own screen and ability to watch their own videos. Watty slept the last 2 hours of the flight only. I don't think that Jubin ever slept at all... Compared to other airlines I've traveled recently, Aer Lingus was not very impressive. No hot towels, not very good food, we had to request water, not very good entertainment (many fewer choices of movies than Delta). So, I won't jump to use AL again for the transatlantic flight. However, we did get the bulkhead row (1st row after business class) that gives you more knee room and some floor space for Jamie to crawl on, but still was tough...if we were better off, I would totally upgrade to business class (and I recommend anyone who can do so to just do it). The woman next to us (4 seats across in the middle) was very nice and friendly. She talked with Watson, said how amazingly good he was, and even commented that I have the Irish complexion and look and would fit in great in Belfast.

Upon arriving bleary-eyed in Dublin at 5:15 am, we approached the passport check assuming that we would get our Visas stamped. Duh! We arrived in the Republic of Ireland, not the UK. So, the man stamped our passports and told us to not forget to get our Visas stamped in Belfast. Even though we knew that we were flying into Dublin and that Ireland is not part of the UK (it is amazing how many people DON'T know that), we still weren't prepared for the fact that our Visas couldn't be activated in Dublin - woops! Anyway, we collected all of our checked bags (uh), and made our way out of the airport to the Aer Coach bus kiosk. We had missed the 5:55 am bus by 5 min of course...but, we decided to stick with Aer Coach rather than the city bus and went up to the terminal to get breakfast. Funny side note about many European airports - they have much better options for food than most US airports, and often free wifi. And, why is it that Europeans make cappuccinos so much better than Americans do? Anyway, yogurt, donuts, cappuccinos, and croissants in our bellies and back to the bus stop. We chatted with a group from the US who were going to Belfast for the International Police and Fireman Games - very nice (and fit) group. The Aer Coach from Dublin to Belfast is nice - it is like the MI Flyer for those readers in MI. Free wifi, clean, express between the 2 cities. It takes about 2 hours and brings you to the Europa bus depot in Belfast city centre. I took advantage of the free email to let folks know that we had arrived safely and to alert Kath and Bob so they would know when to pick us up. At this point, we were all really tired and slept off and on-Jamie the whole way pretty much on me, the rest of us a bit here and there. We hit the morning rush hour traffic in Belfast, but still arrived on time. Bob and Kath got to the stop just a couple minutes after we did (thanks so very much!) and we were so happy to see them! It was cold and  we were so tired.... I rode in their Prius with the kids and Jubin and Kath got a taxi with the rest of our luggage. It takes between 5 and 20 minutes to get between the bus station and our home, depending on the time of day and traffic. We arrived shortly in Stranmillis, where we were greeted by our landlord, Godfrey. Phew - home at last!