There’s a slight side quest in these photos. My friend Patrick invited me over to London for a couple days.
IcelandAir
My flight–all legs–was on IcelandAir. ORD-KEL-DUB (reversed for return). I was on Boeing 737 and 757 aircraft.
On the flight over, I had an entire row to myself for both legs. This was amazing! It let me stretch out across the seats and actually get a couple quick naps (normally, I can’t sleep on planes). The flight crew were pleasant, and the plane was what you’d expect.
The one thing about the flight that… caught my attention, shall we say: It was full-on capitalism at it’s most aggressive. Aside from water, soda, and coffee, nothing was free (not even the meals!). During on-boarding and off-boarding, the seat-back screens played constant commercials (and no, you can’t turn the screen off). When you first turn on the entertainment system, it plays 3:37 of non-skippable commercials (filled with tall, beautiful people who show zero emotion except for mild disdain towards you for not being blessed with being born in Iceland).
Flights were all on time (not including some waiting time on the tarmac for a slot to clear), and everything was fine. The only complaint I would have in this area is that the gates for flights in KEL were not shown until 45 minutes before boarding began. So you had no clue where to go and wait.
Bracken Court Hotel
I didn’t stay in Dublin proper. Instead, I had a hotel in Balbriggan, 33 km north of the city center. I’m so very glad I stayed there. Balbriggan is a small-ish working-class city right on the coast. The photos of the beach you see above are in Balbriggan. The Bracken Court Hotel is 3 blocks from the train station (about a 10 minute walk), one block from a an array of restaurants and pubs, and just a short walk from the beach.
The staff were exceptionally friendly and helpful. I had had a snafu with my scheduling, and didn’t realize until the week before my flight that I wouldn’t be arriving until Monday morning–when I had booked the room for Sunday. A quick e-mail (through Expedia), and they responded saying that they would hold the room for me. They were undergoing renovations while I stayed there, so I wasn’t able to see the full restaurant and bar, but the second space they were using was quite nice.
There’s a small–but important to me–detail that really stood out about their maid service. Me being me, I hung up my bath and hand towels after using them. The cleaning staff did *not* take them and leave new ones. I *like* that! I’m perfectly fine using the same towel for a week (I do it at home), and I love that they’re saving water and electricity, and reducing the amount of detergent that’s going through the water treatment system. Additionally, they didn’t take away the opened bottle of shower gel. They added a new one in the empty space on the vanity, but left the open one in the shower where I had placed it. That little bottle lasted me the entire week, with zero waste.
On the other hand, the bed was made fresh every day, and (with the exception of one day) the coffee station was restocked.
If you’re ever visiting Dublin and don’t mind being outside of the city, I highly recommend the Bracken Court Hotel in Balbriggan.