Day 1- Trip Across the Pond

Hey folks !

My adventure has begun! I'll be blogging as I go because, well, once you buy overpriced low quality food and ride the escalators a few times, there's nothing to do.

Having some fun on the way down

My gramma, aunt and cousin brought me down to Boston. We took a wrong turn in that tunnel across the wishbone bridge next to the TD Bank Garden. Anyone that knows Boston just went ugh-oh. Yup. Downtown Boston is a bunch of one-way streets and our GPS kept tweaking out. But, eventually we made it to the terminal :-)





Good-byes are the hardest thing for me, especially saying good-bye to my gramma. No matter how many times I travel, whether for a week or a few months, it's always hard. People keep telling me it gets easier but it hasn't yet. We always both end up crying. Here are some pics:


Thankfully, security is always next. And in the hussle and bustle of that you can't really miss anyone. No matter how much people hate it, security has its benefits (other than keeping you safe, of course).

This flight I'm about to board will land in NJ where I'll meet up with some friends before making the trip across the pond. I'll probably post once I'm there, too.

(Side note: for some of you this blog is probably over detailed, but it's mainly to keep my family and friends up to date since I'll be using this more than Facebook. When I said you could follow and come along with me, I wasn't kidding).

My *CRAZY* Trip

 

I posted the above info right before I boarded my plane to NJ. Man, did I have problems! The flight was delayed by 45 minutes. This didn't worry me since I would still have time to meet up with my friends and catch my next plane to Dublin. WELL! Once on the plane we got to the runway and a PA came on telling us we'd be delayed by another 30 minutes, again I wasn't worried because I had time. The guy in front of me, though, was not happy. He stood up and began yelling and hitting the seat. I was worried they were going to bring us back to the gate, but thankfully they did not. Then, we were delayed by another hour. This was *bad*! I would have no time to catch my next flight. This means I'd be in NJ by myself, would have to fly to Dublin by myself and would then have to catch the bus to Belfast by myself. Yup, I panicked. 

Due to the time differences I couldn't get in contact with the professors on my trip since they were already in Ireland and it was late at night there. So, I called the international travel office at my school and something crazy happened. The lady at my school was unable to help me, but prayed with me for several minutes. Then, I kid you not, the pilot announced we'd been cleared for take off early. However, I still did not think I'd make my flight since I only had 10 minutes from when I landed to catch my next flight. Thankfully, I did make it to my plane just as they were boarding the last people and was able to fly over with my friends. 

We were able to fly over New York City at sunset, it was beautiful! 

The 7 hour flight was great. There were some new movies available and I had some great discussions with the people next to me. I was able to get about 2 hours of sleep. My friend had tried to get my some coffee, but accidentally spilled it all over me in the process. Yeah, nothing wakes you up quite like hot coffee in your lap. I screamed pretty loud (again, searing pain in my lap is a weird way to wake up) and everyone looked at me. It was great (hear the sarcasm). Thankfully, my burns were minimal and my pants dried quickly. 

We arrived in Dublin just as the sun was rising. Man, is this Island beautiful!

 

Going through customs was a breeze. The officer didn't ask me any questions and just gave me a pretty new stamp, it was wonderful!

My newest stamp! I'll hopefully be getting 2 more :-) 

I'm not at the house in Belfast. It is beautiful! Later tonight, after I finishes today's adventures, I'll be sure to blog! 

Remember to comment and follow!
~Krista

 

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