Exploring Dublin Early in the Morning
An Irish Aviation Enthusiasts day out
In this adventure
- Cheap flights? Not at £95 one way…
- Birmingham to Holyhead with London Northwestern Railway and Transport for Wales
- Irish Ferries Holyhead to Dublin Ferryport (Club Class)
- Morning Adventures in Dublin
- Irish Aviation Enthusiasts Day hosted by Dublin Airport
- Back to being a passenger in T2/T1
- Aer Lingus Regional EI3276 Dublin to Birmingham
- 25 hours and 36 minutes later
- Embracing the Community
I headed off the ferry and headed through the unmanned Irish Passport control and baggage belt.
Caution: Ramp Ahead.
Ulysses is big.
Welcome to Ireland.
Luggage belt.
To the exit.
And with that, I was in Ireland.
The next issue was how to get into town. Thankfully, there’s a bus that will drop you into town for a grand total of €3.50. And if I was you – I’d take the bus as the walk to the docks entrance is a long one – let alone the further walk into town.
Bus: Bench Test.
A 15-minute bus ride later – and I was at Connelly station. Good enough for me – as I bundled out and found a machine inside to top up my leap card for the bus ride over to Dublin Airport later.
Connolly Station
No. Escape. At. All.
Let’s say I was adverse to paying with cash, where a contactless payment was a far better option
With that done, I took a slow walk to O’Connell Street, with the vague hope that a coffee shop of some sort would be open by the time I got there.
Busáras. I suppose I could had jumped an Airlink to the airport then, but I fancied a morning walk, rather than falling asleep in the terminal building.
Follow the tram lines
Buildings within buildings.
And… nope. South of where the Luas line crosses, both were shut, with McDonalds open. The shops on Henry Street were shut too.
O’Connell Street and The Dublin Spire
Henry Street and the Dubin Spire
I almost gave up hope and was about to get an Insomnia coffee from Spar, when I saw another sign for a coffee house.
A green mermaid store that was open at 7 am in the morning.
Thank. The. $deity.
Reliable Green mermaid is reliable.
With an Americano with way too many shots and the morning exercise around Dublin, I was awake. For how long – that would be the interesting thing to find out.
I crossed over a much more awake Dublin and headed to the 747 bus stop. Yes, I could have taken the 16 and slept more – but at least the 747 is a little quicker, and also… has great places to doze off.
Preparing to turn left off O’Connell.
YIELD.
Passing the docks
And that’s important when you’re meant to be awake for a tour behind the scenes at Dublin Airport. Believe it or not, I dozed off, only waking up on the approach to the airport.
Perfect timing
I could not have planned this better even if I tried.
With the bus parking at terminal 1, I headed indoors for a while to explore T1.
And also to find a place to attempt to doze off the next few minutes.
The seating in arrivals i s good for sitting, not for dozing.
With no luck on the dozing part, I instead kept an ear open on some of the participants who were coming, and headed off to the information desk where we would be meeting our hosts.
Eventually, I started seeing familiar faces turning up, with Trevor, Esther and Michael showing up. Familiar faces are good to break the ice.
With representatives from Dublin Airport joining in, it was time to get security badges and prepare for a behind the scenes look of Dublin Airport.
Next: Behind the Scenes at Dublin Airport
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