Arrival in Dublin

We landed in Dublin the last week of March, and checked in to our temporary stay (below) for a few weeks, before finding a new place to call home. I've passed this door countless times since our arrival, but I vividly remember standing on the street that first day, with our entourage of suitcases, feeling foreign and full of energy, having little idea of what to expect. I had never been to Europe before the move, so I guess I crossed that bridge in style! Forget traveling, why not live here for a couple years!

The first few days were spent getting things in order, including getting PPS numbers (similar to SSN in the states), registering with the GNIB (Immigration police) and getting an ID that, in reality, does not count as a valid ID (makes sense, right?). It's actually fortunate I don't have to use it frequently... we got our IDs after a long day of traveling and sitting in 3 hour queues in government offices, so my picture resembles more of a zombie/black widow than a blushing bride. Apparently the immigration police don't care if you'd prefer to retake the picture like a driver's license!

St. Stephen's Green

After the basics were squared away, we took to the streets to begin exploring our new city. Dublin is a pretty small place and is easy to walk around and get to know quickly. Very manageable, especially coming from Chicago.

Grafton St - main shopping street

As you can see from the pictures, it is sunny and people are wearing t-shirts. DO NOT let this fool you! We arrived during a fluke week of warm and sunny weather. To be clear, when I say "warm," I mean 65°F or, I should say, 18°C (the fahrenheit to celsius conversion is a small example of one of the many mental adjustments we have to make). We've had 2 weeks like that since, so it's lucky that we got to discover the city at its most vibrant.

Dublin Castle

Dublin Castle

We saw many of the main "sites to see" in the city centre: St. Stephen's Green, Grafton Street, Dublin Castle, Temple Bar, Trinity College, etc.

Temple Bar

Strange to think many of these sites are commonplace for us now! And yet, Temple Bar (the name of the bar, as well as the surrounding neighborhood) is reserved for taking visitors, as few local people actually go there!

B is even squinting from that bright Dublin sun!

Wandering around got us quickly acquainted with the city and even more eager to settle into life in Dublin.

Ha'Penny Bridge

Trinity College

Here we are, freshly married and "fresh off the boat," ready to embark on our Irish adventure.

After spending a few days in Dublin, we set out on our first trip in Europe, a little honeymoon, or "mini moon" if you will, around the south and west of Ireland (I'll cover it in the next post)...