Greetings from Ireland, the land of 40 shades of green!

After more than half a day of traveling, we have finally made it to the land of the Irish.

I have the privilege to be traveling with my parents, Delwin and Sondra Myers of Strang, along with nearly fifty 10/11 viewers from across Nebraska.

Our trip started bright and early Monday morning, with bus stops starting west, and making their way east to Lincoln. From there, we headed to Omaha, and flew into Newark International Airport, where the New York skyline was visible to many, along with the great Statue of Liberty. At this point, many of us knew our great adventures had begun!

Our overnight flight to Dublin was six hours, which also happens to be the time difference between Nebraska and Ireland. We are well into our day, as many 10/11 viewers are just waking up.

Once we arrived to the Dublin International Airport, an airport that served 10 million passengers in 2008, we were off to meet our driver, Pierce Kavanagh. Gerry Bronzell with Holiday Vacations and Pierce are the eyes and ears of our grand adventure, taking us all around the beautiful country for the next 9 days. Ireland is the third largest island in Europe, with a population of 4.5 million people in the Republic of Ireland. Nearly 1.5 million people live in Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.

Our first day, we had the luck of the Irish with us, as we traveled around Dublin, the name meaning black pool (from the dark bog water in the area). We were able to see sites like the Liffey River, also referred to as the “Sniffy Liffey” to some, which has 16 bridges throughout the city, leading motorists and pedestrians from one side of the river to the other.

Another amazing site in Dublin is Phoenix Park, an open area including nearly 1,600 acres and 1,000 deer. In 1979, Pope John Paul, II spoke to 1 million people in the park. A large cross monument now stands in the area, honoring his visit.

Our first official stop, was St. Patrick’s Cathedral, an amazing building with original architecture and beautiful stained glass windows filling the church with bright colors. Our afternoon was capped off with lunch and shopping on Grafton Street, one of the most popular streets in Dublin for unique shops and boutiques, as well as traditional Irish pubs, and of course, a McDonalds and Burger King in the mix as well.

Here are a couple differences between Ireland and the United States.
To Let = To Rent
Ireland uses Euros for their currency. The current exchange rate is 66 Euros to 1 Dollar.
In Ireland, they drive on the left side of the road, and also parallel park in either direction.

Tomorrow we are headed to Clonmacnoise, an early Christian site, founded by Saint Ciaran in the 6th century, situated on the banks of the River Shannon.

I wonder if tomorrow will be as exciting as today…stay tuned to find out!