Well-come to Dublin!

I didn't even manage to take a deep breath after the initial orientation at work (more on that later),  and on my second working day I flew to Dublin.

It is just a one hour flight from London, and it feels really strange, when the road from the office to the airport and the gate takes twice as long as the flight itself.

I didn't expect much from a country that resides on an island smaller than England and from a city lying more to the north than London. In my picture of the world Ireland was a bare terrain with a couple of cities with a few people and lots of tiny villages. I was wrong.

When we were landing the view below made me take out my "camera" and take a picture. Dublin suburbs were beautiful in the light of the setting sun.

A short drive in a taxi through the center of the city surprised me even more. Nice houses built from red brick, but looking quite modern, cosy gardens, trains running around, hills in the background covered in a bluish haze and a river (or was it a channel) here and there made Dublin look so romantic and relaxed.

 

I had a 2-day intensive training and didn't have any time to explore the city, but even a walk to the hotel in the evening was fruitful:

I was surprised to learn that Ireland also has left-side driving, just like England, and that Irish language looks more like French or Dutch, than English and is not actually used in the country. Irish people learn it as a second language in school, but mostly do not use it in their life. However, their pronunciation of English was different from that of English people, and, in general, the speech sounded more harsh.

By the way, do you know the distinctive features of a real Dubliner?

1. He/she complains a lot.

2. He/she speaks a lot about the weather.

3. He/she complains a lot about the weather.

Google office in Dublin

On my way back I spotted a funny service in one of the women's toilets in Dublin airport:

I cannot imagine a woman hurrying to her flight stop by to ... make her hair... for a euro.

We landed in London at 10 PM. Walking through kilometers of tunnels of Terminal 1 to reach the arrivals area I mentally agreed with all those people who told me the day before that Heathrow is large. I confirm: Heathrow is really large. 

The trip back from the airport to central London took an hour by tube, and then I had my first experience walking in central London alone at midnight. It felt safe: no drunk or stoned people on the streets, I met a policeman strolling down the street and a bunch of business people obviously having finished their business late-dinner and happily going home. 

It was not bad at all.