We arrived in Dublin this morning at 10.30. Its now 11.00 at night and it's been a long day.
The flight from Bangkok via Turkey was very comfortable and the stop in Ankera was perfect as it was short but not rushed, we had time to stretch our legs, get something to eat and drink and stroll to the gate for the second leg of our flight.
We had to show our marriage certificate to the immigration officer, but she was very polite and kind, at no point did we feel we were being interrogated. The immigration officer confirmed that we should apply for a residence card (Form EU1) for my wife and son if we intended to stay beyond 3 months, and she warned us that the processing time for that residence card is currently up to 8 months. That came as a surprise, but at least me know in advance.
I had to find customs and submit a cash declaration as I was carrying more than 10,000 euros in cash. I showed my bank book that showed the withdrawal in my Thailand bank and another receipt that showed that I changed the money from Thai Baht to Euros in a licensed money exchange in Thailand. I was given a copy of the declaration which was duly stamped without so much as a raised eyebrow, which is good as I was a bit concerned by the need to declare cash.
Walking into the arrivals hall at Dublin airport was a great feeling. I stopped and we opened our bags to get out some warm jackets and we started looking for the Taxi rank so we could get a taxi to our hotel in Dublin.
The taxi ride was uneventful, Dublin looks very nice but as its a Sunday morning the streets are almost deserted and the contrast to Bangkok is stark. The taxi driver knows our hotel, and we get there very quickly. The fare is 20 euros and in my head I calculate that in Bangkok the same journey would be no more than 2 euros..
We are too early to check-in to the hotel, the official check-in time is not until 3pm, but the girl at the desk told us we can leave our luggage in some lockers downstairs which is OK with us, so we left our luggage and went for a walk in Dublin.
The hotel is right next to the river Liffey, we head towards a shopping area as we do need some more warm clothes. We did find it a bit cold, but that's to be expected. I assume that after we have been here a while we should adapt a bit.
We walked around Dublin for a couple of hours and then wandered back to the Hotel.
I am a bit disappointed with the central area of Dublin, it seems a bit grim in some parts close to the hotel, maybe thats just because the shutters are down on a Sunday. Other parts seem very nice, but I am reminded immediately that I am not really a city person and I am wondering how we will adapt to city life if we do stay in Dublin.
After we checked into the hotel and we cleaned up, I looked on google maps and I can see a Lidl store that looks like 10 mins walk from the hotel. We walk there and Kitty is absolutely amazed at the low price of foods that are considered as luxury foods in Thailand.
We are both pleasantly surprised by the low cost of grocery in Lidl. I have been to Lidl in the UK, but this a new experience for Kitty and she loves it. She bought wine, salami, cheese, salmon, and other stuff that is very expensive in Thailand but very cheap here.
We came back to the hotel, had some wine, bread and cheese and now I am writing this blog entry.
The hotel room is actually an apartment style with 2 bedrooms and a living room. We were upgraded for free as we only booked a single bedroom with I large bed and a bed/sofa but we are very happy to have 2 bedrooms with very comfortable beds.
I know of course that we have just 2 nights booked, I have a lot to do in the coming days and hotel accommodation is very expensive in Dublin, my priority is to buy a car and get somewhere to live. I am going to rent a car tomorrow so we can go look for a car to buy and get our bearings around Dublin... but for now I need a good nights sleep.
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