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So we made it to the Cincinnati airport on time. We got checked in, we paid $100 to have an extra bag, and went to find some lunch. Turns out my nephew didn't have to rush so much to get us to the airport on time. Our flight was delayed… four hours; which means we sat in the airport for six hours. We're used to hurrying up and waiting these days, but my enjoyment level has refused to rise along with the frequency rate. It was fine; it gave me plenty of time with free wi-fi to get some work done. We were concerned about missing our flight in Newark to Ireland (we did), but United was kind enough to get us booked on the next two flights out. Since the first (of the two back-ups) was delayed we made that flight, and ended up arriving in Ireland only an hour after our original arrival time.
Quick background on how we ended up returning to Malawi via Ireland, because honestly, it doesn't make much sense. Getting to Malawi is complicated, no matter where you are coming from. You will always have at least one layover (but often two or three) unless you're already in Addis Ababa or Johannesburg, then you can fly directly there. When we first came to Malawi we purchased a round trip ticket, since we knew we would be going back to Cincinnati for the GCE in May; and it's much cheaper to buy round trip tickets than one-way (generally speaking). So, to get back to Malawi we had to buy another ticket, so we were searching for round trip tickets, buying them direct (meaning, buying all the various legs of the journey on one ticket) were popping up very expensive (think $3,200+ per ticket). Apparently May and December are the two most expensive months to travel to Malawi, and those were the two months we are traveling. So we tried separating out the itinerary as we had done on our first trip (one ticket between Johannesburg and Cincinnati and another ticket between Johannesburg and Lilongwe), and they were still quite expensive ($2,800+); except for one that was $2,200, but we had to change airPORTS (not airlines) in NYC, with only a two hour layover… I'm not even sure how that came up as an option. So we thought, let's see if it's any cheaper to fly into Europe, and then down to Malawi. Bingo! We found a ticket to Ireland for around $800, and then from Ireland to Malawi for around $900. So, to save around $1,000 a ticket we just had to spend a weekend in Ireland. Sometimes it pays to be creative. The only downside is going into Europe you only get one suitcase each (we had three total), so we had to pay for one extra bag. That being said, even with having to pay for bags coming and going, we're still saving over $1,000 total. Even bigger bonus, we got to spend several days with our good friend, Luke McTighe, who currently lives in Dublin. He's a history buff, so he makes the best tour guide.
Now back to our traveling travails… I mean adventures. Luke met us at the airport and we caught a bus to Dún Laoghaire (pronounced done leary), where Luke lives. I stayed awake most of the time. We'd only traveled five time zones, but we were at the tail end of a 24 hour trip, so I was struggling. After lugging our three 50 pound bags and a guitar and my new most-comfortable-pillow-ever up to the second floor; we got a shower and Lewis and Luke walked to town to get coffee while I took a short nap; it was wonderful. Luke then took us on the first of two walking tours of Dublin.
We walked to East Pier (in Dún Laoghaire), and ate delicious fish and chips in the warm Irish sunshine (seriously, it was one of the most beautiful days we had on our entire trip! Who would have thought it would have been in Ireland??). From there we took the train to Dublin proper and had a whirlwind walking tour of Dublin. We say Oscar Wilde's birth house, Trinity College, Lewis had a Guinness at the Brazen Head (a sign says the oldest pub in Ireland, but as Luke kept reminding us, some Irish guy wrote it on a sign… it must be true), we walked through Temple Bar (a touristy/trendy neighborhood). We finally took the train to Dalkey where we had a delicious dinner at a restaurant called "The Club."
We took a taxi back to Luke's place, tired, stuffed full, and ready for the next day's adventures, and a bit of a Sabbath rest.
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