After a chaotic change in plans due to the eruption of the volcano in Iceland, which caused several of my flights to be delayed and made me seriously contemplate canceling my whole trip, I was able to rebook a flight to Dublin, Ireland. My travel plans no longer included Oslo, Norway. Instead I decided to stay in Dublin until Tuesday morning and then take a flight to Prague, Czech Republic. From that beautiful city I planned to take trains to Vienna, Austria; back to Prague; Krakow, Poland; and Budapest, Hungary before returning to Prague once again to fly back to Dublin, Ireland.

As a preview of the great trip to come, while the plane was approaching to land at Dublin International Airport I put on the headphones to listen to some music. Of all the songs to come on during the decent it could not have been more appropriate than U2's "One." I arrived to Dublin early in the morning local time and had no issues getting through customs. The bus ride into the city was fantastic. The streets were crowded with people heading to work and school children dressed in their uniforms heading to the many schools. The town was alive even at 8 a.m. in the morning, perhaps due to the good weather and the occasional sunshine breaking through the clouds. My friend met me near her school, University College Dublin, where we dropped off my stuff and proceeded to the city center to grab some breakfast.

We walked over the River Liffey which cuts through the town, viewed the "Spire of Dublin," and walked past the famous Dublin General Post office located on O'Connell Street. It is one of Ireland's most famous buildings, and was the last of the great Georgian public buildings erected in the capital. We had breakfast at a restaurant located in Temple Bar. A stroll down Grafton Street and Henry Street provided a glimpse at the many shopping stores, coffee shops, and restaurants. The South-side (Grafton Street) was more fashionable, whereas the North-side (Henry Street) had more of the popular stores and Arnott's. I was fortunate enough to pick up a cheap leather wallet to replace my very dorky and cumbersome travel wallet/neck wallet, a new and improved man in some ways.

Traveling through the city is actually very easy using the bus services and a 5-day pass was only 15 euro (or a little over 20 US dollars) and well worth it. Of course it also helped to be shown how to use the local transportation by a friend. Tomorrow I will take advantage of having my camera and begin to take some pictures. Throughout the day I passed TrinityCollege twice with its stone walls surrounding the campus. Peering over, I could see the lush green fields and parks which compliment the old buildings. Only a few hours in the city and you truly get a feel for the area. The accents are strong but conversation is not hindered. The people are nice, and a gentleman at the restaurant where we ate breakfast must have overheard part of the conversation I was having with my friend and our foreign accents. On the way out he said to enjoy my stay in Ireland with a comforting smile. I have already begun to, and I am sure I will continue to enjoy myself over the next few days.