Top Five Differences between US and Ireland

The obvious one, they drive on the wrong side of the road.  Thankfully in Dublin they remind us of that fact by posting helpful guides on the street itself as well as on signs.  (and it was scary crossing the road the first few days)!!!

Pillows!!  Can I just say, that regardless of where I slept, the pillows were flat, not cushy, and definitely not foldable.  No picture but take my word for it.  It was like sleeping on a folded beach towel, but without a beach!!

Friendliness of the natives.  On my first day in Dublin (having arrived at 8 am) I took a nice walk from the hotel.  The shuttle driver had just told me to go out the door and turn right; I'd find myself on the busy street of shops viewed from the shuttle.  Well I followed his directions and never found that street.  I did find two beautiful parks, but no shops for 45 minutes.  Even the GPS on my phone didn't help me locate the streets I wanted.  So I asked for directions back to the hotel.  A FRIENDLY doorman told me I was only six minutes away.  35 minutes later I had yet to find the hotel so I asked a woman walking her dog and two boys.  She had me turn around...walk towards a red brick building and follow it into the courtyard for my hotel.  People in Ireland look at you when you ware walking.  NO ONE (other than tourists) walk around peering at their iphones, texting, etc. Here is a picture of St. Michael's green, one of the parks I discovered that day.  Note how green everything is in NOVEMBER!!!!


Bathrooms.!!  Nicer than I would have expected.  However, the placement and actual toilet paper holder varies from hotel to hotel.  From a standard roll holder to one that is simply a metal circle that is like putting the roll on the floor, to a holder that sits straight up.  All bathtubs are deep, soaker tubs.  I was fortunate on my last night as a 59 year old to find a beautiful jacuzzi tub in my bathroom. he only disconcerting items in the bathrooms were the hair dryers and this!!!

Tea Pots in the rooms.  So much better than the coffee pots in hotels back here in the States....they have real china cups to sip from!!  And yes, I became quite the tea drinker while in Ireland.

I will be trying to blog every few days to get everyone caught up with my Ireland Trip.  I can not believe it's been almost two months.  A trip of my lifetime and worth every penny!!!!