Friday, April 21, 2006
Black Friday
On our way to the hotel from the airport our driver, Mickey, hit us with the news that we had arrived on "black Friday" a. k. a. Good Friday. It's "black Friday" because it's the one day of the year all of the pubs are closed. What!?! The pubs are CLOSED!?! Yep, he said that it's the one night of the year when all of the men take their wives out to a restaurant for dinner.

This is where we stayed, the North Star Hotel in Dublin. I knew I wasn't in Kansas anymore when the first thing I realized coming through the front door was that I had to carry my suitcase up the stairs to reach the registration desk. Hey, they don't make you do that at home!

The hotel is located directly across from Connolly Station, and wouldn't you know it the tracks for the local rail pass right over the lobby of the hotel. Our room ended up being directly across from the rail, but if we closed the window and pulled the drapes it was muffled quite nicely.