Dublin Day 1

Well...I'm in Dublin. Before I got here, there were some things to note.

1. I had to make a pilgrimage to Southend Airport. Correction - London Southend Airport. When I read this name when booking my plane ticket, all I saw was smaller numbers after the £ sign. And since the name LONDON was in front of it, I also foolishly thought this meant it was near by. It's not. Luckily summer holidays means I have nothing but t.i.m.e. The journey was also pretty simple, which I will give it to TFL this time because normally they are absolute rubbish. This will now bring our score to Katie -  3986 & TFL - 2. The other point TFL got was two years ago and was also a fluke.
2. Southend Airport is run by maaaaaaybe....I want to say....6 people. They didn't open the check-in desk until an hour before take off and after the 12 people on my flight checked in, the people behind the counter shut down and moved with us to the security point. I am also pretty sure I saw "Betty" get on board the flight with us and hand out duty free mags.
3. It looks like there are only 2 boarding gates, but in actuality there are 3. Be careful, there is no posting which gate you are to go to, only a 5 second audio announcement that can easily be missed if you are wearing headphones, like almost everyone on my flight. Lucky for my group, I was trying to navigate their impossible wifi system and had not yet been able to play Katy Perry's latest song through youtube for the millionth time.
4. On the plane, I sat in the "emergency exit zone." This meant on this plane (run by Aer Lingus, there's a joke in there somewhere) I had to learn HOW to use the emergency exit as everyone on the plane was dependent on me opening the door. Yes, I had to stand up with the flight attendant and practice opening the side door. I went along with it but there was no way in hell I was going to open that door for anyone on board in an emergency. Name me a circumstance when I would have to do that? I'm betting I would already be dead, or even better, force someone else to potentially be sucked through the gaping hole while the cabin attempts to equalise pressure.
5. I landed all sunshine and rainbows, excited to be off on my next adventure. No one else in Dublin is sunshine and anything. Really, it's a miracle I didn't get punched in the face the first time I asked for directions. Fortunately, I can read a map and I will state again, I have nothing but time. Sure my journey to the B&B was probably scenic and some might say drawn out, but I made it.
6. Lastly, every tour in Dublin wants to take you to where they filmed PS I Love You. This might give you the idea to rewatch PS I Love You. Alone. At night. While travelling alone. On your own. With no  one around but you. Don't do this. I might be charged extra for the number of tissues/toilet paper rolls I went through. It's also hard to sleep when you think you might be alone forever and even if you do meet the right person, they might just die and leave you a bunch of notes to reallllly rub it in that you will never see them again.

So I am off to the next adventure today with puffy eyes and raw emotions. Walking around the city and making friends as usual...
Check in tonight!