Prequel

Dublin? Why Dublin? I needed the miles.  Miles traveled, not that "awards" stuff. Last year I was able to reach Premier status on United Airlines. Some may not think that means a lot but free Economy Plus upgrades plus two bags free every trip means a lot. The extra leg room comes in handy and the extra cash saved from bag fees certainly comes to good use (like buying last second tickets to a place almost six thousand miles away).

Ok, I didn’t need all those miles to maintain those benefits.  I didn’t even need half of that.  I actually only needed about seven hundred miles which could be achieve just by going to San Diego and back.  I'd seen the Midway and the Gaslight District. And the snow report on the horizon was just not that good (so ski destinations were out).

So a conversation over beers turned to polo and alpacas and the Argentine spring. The weather would be good, the miles would be more than enough, and the polo lessons, well, those were just a bonus. However, Buenos Aires was a thirteen hour trip and I was having a hard time thinking of when those polo lessons would come in handy.  That is when I fell into pints and leprechauns and the Dublin fall. I could use some luck and drinking skills can always come in handy.

I have never been to Dublin. Heck, I've never been to Ireland. But 2011 had become something of a rut. Stops, starts, pull ups, and kick downs, I needed to do something to shake the taste of the year out of my mouth. To paraphrase Otter and Bluto, this situation absolutely required a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part and I was just the guy to do it.

So last Saturday, after watching USC put the hate onto Oregon, I stumbled home from the Brixton and locked into a ticket to Ireland. I had renewed my passport in October and I felt like stretching it. Unfortunately, the Euro was not cooperating but, torpedoes be damned, I was locked into a flight.

At 2AM.

After discussing my options with David the bartender at The Lounge.

While David may be a good mixologist, he is probably not the best person to discuss life decisions with.

Anyway, woke up to a godless Sunday and a plane ticket half a world away. My alarm went off Tuesday morning at 3AM and I was on a plane bound to Newark at 7AM. I left the Newark rain at 7:30PM and arrived in the Dublin dark at 7AM. A quick trip through customs and I was on a city bus and in early morning rush hour under the Irish sunrise.