Hale Chronicle - a tale of two Hales

The Flight to Dublin

First off I would to thank British Airways for upgrading our tickets to World Traveler Plus, essentially business class. The extra leg room and comfier seats were quite nice for the flight.

Soon after reaching our gate we saw the plane arrive and I noticed a stretcher being taken on. After a long wait they finally announced that there was a medical emergency on the previous flight and we were going to be delayed at least 30 minutes. So after an hour delay we were off to London.

Once on the plane we got settled in our upgraded seats and looked through the magazine for what movies we were going to watch. Unfortunately the on demand video system on the plane was not working so there was no inflight entertainment for the entire flight. For this inconvenience British Airways offered us a £50 credit on their in flight shopping service or 10,000 Executive Club miles. We took the miles.

After a long flight with little sleep we landed in London to discover we only had 45min to make our connecting flight due to the hour delay we had in Calgary. With a bus trip between terminals and all the security checks at Heathrow Airport we didn’t make our flight. Fortunately our bags never made the flight either and the Aer Lingus staff at the airport was very helpful and got us on the next flight which was only an hour later. 2 hours later we landed in Dublin.

All Checked In, One Item Down

2 tickets upgraded for free at check in
1 item confiscated at security
1 bag repacked
45 minutes to go

Overall I think we’re doing pretty good.

The Hardest Part of Leaving

Today we dropped Maggie off at my parents. I know she will have a good home for the next 2 months and I can’t thank my parents enough for looking after her. But when we arrived back home this afternoon it was to an empty house and not to a dog, happy to see us. The house just doesn’t seem complete without her here.

I know I will miss friends and family but saying good bye to Maggie has been the hardest part so far, and we’re not even gone yet!

10 More Sleeps

Jenn and I will be off on our adventure in 10 more sleeps. It seems so close yet so far away. We’re still doing some last minute planning and we have no official return date at this moment.

I’m still finding great hotel deals throughout Ireland and the UK due to the fact that we’re travelling in winter and possibly due to the global recession we’re currently going through. An example of this is our first hotel in Dublin when we first arrive. We’re booked for 3 nights at The Belvedere Hotel for $215.26. That’s only $71.75/night or at the current exchange rate, €41.99. Compare that too a smaller dorm room in a hostel where we’d be paying $30/per person/night and the extra $10/night is definately worth the privacy. The offer I’ve got was from Expedia, and generally that is where I’ve found most of the better deals and the largest selection of hotels with the exception of Orbitz sometimes coming in with a lower price. Orbitz however does not show prices in Canadian currency, only US.

I also booked a car in Ireland for a couple of days and after looking around noticed that Budget was by far the cheapest option. For the smallest economy car every other company came in around €100 for 2 days. Where as Budget came in at reasonable €47! Can’t beat that.