3D Trip 2022 Day 1 - Joel's First Day
Let’s try this again. It was only seven weeks ago that we cut our first trip of the summer short with COVID. Luckily we’ve both since fully recovered and we’re ready to try this again. This time though we flipped it and I’m the one meeting Jenn on her work trip. Jenn arrived in Dublin, Ireland on Monday, August 22 for a three-day offsite with her leadership team. I departed a few days later on the evening of August 24th. Before heading to the airport I drove Frasier to camp for the first time in Chatham, NY. The drive was about two hours each way and although peaceful by the time I arrived back home I was exhausted.
When I arrived back home I finished up some work and packed for the trip and ended up heading to JFK at around 5 PM. For leaving at rush hour the little over an hour it took to get to Terminal 4 actually wasn’t too bad. I checked into the business class line of KLM and went through the TSA Pre Check + Clear line within a minute and was off. Given Jenn’s advice from a few days ago, I decided to forgo the AMEX Centurion lounge for the Delta Sky Club. Others had also received the same memo apparently because the lounge was over capacity and I had to wait in line to get in. When I did I found a spot near the bar, got some Champagne, and ended up getting Nathan’s hot dog from an outdoor grill on their patio.
A few hours later it was time to board and I made my way to the KLM plane where I took an overnight flight from New York to Amsterdam and then off to Dublin. There’s a massive difference between paying for your own business class flight and getting one for a work trip. Boarding the plane and making my way to a beautiful lay-flat seat where they hand me champagne and a menu right as I sat down is one of those experiences that I still do not take for granted especially when we pay for it. KLM doesn’t have the best business class product it was perfect for an overnight flight, especially the incredibly comfy duvet, and pillow. I did opt for a quick dinner of some of their “specialties” with a crab salad before turning off the lights and getting five hours of sleep. I awoke on our descent into Amsterdam and after rubbing the sleep out of my eyes we landed and it was time to make my way to a small plane to Dublin.
An hour later and I arrived in Dublin, made my way through customs, grabbed my very dented suitcase, and grabbed an Uber to Marker Hotel. Unfortunately by the time I arrived Jenn was already hours into her last day of the offsite. I grabbed a key that she left me at the front desk, unpacked my suitcase, and went out exploring. I didn’t make it overly far before stopping at Il Valentino Baker & Cafe where I got an eclair and cappuccino and sat outside near the Grand Canal Dock and enjoyed the crisp afternoon. From there I did a quick twenty-minute walk around the surrounding area before going back to the hotel.
I was starting to feel a bit of jet lag and decided I needed to try and work some of it off. Initially, I was going to go for a run but when I looked up the amenities I saw they had an indoor pool with a jacuzzi, sauna, and steam room. Instead, I did a few sets of laps in the pool and ten minutes in both the steam room and sauna which was a game changer.
With the second wind, I was off to go find dinner. Jenn and I had watched a video on YouTube before coming where two guys went to a bunch of different eateries in 48 hours and one of them stood out, it was called Bunsen, and its claim to fame was Ireland’s best burger. I arrived after a 25-minute walk and got the last booth in the restaurant right before 5 PM. The entire restaurant’s menu fits on a business card there are a few burgers and a few fries and that’s it. I went with the cheeseburger and shoestring fries with a Peroni (shockingly they didn’t have Guinness). The burger was incredible, a very very good burger. The fries were good, but nothing to write home about. It was the perfect casual quick meal on my own. From there I finished off the night with a little ice cream at Murphy’s (the surname of my Mom’s side) where I had a caramel and chocolate whiskey combo.
I did a little more walking around Dublin before making it back to the room to wait for Jenn to finish her last team outing at a showing of Riverdance so we can begin our trip together. Although we didn’t get to spend today together, I saw enough to know we’re going to have a fun few days to start off our trip. Now we just need to avoid COVID!
