Dublin on a Spectacular Day

I've been watching the weather for Dublin and Belfast and it appeared from the forecasts that it was going to rain every day. That wouldn't be unusual...it's not that it rains constantly, just on and off. Well there was no rain today. Coming from Florida where the temperature is still in the 90's (and over 100 during the summer) today was a breath of fresh air...literally. There was a breeze and the temperature was in the 50's to low 60's. Fall!

When I got to Buswells my room wasn't ready, which is pretty typical since flights get in early in the morning and check out time for the hotels is 11:00. They stored my luggage and suggested I come back in an hour. I made a quick trip across the street to the National Library, spent an hour in the Genealogy Room and when I got back the room was ready.

My next stop was at the Vodaphone store. For years I have had them put a new SIM card in my phone with an Irish telephone number. Well, I upgraded to an iPhone 14 in the Spring which no longer uses SIM cards, but has a virtual eSIM. I was told by Verizon that there would be no problem using it in Ireland. I was told at Vodaphone that it doesn't work in Ireland and they've stopped selling the service. Now what? If I'd known, I would have brought an old phone with me. A very nice young man sat down with me and installed an app called Airalo on my phone and for $22 I've got Internet access with loads of data. OK, what's my phone number? Oh, you don't have a phone number. What do I tell people who want to call me? Just use your US number. But then I'm going to be charged...that's the whole reason for getting an Irish phone number. Just use WhatsApp. I don't use that. Why not? Everyone uses WhatsApp. Made me feel like I was in the Dark Ages. So he installed WhatsApp. It wanted me to give access to my entire contacts list. I don't think so. Well, if you don't the app doesn't work. So just call someone in your contacts. I called my daughter in Boston. She answered and I asked do you have WhatsApp? She said, of course. OK, so let's say I call someone who doesn't have WhatsApp. You send them a link so they can download it. What if they don't want to. You don't call them. So if I need to call a business I just call their number? No it's only for individuals. Seems I'm in a loop here. So I now have Internet Access and lots of data to use in Ireland, but I can't call anyone. It's been an interesting day. My advice, if you have a smart phone without a physical SIM, bring an old phone to Ireland.

Next I'm off to EPIC and the Irish Family History Center. It really is a beautiful day for a walk. I stopped to pick up the EPIC tickets first since they were already paid for. After spending about 10 minutes looking for the order in their system, they looked down on the counter and there was the envelope with my name. Got it.

Then to the IFHC which is in the same building to pay for the consultations for each member of the Dublin Research Trip. They have a new system, so I had to pay for each consultation separately, not a big deal, but every time I used my card, my watch tapped me I now have 34 emails from my credit card company (they send two emails every time my card is used internationally).

Well, it was just one of those days. I may be a little cranky since I'm working on 3 hours sleep. Looking forward to tomorrow (and a good night's sleep).

Happy Hunting!