Eurojournal-21 Sept 2006 (Dublin and Amsterdam!!!)

Today we explored Dublin for the day before our flight to Holland. We ate breakfast and visited Kilmainham Gaol which is a former prison for political prisoners. The prisoners from the Easter Rising in 1916 were executed there. It was fascinating to learn more about the history of Ireland. We walked back and ate lunch and caught a bus to the airport.

The check in and security at this airport was fabulous. The line was small and the carry on restrictions were more lax. Just because of London Byron and I felt the need to see if our bags fit in to the airline measuring box. There was a lot of room. I guess in London they made it smaller. We did keep our carry-ons to a minimum though. We made a friend in line. A 3 year old girl names Efa and a baby names Liam. Liam was pretty happy that there was a baby Liam with blue eyes too.

We arrived in Amsterdam with no problems. We flew to Eindhoven which is far south, bus to train and train to taxi. I was a little surprised at the Dutch spoken. I knew it was here but I was expecting more like Norway where there were bilingual signs and everyone spoke English. People speak English though. I got out my Europe phrasebook and did a crash course on basic Dutch. I met a really sweet woman on the train and talked with her a bit. She helped us find our stop. Our apartment is really sweet and in a great spot. The neighborhood seems quaint from what I can tell at night. The apt has a small garden in the back and it so big in comparison to our dorm rooms. Bikes are everywhere here. There are places along the canal with hundreds of bikes. I am looking forward to exploring the city tomorrow. It looks like no other we have traveled so far.