Here is part two of my trip to Ireland. The 1st part is titles "British Airways (Club World) JFK-LHR, BMI: LHR-DUB"

Driving on the M1, heading for the City Centre:



The famous Dublin tunnel:





A look at the hall of my Grandmothers house:



The house was built in the late 1950s. Kitchen:



A few pictures of the city:




The spire:



The GPO (as featured in my fav Irish movie, Michael Collins):


Carlton:



My other favorite British shop:



This one’s not bad either:




FR just after takeoff. Taken from near the M1:




FR with a big boy from the Americas above it heading further into Europe:




Some random road in County Dublin:



We were heading up to Drogheda, County Louth to visit my Aunt and cousins.

A small country road in County Meath:



Drogheda town:



Those are the only pictures I took while in Ireland. We had about 3 days in Dublin, really just checking in on my Nana.

We got up at about 8am on the 12th of May to head to DUB. We took back our rental car and then took the Thrifty courtesy van back to the terminal. It’s a shame it drops ya off at Arrivals…we were not in the mood to walk up. But I did get a nice view of the new terminal. Photos below:

New:



Old:



New:



I was trying to take a picture of the check-in desk…it came out badly and I was about to take another one when a security official approached me and told me I was not allowed to take photos at check-in. Strange.



Check-in took a while….plus we had to go over to the US Airways ticket desk…as something went wrong with out Non-Rev reservation. It took a while to get fixed…and I’m not really sure what was wrong to be honest.

At Dublin, we thankfully have the luxury of Pre-Clearance into the United States. It’s a great thing…even though sometimes the line in Dublin is 10 times longer than it would be in Philadelphia or JFK. Not today…today everything from security to immigration went smoothly and quickly.

Best picture I could get of our plane:



Boarding area:



This area gets too crowded…its too small an area for so many international flights. I’m sure if any of you fly transatlantic out of Dublin, you know what I’m talking about.

The jetway is lined with a funny Vodaphone advertisement, showing New York City police and Fire Department working on Dublin streets.



Boarding our US Airways 757:



I was seated in 1C in Envoy class. Older Envoy seats…but still comfortable.


These are actually 2A&C:



Legroom for our 1A&C:



The first row in Envoy has less legroom than the other rows…but I had no issues with it.


My coat was taken for me and after we sat down we were offered either…

A memosa:




Or Orange juice



The F/A then came around with newspapers.

My Dad took the USA TODAY




I took the Irish Independent and the Metro:





Then came the vanity packs.



I really like the little pouch. It has the US flag on it with “Envoy” written on it. I see no difference between the British Airways one and the US Airways one, when I think I should see one. That’s the real only thing that BA disappointed me by.

Then came the menus:



The choices today…

Appetizers

A seasonal mixed salad served with your selection of Feta cheese wrapped in thin slices of grilled zucchini garnished with a slice of cheery tomato.

Skewered marinated prawns accompanied by a cherry tomato stuffed with Boursin cheese

Cantaloupe wedges wrapped with thin slices of prosciutto.

Entrees

Mushroom-stuffed Chicken Breast
Tender chicken breast stuffed with mushrooms and herbed cream cheese, served with a balsamic vinegar reduction, and presented with green beans, carrots, and au gratin potatoes.

Sole Roulade
Poached sole topped with a crab meat, brandy, and wine reduction, garnished with crawfish tails, accompanied by snow peas and linguini.

Penne with Vegetable Bolognese
Penne rigatoni with arugula and mozzarella cheese, topped with hearty vegetable Bolognese and fresh mushrooms.


Express Meal

You may request this chilled meal as a single course, complete with an appetizer and a dessert, to give you more time to work, relax, or sleep.

Roast Filet of Beef Salad
Thinly-sliced Choice beef filet fanned with grilled zucchini atop a bed of fresh mixed salad greens, sprinkled with feta cheese crumbles and roasted cherry tomatoes.


Dessert

Apricot caramel tart or passion fruit vanilla tart and a selection of cheese and grapes

I was impressed with the menu….not only because of what I consider a nice variety of choices, but also because it was printed in both English and Gaelic. A nice touch, I though.


Aer Lingus next to us:



Terminal:




British Midland:



EI:



The new terminal:



Video of our take off:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHyyW-e-65A








Shortly after take off the F/A came around with hot towels



And the ear phones for the IFE system:





Very nice earphones…shame the US Airways IFE is so bad.



F/As come around with a portable TV and have to plug it into your chair. Its not a great system. Also..it has NO map!!!! Not good…

Next was some Spring! water:



Some lovely hot nuts and a Diet Coke, in a nice looking glass:



Not too long after this...it was time for lunch:



The appetizers were good. I love the pretzel bread that I’ve only ever had on US Airways Envoy.

My dad got the beef:



I got the Penne:



Which was very good:



Dessert:



A view of the snacking station:



It has on offer a variety of snacks ranging from SunChips to a cranberry snack mix.


After things settled down, I got comfy with this nice pillow:



..and watched Valkery:



I love catching up on my movies while I fly.

About one hour to landing, the F/A came around with more hot towels and some fresh orange juice:



Not long after that a light lunch was served. It was toasted French baguette with pastrami, arugula, and a Gruyere cheese spread.



After that was collected, some Lily O’Brien’s chocolates were handed out:






US Airways magazine and some other contents of the seat pocket:








Decent into PHL:





Galley:



Landing:







A fairly new A wing of PHL:



US:







It was a very nice flight. Now…we needed to rush. We landed at about 1330 and our planned connection was at 1440. It was about 1405 when we got out of immigration. We rushed over to transfer our bags and got on the line for security. We were told to go to Gate A1 and take a shuttle to the F express gates for our US Airways Express flight to LGA.



The line at security was humongous. We decided that if we were going to have any chance at getting to our flight, we would try and run to the F gates from outside the airport. So we got off the line and exited the airport. My dad stopped a Embassy Suites shuttle bus driver and asked for a lift to F…he was kind enough to give us that life.

The driver really saved our day. He was so kind and even offered us water to drink. It was great to see someone so caring. We rushed past security and walked up to our gate at around 1430. We literally just made it! It was thrilling, to be honest.


Our Dash-8 to LGA:











Taxi:





Video of the take off:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H2M5xCtHkk







We were never cleared above 8.000 feet and floated in and out of the clouds…which lead to a rather bumpy flight. Sadly, because of this the drink service was cancelled.





A quick non-eventful 30 minute flight.

The best decent in the world coming up.

Brooklyn with New York harbor above:



Busy port:




Brooklyn:



Governors Island and Downtown Manhattan:



Decent view of the skyline:



Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges viewable:





USTA, where the US Open tennis tournament is held:



CitiField, the new home of my baseball team, The New York Mets:



Coming in for a landing:








Northwest at LGA:



Old style US Airways at LGA:









Air Canada:



Look inside the US Airways terminal at LGA:











It was an exhausting trip…especially the last let. BUT It was fun and Id do it all over again any day.

That’s all for now, I hope this has not been a waste of your time. Comments are welcomed. Thanks  

Tommy

(aka JFKMAN)