Crossing the Pond

Our trip over from Boston was actually quick (but a little painful due to screaming children).  One of the most interesting parts of the flight was the fact that we were sitting on the north side of the plane and the sun didn't ever seem to actually fully set.  There was always a twilight red glow on the horizon all night long.  It was cool.

We arrived in Dublin at 7:30 on Saturday morning and after a short time the family we are exchanging with came to meet us.  We spent about an hour chatting about Cape Cod and Dublin and cars and exchanging lots of information.  They were very excited about their trip, having only been to the states once - to New York City.  The children (aged 8 and 10) had never been.  They were very shy and basically just stared at us as if we were aliens or something.  Everyone was very nice and it was fun to meet them.  We only met one of the families of the three exchanges we did last year, but this year we will get to meet them both (and perhaps we will even get to meet one of the families from last year when we go to England).

Anyway, we finally set off to drive from the Dublin airport to the house.  It was about a 30 minutes drive all super highway BUT it was very challenging.  Of course, in Ireland they drive on the left side of the road.  That was a challenge.  The driver is on the right side of the car.  That was a challenge to adapt to.  However, the real challenge is that the car is a standard.  No problem - we have both driven standards a lot of our lives, but NEVER have either of us shifted with our left hand.  Everytime we felt the need to shift, our right hand flies down and finds only the door handle!  only to have to return to the steering wheel so that the left hand can let go and do the necessary shifting.  THAT will take some real getting used to, I can assure you.

However, we made it to our lovely temporary home away from home and were very pleasantly surprised with how nice it all was.  This is a picture of Larry very proud of himself after finally getting the front door locked (no easy task as it turns out).  The two cars in the foreground are ours to drive while we are here!  We haven't taken pictures inside but we will eventually.  The house sleeps 8 people in 4 bedrooms (although we will only have a max of 7 during our stay here).

After depositing our luggage and stuff, we went to the grocery store around the block to get some provisions including soda and beer and cookies - just your basic travel essentials.  Then we took a really long nap as we were exhausted from basically being up all night on the plane.

For dinner we walked to a take out shop right near the house and got some really good chicken fingers and chips (french fries).  We walked home and had a nice meal in the formal dining room followed by some time reading  through the piles of brochures and maps they left for us on the coffee table.  There was also an "exchange" book in which they documented things we need to know about the house, like how to turn on the heat and how to get hot water and what to do with trash.  The following entry, however, stumped us for a while:

HOB
It is a gas hob.
To turn on the jets press down on the knob and turn anticlockwise and hold.
You will hear the sparker and the gas will light.
Please ensure that ALL knobs are turned off when finished.

Any guesses from all you smart people out there as to what a hob is?