Sooooo...Dublin!

After a little bit of Icelandic Rock Fog trouble I made it to Dublin last Wednesday. I was supposed to leave Monday morning, which of course did not happen. So I booked another flight for Wednesday morning and things were looking really good until I got a text on Tuesday at 10.30 pm with another flight cancellation and by that time, all other flights on AerLingus were fully booked until the weekend. I got a little upset and started looking into train, ferry and Eurostar arrangements when I randomly checked AerLingus' website again wednesday afternoon and actually got on the Wednesday night flight from Düsseldorf to Dublin. I checked in immediately, booked a train, packed my bag and left. And without further inconveniences I arrived in Dublin a few hours later. Somewhere in between booking the flight and leaving I also managed to make appointments to view apartments on Thursday and on Thursday morning I arranged a few more viewings. The second apartment I viewed was actually perfect (or so I thought): 15 mins walk from the Google office, big living room, huge balcony, decent furniture...so I agreed to take it. Really enthusiastic I went to have my first Guinness with some fellow Nooglers (which is an abbreviation for new Googlers...not nerdy at all :P). Unfortunately on Friday I received a call that the landlord decided to give the apartment to somebody else. I was a little upset, but a "welcome to Dublin"-seminar, held by Google and their Relocation Specialists distracted me. And I even got more distracted later at night when we checked out some bars. We discovered this awesome guitar player at the Porter House, which also brews their own beer. I had a chocolate beer, which was actually quite tasty. I've also had more Guinness and I am already over it. Heineken it is - for now. On Saturday morning I got up at 9 (even though I only slept for 4 hours) to view some more apartments and since the housing market is kind of busy around the end of the month I wanted to be early. I viewed three more places and found a really nice place which is only 2 minutes walk from the Google office, 15 minutes walk to the beach and 15 minutes walk to the city center. It is also cheaper than the first place, but that is only because the landlord gave me a 100 Euro rent discount, since I am female, German and work for Google. Right... We went out for dinner on Saturday but I headed home immediately after since I had some sleep to catch up on. On Sunday we went for a very nice Brunch at...I forgot exactly where...but there was Jazz music as well. Today I checked out the stores downtown and found some nice places to spend my first salary :) Work will start tomorrow and I am very very very very very very very excited. I hope I can find some sleep tonight, since I forgot my sleep and nerve-calming tea in Münster. I'll also go sign the lease for my apartment tomorrow, so that I can move in on Saturday once all my stuff (that I am having shipped from Germany) can be delivered to my new place. Until then, I am staying at a great Bed&Breakfast (Waterloo House just in case you need a place to sleep in Dublin) with a bunch of fellow Nooglers, which is great fun. Google did an awesome job at selecting me some company :P. The atmosphere is very international and everybody has an exciting story. Until tonight it all felt like a big vacation (even though it starts to be a little like home already too), but that is going to change tomorrow when I work starts...