I hadn’t been to Europe since I left France back in May 2012. There is something about Europe that feels like home and walking off the 7-hour plane ride into Dublin Airport, just felt right. Joseph was going to join me tomorrow, so for today I was on my own. I grabbed my bag and headed to the ATM since I hate currency exchanges, and much to my surprise, it didn’t work. I walked around to another ATM, which was broken, then walked around until I found another. My card had been declined. In the HISTORY of all my travels, this has never happened to me. Me, who has been to 30+ countries, and write travel tips, and I forgot to call my bank? Oh no…When I had gone to Colombia I had mentioned I would be traveling to Ireland but apparently it wasn’t noted on my file. Double oh no… I was 6 hours ahead of the US, it was 8 am in the morning, this was going to be real fun.
Bye Chicago…
I go around to some of the stores inside Dublin Airport to buy snacks, a sim card, and to try my luck with my debit card – no luck. I then use a credit card and try to pull out money with that – denied. OH NO! Not my credit cards too! Tried again with just buying the sim card and snacks, no money, and thankfully it worked. See, usually I am a bit more prepared, I will have some of the countries currency with me, I will have spare USD etc. This time, I had a whopping 5 euro bill to my name and maybe 20 USD. You would think I had never traveled before! I sat around the airport for awhile using the free wifi, calling my bank on Skype and messaging my Air BnB host. I couldn’t check in until 3 and it was 9:30, but he was hoping I could get in around 2.
Hello Ireland!
I got up the courage to head outside to see if I could catch a taxi to Dublin that had a credit card machine – which really isn’t common in Europe. The two airport workers looked at me sadly and informed me that card machines in cabs had been down all morning and the cabs that DO have a machine are far and few between. Oh. No. Yet. Again. They told me to wait to the side and I watched as cab after cab came up and drove away because they didn’t have a credit card machine or theirs wasn’t working. I knew all too well what they were thinking as the airport worker explained me situation – Stupid American. Which to be fair, I was!
Finally, as I am wallowing in my stupidity, the airport worker calls out that a cab could take me- hallelujah! I was so thankful and gracious and my cab driver was SUCH a nice guy. When I started to explain my story he started to look warily at me and I assured him I could pay him, to which he chuckled and we had a really pleasant conversation. /Sidenote: ALL of our taxi drivers in Ireland were extremely kind, considerate, and helpful. I always looked forward to who my taxi driver was going to be as they were so chatty! They told me where to visit, about their families, asked about my life, etc. Loved it and them! End Sidenote\ He dropped me off at a hotel near where I was staying and luckily my card was accepted through his card machine…which was his phone! I gave him my only 5 euro, since he was such a delight, and I headed off to find wifi…I mean a restaurant.
Nothing screams tourist like a girl with a big roller suitcase, a backpack, and walking around looking around trying to find a place to squat for a few hours to eat. I kept going pass this one, cute little place offering traditional Irish breakfasts – I seriously kept walking past it and couldn’t get the nerve to go in. I spied some guys go in with suitcases and thought perfect! So I followed them in and only got my suitcase stuck in the passage way a little bit. They let me keep my backpack and suitcase at the bar and I grabbed a seat at a nearby table. Little did I know, these guys were just waiting to check in to the hotel that the restaurant was attached too – OOPS – but the staff didn’t know I wasn’t going to be a patron of the hotel.
I ordered some breakfast, unfortunately not the Irish breakfast which I now regret, asked for the wifi password and some coffee, and hunkered down for a few hours. I got my kindle out for a bit to help pass the time because I seemed to be checking my watch every 5 minutes, as I am sure the staff who waited on me were too, wondering what I was doing. Luckily around 1, my Air BnB host’s girlfriend sent me a text that I could come check in and I was saved! I was exhausted, penniless, but full and ready to settle down.
We rented a quaint apartment right near the heart of downtown Dublin with a full kitchen, living area, and bedroom – and boy was I excited for that bed. I broke my cardinal rule of never sleeping until midnight the night of an international flight, but I was so worn out and stressed about my bank that I took a little nap until my bank in the US opened. Luckily, I called the minute they opened, which I am sure the employes hated, and they got things squared away. I got up, freshened up a bit, and decided to head out, do some walking, and find an ATM to make sure my card actually did work. It did!
Stay tuned for the rest of Day 1 in Dublin, coming up!
Have you traveled and forgot to contact your bank? Or did something silly like that? Let me know in the comments below!
