Day Two: Up Up and Away...
Today was spent on airplanes and in airports. Our flight left San Francisco for Boston at 8:45am. A flight I had flown so many times over the last 11 years. However, this time Boston was only a layover and Dublin was our final destination, and this time I was not traveling solo as many times before, Jen was with me, and our journey was beginning.
Our parents dropped us off at the airport and we said our goodbyes. I had decided when planning this trip that there may be a time along the way that my knee would stop cooperating and I didn't want that to keep us from seeing things, so I researched and found a transport wheelchair that was light weight and compact. The chair only weighed 19 lbs and fit into a small trunk space (compact rental cars in Europe are super compact). The chair was tricky sometimes, I didn't end up needing it as much as I thought, which was good, but it also was a pain to transport especially getting on trains with it. But I ended up really needing it when we were in Rome, towards the end of our trip and was glad we had it. The specific wheel chair I purchased was the Lightweight Expedition w/12" Rear Wheels transport wheelchair, it had bigger wheels on the back, which helped on all the cobble streets in Europe.
The wheel chair also came in handy going through airports. Walking in big airports can be hard for me especially if I need to hurry so having the wheel chair is a good option (although all airports I've been in, US and in Europe, provide wheelchair services for free). It also gets you through security faster, most airports have a special handicap line for people in wheel chairs or those that have limited mobility.
After we made it to our gate Jen got us some coffee, not Starbucks, but still caffeine, and we waited for our plane to board. Another tip for those who have limited mobility, even if you're not in a wheel chair, but just need some extra time walking to the airplane, don't be afraid to ask to board first. Not only is it nice to not have people right on your tail as you mosey down the jet way, but it also guarantees you overhead bin space. Those of you who don't have trouble walking, don't be upset that I took your overhead bin space, I'd gladly trade you for your good knees (hahaha).
On our flight from San Francisco to Boston the middle seat in between Jen and I was empty, thanks to my flight booking trick which you can read more about in the Travel Tip section of the blog. When we got to Boston we had to re-check-in in the international terminal, thankfully we had plenty of time. Once we got to our gate we had some dinner at Vino Vello a great place to pass the time in Terminal E. The food was very good and it was a great way to start off our European food adventures (even though we were still in the states). We got a tuscan chicken sandwich and a salmon appetizer, both were great, especially compared to our other fast food choices. We boarded our Aer Lingus flight for Dublin at 9pm, after watching a movie I tried to force myself to sleep but I think I maybe slept an hour. Landing in Dublin at 8am, which really is midnight (pacific time) was going to be tricky. Stay tuned to see what happens next!
Our parents dropped us off at the airport and we said our goodbyes. I had decided when planning this trip that there may be a time along the way that my knee would stop cooperating and I didn't want that to keep us from seeing things, so I researched and found a transport wheelchair that was light weight and compact. The chair only weighed 19 lbs and fit into a small trunk space (compact rental cars in Europe are super compact). The chair was tricky sometimes, I didn't end up needing it as much as I thought, which was good, but it also was a pain to transport especially getting on trains with it. But I ended up really needing it when we were in Rome, towards the end of our trip and was glad we had it. The specific wheel chair I purchased was the Lightweight Expedition w/12" Rear Wheels transport wheelchair, it had bigger wheels on the back, which helped on all the cobble streets in Europe.The wheel chair also came in handy going through airports. Walking in big airports can be hard for me especially if I need to hurry so having the wheel chair is a good option (although all airports I've been in, US and in Europe, provide wheelchair services for free). It also gets you through security faster, most airports have a special handicap line for people in wheel chairs or those that have limited mobility.
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| Travel Tip: Getting more room in coach |
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