My Irish Spring
Why are you here?
How long are you staying?
Where are you staying?
Do you have a job?
What will you be doing here?
Do you have enough money to be here?
Why did you come here?
Can I see your bank balance?
Ireland is nicknamed the Land of a Thousand Welcomes, but that was not my experience when I went through immigration at Dublin airport!
The easy, breezy lack of border checks in Schengen territory were long gone once I landed in Dublin. While the Republic of Ireland is a member of the European Union, the country is not part of the Schengen agreement. Therefore, I had to go through immigration when my flight arrived from Budapest.
Normally, it’s a pretty smooth process that lasts about 60 seconds, max. This time, I got peppered with questions, and the officer didn’t seem super-psyched about my answers.
Do you have a job? No.
How long will you be here? Probably about three weeks.
Have you booked a return flight to America? No.
Problem is … I know that Ireland is a pit stop in the context of a longer journey, but how could I prove that to him? Invite him to follow my blog???
Eventually, though, I made it through, and it was time to celebrate. Cheers!
Another reason to celebrate: My visit coincides with Ireland’s 100 year anniversary of the Easter Rising. There are signs and commemorative flourishes everywhere you look, along with plenty of spring flowers. It’s a great time to be in Dublin.
Temporarily, of course. I promise to leave!!!
Here are some photos from my first few days. Details in the captions …
