Ireland: Day 1 (Sept. 11, 2011)

At 2:00 p.m,. we left and drove to the Chicago O'Hare airport. We left our van at the Thrifty long-term parking lot and they shuttled us to the airport. We arrived at the airport a little over 2 hours early, checked our baggage in, then got in the security line. The gal working there said it was a 1 1/2 hour line- yikes! Our plane was to load in 1 1/2 hours. She said we should have been here 3 hours early for an international flight. We actually got through the security line in 30 minutes. We had to go through the full body scan - didn't bother either of us. The more secure they are today, the better (being that it is the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks). We got something to eat at McDonalds and then went to sit at our gate. We met a very nice young man there who was returning home to Ireland. We sat and talked with him for a bit - learning a little about the best places to visit. He was great! We boarded on time and took off just a tad late. The plane was a 767 with 2 aisles, 2 seats on each side and 3 seats in the middle. We had 2 seats on the side which was nice. They gave us snacks and drinks after we reached our cruising level and then dinner a little while later. They had movie screens every few seats so we watched the new movie "Arthur". We tried to sleep but that didn't work out very well. This was an overnight flight so if we didn't sleep on the plane, we wouldn't be able to sleep until the next evening. Due to it being the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, they didn't want anyone congregating anywhere or walking around - they asked everyone to stay in their seats unless using the restroom. On such a long flight, that is not a real good idea - you really need to stretch your legs. But I do understand their thinking on this. Thank the Lord, it was an uneventful flight.
Here are a few pics from the plane.