Day 8 - the Hotel Debacle

So what do you do when can't actually find your hotel, but you find a hotel that looks like the one you are looking for but has a different name? You stop and ask.

And that is exactly what we did. We stopped at the Travelodge only to find out that our hotel (Ballymun Plaza) had been abruptly closed by the owner 3 weeks prior, the staff had been laid-off without even their last two weeks of pay, and that the Travelodge that was now open in it's stead had only opened yesterday and no longer had our booking.

And then it becomes really interesting. You see there was this huge American concert in Dublin and also a convention for the Cluster Bombs so there was no hotel to be booked at 9pm on a Friday evening. We were advised to head outside the city and look for hotels that way. Remember how we just drove 3 hours from Galway to Dublin? and of course we are hungry :) We somehow must've looked lost and American enough to get some of the staff on our side, and the staff began to diligently look for another hotel for us.

The Travelodge (previously Ballymun Plaza) also had a restaurant that was just about to close so we decided that since most of Ireland rolls up the street at 6pm, that we would eat dinner while the staff member was calling every hotel she could.

And so we ate. The food was delicious! However, the restaurant was separated by a partition in the hotel and also a credit card machine/bank account. That's right... if your biggest fear is that you get to a restaurant, eat, have no cash on you, and they don't take credit cards because their machine isn't working yet ... well you would've been living a nightmare.

We explain our dilemma to our server and ask for directions to the nearest ATM machine. A blank look is returned, he talks to someone else, who talks to someone else, etc, until we are back at the front desk asking if they know of any place that has an ATM. Luckily for me, my problem-solving mode has fully kicked in and has left no room for me to be completely mortified.

By this time, they have found a Hotel in the city where we can stay and it's only a few exits away.

So off I go, traveling around an unfamiliar section of Dublin that is apparently unfamiliar to everyone, looking for an ATM.

First stop, the Tesco down the street - nope, closed, ATM inside. But there are two guys standing outside the bar that is a few doors down from the Tesco. I go over to the two guys and politely interrupt,

me: "Excuse me... do you know where I could find an ATM"
guy 1 (drunk): "hmmm... no well... hmmm"
guy 2 (sober): "I don't know if there is one in this area, did you try the Tesco?... you know, in Ireland we don't deal in money, we deal in grudges"
me: [laugh knowingly] "oh! I see ... nope, I tried the one at the Tesco and it's closed, do you know of anything that might still be open?"
guy 2 (sober): "well there's a petrol station down the way, you could walk there in 10 minutes, I think they might have one"
me: "ok... thanks, i'll drive down there"
guy 2 (sober): "well, if you are going to drive, you need to turn before the station, park across the street and then cross to get to the station"
guy 2 (sober): .... continues explaining why I should park across the street, pointing out landmarks, making sure I see them, etc.
guy 1 (drunk): "what part of Donegal are you from lass?"
me: astonished, "I am not from Donegal"
guy 1 (drunk): "well where are you from?"
me: literally blanking for a minute, realizing that my accent is full-on irish at this point, totally flattered, "umm... well... Georgia... America"
guy 1 (drunk): "Jesus! Mary! and Joseph! ... well your mom or grandmom must be from Donegal"
me: smiling "nope, well maybe WAAAAY back" laughing
guy 2 (sober): now realizing I am American starts explaining and motioning what Petrol is... and reiterating the directions, and reiterating that he can't promise that there is an ATM at the Petrol station, but he can't be sure, if I know what he means.

me: thinking [I understand what he means, I won't hold a grudge if he's wrong, and most likely they don't have one, that's ok... maybe they know where one is.... ] "ok... well I am going to go check, thanks for the info... bye!"

I arrive at the Petrol station - no ATM, only a guy at the window. I ask him a series of questions, most of the answers I didn't understand, however, what I did understand was his belief in sending me back to the Tesco station by the Bar from which I had just come.

I go back to the Hotel, after circling the area, searching for a Bank or Petrol station that has an ATM on the outside.

Once back at the hotel, one of the other waiters tells me there is one within walking distance and practically walks me there. Place one - a shop - closed, Place two - has an ATM that doesn't work. I walk back.

When I walk back in, the Kitchen or Restaurant Manager is trying to let us off the hook. We talk for quite a while and he promises that it's ok and we can bring the money tomorrow and he is sorry for all of the hassle. He then explains to us, exactly what happened with the Ballymun Plaza. We also talk about how the area is being redone, the vision for Ballymun (the city), and how much money has already gone into it's restoration. Quite a lovely conversation :)

So we are off! But I tell Joe, there is one more place we can try that the lady in Place 2 (broken ATM) told me about. I follow her directions to the bank with an ATM on the outside!!! We get the cash we need, head back to the Hotel, pay for our food ... and finally head to the Days Hotel a few exits down the motorway.

Eeeeee