Who ever heard of a 40 euro per person fee for printing your boarding pass? Ryanair finds ways to keep rates low by inflicting steep penalties on passengers not used to the system.

We arrived at the airport about an hour away from Paris and found out that though we had checked in on line earlier that day, our reservation had not been processed fully, and to board the flight, we needed the boarding pass in hand. Since we did not have printer at the time (remember we did all of this from cafes that don’t have printers) we assumed that an electric reservation would suffice. However, unlike any other airline I’ve ever flown, we had to pay at the gate a massive fee of 80 euros for the two of us for boarding passes, costing as much as the tickets themselves.

The airport was no more than a shed in the middle of the field and terrible disorganized and overflowing with Ryanair customers annoyed by plane delays and subjected to additional hidden fees. After standing in two hours of unruly lines, we waited on the floor of the airport for about an hour and then made a mad dash (literally running!) to the plane to claim a seat on the over booked flight. It was the most disorderly system I’ve seen outside of India.

We finally boarded a crowded plane and got to Dublin where the majority of public transportation had ended for the night. We took a coach (which was actually really nice) and then got off to find City Hostel but the numbering system of the street ranged non sequentially from 2 to 32 to 57 never including 6 (the hostel’s address). James found an apartment building with a door numbered 6 and wanted to knock. Convinced that it was a private residence, I suggested that we keep going and eventually, we found the hostel at the end of the block.

It is an ok place (there are over 85 people staying here) but the water in the showers is the push button sort that only turns on for about 30 seconds. I realize that is a conservation effort, but it is really difficult to wash your hair or even give the water a chance to warm up when you are pressing the button so often. The breakfast is less than aqueduct (bread, tea, milk some corn flakes) but at least they have reliable wireless in the lobby.

I hope to put these challenging instances of travel behind me and enjoy the day in Dublin!