final bus post

This particular bus post may actually be posted from the bus, rather than just written on the bus and saved in a word file for posting at the hostel.  I say "may" because the connection is more than a little wonky, which of course is typical, and since it's a free connection on a cheap (10 euro) bus, I'm not going to complain.

Today is my last day of vacation.  Or my second-to-last day, if you count tomorrow, when I'll get getting up early, flying for several hours (it looks like today's flight arrived more or less on time, so I assume flights will be getting through to JFK just fine tomorrow), getting home (assuming there's some sort of transportation available), and dealing with the mess I must surely have left my apartment in, as well as the contents of my suitcase, which at this point weighs around one hundred fifty pound and contains mostly dirty laundry.  Or my third-to-last day, if you count Wednesday, which I will be getting my life in order and seeing the dentist about possibly acquiring some teeth.  I'm rather pleased about having this extra day off to reduce the post-vacation stressiness.

I had originally intended to go back to Dublin this morning, but there was nothing I was particularly wanting to do there, and I did want to do a Galway walking tour.  So I left my bag in the hostel and, after a scone (last scone of the trip, I guess), went to the tour office.  I ended up being the only person to show up, which made for quite a nice tour.  The guide was very knowledgeable (has degrees in political history and architecture, and is now working on his PhD in archeoastronomy... a nice change from the drunken idiots who had seemed to constitute the entire male population of the country) and it was an interesting tour; I'd seen all the landmarks already but of course hadn't known as much about them.

After the tour, I spend about an hour and a half in a very good bookstore, and walked out with four books for ten euros (at least one of these was a necessity, as I was about to finish my current novel had only one book left and didn't know if I'd like it, and the bus ride today and flight tomorrow to get through), which was only due to a major exercise of willpower and the finite amount of space in my backpack.  Then I had a bowl of soup and a cappuccino (I am becoming very European, although not to the pint of being able to spell that word without help) and finished my book (Scarlet Feather, by Maeve Binchy, quietly excellent like all her books are), and then I walked around and thought about buying a wool scarf, but all the ones that were authentic I just didn't like, plus they're not cheap (20 euros for the really awful ones, 30 for the decent ones). I don't need a $45 scarf that I'm not enthusiastic about, although perhaps I'll still see something.  Then I had a headache coming on and the streets were getting crowded, so I went into a shop with a line coming out the door and had a coffee and brownie, but the brownie wasn't terribly good and the headache came on anyway.  Possibly I'm dehydrated from days of limited water, or else my body would like something to eat that is not soup or dessert... I'll try to rectify both of those tonight.  I was fortunate enough to get on a cheap bus to Dublin that's supposed to arrive at 7:30 (although that might be the airport arrival and the city stop is first... if I'd known about this service I'd have spent the night here and gotten up at the crack of dawn to get the 5 a.m. bus, since I'll still have to deal with annoying transit to the airport tomorrow fairly early) and then by the time I get cash (I'm all out since the bus was cash but will probably need a key deposit, and you can't use cash for small purchases here anyway... if I get 20 euros and buy dinner and breakfast I can spend the rest on junk at the airport, which is always fun) and get to the hostel it will be eight, but hopefully I can stop somewhere on the way for a sandwich or, what I would really love, a nice warm takeout dish of pasta, although that's probably getting a bit carried away.

So... that's pretty much it, right?  Not a bad vacation, all in all.  I don't feel excited about re-transitioning to work (and marathon training) but maybe I will in a day or two.  And, I have tons of Irish books to read when I get home.