The Packbats' Dreamfeed

god, unexpectedly tough day. my flight here went really well, i actually had an open seat next to me so it was like as comfortable as possible. but i was still only able to get like 5 hours of meh-quality sleep on the plane, which is Not Enough. and i also had to carry my bags around all day since i couldn’t check into my hotel until the evening. also i found out the museum i initially planned on visiting today does not let you visit with luggage. then to top it all off i got on the wrong bus from the airport so i got dropped off in an unexpected location downtown. it really wasn’t far from where i intended to go, but it still stressed me out.

so yeah. i almost had a meltdown this morning. i got over it by sitting on a bench in st stephen’s green for a long time. i genuinely almost did not make it out of there, i was really fighting the urge to fall asleep on that bench. but after that i was able to pull myself together.

day 2

wild to wake up and still be in ireland. yesterday kinda didn’t feel real.

i tried to be better about eating and drinking enough today. i still probably could have done better, but it’s an improvement. in hindsight, i pretty much ignored food for most of the day yesterday and it cannot have helped with how bad i felt.

today was a nice day tho! got a bit of a late start, had some breakfast pastries from a bakery near my hotel that was highly reviewed and they were really good. i ate them in a little local park that was, dare i say, Cute. once i was back downtown, i went to marsh’s library and the chester beatty museum, and also just generally looked around the area.

marsh’s library in particular was a delight. it's so pretty in there, the staff seemed excited to talk about the place, and there was so much old book smell. i guess i must have fit the atmosphere pretty well because another tourist actually assumed i worked there and tried to ask me a question.

(also, today was the day i finally got my leap visitor card transit pass, which i should have ordered in advance but somehow didn't hear about. by total coincidence, i bought it at the Gay Spar, which was the first location that sold them i happened to be near.)

minor problem on the way back to the hotel when i missed my luas stop and had to get off at the next one. but i recovered! turns out my hotel is kind of equidistant between two stops, so i was able to walk there from the other one instead. it was a little nerve-wracking, because it was almost dark and my route was just taking me through barely distinguishable little side streets of terraced houses. but i did it! it was fine! i didn't even panic! i gotta have more faith in myself honestly.

i made it to my hotel in london and had dinner with my friend and her wife.

the ferry kinda sucked honestly. there was not enough seating. too much of the space was taken up by moneymakers like restaurants, a shop, a casino, a fucking movie theater, an arcade, and a premium lounge. it seems like the strategy is to snag a good seat as soon as you board and then just never move. i unfortunately didn’t realize this and gave up my good seat to explore the ferry and go out onto the upper outside deck in the pouring rain. after that, the only seat i could find was near the children’s play area where kids were yelling and screaming nonstop… at least the boat rocking sensation was relaxing.

the train ride was great though! it was delayed, but it was a nice train, nicer than any i've ever ridden in the US. it turns out the "sail rail" train pass they give you at the dublin port ferry station is literally just a piece of paper they handwrite your details on. it looks very not legit and i was kind of afraid it wouldn't work, but no, it worked, the conductor accepted it. i guess this is just how they do it.

the views were pretty. the countryside looks very nice, especially wales, which looked gorgeous from the train. i spotted some very cool things there as well (i would later identify these things as conwy castle and the gwynt y môr wind farm). it also struck me that there’s not really a lot of suburban sprawl as i know it around london, at least that i saw- it felt like you went from “farms and sheep” to “in the city” very fast.