Homeward Bound - Ireland Day 8

September 19

2p - Irish Time. Somewhere over the Atlantic, pre-Lunch Service

The wine has already been served. I'm pretty much finished with the whole food thing. I think I went through that in detail yesterday. During breakfast this morning, I could tell I was done. But the Stewardesses (ahem, Flight Attendants) are serving and I'd hate to say no. Oh well, bring the food on!!

I didn't know how long our flight was going to be. The flight in was 5:30 or so. This one 8:20. Oy. The hope is I can sleep, but I do remember from the Moscow flight (leaving in the afternoon, flying through the day), I was not able to sleep...for long. I don't remember the pre-flight routine. I'm sure I know where the exits are or how to fasten the safety belt. I guess I shouldn't worry too much. Though we are flying over the ocean. I might want to know where the life preserver is located. Especially since I've been watching Titanic lately. Sure, we're on a flight and not a boat, but the whole careening into an ocean is slightly on my mind.

The whole Ireland trip will be pondered and gone over in my brain over the next few days and weeks, but there are definite things that stand out.

The people are monumentally friendly. They're all very helpful and seem to want to do anything for you. They are also super funny. Every tour driver and person we encountered was funny. Sure, most people we met were in the tourism business, but still...they were funny.

I didn't write about it yesterday, but we were in town during the finals of the Gaelic Games. Kerry played Dublin in Irish Football. We didn't know what the Gaelic Games were, but midway through the trip we were told it was happening in Dublin while we were there. The Blue and Blue of Dublin and the Green and Gold of Kerry were on display everywhere we went in Ireland. The pubs were crowded on Sunday during the game. I couldn't quite figure out the rules. There was a football (European Football) with kicking and dribbling and hitting the ball (volleyball-style). There was a soccer net and a football goal post (whatever that thing is that the ball is kicked through for a field goal) and there were different scores for different goals. Dublin won. I kind of rooted for Kerry, cause we were in Kerry County first. Plus, there's the whole name thing...

We laughed about walking around Dublin. People very much walked with a purpose in Dublin. Since we really didn't know where we were going, we walked a little on the slow side (plus, I didn't want to leave Mom in the dust with my faster walking). The folks in Dublin definitely were faster walkers. They did not worry about anyone's personal space. They will slam into you or graze you while walking by. No one seemed to notice or care. The only moment when I noticed someone make a face while getting slammed into by a passerby was when an old woman and a middle-aged woman played chicken on the sidewalk. Neither one was going to move. So neither one did. The hit each other on the shoulder/side going full force. The middle-aged woman made a face and rolled her eyes at the old lady. The old lady turned around and said some choice words. Excellent!!

The use of the word Lad and Lady were abundant. The pony-cart guy used it a lot, "Ya, Lady.". It was cute. And everyone seemed to say it.

This trip has made me want to go home to bake. We have so many items on our list. There was the Bakewell Tart like we had during the afternoon tea. The brown bread that is abundant. It has tons of nuts and grains a things. It MUST be good for you!! Scones. Oh, I want to make every possible scone. With whipped or clotted cream. And I can't forget the tea. I wanted to buy a teapot. Possibly a silver one. But I never found anything. I'm trying to figure out how I can have a teapot in my office for afternoon tea. Cause this whole tea with every meal thing was glorious. I can't get enough of it. I hope this joy never fades.

There are two babies on this flight. I feel so bad for the parents, because these babies have been crying almost non stop throughout the entire flight. When one stops, the other starts. The good thing is that they're pretty far away from me, but I can't imagine how much this sucks for a parent. Cause there's nothing you can do with a crying baby on a flight. Sad.

8p Eastern - Right Around Frankfort, Kentucky One more hour to go...

I can't say enough nice things about Delta. I've stuck with American Airlines for the most part in the last few years. Those frequent flyer miles can add up when you're working on increasing your collection. So I haven't deviated much from AA. Delta has had great (and abundant) food, free flowing wine (International, not Domestic), and plenty of entertainment options. We were just watching reruns of 30 Rock on Comedy Central on the Satellite service. I'd still be watching it now, but Tosh 2.0 is on now. Even with my love of people falling down or watching dudes get hit in the crotch, I just can't get into this show. Oh well. There's only an hour to go. I can finish my book or maybe take a few minutes of a nap before we land.

We've been up for 17 hours or so at this point. We've been traveling for 14 hours. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm looking forward to my bed. I'm kind of looking forward to going back to work. I want to stress kind of only because I know what is waiting for me there. I know it's going to be four days of misery. And that doesn't include anything that went down last week when I was gone. Add the upcoming surgery preparations and the next few weeks become a little bit overwhelming. All I can do is keep breathing. I'll think of the view from our first hotel. We could sit quietly and see nothing but the mountains and lake in Killarney. That can be my happy place for the next few weeks. Sigh...thanks, Ireland...

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