I am sitting in my window seat at 3AM EST just finishing a cookie and… A COFFEE!
It’s a beautiful strategy > tell everyone “water service only” and when you trolley down the aisle with a bit of coffee in tow the peasants thank you with tears in their eyes, instead of cranking about where exactly their breakfast is.
All my best laid plans regarding sleeping on the plane were for naught. An unfortunate combination of old age (my rib? hurt too much to sleep?), and an extremely active passenger behind me overcame whatever delta waves exhaustion, melatonin and the soundtrack “thunderstorms for sleep” could muster. I think I’m going to have to become significantly more wealthy and start flying business class. Anyhow, hopefully the Dublin airport is more passenger-friendly than Pearson and I can find somewhere decent to stretch out for a couple hours.
Oh! One other thing! I am one of maybe 1-3% of passengers wearing a mask. As I listen to the chorus of coughing throughout the cabin I don’t understand how anyone doesn’t consider being crammed together like cattle at the feedlot a considerable risk. How could a person have had COVID and ever want to repeat the experience..
13h43 GMT+1:
Observation: trailer hitches on Irish cars look like cat penises. And on-lookers are encouraged to believe their eyes by the adjacent license plates which proclaim “IRL”.
16h12 GMT+1:
If I was one of few in a mask in YYZ I am one of one in DUB. Did COVID not happen here?
Word to the wise for future travellers: Ryanair is RUTHLESS regarding their baggage rules. They made every single person measure their carry-on bags. So many had to fork over cash to check a bag that did not fit.
Observation: men have almost no latitude wrt clothes here. If you have even the smallest amount of style as a man then you are wearing skinny- jeans/joggers/slacks. Only the absolute dregs of society (or those in uniform) don’t have their calves and ankles cupped snuggly by cloth. Women on the other hand? Wide leg, boot cut, tights, skinny jeans, bell bottom, whatever. Does not matter – everything goes. In fact, on average, the men seem more “done up” than the women… is this an airport issue? An Irish issue? A Tuesday issue?
21h54 GMT+2
Things that have made my (giant) day more pleasurable/easier:
- Bringing a 1L water bottle (I’ve drank way more than I would have if I’d been buying fluids, or even refilling a smaller bottle)
- Bringing packed meals (I feel waaay less greasy than I would have if I’d been surviving for 20h [is that all it’s been??] on airport food)
- FRIENDS CHECKING IN ON ME – I love you, thank you for worrying about me
- pre purchased eSIM. For all that it’s super annoying that it is practically automatically activated on installation it is also sooooo nice to be able to Google “where do I redeem this HolaBarcelona voucher at the Barcelona airport” so I atleast know what noun I should be asking people “Dondé está ……” For future eSIMs I will just buy the length of my trip +1 days to account for the software’s engineering miss.
- Paying to have the window seat. AND happening to be seated beside women. Bless their “keep their body parts in their own seat” souls.
- Google Maps public transit function. The world is my oyster! And for pretty cheap too 😉
- The Apple World Travel Adapter Kit. 6/5 stars, would recommend. Have I waxed eloquent about this in previous trips? I’ll incl a photo in a future post.
- Layers, and pressure socks. I don’t know anyone too young to benefit from pressure socks. Just do it.
- And finally, most beautifully, a curtained off little sanctuary to collapse into at the end of it all:
Notes 