Vaycay – well, it’s Europe-bound again, what to do. Iestyn only got like 10 days off in his new job, so it’s not really worth going somewhere further. Hesitating between Greece, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Portugal, we finally decided on Portugal because why not, they got surf.
I got the LP in the ‘burg but didn’t really have time to go through it before the vaycay. But that’s OK because I’ll first go to Dublin and look into it while Iestyn is still at work. So we just bought tickets and booked a car up ahead – flying to Porto and back from Lisbon. In between – the possibilities are wide open. I also bought a super-light summer sleeping bag, I hope I’m not gonna be cold. It’s a pretty colour though.
Saturday
I spent the most of the day at home, cleaning up a bit so that I don’t return to a huge mess, finishing packing, watering plants, going to the post office, etc. At 4pm I boarded the train airport-bound, and thus started my vaycay officially. I started reading my vaycay book on the train – I packed the “Case of the Drowsy Mosquito”, a case for Perry Mason, wonderfully old-fashioned and US-fashioned crime story. First edition from 1943, my copy of 1969 taken last year at the street book exchange in Liechtenstein’s capital Vaduz. I was a bit too early at the airport, which is still better than being late, had no problem with my carry-on bag (that might still come with RyanAir later),and generally experienced no drama.
It was super cold and rainy in Frankfurt, which made me question my decision of not taking any shoes with me on the vaycay (only flipflops and sandals), but only a little bit and for only a little while. After a non-eventful flight next to a family with a first-class brat of a child, I arrived in Dublin at about 10pm, and Iestyn was already waiting for me. Iestyn’s friend Matt was on the same flight but given my below-average memory for faces I didn’t recognise him, and only said hello to him in Dublin when Iest did the facial recognition for us.
We took the bus home, gobbled up a “slice” of pizza each on the way and arrived home mightily tired. I had pressies waiting for me – a pretty map of Snowdonia trails designed in London tube style and coconut chocolate too. Also a beautiful card with a cat and weekend Guardian for my upcoming Sunday morning – woohoo!
