The Road Home – Santiago to Dublin

Day 2

I had a wonderful rest. Just before dozing off last night I looked out my window and caught the last of the sunset. Sunrise and sunset on the same day. What a treat! Thanks, God! 😃

I packed up my stuff – this time my ‘daypack’ has been converted to my ‘carry-on’ pack. Things in this pack I didn’t usually carry include warm socks, my international phone charger, the headphone type that’s used for a plane, and my pitcher from the hardware store, so it doesn’t get crushed in the cargo hold.

I had the morning and early afternoon to mill around town. I got a croissant and had a cafe con leche while sitting in a sunny outdoor cafe. It was lovely and relaxing.

Did a bit of walking around the shops, just looking. Down one alley I spied thru a window a little woman in a yarn and lace shop making lace by hand. Such delicate work!

I turned a corner and noticed some more antique silver shell boxes like some Julie and I had seen in a shop that appeared to be permanently closed yesterday.

Then I realized – it was the same shop and Google was wrong – it wasn’t closed! I sent a quick note to Julie (after I located WiFi) because she’d been interested in getting one of the shell boxes. She answered back with a confirmation. I was delighted to have a mission and ran back to pick it up for her.

Julie and I both live in one-room ‘studios’ and have pared down possessions to things that are useful and/or meaningful/beautiful. It’s the William Morris aesthetic: “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” For her, this would be something meaningful and beautiful to treasure. This, too, is going in my carry-on pack.

Not long afterwards, I headed to the Santiago airport via cab. Quite early. Early enough that when the gate opened for checking in to Dublin and I was told there was a QR code needed for entry to Ireland, I didn’t panic. Plenty of time to set it up, even with a snag on the app.

Headed thru security and the passport check . Apparently you don’t have to take your shoes off in Spain’s security. It was easy to spot the barefoot Americanos. In the waiting area I saw a vending machine that had Toblerone and realized I hadn’t had a chocolate bar in quite a while. It’s not something one carries in a pack due to the melting factor. I tried to wrestle my coins into the machine but they kept flinging onto the floor. An Irish guy behind me tried it, too, and the same thing kept happening.

The machine says ‘Five ways to pay’ but after we tried a few other methods, discovered only one of them worked. By then, he was fully vested in the project and wouldn’t take my change in payment. Nice of him. He rewarded himself (as well he should have) …. with a Toblerone of his own.

I’ll miss Spain – the culture, traditions, people, food, architecture, art, gorgeous countryside, animals, etc. But I’ll especially miss the new friends I’ve made. I’m very much hoping connections with these friends will continue. I treasure my new friendships, which I hope to cultivate, tend to, nurture, and grow. And, I sincerely hope to be back again before too long.

The flight to Dublin took less than two hours. The crew was delightful. When I asked for an outlet to charge my phone they picked up on my Chicago accent. We chatted about places to go in the city when they have layovers in town. They got my recommendation for Portillo’s for chili cheese dogs and chocolate cake.

One casualty of the flight – I left my water bottle on the seat when I left. It served me well the whole trip. But, an easy thing to replace.

Passport security was a breeze. The Radisson Blu is not far from the airport so I walked over in spite of there being a downpour. The front desk clerk asked me a couple times if I needed help carrying my pack. I declined. 🙂

More later…