On Thursday, my friends O. and A. went for an early morning walk while I started to pack for my departure. Later we shared a lunch of various tasty tapas and ice cold beers at a beachside restaurant. It heated up in the afternoon, so I opted for a siesta back at the apartment. A good breeze and oscillating fans kept it comfortable. I’m glad I have managed to avoid any serious sunburn. In the early evening, I’m off to the Málaga airport for my late flight back to Dublin. The check-in process went fairly smoothly, although at the gate there was an older couple (Irish I presume?) who held up the line due to not having their documents in order. In addition to the EU digital COVID travel certificate, Ireland still requires anyone entering the country to complete a passenger locator form.
I was glad to get back to the cooler Dublin weather. The weather in Ireland has been rainy this week, with highs in the mid 60s F / upper 10s C. Friday was a travel recovery day for me – unpacking, laundry, placing an online grocery delivery order. A parcel from my U.S. forwarding service containing some items I had purchased in the U.S. was finally delivered by FedEx. It had been held up in customs for over a month, likely due to some specialty iced tea packets that had given me some trouble before since tea is a restricted commodity here. After calling the FedEx customer service line multiple times over the past few weeks, I was told to email an explanation to their customs clearing department that the items were for my personal use only, so that must have done the did the trick.
As of last Monday, restaurants and bars in Ireland were allowed to reopen indoor seating for customers who have an EU digital COVID certificate. I make plans in the evening to meet up with N. for drinks at The George, which surprisingly had lots of indoor bookings available (their outdoor space was booked up). We were the only ones seated inside the bar when we arrived at 5:00pm, although the place filled up more as the evening progressed. Tables are amply spaced out and masks are not required when seated. At one point it started to rain quite heavily, which made me glad that we were indoors. We have several rounds of pints over engaging conversation, then later on took a few turns at charades. Our original booking was for 2 hours but we were able to stay much longer. Eventually we settled up and grabbed some pizza slices from the NY style pizzeria around the corner. It was a fun night out.
Today (Saturday), my SuperValu grocery delivery arrived in the late morning as usual. Afterwards I caught up with my friend CJ at the The Wild Duck pub a few streets over from Sprangers Yard. Like some other pubs in Dublin, it still has Christmas decor up after being closed during the first several months of the year. We sat on benches in the pub’s front semi-outdoor space, well covered from the drizzling rain. In the indoor part of the pub, there are dozens of models of ships hanging from the ceiling, in addition to the usual quirky pictures and other decorations hanging on the walls.
After chatting for awhile over some pints of cider, CJ and I parted ways. I headed to Arnotts, an upscale department store in the Marys Street shopping district, to buy some pillows that were on sale. I’m trying to tweak my sleeping setup again, as I’m still waking up feeling sore in my neck and back. I’m sure it’s in part due to getting older. For the rest of the day I take it easy in the apartment, taking a leisurely nap and enjoying being back home.
Until next time….
