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Nothing like twenty-two hours of travel to finish out a trip. Yeeeeeaaaah. And this was from Western Europe. I really don’t see how people do Asia or Australia.

7:30am: Walk from the Hotel to the Kilkenny Train station (with help from the equestrian)
8:00am: Train from Kilkenny to Dublin
10:45am: Shuttle Bus to Dublin Airport
1:30pm: Aer Lingus flight to Heathrow
5:30pm: Virgin Atlantic flight to Dulles (after a minor luggage snafu at Heathrow)
10:30pm (3:30am my time): cab from Dulles to East Falls Church Metro
11:15pm (4:15am my time): Metro from East Falls Church to New York Avenue
12:00am (5:00 am my time): Home again, Home again, Jiggity-Jig

It is, of course, that last part of the journey that should be easiest since it is the most familiar. In truth it was the worst leg since I was so exhausted and travel weary and already settling into a post-trip depression. Waiting to transfer trains at Metro center made me bitter and angry at all the hootchies dressed up for a night on the town simply because I was here and not there. Trust me, there were plenty of hootchies in Ireland as well, it is just easier to tolerate there with a pint and a smile when surrounded by people you love, whereas here—sweaty, sticky, and covered with the hair gel that I discovered had leaked all over one of my bags—well, it grates a bit.

That said—what a great trip. I should write more about it, maybe I will over the next few days, sort of an Ireland retrospective, although I don’t know if any of it is even interesting to anyone but me. Maybe I’ll do a day-by-day, or break it down into categories. We’ll see.

Overall, I had a fabulous time. It was a great combination of oppositionals: urban/rural, alone-time/group-time, small towns/cities, visits with old friends/visits with new friends, high brow/low brow, planned outings/random wandering. Ireland is a really easy place to get used to, save for the price of everything (high) and the food options (tricky still for someone like me). Culturally, sure there are differences, but I have to say—a night out there didn’t feel all that different than a night out in DC (granted, I did not spend time in any very rural areas and I was hanging out with mostly Americans).

But this was actually a good thing. Trips where you face a huge cultural adjustment are fun to take and wonderful learning experiences but can also be very stressful. This trip was virtually stress-free. Which for me-after a very busy last year-was a good thing. The Irish are very friendly and helpful and it never felt like an imposition to ask for help or for directions (unlike in other parts of Europe). And they genuinely seem to like Americans. It is also interesting that, wandering the big cities, there were many people who lived there who seemed more like an outsider culturally and linguistically than I did (the huge influx of Poles and Eastern Europeans in the metropolitan areas). They live there, but they don’t speak the language. We don’t live there, but we do. And culturally and religiously we have many more similarities with the Irish. So, that was interesting.

Tonight I am going to try to see the show at Woolly (if I can get a ticket) and tomorrow will be here, then Tuesday I head up to New York so that Wednesday morning I can take the train to Milford, Connecticut where I’ll be directing a version of The Diary of Anne Frank for a high school tour for two-and-a-half weeks. Keeping busy at this point can only be a good thing. Then I have to figure out that whole day job/earning my keep thing come October. Yeah. Fun.

Happy belated jew new year to all and here’s to the wonder of new places and the comfort of dear friends.