A Long Walk

July 6, Americans on the move

Well, what an exhausting day this has turned out to be! I stayed up
the better part of the night to make sure I wouldn't oversleep and got
out of bed for good around 4:30...if there's anything I learned from
the last travel day, it's savor your shower, your next one could be
awhile. So, I took a nice long hot shower, packed, unpacked, repacked,
and headed out. Now remember that I, based on what everyone told me
yesterday, was expecting about an hour long hike to the ferryport.

5:30 is a chilly time of the morning in dublin, and to lighten my
pack, I wore my heaviest jeans, an undershirt, a long-sleeved rugby
style shirt, and then my light jacket. Oh yes, and my boots, not my
tennis shoes, that would be too practical. After about 35 minutes, I
decided to stop and ask the desk clerk at a hotel how much further I
could expect. "oh you're only 20-25 minutes if you keep on your
course!" says he. In retrospect, I call his bluff. At the time, I
didn't....my mistake.

So I walked and walked and walked, and finally the road turned where
it was supposed to, at this point though, I was already at my
hour...no great biggie, there were signs confirming ibwasbheading the
right way, and I left early to compensate for error. 20 minutes later,
I see terminal road, which is where all the ports are located, but, oh
wait! What is this just beyond terminal road. The airport?!?! I've
walked the distance equivalent to about a 30€ ride ($45-$50) in a
taxi, and low and behold, I'm not there yet! Turns out terminal road
is an impossibly long, neverending stretch of industrial ports, and
here's this fat backpacking tourist hiking down the road at 6:45 in
the morning. Now, I've been walking at a brisk pace for the entirety
of my hike, and now begin to worry about how much longer this
excursion might be, I pick up the pace further, to no avail, getting
all the way down terminal road takes another 30 minutes, putting me at
just under a 2 hour trek by the time I finally arrive, sweaty and
panting. Bless the Irish, not a water fountain in sight!

Purchasing my ticket, I make a joke about how I just walked from
beyond grafton street, and the ticket agent gets a very dismayed look
on her face and informs me that they have a complimentary shuttle for
pedestrians who arrange for it....perfect! I'm so glad my hostel and
the local police mentioned that service when they were telling me no
Dublin bus services the ferries. And to all those who said oh yeah,
only an hour at most, more like forty-five minutes, I challenge them
to try that little walk of theirs in boots, three layers, and a forty
pound backpack, while trying to make a certain deadline.

The great thing about the ferry: the Atlantic Ocean... cool ocean air
for thee hours. The bad thing: small children evrywhere! You know what
happens when toddlers are on a gently rolling ferry for three hours?
Screams, crying, boat-wide games of tag periodically pierced by more
screams and crying. Three hours...my ears are still ringing.

Now, as I'm sitting on a train passing through the Welsh countryside,
I've had a chance to reflect on all the Americans I've met today.
There was a group of about forty high school students from South
Carolina, a mother/daughter backpacking from Alabama, three guys my
age backpackng from Colorado, two girls about to kick off their
college careers from Seattle, and a family of six from Michigan.
Americans are on the move today it seems.

I wish I had some great anecdote or recount of a meal, but so far, I
haven't had a chance to eat. My caloric intake thus far has been one
pepsi. Maybe soon food will come my way...6 hours later...and it did,
subway, a chocolate bar and a bottle of water... Boring blog today,
I'm still beat from the walk earlier and London will get me large and
in charge tomorrow....

Thanks for tuning in!
-Bryan, the lonely traveler