"Leaving on a Jet Plane"

Ooof. That jet lag's hitting me hard right now, but on the plus side, I get to post? Also, I've decided I have to come up with song lyrics now for every post... we'll see how long I keep this up.

Rather than develop some beautiful, florid, narrative style, I'll just give a few bullets for today.

The Flight: Sitting in economy plus was great, and next to a tiny person, great! But having them cough on me for the whole flight was... less ideal.

Customs: Turns out, when you make minimal plans for your travel, customs agents are going to ask you maximum questions. Nothing makes you question your life choices like a sarcastic Irish brogue tossing out "Oh, and what are you going to do in Galway for 6 weeks then?" Eventually they took pity on me and let me in.

Piano Playing: Something they have in most cool places, and almost nowhere in the states, are public pianos. So at the Dublin Heuston station (#heustonpiano) they have an *awesome* painted piano for everyone. Naturally, once this old swedish guy was done entertaining-- and I really mean it, he shouted, stomped, took requests and delighted-- I wanted to eventually get up there and do something. So, I waited one crappy person later so I could take over. Somewhere between tepid and raucous applause! I needed the ego boost. Sorry for the no pictures here... but hey, it's hard to selfie when your hands are occupied.

The House:

"This humble abode doth suit me fine. A simple homely place, tis mine"-- Egbert the Scholar

Look, is it the best place I've lived in my life? No. But it's not the worst! I met up with my "agent" who eventually walked me over here after forking up the rest of my month's rent.

But hey, it's 200 ft from the supermarket, a 5 minute walk from everything good in town, and has laundry facilities and a nice backyard. It'll do for now.

The Town (not the movie):

Look, this place is gorgeous...

I went for a walk after a needed nap to explore some. The streets are filled with tiny shops, and there's a tourist district lined with musical acts, and yes, a bit of tourists even on a monday afternoon.

I stopped into a pub to get a drink and dinner... Jack Keogh's something or other. All I know is they had a lot of cool whiskeys and typical irish fare like lamb, beef, potatoes (#ketonightmare). Ordering here is gonna be tough!

Some ruddy Ed Sheeran-esque bartender struck up a great conversation with me. Turns out he's moving to the States in a week!

He recommended their special, "Writer's Tears". I gave it a go because I figure it'll help for the blog? Also, you know you're in Ireland when they give you a side pot of water for your whiskey. Charming.

Got a great list of other places to try from him, and hoping to explore some more tomorrow.