‘Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe’ (Jabberwocky by Lewis Carol). Well that’s how it felt as to me as I huddled in my coat in the cold morning mist for the bus to Dublin airport and the start of new adventures. I’ve been in Belfast for a week with my daughters for Christmas and with a rucksack now divested of presents, I’m travelling a few kilos lighter. The turkey was eaten, games were played, wine was drunk and much laughter was shared by all, but now the new adventure begins…
I managed to check in online for my flight and had my boarding card ready, so I only needed a bag drop, unfortunately the queue, which was huge, was for everything including those that hadn’t checked in, so it was of no benefit. It’s been more than 10 years since I last checked a bag in and now I remember why!
The flight to Iceland went smoothly and soon I was sitting in the Reykjavík lounge with a view out over a snow covered landscape. The next leg of the journey soon arrived and we took off eastwards, chasing the sun.
Sunsets are pretty, but do start to lose their appeal after 3 hours.
We crossed the tip of Greenland and approached Boston from the sea with all her lights twinkling away in the late afternoon.
Immigration took 10 minutes and was thankfully nothing like the trial I have always heard it to be. I was asked a few questions, about what I did and then when the immigration lady asked if I had anything to declare I remembered I had an orange in my pocket and that fruit and vegetables should not be imported. So I produced the orange, but she suggested I quickly stick it back in my pocket and enjoy it later. My passport was stamped and I was through, Yippee I’m on US soil, I made it! Covid 0 – Colin 1.
A couple of train stops and changes later and I was at my hotel. Everyone is very friendly and helpful, my room is fine although it could do with a little revamp here and there. The bed is comfortable, but the windows are nigh on impossible to lock and open out onto a fire escape. They remind me a little of a stay at a hotel in Blyth in Northumberland many years ago. The room they gave me then was also the official access to the fire escape, so technically you couldn’t lock your door when you went out! The only way to do it was to lock your door from the inside and then go out via the fire escape! This was actually how reception advised me to secure my room when I asked about it! Basil Fawlty would have been proud..
It’s the early hours for me now, but only 8pm here, so I put aside the tiredness and headed out for a beer and some food. Chinatown was just across the road and on that note pedestrian crossing are very different here. Where is the green man? He is now white and where is the red man? He has (I think) become an orange hand, but sometimes he flashes. Oh well I’ve not been run over yet. I grabbed some dumplings at a Chinese dumpling bar which were really tasty and then had a beer at a local bar. The Boston brewed IPA is really good, as is the bitter. They are quite strong though, so I think the stereotype about American beer being as weak as piss is no longer true. It is also served in ounces, usually 12oz or 16oz. Just so you know 16oz is 473ml. To further complicate matters a US ounce is not the same as a UK ounce.
Well that’s it an early night for me or a very late one depending on how you look at it. The Freedom Trail beckons tomorrow…