Time for my biannual conjugal visit. I left Chicago on Tuesday, headed for a stopover in Dublin and then Wednesday in Berlin for a tearful reunion with the old ball and chain which is where he is currently residing. Oddly, for me anyway, the trip went without a hitch. I ran into friends in O’Hare and chose to sit with them rather than visit the Aer Lingus lounge. It was too early to eat or drink anyway and the whole point of the lounge is to kill time. As it went, I was so busy gasbagging with Peggy and Paul I nearly missed my flight but it was all fine. To be honest there was a little bit of a problem with the leisurely pace of the in-flight wine delivery. We’d not yet been served when we hit some turbulence and the pilot made the flight attendants sit down. Come on buddy, these people can deal with it!! Get the freaking wine flowing.
But really it was fine. The only hitch was that I did not sleep. A wink.
I left Chicago at 5 pm and landed in Dublin at 5 am which was 11 at night my time. I mean, yes, normally I am heading for bed at 7:30 but I could do 11 if I needed to, say, well, I can’t think of a reason I’d want to stay up that late but I could do it. I wasn’t especially worried at that point but then I left Dublin at 2 am my time (still doable, theoretically), arrived in Berlin at 4 am my time. But in Berlin it was 11 in the morning and I had the rest of the day and evening before I could reasonably go to bed for any amount of time. Yes, I could take a nap but a nap can be risky. In this case, I took the risk and it was adequate, I mean I didn’t wake up a crushed, unpleasant and gray version of my ornery self with a headache but I wasn’t exactly the picture of a lively spring sprite on a sunny and bright flower-filled day either.
I went to bed at 8 pm and woke up at 9:30 in the morning having slept soundly the entire night. OMG. You want a fuckin’ spring sprite on a sunny fuckin’ day!?!
Some pix of the schizophrenic architecture of Berlin which I took in a desperate attempt to keep myself awake while walking around killing time before I could climb, sobbing softly, into bed.
