Glass Half Full
Today was a very easy day. That's a good thing. It was difficult to get to sleep last night until about 2:00 a.m., because that's when the band in the downstairs bar stopped playing. It wasn't so much the sound of the music and the singer that kept me up as it was the way the entire building reverberated like a big bass cabinet.
The staff was aware of the situation and provided earplugs that helped cut down on the sound, but were not quite as effective for the vibration. I'm still adjusting from Florida time so it wasn't all that difficult to stay awake until what would have been 9:00 p.m. back at home.
I grabbed breakfast down the street from a bakery staffed by an immigrant from Croatia named Jerome. He works the bakery from 6:00 in the morning until 10:00 at night trying to build a life for himself. He was actually nice enough to custom-make a breakfast sandwich for me that did not include any pork products.
Checkout was at 11:00 and my train was at noon. It was about a 10-minute walk to the train station, and it was easy to strike up conversations with other travelers so the time flew by. It was only two stops to get to Tralee and took less than 40 minutes. Another 10-minute walk with my luggage and I arrived at the hotel, where they were gracious enough to let me check in early. While I waited for the room to be cleaned, I had lunch at the bar and actually had my first Guinness of the trip. It was the freshest one I think I've tasted in a long time and it "rained" in the half-pint glass after it was poured. Yes, I only had a half pint, and it was plenty.
Soon I was ready to check out the downtown area. As always, when I do these hikes, I stock up on provisions at the local grocery store. In the checkout line I managed to eavesdrop on a conversation between the cashier and a customer about how the Irish government had spent $300,000 on a bicycle rack that was similar to one that cost $7,000 somewhere else. I guess wasteful government spending is not exclusive to the United States.
Most everything was closed up before 6:00 in the evening. I managed to find a shawarma place for dinner and passed the Pikeman statue in the center of town. This work sculpted by Albert Power commemorates the Irish Rebellion of 1798.
Back in my room, I prepped all the equipment for tomorrow's walk. While I was getting packed up I had the TV on in the hotel room. They had a very odd game show that Incorporated a machine reminiscent of the thing you see in arcades where you drop a coin or a chip in and hope that it pushes others off shelves into a collection bin. The most impressive part of the show was the enthusiasm the host generated with each drop of a chip. I'm not sure this game show concept will make it across the Atlantic back to the States.
It appears the weather is not going to cooperate on my first day: The forecast is for a high of 50° with rain. According to the extended forecast, it should start to warm up gradually after tomorrow and provide some relief.