Vienna (Part 1)

22 September 2011

I wake.
It's 02:30 I have to catch a bus to the airport a 03:35.  A quick breakfast and two mugs of tea later my parents are lifting my bags into the boot of the car.
We're off.  It's a four mile journey into town and the roads are eerily quiet.  We arrive in good time.
The bus is late.
After much fretting and bluffing, I almost consider submitting and retreating home to recommence my sleep, my flight at 07:10 will not wait for me.  The bus comes and only 50 minutes late.  Bus Eireann at their finest.

The coach rumbles into earshot and tears up the street before edging into the bus stop.  I bid my parents farewell and I board the vehicle that will carry me to my next destination.
I inquire as to the origin of the delay.
The bus driver stares and not until he realises that I am waiting for an answer does he offer a response;
'I had to get my break.'

We stop a few miles down the road-a toilet break.  After having presented the excuse that he was late because of a compulsory coffee break, he feigns concern for his passengers and steals another.

Not without some nail biting and murmuring between passengers (most of which are destined for the airport and on a tight schedule).  We arrive at Dublin circa 05:30.  I rush through security, weaving through the crowd with a disproportional piece of my life squeezed into only 2 bags.  Roughly 18 kilos.

A humbling notion.

I'm upset and I text my girlfriend because the old adage rings true; 'misery loves company'.


Armed with a bag of milky moos, I feel brave enough to fly and to cope with the changing pressure and unavoidable popping of ears.
I breach the gate and board the vehicle of my destiny.