Syd and I returned after the appointed time to check into our room. No luck. By the time we were finally admitted it was after noon, too late for my prescribed nap.
Remind me next time I travel halfway around the world: book a room in a fancy hotel that will admit you when you arrive. Six hours is a long time to kill when you’re wiped out in a place you don’t know.
The nice thing about a hostel is it feels kinda homey. I’m sipping a cup of sugarless tea (the sugar had bugs) in a big comfy chair while a man is stretched out asleep on a sofa opposite me and his young son is doing an admirable job on the piano behind me.
Backwards in time: Syd and I nested. The sun glimmered and then full-on shone. Syd was itching to get out for a walk and I wasn’t. But I was having that old scared-to-be-me feeling so I thought it best not to stay home alone. I used to be so bold when traveling, able to push past the anxiety about going new places and trying new things. This time it’s different. I’m different, I should say, and I don’t like it.
For some reason, only some pictures are transferring to my iPad, while others I wanted to show you are staying on the camera.
Auckland is a big, confusing city and I don’t much care to be here, but we’re gonna stay here for two nights till we’re a little settled. We walked down to the Space Needle, or whatever that big pokey thing is called. It’s the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere. We waited in line to take a ride up the elevator for a panoramic city view, but found it was $28 (NZ dollars, about 80% of a US dollar). But guess what: we got senior discounts. Syd is legal, but I’m most of a year shy. I can’t say it was really worth it, but it was something a person ought do, I s’pose.
And it was good to get aired out on our brisk walk. I still haven’t brushed my teeth, though. Eventually I was getting less patient than I should be about stopping to see things Syd was interested in, so she walked me far enough “home” that I could find my way the rest. Now she’s wandering around the wharves and whoknows whatall and I’m just waiting for a few more hours to pass so I can go to sleep. Who knows what tomorrow may bring?
This: “But I was having that old scared-to-be-me feeling so I thought it best not to stay home alone.” is why this trip is necessary. I commend you for pushing yourself (but want you to be gentle on yourself too, okay? Okay.) And here: “I used to be so bold when traveling, able to push past the anxiety about going new places and trying new things.” Fine. You are different now, which must be so discouraging, but the fact that you even got this far: the place-choosing, the trip-planning, the ticket-buying, says something, I think. You are still brave, still bold, and even more so, I think, because of doing this in spite of (or because of) how different things are. It’s like some sort of AA thing about how strong you must be to face stuff sober.
Shut up, Eleni.
Okay.