Setting off - March 3rd

This is the first entry of this blog, and, as anyone who knows me is well aware of, I am not good at continuity, so it might as well be the last :P The plan is Seattle for two days, Vancouver and surroundings for a month, then Whitehorse, then Juneau, then Toronto, then somewhere else I don't know yet. Here it begins.

I woke up at 4am and walked through the empty Dublin streets. Not even drunks were out there this time. For the first time ever I wasn't really excited about a trip like this, mainly because I was having a great time in Dublin, there was no real need to leave and I was going to miss my friends.

As always, a taxi intercepted me on my way to the Aircoach. I shared the cab with two strangers, both Irish and talking with the driver about how the country was going down the drain. That was more than 24 hours ago, and now it seems like another life altogether, as it does the games I was playing last night with my Dublin friends.

After a too long layover in Heathrow, I finally head West towards Calgary. Opposite to 99% of the population, I love long flights: movies (Mystic River), documentaries (how to survive in the Arctic) and music (my playlist was David Bowie, Marvin Gaye and Roy Orbison, as all the modern stuff was crap), gluten-free food and drinks given to me at regular intervals and time to relax ... bliss. This time, much to my surprise and delight, the route was not the usual one through the Atlantic but a more northern one crossing Greenland and the north of Canada. The views from the plane are amazing, with Greenland's beautiful snowed mountains and coasts and the frozen Arctic landscapes. Like this, but with more snow. To top it up, a great view of the Rocky mountains in the horizon while landing in Calgary.

Then it's time to pass Canadian and US immigration. As it has always been the case for me, it takes a minute and I feel really welcomed, more than in any other country I have traveled to, and I suddenly become very excited about being there, about the whole trip and really eager to arrive to Seattle and dig the city.

This is my fifth transatlantic flight and I yet have to suffer jetlag for the first time. My 'trick' is as simple as sleeping in the plane the appropriate number of hours to compensate for the difference in hours of the day. It has always worked. Both ways. Today I slept 4 hours in Dublin and 5 extra ones in the planes, which for me is enough for the 32-hour day I had.

So when we were approaching Seattle and I could see the city lights, I just felt like going out. I decided to check out this jazz place called New Orleans Creole restaurant, just 10 minutes from the hostel I'm staying in.

It has turned out to be even better than I expected. Great jazz music, right one meter away from you, while you enjoy a cheap and yummy dinner and an enthusiastic crowd. Also just 3 euros for a pint of cider including tip ;) An old man, really passionate about jazz, approaches me to see if I am going to be in the city on Sunday, because "there is this jazz concert in a church close to here, but don't worry, it's not a religious thing". I guess either he saw I was European and assumed all of us are heathens, or I wear my dislike for religion in my face ...

Still don't have plans for tomorrow, besides meeting my CS host at some point during the day.