Dear Liam,
Young people! Can you believe I had to call THREE of my nephews before I found one willing to carry my luggage to the train? I know why I never had children of my own.
It was nice of you to arrange my tickets for me. I have mislaid the timetables you sent me, but I made sure my nephew knows. If he doesn't forget it (you never know, young people nowadays...) I should be there on time.
Ah, I almost feel young again! All that excitement... And I am going to meet you again, too! Must have been a lifetime ago. Actually, it has been a lifetime ago. Sigh... Where did those days go? The morning I got your letter I thought it had barely been 10 years... until I spilled coffee all over my best suit with this old man's hands that someone must have attached to my body while I was sleeping.
So now I will have to go shopping for clothes. I always hated that. Luckily there is a decent store here in Bonn. You should think that there would be more than one, but nowadays... All their staff is so badly trained, if trained at all, and you have to ride those darn escalators (I'll break my neck one day) and listen to their terrible Muzak And all that bother for a badly made, ill-fitting rag! Well, as I said, there is this one store where you can still find a good suit that is almost as good as made by a real tailor. Ahh, I think I was meant to be rich...
Like Brian would be now, had he not vanished from the scene. I have always thought that was quite odd of him... And to leave all those pictures behind. Not that I ever liked them, although that portrait of me was quite good... Anyway, where is my mind going? I was telling you about going after new clothes. Quite a waste at my age. Well, I will buy a suit I would not be ashamed to be buried in, that will save my relatives some trouble, won't it? You won't believe the fuss they made about my wish to be burned and scattered. As if I could be restricted to a tiny small plot in a cemetery! The whole planet used to be mine,and now? Well, at least I will get to see Achill again. And you. Quite hard to believe that I nearly gave up travelling, is it not? At least for someone who heard all my rows with Brian about it. Strange how life made a fool of both of us. I am where I was put and belong and he could be anywhere.
This town is now all I see. Not that it was not a beautiful sight, mind you. I always told you to visit me and see for yourself. Although it was a lot nicer back then... The large chains are destroying many of the small shops and it is not good for the cultural life that all those politicians are fleeing. Not that they knew anything about art, mind you. But they had to represent and to be seen. That was quite good for the opera and the theatre here. I am still as content here as a lonely old man can be. Living centrally and having an elevator I can still roam around quite freely. I still enjoy to hear young people, not yet as weary of it all as I am, talk about LIFE... as if they knew.
Well, we all were there one day. And I hope that parts of us still are. Enough rambling for one letter and an old man.
I look forward to seeing you soon,

Daniel