Dream Journal: Odd adventures in old houses with books

Had a very extensive (that is, I remember a lot) dream that spanned several waking episodes. No clearly meaningful elements but a lot of enjoyable meandering action. It was set in an old downtown -- more European in feel than American although that wasn't a specific element of the action. Several rather 19th c. gothicky-feeling buildings, filled with random antique objects and a lot of really nice old books. There was an elderly woman who was some sort of mentor to me and who, at the end of the dream (and there was a clear concluding end with a home-coming sequence of sorts) had developed a romantic relationship with another woman. In the middle there was a much more modern-feeling sequence with some sort of complex piece of laboratory/production equipment that I was interacting with. And there was this odd (and possibly symbolic) episode where I had to get all my laundry done before I could pack up and go somewhere but every time I thought I was finished things had gotten dirty again. But overall it was about wandering around and exploring in these old buildings with interesting and valuable (to me) objects in them leaving me with a pleasant happy feeling.

I only wish it had left me with a more rested feeling.