Sunday was a quiet day. I was about 5 days behind on the blog and I really needed to catch up. Paul made some breakfast and I started writing. Aunt Sue went shopping and Paul drove her so there was a period where I had no distractions and it was productive.
I took a few breaks and during 1 break, Paul and I took the dog for a walk. We walked to the beach and around Towyn. There was a carnival open but there was only about 3 people in it. It was a little creepy. There is hardly anybody in the town outside of tourist season.
Paul made Paella for dinner. I had never had it before and wanted to try it. Paella is a dish from Spain and Portugal and is a mixture of chicken, seafood, rice and vegetables. He served a huge portion on my plate and it was fantastic. I will definitely attempt to make this one day. I wasn't sure if I was going to like the combination of chicken and seafood, but it goes together very well. It was fantastic. I finished writing, I was only 2 days behind by the time I decided to stop and I watched TV with Paul and Aunt Sue with a few beers then went to bed around 11:00 PM.
I woke up at about 7:00 AM on the Monday morning. My aunt had to go to work. She works part time caring for people with autism. I was up for awhile but quickly got tired and went back to bed. I was catching the ferry to Dublin at 1:50 PM.
I woke up at about 9:30 AM and Paul made some breakfast. After breakfast I decided to have a shower. I got dressed and then started to pack. Paul was driving me to the ferry terminal in Holyhead. It was about an hour and a half drive from their place in Towyn. We arrived at the ferry port. It said Terminal 1, however my ticket said the ferry left from T5. I went inside and asked at the information counter whether i was in the right place and they confirmed I was.
The check in for the ferry closed 45 mins prior to departure time and it was not yet open for check in. It was about 12:45 PM. I waited about 30 mins and finally the check in opened. I got my boarding pass and went through some doors to a security scanner. I put my bags through the scanner and waited on the other side. I went through another door and a man took my bag and put it onto a conveyer belt. It was going to a vehicle which carries luggage. He directed me up some stairs and at the top was a departure lounge.
I waited here for another 25 minutes before they opened the door and we went down some stairs and followed some halls to a bus that was waiting outside. We got on the bus and it drove down to the docks and waited for some vehicles to be loaded then drove onto the ferry. Once it was on the ferry, the driver turned the engine and the lights off and everybody got off the bus.
I followed everyone through a doorway and then up about 6 flights of steep stairs. At the top there was a deck where all the passengers sit during the trip. I seemed to be at a dead end, so I followed the first path I saw. It led past a gaming room with slot machines. next to that in the middle of the hall was an information desk. I continued up the hall and passed a store that sold perfume and cologne and a few other items. Further up was the Stena Plus lounge. It's basically a room with tables and chairs and restricted to those who paid for an upgrade. further along the hall on the opposite side to the Stena Plus lounge was a caffeteria/restaurant. There were tables and chairs all around the outside of this kitchen. As you go around the top was a bar and more seating. There were no seats, so I decided to walk back down the hall and find somewhere to sit.
I walked all the way back where I came from and found a doorway behind where I had entered. There was another big lounge area. There was no bar or restaurant at this end. I found a seat and sat down. I was very tired and tried to sleep but as I was in the open I had nowhere to rest my head. About 15 mins into the trip a guy got up and left his seat which was next to the wall. I took the opportunity to jump in this seat and rest my head against the wall and sleep.
The trip across the Irish see takes 3 hours. I slept for around 20 minutes, but this was enough to freshen me up. When I woke up I went out onto the outside deck and had a cigarette. When I came back in I tried to use the free Wifi but it didn't seem to work for some reason. I was going to do some more writing but without WiFi I didn't see a point. The ship was due to land in Dublin at about 5:05 PM.
At 3:45 PM I decided to go to the bar and have a beer. On the way I stopped in the shop and looked at the fragrances. I ended up buying a bottle of Georgio Armanis's He. It cost 45 Pound. I headed to the bar and bought a beer. They only had american beers in bottles, so I got a pint of Stella from the tap. I saw a guy sitting by himself at a table and asked if I could sit in the empty seats. He said "Ok" and I sat down. I drank the beer then got another one.
At about 4:45 PM I decided to have a cigarette and see what i could see from the deck. I headed back down the hall and out the door. I took some photos of Ireland in the distance but I guess it was too far because you couldn't see anything on the photos. I stood out here for about 20 minutes then went inside to wait near the exit. I didn't really pay attention to the door I came through or what deck the bus was parked on so I took a guess. The doors to the car decks were locked during the trip, I guess to prevent people from going down and stealing things. The doors didn't open until we docked. I was in the first group to go downstairs and I managed to find the bus.
I got on and it was dark. A few other people came and got on and then about 5 minutes later the bus driver arrived. We had to wait for the cars in front of us to disembark as the bus was now right at the back. After about 5 mins we were on the move and off the ferry. The ferry terminal was about 100 metres from the ferry dock and the bus stopped. We got off the bus and headed into the luggage claim area. Nothing was happening. About 10 minutes later a truck pulled up and the luggage began to come through. I got my bag and headed to the taxis waiting outside.
My taxi driver had a thick Irish accent like you would expect and he told me to just put my bag on the backseat. I got in and we headed into town. The taxi driver was very friendly and pointed out good pubs and restaurants to go to. My hotel was right near the centre of Dublin and everything was no more than a 15-20 minute walk. I hadn't been able to convert any Pounds to Euro or use an ATM, so I had to pay him in Pounds. The fair was 16,00 Euro and I only had 20 pound notes, so I just gave him that. It was a lot more than the fare but he was a nice guy, so whatever.
I checked into the hotel and found my room. The rooms were a bit of a maze but well signed and I found it easy enough. I went in and got myself set up. There was no mini bar so I couldn't overspend here which is good. At about 6:30 I went downstairs to the restaurant to get some food. I had not eaten since breakfast. They had a deal for 2 courses it was 15,00 Euro, which was good value. I ordered a Guiness while I studied the menu.
This might sound like I am just making it up, but the Guiness I drank was much nicer than any Guiness I had ever had. I don't know whether it is made different to the stuff in England and Australia or whether it's just that the pipes are cleaned more often. I ordered the Honey Smoked Chicken Salad to start and the steak for the main course.
The salad came and it wasn't all that great. The lettuce in the salad was not the leaves, they had used the sour ends and heart of the lettuce. It was edible but just not that great. The steak came and I had ordered it medium rare. The steak was more on the rare side. I remember someone saying once that in the UK you need to ask for medium. I forgot this,but lesson learnt. It was ok, but too undercooked to be totally enjoyable.
After the meal, I ordered a Jamiesons. Jamiesons is Irish Whiskey. The waiter told me that he had run out, but had some other Irish whiskeys instead. He had one called Slane Castle, that had apparently gone into liquidation and supply was limited. I tried that one as I may be one of the last people to try it. It was nice, it wasn't as smooth as Jamiesons, but it tasted pretty nice.
I payed the bill it was 40,00 Euro and I left a 10,00 Euro tip as the staff were pretty friendly. I also bought 6 bottles of beer and went back to the room. I drank the beers and did some writing. I went to bed about midnight. I was planning on doing the walking tour of the city the next day.
No comments:
Post a Comment