Trip journal, pt 2
Sep. 8th, 2010 10:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_andyAuthor note: all names are replaced with DW names. Let me know if you don't mind your real name being used and I'll revert them.
October 18, 20:50
Today gets the award for most walking ever. Maybe I'll sleep properly tonight (last night was bad – in addition to strange bed insomnia there were sinus issues, noisy german boys next to us, a squeaky radiator, and what seemed to be a small party on the steps under our window.
To begin with, we got up pretty early, though not so early as to miss the free breakfast. Then we walked down by the docks, seeing the heartbreaking famine memorial and discovering the ferry terminal is quite some distance, so we should figure out transport. Then we wandered around until we found the U2 sanctioned graffiti alley. After that we returned to the hostel, with a stop at the Candy Cafe for a small second breakfast. After writing some postcards and planning our route we set out yet again.
We visited the Number Twenty-nine FitzWilliam St house: a sample Georgian house, which reminded Chris that as much as she likes the (life) style of a certain upper class existence, she isn't up for the oppression of other it involves.
Next we went to the print museum. Chris lovingly photographed every letterpress and monotype machine while I tried to ignore my growing sinus pressure. We had planned to wrap up with a trip to Iveagh gardens, but it was going on 6 and the gates were being locked. We stopped by Bewley's again to rest. I had a tasty pear cider and Chris had crappy strawberry cheesecake (very disappointing). Now we're back at the hostel, packing up for checkout and the last few things to see before it's off to the ferry and England.
October 19, 9:02
Last day in Dublin?
We received an e-mail from Irish Ferries that the 14:30 ferry may be canceled due to weather. We decided to get up early (before 6) to figure out what to do. After much progress not happening (payphones & internet & cell phones all giving us crap) Chris talked the Hostel staff into letting us use their phone to call the recorded message. As of 6am the status was the same: maybe.
We decided to go back to sleep and deal with the cancellation if it really occurred. Maybe (if we get internet and can check BritRail) we'll take a latter ferry and get into Chester very late. Or maybe we'll get a room in Dublin for another night and leave tomorrow.
14:12
Ferry has indeed canceled. Staying one more night and trying for the slower one the the wee hours in the morning. Could have gone out tonight, but would have a midnight to 4 wait at the train station. One more night in Dublin isn't terrible; now let's just hope there are no problems getting transferred to tomorrow morning's ferry.
14:34
Whew! At least e-mail got through! Chris has confirmation we're on the (ugh) 8:05 ferry tomorrow.
And hey, in addition to being cuter than out last room, this one has a decent wi-fi signal of all things. That's room 413, for those of you planning trips to Dublin.
18:59
Went to Ivegh park, which we had missed yesterday. It was charming, with new things around every corner. Statuary. A small rose garden. A little hedge maze surrounding a sundial. After that we walked around Saint Patrick's, but we didn't feel like paying to look around inside. We ate at a nice place in Temple Bar called the Palm Tree. They seemed to serve Irish and Basic Italian dishes. I felt a little bad that we were their only customers, but they had just opened the doors; hopefully it'll pick up in the evening. Now I'm enjoying a dessert Smithwicks in the bunk bed.
As fabulous as Dublin has been I'm anxious to get on with the rest of the trip. There are people to see and gin to drink!
October 20, 6:18
Up early to catch a ferry. Lets hope this works! Shower was cold when there hasn't been a troop of German teens in there steaming up the place.
7:53
The ferry is huge (of course it is, it's a vehicle ferry) and pretty swank. Really, a cinema? Feels good to finally be on the damn thing, There's a lot of wind, but this boat should ignore it all. I'm looking forward to the ride, I don't get to travel by boat often enough.
12:17
The ferry was quicker than I expected, we're already aboard the train to Chester awaiting its 12:38 departure. And eating some tasty chocolate Chris picked up in Dublin.
17:05
Final stretch. In about half an hour we should be in York w/littlebutfierce waiting to lead us to the hostel (because after all this travel it'll be nice to have someone else lead for a little bit). This last train was a bit irritating as between the crowd and reserved seating Chris and I bounced around a while before finally ending w/ seats together. Fine now though; I'm even managing to write on the train somehow (very small letters seems to be the trick).
October 21, 22:10
Busy day and a half. We met with littlebutfierce at the station, then hung out until the next train arrived depositing liseuse. We trekked out to the hostel, then headed out for food and drinks. The first we found at El Piano, a vegetarian tapas place. It was quite tasty, then we went to one of the pubs littlebutfierce used to frequent. Then we saw liseuse to her bus and staggered back to out rooms. Chris seemed to be coming down with a cold, but managed to hold up fairly well with the help of meds and crowding into my bed in the middle of the night.
Oh, and liseuse quite appreciated my gift of gin.
Next day we grabbed breakfast before the kitchen closed and headed out. Some tea was bought, then we went to the Minster. the cathedral was suitably impressive, but seeing the Roman bits under it was the best part. Then we grabbed lunch and picked upforthwritten at the station. Lunch for forthwritten and an inadvertent second lunch for me followed at El Piano. We wandered through stores and eventually hooked up with liseuse again. there was snacking and drinking and talking as we went to several cafes/pubs (ok, just one of each). Then we saw forthwritten off, grabbed some chips, another pint in another pub, left liseuse to hole up in the hostel and catch up on our journals/internets/postcards. Tomorrow: on to Bristol!
October 22, 10:25
Took the bus to the train station. Was much nicer than walking with luggage, will have to remember that if we come back. Just waiting and chatting until the Bristol train arrives. I'm going to miss the hashbrown wedges from the hostel. They may have been factory made, but so very tasty!
October 18, 20:50
Today gets the award for most walking ever. Maybe I'll sleep properly tonight (last night was bad – in addition to strange bed insomnia there were sinus issues, noisy german boys next to us, a squeaky radiator, and what seemed to be a small party on the steps under our window.
To begin with, we got up pretty early, though not so early as to miss the free breakfast. Then we walked down by the docks, seeing the heartbreaking famine memorial and discovering the ferry terminal is quite some distance, so we should figure out transport. Then we wandered around until we found the U2 sanctioned graffiti alley. After that we returned to the hostel, with a stop at the Candy Cafe for a small second breakfast. After writing some postcards and planning our route we set out yet again.
We visited the Number Twenty-nine FitzWilliam St house: a sample Georgian house, which reminded Chris that as much as she likes the (life) style of a certain upper class existence, she isn't up for the oppression of other it involves.
Next we went to the print museum. Chris lovingly photographed every letterpress and monotype machine while I tried to ignore my growing sinus pressure. We had planned to wrap up with a trip to Iveagh gardens, but it was going on 6 and the gates were being locked. We stopped by Bewley's again to rest. I had a tasty pear cider and Chris had crappy strawberry cheesecake (very disappointing). Now we're back at the hostel, packing up for checkout and the last few things to see before it's off to the ferry and England.
October 19, 9:02
Last day in Dublin?
We received an e-mail from Irish Ferries that the 14:30 ferry may be canceled due to weather. We decided to get up early (before 6) to figure out what to do. After much progress not happening (payphones & internet & cell phones all giving us crap) Chris talked the Hostel staff into letting us use their phone to call the recorded message. As of 6am the status was the same: maybe.
We decided to go back to sleep and deal with the cancellation if it really occurred. Maybe (if we get internet and can check BritRail) we'll take a latter ferry and get into Chester very late. Or maybe we'll get a room in Dublin for another night and leave tomorrow.
14:12
Ferry has indeed canceled. Staying one more night and trying for the slower one the the wee hours in the morning. Could have gone out tonight, but would have a midnight to 4 wait at the train station. One more night in Dublin isn't terrible; now let's just hope there are no problems getting transferred to tomorrow morning's ferry.
14:34
Whew! At least e-mail got through! Chris has confirmation we're on the (ugh) 8:05 ferry tomorrow.
And hey, in addition to being cuter than out last room, this one has a decent wi-fi signal of all things. That's room 413, for those of you planning trips to Dublin.
18:59
Went to Ivegh park, which we had missed yesterday. It was charming, with new things around every corner. Statuary. A small rose garden. A little hedge maze surrounding a sundial. After that we walked around Saint Patrick's, but we didn't feel like paying to look around inside. We ate at a nice place in Temple Bar called the Palm Tree. They seemed to serve Irish and Basic Italian dishes. I felt a little bad that we were their only customers, but they had just opened the doors; hopefully it'll pick up in the evening. Now I'm enjoying a dessert Smithwicks in the bunk bed.
As fabulous as Dublin has been I'm anxious to get on with the rest of the trip. There are people to see and gin to drink!
October 20, 6:18
Up early to catch a ferry. Lets hope this works! Shower was cold when there hasn't been a troop of German teens in there steaming up the place.
7:53
The ferry is huge (of course it is, it's a vehicle ferry) and pretty swank. Really, a cinema? Feels good to finally be on the damn thing, There's a lot of wind, but this boat should ignore it all. I'm looking forward to the ride, I don't get to travel by boat often enough.
12:17
The ferry was quicker than I expected, we're already aboard the train to Chester awaiting its 12:38 departure. And eating some tasty chocolate Chris picked up in Dublin.
17:05
Final stretch. In about half an hour we should be in York w/
littlebutfierce waiting to lead us to the hostel (because after all this travel it'll be nice to have someone else lead for a little bit). This last train was a bit irritating as between the crowd and reserved seating Chris and I bounced around a while before finally ending w/ seats together. Fine now though; I'm even managing to write on the train somehow (very small letters seems to be the trick).October 21, 22:10
Busy day and a half. We met with littlebutfierce at the station, then hung out until the next train arrived depositing liseuse. We trekked out to the hostel, then headed out for food and drinks. The first we found at El Piano, a vegetarian tapas place. It was quite tasty, then we went to one of the pubs littlebutfierce used to frequent. Then we saw liseuse to her bus and staggered back to out rooms. Chris seemed to be coming down with a cold, but managed to hold up fairly well with the help of meds and crowding into my bed in the middle of the night.
Oh, and liseuse quite appreciated my gift of gin.
Next day we grabbed breakfast before the kitchen closed and headed out. Some tea was bought, then we went to the Minster. the cathedral was suitably impressive, but seeing the Roman bits under it was the best part. Then we grabbed lunch and picked up
forthwritten at the station. Lunch for forthwritten and an inadvertent second lunch for me followed at El Piano. We wandered through stores and eventually hooked up with liseuse again. there was snacking and drinking and talking as we went to several cafes/pubs (ok, just one of each). Then we saw forthwritten off, grabbed some chips, another pint in another pub, left liseuse to hole up in the hostel and catch up on our journals/internets/postcards. Tomorrow: on to Bristol!October 22, 10:25
Took the bus to the train station. Was much nicer than walking with luggage, will have to remember that if we come back. Just waiting and chatting until the Bristol train arrives. I'm going to miss the hashbrown wedges from the hostel. They may have been factory made, but so very tasty!
no subject
Date: 2010-09-09 06:13 am (UTC)But there are also lots of things i hate, starting with how it oppresses all the people who get used up in the support of such a lifestyle and going on up to my suspicion of property ownership. Also, it's not the lifestyle itself i like -- the pursuit of money, the upkeep of a certain level of fancyness and social nicety. What i like is a house with space enough that i don't feel like i'm constantly tripping over things and kicking stuff out of my way. What i like is time enough for my own projects and to feel rested and relaxed regularly. If we could somehow manage a lifestyle like THAT and still be ethical and not sleazy like the moneyed upper-classes, i'd be deeply happy.
Also: I hated the amount of bloody stairs in that Georgian house. You are welcome to create your underground
lairlaboratory, but please put in an elevator for your spouse.no subject
Date: 2010-09-21 09:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-21 09:47 pm (UTC)