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London to Dublin - maybe
Entry 6 of 9 | show all | print this entry |
today started off slowly...i know i had to carry all my gear with me today as i ventured from London to Holyhead to catch a ferry to Dublin...and even the best laid plans...
i bought my train ticket on line before i left the states, and alas...no train at the time the internet said...not even close! i thought i would board my train at 1pm and be in Dublin by 9pm - HA! instead, i got an extra day in London and i'll be in Dublin tomorrow morning at 6am
so, i had an extra day in london! TONS to see and do even though the nasty wind and rain tempted everyone to stay indoors. I left my luggage at "left luggage" (which is such a convenience!) at the train station and off i went. i headed first to the Abbey. since it was sunday, i couldn't go inside for a view, but outside was miraculous enough. that chuch is amazing! and right across the street - the house of parliament...so i got to walk right next to big ben! i took a hot minute to walk around the block - which wasn't quite right - how do 2 lefts take you so far away from where you started??
after the abbey, i headed to what i thought was liverpool - you know, the beatles, abbey road, all of that - ummmm....not so much. i don't know where i was but i landed upon the nicest street market - jewerly, clothes, food, music and such friendly people. (and you know what i noticed? garbage cans - or lack of them, I had to carry around my juice cup from the liverpool station back to the train station because i couldn't find a freaking trash can! i guess with 8 million people in london, that would be a lot of public garbage - that is the only way i could rationalize this insanity)
after all the walking i could stand, i went back to Euston Station to wait for my train...this is where i had my first pay toilet experience...what a riot! everyone standing out fron of the turnstyle looking for change...and you can tell the foreigners - because we are all asking "which coin?" - i finally get in, expecting someing wonderful - after all, i paid to get in here...nope, hell i didn't even get toilet paper in my stall...i had to use my own! what a rip off!
back to the ticket agent to guarantee my train, and they tell me there is an earlier train...but my ferry will still be at 2:50 am - but at least i will get to see some of the countryside by train.
now, the train station is a funny place...let me tell ya...i just got a kick out of watching these folks...about a hundred or so people just milling about - tickets in hand - staring up at the departure board...i stand and just watch and finally ask someone what they are all waiting for - "their gate announcement" - OH, i see. i then become one of the hundreds as i wait for my gate number, too...all of the sudden, the gate number flashes up on the monitor and the announcement is like the closing bell at the new york stock exchange! the crowd takes off...and i don't mean like meander to the gate, i mean full steam ahead - flat out running. i think to myself "hmmm, they must know something i don't know" but you know i am not running anywhere...they will strap me to the top of the train for my seat if necessary - i am so not running! as i approach the train, i see people anxious to get on board - and you know why?? there are some seats that have a table - OH! that is totally worth mowing each other down, abandoning your kid and throwing your grandmother under the train - GEESH! all for a table??? (ok, yet another bizzare human behavior i don't get)
so here i sit, on leg 2 of my train ride to holyhead. i could get very use to travelling in Europe.
Where I stayed:
the ferry
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