Our flight from Vancouver to Dublin was 30 minutes late leaving, but the flight was otherwise uneventful. The A330 aircraft was ex a Portuguese airline, and was very dated, especially the entertainment system, which required several reboots to make it functional for at least some of the passengers. There was a very good reason why row 9 was available for us....there was no window. On the plus side, we seemed to have more seat room than on newer aircraft. In Dublin we were met by a myriad of emergency services vehicles, as the pilot told us (after we landed) that he thought that the aircraft was leaking something. Perhaps this had something to do with the hour and a half we waited for our luggage.
As we are travelling without a car we had done a lot of prep work before leaving home, which paid off, as on our arrival in Dublin we headed straight for the Bus and Transport desk, where a very helpful young woman provided us with our 1-day bus pass (24 hours) and a single ticket good for 90 minutes. The 90 minute ticket got us to our B&B and then into the city centre, ensuring that our day pass would not run out before we got to the ferry the next day.
The B&B was in Drumcondra, which is great location and met our needs, but was certainly not an up market establishment. As it was only mid-morning, we dropped our luggage and headed into the city, leaving the bus at Lower O’Connell Street.
We walked up the quays along the Liffey to Phoenix Park, stopping at a sidewalk cafe for some brunch, as Air Canada’s breakfast of yoghurt and banana bread was rapidly wearing off. Along the way we passed the Four Courts building and the National Museum. On the return journey we walked on the South side of the river, through Temple Bar and back to O’Connell Street.
Back at the B&B we carried our suitcases up to the second floor, which of course is the 3rd floor in North American parlance. We had a brief nap and then went in search of dinner. There was a myriad of eating places near the B&B, but we settled on San Sab, a little hole in the wall Thai restaurant which claimed an award for the best curry in Ireland. Having been burned several years ago by “the best fajitas in Sweden”, I was suspicious, but our meals were great, the staff friendly and the wallet only slightly lighter. So a good choice for our first real meal in Ireland.
We slept in a little on Friday morning, as we could stay at the B&B until 11 am and our ferry to Wales did not leave until 2:50 pm. One of the great things about Dublin buses is that they have free wifi, so you can follow your location on your smartphone without using mobile data (more about that later). I plotted our route to the ferry terminal, which involved a bus change on O’Connell Street, and off we went, and arrived at the ferry in plenty of time to check in for our sailing.
Originally we were to travel by Irish Ferries, which would have left a little earlier and arrived at Holyhead in Wales substantially earlier than the Stena Line ferry, but Irish Ferries’ vessel developed a long term problem and we quickly switched sailings. The ferry is single ended, meaning that vehicles enter and leave the ferry at the same end, unlike BC Ferries on which vehicles can drive off the front end of the ship at the destination port. Foot passengers were taken on board by buses which then turned around and left the ship. At the destination we had to wait for the vehicles to unload before the buses were able to come on board to pick us up.
Eurwyn from Anglesey Walking Holidays was at Holyhead to meet us, and we were soon on our way to Beaumaris, our home for the next three nights. As British mobile service is much cheaper than Irish mobile service, I had pre-ordered SIM cards delivered to our walking hosts, but alas Eurwyn did not have them, so we had a slight detour into Menai Bridge to pick them up.
Our accommodation is beautiful, having previously been a 5 star guest house, but now just taking in a few walking guests. Only one flight of stairs, a huge bedroom with ensuite and sitting room, and great views across the road to the channel between Anglesey and mainland - the Menai Strait.
We had already scoped out where we would eat dinner, a local Indian restaurant, Meghan Tandoori, that served Dhansak, a dish that we cannot get at home. After another great dinner I set about getting our UK SIMs working in our phones, which after much frustration revealed that you cannot use a foreign credit card to buy credit for an EE phone.
Today (Saturday) has been a rest day to allow us to adjust more to local time before starting our walking holiday tomorrow. The town was very quiet at 10 am (when we went out to buy cellphone top up vouchers at the local newsagent), but was crazy busy by lunch time. Catching crabs off the pier seemed to be a popular pastime and was achieved using a mesh bag, which with bait inside was lowered into the water, and the crabs clung to it. The trick was to lift the crabs up and onto the pier before they jumped off.
We did a historical walk of the town, with several extra sections, including a walk out to Gallows Point. Beaumaris was the site of the last of a series of castles built across North Wales by Edward I, and it was completed in 1295. From Gallows Point we had good views back towards town, and in the picture below, our B&B is the cream coloured house immediately below the left corner of the square Norman church tower.
Dinner was standard pub fare at the George and the Dragon. Way too much food, but good food. Then time for a stroll along the waterfront before darkness fell and we returned to the B&B.
Tomorrow the real work begins and at least we finally have functional mobile phones in case we get lost.
The B&B was in Drumcondra, which is great location and met our needs, but was certainly not an up market establishment. As it was only mid-morning, we dropped our luggage and headed into the city, leaving the bus at Lower O’Connell Street.
We walked up the quays along the Liffey to Phoenix Park, stopping at a sidewalk cafe for some brunch, as Air Canada’s breakfast of yoghurt and banana bread was rapidly wearing off. Along the way we passed the Four Courts building and the National Museum. On the return journey we walked on the South side of the river, through Temple Bar and back to O’Connell Street.
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| The Liffey |
We slept in a little on Friday morning, as we could stay at the B&B until 11 am and our ferry to Wales did not leave until 2:50 pm. One of the great things about Dublin buses is that they have free wifi, so you can follow your location on your smartphone without using mobile data (more about that later). I plotted our route to the ferry terminal, which involved a bus change on O’Connell Street, and off we went, and arrived at the ferry in plenty of time to check in for our sailing.
Originally we were to travel by Irish Ferries, which would have left a little earlier and arrived at Holyhead in Wales substantially earlier than the Stena Line ferry, but Irish Ferries’ vessel developed a long term problem and we quickly switched sailings. The ferry is single ended, meaning that vehicles enter and leave the ferry at the same end, unlike BC Ferries on which vehicles can drive off the front end of the ship at the destination port. Foot passengers were taken on board by buses which then turned around and left the ship. At the destination we had to wait for the vehicles to unload before the buses were able to come on board to pick us up.
Eurwyn from Anglesey Walking Holidays was at Holyhead to meet us, and we were soon on our way to Beaumaris, our home for the next three nights. As British mobile service is much cheaper than Irish mobile service, I had pre-ordered SIM cards delivered to our walking hosts, but alas Eurwyn did not have them, so we had a slight detour into Menai Bridge to pick them up.
Our accommodation is beautiful, having previously been a 5 star guest house, but now just taking in a few walking guests. Only one flight of stairs, a huge bedroom with ensuite and sitting room, and great views across the road to the channel between Anglesey and mainland - the Menai Strait.
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| Part of Our Room |
Today (Saturday) has been a rest day to allow us to adjust more to local time before starting our walking holiday tomorrow. The town was very quiet at 10 am (when we went out to buy cellphone top up vouchers at the local newsagent), but was crazy busy by lunch time. Catching crabs off the pier seemed to be a popular pastime and was achieved using a mesh bag, which with bait inside was lowered into the water, and the crabs clung to it. The trick was to lift the crabs up and onto the pier before they jumped off.
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| Everyone Gets Crabs In Beaumaris |
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| Beaumaris from Gallows Point |
Tomorrow the real work begins and at least we finally have functional mobile phones in case we get lost.
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