June 27

We were up early and it was raining!  Actually our first full out rain since we’ve been in Europe.  It drizzled just a tiny and hardly noticeable bit in Florence, and we were showered upon in London but we ducked into a doorway of a church and then darted across the street to walk under the trees and then it was done so we never really got wet.  This morning was a good hard shower.  The clothes that we’d washed last night and hung on the drying rack by the open door weren’t completely dry, or at least the ones on the open door side weren't dry. SIGH!  :)  But that is okay, as clean and slightly damp are okay and better than dirty and slightly stinky!

We checked out and drove towards the ferry dock.  It really takes work to remember to stay on the left!  You find yourself leaving parking areas and such naturally gravitating towards the right.  And apparently no one anywhere in Europe parks correctly anywhere so it’s hard to know for sure if you’re even on a one way street or not as cars are parked every which way.  The drivers are amazing parkers though, as they can dart in and out of the most tiny and seemingly impossible spots.

We got into a very short line at the ferry station after checking in and showing passports.  There really weren’t too many people on board, but MANY trailers.  Trucks will be on hand to pick them up in Dublin we assume.  We had the option of buying a room and didn’t, until after we were on board.  We did get two meals of which the first was right away and breakfast.  They serve pork and beans for breakfast.  This is the second time we’ve had them so it must be sort of normal.  After breakfast we went to sit in a “lounge” of sorts but it was cold.  Actually, Cheryl was cold as her shirt was slightly damp from being rained on IN the hotel and then again while walking to the car.  It just created a chill.  Unfortunately we couldn’t get back down to our car to get a sleeping bag for added warmth as they’d started the moving process.  The annoying blister from before was still quite painful and required some no shoe time.  So we opted to pay the extra $20 bucks for a room and a blanket and private bathroom and bed so Cheryl could prop her poor foot up.  It proved most beneficial!  

The rain gave way to a beautiful blue sky.  There was a lone gull flying alongside as we spent some time on deck.  We were still 3 hours out so do this gull just hover over boats or land sometimes for a free trip.

We had an interesting conversation with the barman.  We wanted a quick snack and so chatted a few minutes.  He is actually from the Philippines and works 6 months on this ship/ferry and then gets 2 months off so he heads back home.  He literally works every day, back and forth from Liverpool to Dublin, Dublin to Liverpool.   He said he only has to do one trip on Sundays and one on Mondays so those are lighter days and sort of equate to “time off” each week.

Dinner was served about an hour before we landed and there were several choices.  Cheryl opted for the fish and baked potato wedges and chili con carne and some mixed veggies that included those baby corn.  Andrew also got the fish but had the fries.  No peas this evening. His soup of choice was veggie but it looked to be truly veggie as there was tofu in it as well.  All yummy.  

We went onto the deck to watch the ship dock and then we could access our car and head into Dublin.  We had booked a hotel and it turned out to be very close.  But we had to remember, Drive on the LEFT!  There wasn’t parking on site and we missed the turn, which meant a 20 minute detour but all is good as the city is pretty.  The hotel was much like the one we stayed in last evening, meaning a tiny check in area.  It was much smaller and on top of a restaurant.  Temple Street is a famous area in Dublin and Cheryl accidentally booked a hotel literally at ground zero.  We could walk out of the hotel and hit up a number of pubs, hear street performers, and wander around the brick streets.  It was lovely! We had eaten on the ferry so we weren’t hungry.  We did stop at the Hard Rock Cafe; we didn’t stop at the one in London which is the original one, or any others but we did want to see the sunglasses Bono wore in the music video “Beautiful Day.”  Bono is, of course, the front man of U2 and their band is from the Dublin area.  Sometimes they are out and about and they do own a restaurant/hotel just the next block from where we stayed.  We believe they are most likely still in the USA as they are on their Joshua Tree tour.

We wandered around until Cheryl’s blister within a blister just couldn’t take the cobblestones any longer, but did stop one final place for an Irish Coffee (Andrew) and ginger ale (Cheryl).  We gazed out of our windows, at the lights reflecting on the river. Another Beautiful Day.

Nighty night!