Not all who wander are lost. It’s probably just bad directions from their accomodation… Livonne

Up at 3.30am to get the plane from Liverpool to Dublin. As I mentioned previously, we had been told there were some huge wait times at John Lennon Airport in Liverpool and then we got a message from Ryanair to say we needed to be at the airport 3 hours before our flight in case of long wait times. Oh great. We are in beautiful accomodation and we’ve barely had a chance to use it. Never mind. Ireland awaits.

We quickly got ourselves organised and went downstairs. Breakfast was served from 4am and while we didn’t really feel like eating, we thought we should have something in our stomachs before the flight. It was just a continental breakfast but it was okay. I’m learning quickly here that stale seems to be okay to serve. The croissants were rock hard but everything else was okay. The dining area had a lounge right next to it and it was all very pink. I felt very at home there.

We walked across the road to the airport, fighting the arctic blast that greeted us as we walked out the door. Thankfully the hotel was literally right across the road so we were inside the terminal before we could lose bits to frostbite. Inside, we went over to all the unopened baggage lines and weighed our bags. We had a 20kg limit in our check in luggage and a carry on bag each at 7kg plus we added another 10kg carry on. The international flights were 23 kg so we knew we’d have too much for internal flights. We were both over in our suitcases but under in carry on so we did a bit of the old luggage shuffle again and ended up with just over 20kg each in our suitcases. We offered to take some more out when we got to the counter but the girl didn’t care. She just put it through… phew

We got through security in no time and were then lamenting the extra few hours sleep we could have had but the airport did start to get busy so we figured we were actually probably lucky to be here early. Due to the Grand National the day before, there were many sore and sorry travellers and I wouldn’t have wanted to have been sitting beside them on the plane. One beautifully dressed young man basically fell face down on the chair next to Cecile. He didn’t move the whole time we were there lol.

We went down to Burger King (our Hungry Jack’s) to use their power for my laptop which was starting to go flat and I was going to get a water. Sorry, no water.. No coffee.. They could make us a tea which we both ended up having. Not the greatest cuppa but it was hot and wet. I wrote yesterday’s blog while we waited for our plane. They announced the gate number at 6.55am so as soon as I was done we headed down to the gate for our flight. It was a full flight and everyone lines up in metal corridors like sheep in a pen, to cross the tarmac to board. This is not a complaint by the way, just an observation. I often hear people complaining about our cheaper carriers in Australia but in all honesty, they are pretty good most of the time.

We boarded the plane and in no time we were in the sky crossing the Mersey River so I had to sing the song finally to Cecile. I know she appreciated it but just didn’t want to show it. It was a really short flight and it seemed that by the time we had settled in to our seats, we looked down and could see the rolling fields of green and fences made of stone. Ireland, I am home. People seem to be the same the world over and as soon as the wheels touched down, you could hear the mass opening of buckles and everyone is standing getting their luggage out. We were happy to sit and wait, making us the last two passengers off the plane.

Walking across the tarmac, again we were greeted by that arctic blast and we were happy to get into the terminal. Easily through security, our hot pink and bright yellow cases were the last on the converyor belt. Our luggage now definitely looks like a licorice allsort thanks to the black carry on case we got. Got through Customs and we were ready to go. We jumped on an Airport Express bus down to where we thought our accomodation, The Dublin Quay Hostel was going to be and then started to look for it. We thought we’d drop our bags off then go sightseeing till check in at 3pm.

At the time I booked it, it was about the cheapest accomodation in Dublin by far. but still not cheap. I knew it wasn’t going to be the Hilton so we were prepared for a very basic place. What I didn’t expect was to not find it. Immediately anyway! There was not a sign up at all.. Just lots of closed and shuttered buildings. After walking past many times, a woman who was smoking out the front asked what we were looking for. We told her and she worked here, so let us in to what looked like some sort of dungeon where mass murders take place or at the very least an abandoned building. Through another door and it looked a bit better. They stored our luggage securely and we left, dreading what might await us. But back to that later.

It was so cold when we stepped back out and we were tired from our lack of sleep so probably not in the best mood to be sightseeing, but we walked just down the road and got on a hop on hop off bus around Dublin. We went past a few places and had in our mind the things we wanted to do. I’ve been to Dublin twice before and have never done Trinity College, Dublin Castle or the Guiness Factory so at least the first two were on my list. We got off at the Trinity College stop and went in. It was Saturday, so it was packed and the tickets were sold out until 3pm. We have another full day here when we leave Ireland so we will book in and do it then.

Back on the bus, we kept going until we got to the National Gallery of Ireland. We weren’t planning on getting off there but the driver said that Caravaggion’s Taking of Christ was in there and what’s more, it was free entry, so we got off at that stop. It was also right near where Oscar Wilde was born and lived so there was a statue of him in the Giant’s Garden, right across the road from the Gallery. We took a few photos in the gardens and then walked across to the gallery.

What an absolute delight. There were lots of people enjoying the art works and it was great to see. Lots of work by the Dutch masters including Rembrandt and Vermeer. I was absolutely taken with Woman writing a letter, with her maid by Vermeer. It was a privelige to see it up close. The work on display made me doubt myself as an artist. The talent in these paintings is beyond what I could ever do and I was quite humbled by what I saw. I’m sure all of these artists were also plagued with self doubt though. It is just human nature. We kept looking for the Caravaggio but couldn’t find it, so asked the guard. Sure enough, it is currently on loan so we couldn’t see it. We were mildly disappointed but the other work there was so good, we couldn’t feel too bad.

There was lots of much older works but then we went into the contemporary section. I had seen Graham Norton speak of the portrait of him but didn’t think about where it was. I walked around the corner and saw it. It is a gorgeous painting. If you get a chance to go to the National Gallery of Ireland, do go. It is certainly worthwhile.

Climbing back on board, we were both exhausted, so just sat and enjoyed the bus ride. The singing was horrendous but hey, at least they were Irish songs. We were on DoDublin buses and they gave a running commentary about what we were driving through so it was quite informative. We gave all the other sight seeing a miss and got off near our accomodation as it was almost check in time and we wanted to have a nap.

We were let in to the hostel and found out that thankfully we were on the ground floor. By the time we had signed the paperwork, they had already taken our bags to our room for us. I cannot complain about the staff here, they are all lovely and all helpful.. But the room! That’s another matter. This was double the price of some of the cheaper places we’ve stayed and not far off the dearest. We walked into a 4 bed room with 2 metal lockers. No curtains on the window. No floor coverings, just a grey painted concrete floor. The bathrooms were out and around the corner and were communal (the booking said nothing about this) No towels were provided and if you want one, it costs 4 euros to borrow. This made the Ibis Budget in Glasgow look like a 7 star hotel.

The communal area is nice and at least tea and coffee is available free of charge but seriously, this is so sub standard it’s not funny. The room was freezing although the heating was on but we couldn’t turn it up. I put a pillow in the window to try to stop the cold from seeping in and also to block the view of where they put their rubbish. The room and beds were clean though, so Cecile laid down and had a nap but I was so angry at myself for booking such a dump that I came out to the communal area and wrote yesterday’s blog. I also looked up other accomodation as I was prepared to leave and go elsewhere but the prices are astronomical. Dublin is seriously unaffordable as a place to visit. It’s such a shame.

After a quiet afternoon napping and blogging, we decided to go down the road to a pub for dinner. We were dreading walking out into the cold if inside was like this, but when we stepped out, it was warmer outside than in. O’Shea’s Merchant pub was just down the road and it looked okay when we went past earlier. I’m so glad we decided on there. It was warm and cozy like an old fashioned pub should be. The diners were in the front room and they put the drinking only patrons in a room further away. And Dublin on a Saturday night is full of drinkers from all over Europe, by listening to the accents coming in lol. I ordered the roast beef and Cecile had the Irish Stew. It was filling and tasty.

We headed back to the hostel across the River Liffey. It always brings a smile to my face when I think of Garge telling me about the river and how much she loved it. We were dreading what the cold would be like back at the hostel but by that time it had warmed up a bit. We both decided we didn’t want to shower here and will wait until we get to our next place. We haven’t booked yet as we don’t know how far up we will get. From here we head North and start our tour around Northern and Southern Ireland. I am going to be reading accomodation descriptions a little clearer from here on in.

Happy reading….Livvy xxx