So. Picking up where I left off; the train from Chester was a sort of commuter express stopper. It stopped, if not at every station, at most of them. It even stopped at that 'gogogoch' station with the longest name in Britain. It's a dramatic journey along the North Coast: to your left is dramatic hills and in the distance the mountains of Snowdonia and to your right in the sea and in the distance are dozens of huge windmills. Right next to the track though was something less pretty, thousands of mobile holiday trailer homes. A great location when it's sunny, but all quite ugly.
Crossing over the straits into Anglesey, evidence of humans thinned out a bit but quick enough we were in the town of Holyhead; end of the line. It was intersting to notice that I seemed to be in a small group all in the same carriage from London and now walking to the terminal. The train had left Chester about 10 mins late, but there seemed plenty of time. However, on entering the terminal we heard "last call, last call" for our ferry! Oops! Everyone got on though.
The journey across to Dublin was uneventful, I had a sausage and egg bagutte from a French attendant. I didn't notice any Irish crew on the ferry. Russians maybe. Oh I did think about having Irish stew, but I didnt fancy the price. The weather out of Holyhead was fantastic and sunny. But when i came out on deck approaching Dublin it was grey.
I dont think I saw Dublin's best side this time. The bus from the port took in all the industrial areas and the area around the bus station was a bit shabby. Even the street going to the Millenium spike thing and the famous GPO was a bit messy and cramped. Once in the open at the GPO and that wide boulevard that was good, but packed with people and cars. It needs pedestrianising I think. But I had no time to look for anything else than the nearest tram stop, where a beggar was determined to help me operate the machine. In a friendly way, but obiously hoping to be given the change. She got €0.50. Hope she doesn't smoke it.
The tram was packed but despite having to stop at traffic lights, it got me to Heuston Station 10 mins before my train to Limerick. I thought I had good time to buy a bottle of water, but as I approached the platform I noticed that mine, platform 7 was nowhere to be seen. I noticed an arrow and it was about 150m away behind the other platforms. So a gentle dash was in order to catch it.
And a nice train it was. Wide comfortable seats and much less than half full. For a diesel, it was quiet too and had a smooth ride. So I had an easy snooze, helped by the fairly boring flat countryside out of Dublin. There was plenty of evidence of EU funding and the housing boom. New stations, new track, new estates all along the line. Apparently there's been a massive housing crash, but in my skim through I didn't really get much sense of crisis other than a few humourous political rally posters in Dublin.
Anyway eventually the train slid into Limerick crime capital of Ireland or something. I was picked by my old school friend Ross and whisked away from the impending horrors to the idyll of Killaloe, which is just across the river from Tipperary. So not such 'a long way to go,' to enjoy a sip of Guiness. A sip to Ross' Guiness to tell the truth. I had a Heineken. The view from the pub there, Molly's I think, was over the Lough and to the hills around. Very dramatic, very hard to photo in the dusk! Apparently it's a myth that all Irish pubs have singing and traditional music all the time,it's an occasional thing so I didn't see any. Maybe next time.
Next day we went into the hills for a hike. I used Viewranger to track it using GPS and was disappointed to find that it would not find my location unless I kept the mobile phone part of the iPhone on, draining battery. We walked about 12km up and around a hill. It was great to get out in the fresh air and the boots held up, grip-wise.
Ross took the family dog, May who seemed to love it, running around but always looking back obediently. Part of the hike went through forest. It was a pine tree plantation managed by the Forestry Commision. It was interesting how under the trees, there was no grass and no flying insects. In fact it was basically dead but for the trees. Ross explained that the pine needles blocked out the light and were acidic and did no good for the peat they were planted on. Planted on peat? Apparently Ireland is covered in so much peat that they burn it to make power! So much because its a mostly flat country with a hilly rim, so when it rains, and it rains alot, it becomes soggy and boggy, perfect conditions for composting and peat formation I guess. But not a very sustainable power source.
My visit coincided with an apparently rare bout of summery blue skies, apart from when on the walk. It rained at the start and stayed cloudy. Now, I won't say that the iPhone saved us from getting lost up there, but, it aided navigation at certain junctures, particularly now that Viewranger have added an electonic compass indicator. I don't what the main power drain was but the battery was chomped through and after about 4 hours there was little left.
In the pic below, you can see Molyussa, the highest peak in the area. We were going to climb it, but it was tough enough getting to the base and the path up looked overgrown. I have grown more tolerant of flies and bushes since working in the garden, but I was at my limit. That's my reason, at least.
We met Ross' lovely wife and daughter Cath and Eleanor in town for a cappuchino and cake at a lovely café let down by somewhat distracted service.
Dinner and football later in the evening. Although they say it is the most World Cup boring ever, I love international football and this World Cup. Emphasis on international. I hate watching England play and against Algeria they underscored (ha ha!) my pessimism. Whereas Netherlands and Cameroon are playing a super fast pinball game: laser sharp passing and dazzling speed, England seemed to playing blindfolded, just awful. No idea what they are going to do now.
No comments:
Post a Comment