As it had been a few years since my last visit I figured it was time to come back and visit.

I booked my flights about a month ago (when they were cheap at a time I could travel) and then looked in earnest for somewhere to stay.

The prices of the accommodation had skyrocketed since I was last there and I was beginning to think it wasn’t a good idea to visit. I found somewhere that was the cheapest, booked it and did my usual ask for a lower bunk. They came back and said they would see what they could do (grrrr).

I used a certain accommodation website to book this and they asked for card details. As it got closer they said they would take payment during the free cancellation period otherwise my booking would be cancelled. I contacted the hostel and they said they couldn’t help. I asked the booking platform and they took 2 days to get back to me – during which time the booking was cancelled. I like to book with free cancellation and where I can pay at the hostel.

I looked again and found a hostel that I stayed at last time and it was cheaper than the one I had booked for this trip. Result. It was free cancellation and payment on check-in. Even better. You just never know what can happen during the time until you have to leave.

It got to the time to leave for the airport and I wasn’t really feeling it. I had finished a 12-hour night shift and had a couple of hours of sleep. I was still super tired.

The alarm went off and I turned it off and contemplated for about 10 minutes whether I should just go back to sleep or get up and go.

I decided on the latter (otherwise this post wouldn’t be happening). I got up and showered and got ready and then left for the train station. I went and got some food and then went and sat at the platform until it was time for the train.

I got on the train and someone had their bags on the seat I had reserved. Someone else mentioned to this woman that she was in their seat so she moved. She had a bottle of drink and didn’t close the lid properly. I moved and caught the bottle and it spilled on her tablet and over me. I wasn’t happy and made it known. She didn’t really care. I hope she had a crap flight!

I got to the airport and then went through security and then to the departure lounge to get some food and then to wait for the gate. I checked the gates closest and the flight wasn’t showing there. I found somewhere to sit and charge my phone – I didn’t want to go to another gate as it was only 15 minutes until my gate would be shown.

I got to the gate and sat and chilled until it was time to board. It was easy enough and uneventful (minus the gate change we had). I saw a group of hens and was hoping they weren’t going to be on the flight but they were. Luckily the flight was quiet and uneventful. I had a window seat so I could gaze out and just mind my own whilst in flight. I was tired enough to sleep a little too.

We got to Dublin and I remembered it being a long walk from the plane to arrivals. I was right in what I was remembering. I was hurrying because slow people irked me so much.

I forgot I had to cross the border here in Dublin. I thought since it was the Common Travel Area we would just bypass immigration and head out. Not so. Luckily the queue went pretty quick and I was out of the airport in about 20 minutes and then I went to wait for the coach.

I was able to get the coach about 40 minutes earlier than my time and I was glad for it. I was happy to be on solid ground and in the city.

  • Arrival Day

    The coach stopped pretty much right outside the hostel and I got off and it was a quick few-second walk to the hostel to check in.

    I checked in, put my stuff in the room and popped my phone on charge. It turns out the bed and room I was in were the same bed and room as the last time I stayed in this hostel. Whilst the bed and room hadn’t changed in 3 years, the prices had. They had doubled in such a short space of time.

    I left my stuff in the room and went to reception to ask about tours. When I was here last time I spent a lot of time in the city and did a day tour to the west of Ireland. I figured I should see more of the country since Dublin is only 50 minutes from Stansted.

    I wanted to see how much the tour was to the Giant’s Causeway and it cost €85. That was too much for me and the hostel suggested another tour. The tour was to Kilkenny and Glendalough. The cost for this was only €43.

    I told them I would think about it and let them know. They said that I needed to let them know by about 19:45 as the tour offices closed at 20:00.

    I then went out and went to Tesco to get some food and drink and then decided I would walk along the river in a direction I didn’t go last time. I don’t even know why I didn’t but it was good to go in a different direction.

    As I was walking, I stopped to get some videos of the trams. I know, what am I like! I carried on with my walk along the river and then all of a sudden I heard a mass of sirens. There were fire engines and ambulances. I didn’t think anything of it and went to go find a bathroom.

    I came back out and I could hear more sirens and I continued on with my walk. As I was walking I saw them all by Spencer Dock (just off the Liffey River). I walked across the bridge to get some shots of Custom House and that side of the river.

    I then walked back across the bridge and saw a person lying on the bank of the lock. It seemed that someone had gone into the water and that was the reason for all the emergency vehicles.

    I walked back along the river towards the hostel and then to O’Connell Street so I could get some Embassy food.

    I went in and got my food, sat inside and ate it. They are doing McDonald’s Monopoly there but it is different from here. They don’t do instant wins and you have to scan the code on the app to see what the prize was. I finished here and then headed back to the hostel so I could ask them to book a seat on the tour to Kilkenny.

    They checked and there was a space for me. I paid the €5 deposit and then headed up to bed since I had to be up at about 07:15.

    It was good to be back in Dublin. I like this city. You can read about my other visit in 2021 here.

    Total steps: 13,932

    Total miles: 6.54

    Below are some pics from today

I didn’t really get a good night’s sleep last night. I’m not sure if it was the noise outside or the noise inside the hostel. Most likely a combination of both. A girl in the room told a guy off for playing his music too loud at 23:00. I’m glad she did.

I woke up feeling really sick. I don’t know what it was that was doing it either. I just felt awful. I didn’t even want anything to eat or drink. My stomach was churning bad. I felt like I wanted to puke.

I showered, got ready, finished packing and then checked out and headed for the coach. I was still feeling really sick and I just wanted to get on the coach and be at the airport so I could sit there and just wallow in my sickness feeling.

The coach was packed and it seemed to take way longer to get to the airport than it did to get to the city.

I finally got to the airport and then went straight for security. I finished my drink and then went to security. The queues were crazy long. It took about 40 minutes to get through. The security here is awful. Dublin is worse than Stansted and that’s saying something.

I went to get something to eat and drink for the plane. I still wasn’t feeling good and wasn’t feeling like I should eat anything. I was super hungry but didn’t want to eat and then puke it all up.

I found the gate and just sat there trying not to throw up. About 30 minutes before we were due to leave there was a gate change. Thankfully it was just across from where we were so not too much walking.

I boarded and wished I could have had the window seat so I could look out the window and see if the sick feeling would go away. I think I was suffering from travel sickness. I have never had this before and I don’t like it. I hope it never happens again.

The flight was mostly OK except for feeling sick. I was hoping we would land on time so I could try and make the 15:00 coach to Cambridge to see if I could get the train an hour earlier back to Peterborough.

We landed exactly on time and thankfully it was quick to get out of the airport. We had to get a bus to the terminal from the flight and then up to the arrivals hall. We didn’t have to go through immigration as we were on an internal flight.

I made it to the rail replacement bus for the 15:00 to Cambridge and then to the 16:00 train to Peterborough. The guard was nice and let me get on early no questions asked. It was good as it gave me about an hour at home before work started. I needed it to shower and chill.

I was still feeling sick and had nothing to eat the whole day and nothing sounded good.

All in all, the trip was good and it was nice to explore Ireland more. I want to go back to Dublin and do some more day tours around the country – or to get the train to other parts of the country.

Total steps: 39,462

Total miles: 18.61

You can view all of my Dublin pics here
You can view all of my Glendalough pics here
You can view all of my Kilkenny pics here

 

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