June 30

(22:00) Today we had to wake up relatively early to make it to our train to Manchester. I woke up at about 8:30 am and it took another half hour to get Ben up. It was okay though, because I actually planned for this in our morning itinerary. We had to make that long, treacherous bus trip to downtown London one last time. Once we got there, we had plenty of time to get to our train. We got to the train station early and was actually waiting on the platform for about ten minutes waiting for our train to show up. Our train was due any minute and there was still no sign of the train. We finally asked somebody and he checked his timetable and informed us that our train was leaving in five minutes on the other side of the station. We were a few hundred yards down the platform still and then had to run to the next terminal and sprint down that platform to make it to our train on time. It was hard enough walking in the heat with our packs on, let alone sprinting. By the time we got there, we were drenched in sweat and of course, our designated car was at the front of the train. We got there with less than a minute to spare and didn’t even get to sit down before our train took off.

The train ride flew by; two hour trips seem like nothing these days. It was interesting to see the countryside of central England littered with wildflowers, hay, and sheep. There were also many old cathedral-style churches spread out along the countryside, seemingly with no populations supporting them anymore. The skies were beautiful the entire trip…until we got to Manchester of course.

As we walked out of the train station, the sky was darkening and we had no clue what we wanted to accomplish in our nine hour stay there (except to check out Old Trafford Stadium of course). We went and got some lunch and then attempted to figure out the mass transportation system. We eventually made the half hour trip out to see the home of Manchester United. We were a few minutes late for the last tour, but we probably wouldn’t have coughed up the pounds to go on it anyway. They have quite the outfit inside that stadium. There is restaurants and bars and even a museum full of the rich Man-U history. The lady at the gate for the museum was nice enough to let us go into the trophy room free of charge; we just had to make sure we didn’t stray from her range of vision. We tried to sneak a peak at the inside of the stadium, but after taking an elevator all the way up to the executive suites, a janitor told us the only way to see it was to go on the tour. I’m just happy he didn’t get upset, because I’m pretty sure we weren’t supposed to be there.

After we got done with our own makeshift tour, we got back on the bus and rode back to downtown Manchester. There was really nothing to do for the next five hours until our next train left for Holyhead. We just sat at the train station while it rained steadily outside. It has rained everyday since our second day here. It rains so much that it actually is raining inside the train right now. I have to protect my computer to make sure it doesn’t get wet.

Well we are soon to arrive in Chester to cross over to our train to Holyhead. We supposedly have only five minutes to find our crossover train, but the people continually assure us that it is no big deal. “No worries mate!” they always tell us. Hopefully this crossover is less eventful than our previous five minute window to catch our train.

July 1

(1:30) Well our train was delayed twenty minutes for mechanical reasons but we were able to skip three stops because nobody was getting off so we made up the time. We arrived in Holyhead a little bit ahead of schedule actually and are now waiting to board our ferry. We should be leaving for Dublin in about an hour and should arrive in Ireland about two hours after that. We then are going to check into our hostel and crash. We have managed to not schedule any time for sleep tonight yet again.

(11:00) We made it to our ferry in plenty of time. The ferry was amazing! It was more like a cruise ship than a ferry. There were bars, restaurants, shops, and even a movie theater on board. Unfortunately, everything was extremely expensive and we were too tired to do anything. Actually, the only thing we found that we could afford with our remaining British Pounds was a scoop of butter. We found a couch to crash on and were both asleep before the ferry even left the port. Our captain woke us up with the announcement that we were pulling into the port in Dublin. It was 6:00 am when we arrived and it was raining yet again. I checked the weather forecast for our stay here and it looks like rain for the last four days of our stay in Ireland.

Once we got off the ferry, we found out that there was only one bus to transport us into the city centre. We didn’t want to pony up the 2.50 Euros to take it so we just took a nap until the rain stopped and then headed toward the city. About an hour and a half of walking later lead us to our hostel. We needed the help of a few nice Irish people to find our way. One guy actually walked us about halfway to our destination. We are already finding that the hospitality of the Irish is the best we have experienced so far.

Ben decided that he was sick of his Velcro shoes already since they were starting to fall apart and bothered his feet. We went to multiple shoe stores before he finally found a pair that fit him. He purchased them, put them on, and then threw the Velcros in the trash on the way out the door. I laughed because they didn’t even last two weeks and he didn’t want to carry them around for seven weeks to take them back.

Right now, we are just relaxing in the common room of the hostel, waiting to check in at 2:30 pm. It doesn’t look like they have internet here so we might have to pay to use a booth for an hour to check in. We are looking forward to a good night’s sleep and free breakfast in the morning.

(22:00) I got a nice nap in while waiting for check in. After we checked in, we showered and went for a walk around town. We now know that hostels don’t provide towels for you so we have been air drying after our showers since Paris. I don’t think Ben has even used any soap yet for his showers. I’m sure I would smell him if it weren’t for my own stench.

Anyway, Dublin is pretty awesome. They have Guiness trucks that haul Guiness beer by the 500 gallon drum! We saw a loading dock with at least twenty or thirty of them lined up! I think Ben took a picture. There is quite a few of spectacular sites just walking around town. However, most of them involve music and beer which costs a lot of money here. We found out today that Dublin is the most expensive city in Europe. This is not good for our budget if we actually plan on doing anything. We plan on just relaxing for the rest of the day, although we might have to walk next door to the pub and see if we can see some live music without buying anything. Tomorrow we hope to take the DART train to the northernmost section of town and relax on the beach of the Irish sea. We have heard a lot of people tell us how relaxing and beautiful it is. I am hoping the internet starts cooperating better here; I have a bunch of updates to make.