York to Dublin

Train to Holyhead, Wales

York to Manchester Piccadilly  to Crewe to Chester  to Fflint to Prestatyn to Rhyl to Colwyn Bay ( Bae Colwyn)  to Llandudno Junction to Bangor to Rhosneigr  to Holyhead, then Irish Ferries to Dublin.

Thursday 12 May, a quiet rail journey from York to Holyhead with pretty scenery and an enjoyable quiet ride.  It was neat for me when we left Chester and came through Wales- although we did not even see a sign welcoming us to Wales, ah well, it IS still the United Kingdom.  In Wales, most of the signs are in English and Gaelic/Welsh - most interesting. We skirted the north edge of Snowdonia National Park in Wales, mountains visible from the train as we click-clacked through.

Holyhead is a sleepy port town that seems to waken some when the train arrives or ferries come into port.  The luggage check lady recommended The Gateway Restaurant, it looked very plain (to put it nicely) but it was great. I had a jacket potato with cheddar cheese, but the Cheddar was local and about the best I have ever eaten, mmmmm.  Karen had a scone with cream and jam - wow they were wonderful.  The manager - owner maybe? sent us off with carefully wrapped scones complete with jam and clotted cream.  This trip may be an unofficial contest of scone consumption, it is certainly starting out that way. 
We boarded the Jonathan Swift "swift" ferry to Dublin with no hassle AND checked our luggage - woo hoo.  A bit "pitchy" through a cloudy Irish Sea, but not bad.  Nice passenger deck with a cinema area for the kiddies, a bar and a snack bar and lots of tables with chairs. 
Arriving in Dublin, we took a bus to downtown bus station and had a short uncertainty of how to proceed, a very nice Irishman from Cork (who now lives in Manchester) was most helpful. Corkbuddy helped with bus tips, talked about his County Cork and County Tipperary, educated us a bit about the horse racing in the area.  We finally found an information person who told us it was easiest to take a cab to our hotel - Bewleys Ballsbridge. The cabby was funny and helpful.  He wanted to know if we were hiring a car.  When we told him yes, he said "The Irish hate indecision, just GO!"  
Bewleys' room 416 was great - clean and roomy,  great bargain for Dublin at € 89.
When we arrived in the room, we could NOT get any of the lights to work AT ALL!  We looked all the room, I got the flashlight out and was looking around for help. We were almost ready to go back to the desk when Karen noticed a wee box by the door that said "card" - "What's this?" Karen said. We peered at it a minute and then tried inserting the key card. Glory! It worked- who knew?
  A Guiness and pizza topped off the day.