Date: 28 October2009 (Wednesday)
Dublin was our first Europe tour mission, since we moved to Manchester, England. In less than two weeks we managed to book the transportation to Dublin from Manchester as well as the lodging in Dublin City, Ireland for 4 days and 3 nights from 28 October 2009.
Our journey began by taking the train at Piccadilly, Manchester. Hubby bought the return tickets online from Virgin Train and cost us £132.00, which included train and ferry tickets. Actually we missed our 9.45a.m. train but luckily we were allowed to take the next train at 11.00a.m. That was our first lesson to know that public transportation in United Kingdom move sharp on time. If your train ticket printed the departure time at 9.45a.m., it means that you must be on the train about 10 minutes before it departs.
Half way through, we had to change the train at Chester Station. We had about 1 hour in Chester before we could ride the next train to Port of Holyhead, Wales, England. So in Chester, we just walked around and took some pictures.
Around 3.30p.m. we arrived at the Port of Holyhead. The check-in time for the Irish Ferries was at 4.15p.m. So again, we had few minutes to take some photos.
Port of Holyhead
From this modern bridge at the port, we could see lots of seagulls and that was our first time listening to seagulls' sound live.
Irish Ferries.
Once checked-in through the immigration officer at the port, the Irish shuttle bus picked us to the ferry. Onboard you can buy food, drinks, play games, watch television and even shopping, but the souvenirs onboard are expensive. It is better to buy souvenirs at Dublin City. We were onboard for about 2 hours and felt so boring. So we just slept all they way to Dublin Port.
Once we reached Dublin Port, the Irish shuttle bus picked us to the port. We both were busy taking pictures and when a bus came to drop some passengers at the port, we were told by the bus driver that it was the last trip and the bus service was end for that day. Luckily the bus driver was very kind to willing to fetch us until the next bus stop for free, where we could take another bus to go to Dublin City. Once we managed to catch the next bus, suddenly we were told that the bus only accept exact amount of money. We did not have small change and since that area did not have any shop nearby, the bus driver was willing to let us ride the bus for free until the next stop where there were few shops which we could get some small change. Nice bus drivers in Dublin! May God bless them. Then we went to a shop and bought Kebab to get some small change. Later on, we managed to take the next bus to Dublin City and walked to Lynam's Hotel at the O’Connell Street. At first we were lost in finding the hotel's location but at last we found it. Right in the middle of Dublin City.
We both were quite tired after the whole journey. Anyhow, we felt relief to see our room was just nice. It cost us about £130.00 for 3 nights without breakfast. Hubby booked this hotel online at Budget Places. Do not forget to find the promotion code at their blog before proceed with the booking payment online, so that you could get some discount! :) That time the promotion code was "twitter". Below are some pictures of our room.
Lynam's Hotel, just beside McDonald.
Private bathroom with bathub.
Towels were provided and being changed daily.
A comfortable double bed and television.
Coffee and tea making facilities were also provided.
Not to forget the room was also provided with a safety deposit box and free wifi. So we managed to stay in touched with friends and family using the internet as we brought along our laptop.
We were very much satisfied with this hotel and would recommend to anyone who wants to have a good and easy time in Dublin as it is also situated at a very strategic place. Right in the middle of the city center, Spar and McDonald are just beside the hotel. Beside that, Tesco Express is just about 5 minutes walk. The tourist information center is on the opposite building and you can easily get a taxi right in front of the hotel. Moreover, if you want to take the city sightseeing tour, the buses starting point is just at the opposite road. Furthermore, you can just walk to go to few places like Temple Bar, Grafton Street, Trinity College, Grafton Street, St. Stephen’s Green and many more.
We were very much satisfied with this hotel and would recommend to anyone who wants to have a good and easy time in Dublin as it is also situated at a very strategic place. Right in the middle of the city center, Spar and McDonald are just beside the hotel. Beside that, Tesco Express is just about 5 minutes walk. The tourist information center is on the opposite building and you can easily get a taxi right in front of the hotel. Moreover, if you want to take the city sightseeing tour, the buses starting point is just at the opposite road. Furthermore, you can just walk to go to few places like Temple Bar, Grafton Street, Trinity College, Grafton Street, St. Stephen’s Green and many more.
Manchester City Stadium
CityStore at Manchester City Stadium
Some of the souvenirs sell in the store
We had all these for about RM60.00! :)
