Our second visit to Dublin in a year and last time, we enjoyed one of the best HoHo bus commentaries yet, with Damien. Our plans were to possibly do it again as it is an enjoyable route, but before we could do that, we had to get to town. As last year, we purchased $8USD each way tickets and took our time getting off. Alas, we were berthed on the port side, where we could see plenty of Guinness tankers, but not the dock, otherwise we would have seen the queue – which was rather long. We had to wait a fair time before a bus appeared and the reason for the delay was obvious once we hit town. Even though there were about 5 buses on the run, there were horrendous traffic hold ups stretching back across the Liffey at each bridge. This was being caused by roadworks in the city centre area, due to a late decision to link the two tram routes. Probably something that should have been done many years ago, but as always, there wasn't the money or maybe even the foresight to do it then, so the city was in chaos.
Nothing the bus drivers could do about it. Arriving as last year in Kildare St, there were no less than 3 companies vying for HoHo business, but unlike some places, all the reps were exceptionally pleasant, even though there were several from each company. The cheapest was the new guys on the block, with the yellow buses, €10, but the danger with some of these new companies is that they don't have enough buses. As last year, we opted for the green buses and struck a good deal with the ticket seller! Whether it was due to her height or not I don't know, but I had a senior's ticket and Paula's was for a child! Well, I think it was that way around.
The first green bus was full – thank goodness - as we managed to squeeze onto the second bus, with a live commentary rather than a multi-lingual taped commentary, but we had to stand. This was no hardship at all as we were next to the driver, Greg, who had a similar style to last year's driver, meaning lots of gentle humour, even though some of the jokes were old and some aimed at older passengers. We loved it but one woman Paula was talking to hated it. You can't please everyone but even the foreigners on board seemed to enjoy it.
We eventually moved upstairs where it proved to be a bit cool and rain was threatening, but fortunately, it stayed dry, just. It was graduation day in town and that added a bit more colour. As last year, we got off in town at #1 and walked along Henry St for a coffee. Quite a bit of street entertainment and the town was busy. I won't go into the history of Dublin, as that is not my style, but Guinness is a very big deal here and rightly so.
No stomach upsets this time, well, not whilst we were out anyway, and back to the ship in plenty of time to beat the rush. Straight up to the buffet and I managed fish and chips plus deep fried cauliflower and broccoli. No mushy peas.
Later, after a shave and shower, we returned to the buffet where I probably ate a little too much or ate something that probably disagreed with me, or maybe I had a chill. I think that it was probably the broccoli…
In the atrium, they'd advertised a taster for one of the production shows, but it only lasted about 5 minutes and just featured the male dancers and possibly a singer.
We skipped full the evening show and watched a movie on the large flat screen cabin TV, Pierce Brosnan, "November Man". Not a bad film and being able to start a film or programme whenever you switch on, is a bonus on this TV system. I took a Lomotil cement pill as I call them, so that is twice on this total trip, which is most unusual and I felt somewhat delicate.
Meanwhile, we had an email from Sandie and also read Murray's blog, where those on the Sea Princess are having a slight route change - to avoid icebergs! No stop for them now in Halifax, so an earlier arrival in New York - but then an expected 4 – 5 hour processing delay by Homeland security. (Follow Murray's blog for the details.)
Tomorrow, a first time visit for us to Liverpool. The ship berths downtown, so once again, we'll just wander off. Hopefully, I'll manage it OK, as those pills are very effective. I'll know better in the morning.
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