Now, our office got a bit antsy at the fact that so few of us had scheduled holidays. They had visions of us all demanding them at the same time, and leaving the office bereft. So they urged us to schedule them asap. Which I did - taking what I need for Christmas, I calculated I had four days per month. So what I've mainly done is to take four days from the last week of every month - making sure to include Mondays, with their atrocious early-morning meetings! So - this week was the first! I had four days off, woo-hoo.. and boy, was I looking forward to it.
On Tuesday, I headed up to Dublin - leaving it till then because of that morning's Tesco delivery. I have a friend up there, you see, whom I'd promised to go for a meal with, her and her fiancé, before I went back to London. And I thought this would be an excellent opportunity! It wasn't until after I booked it that the government announced the resumption of indoor dining for the fully vaccinated, this very week! Well now, if that wasn't a sign.. With the car still banjaxed, and no word of when I could expect it to be fixed, I asked my cabbie friend to take me to the station. Which he did, arriving promptly - well, he doesn't have much business these days! Good to see him again, and we we had a great chat about films en-route.
I was to be glad I hadn't taken the car - the station now has a resident group of travellers, and I wouldn't have been happy, leaving it there overnight. As he let me off, he pointed out to me that I needed to have booked online (which I had) - the ticket machine at this station is for collection only, not purchase. At that, I had to input my reference number three times before it'd work - it was a relief when it did. But I'd left plenty of time, and still had time to wait. On board the train, I noticed that the windows had to be left open - not that everyone was following that rule. Just as well the weather was warm!
I have to give credit to the WiFi - on all the trains I used, it was much better than I remembered. However, alighting at Limerick Station, I had none at all while I waited for my connection, which was a while away - in the meantime, I perused the poster on display, with lots of interesting facts about Limerick:
I eventually discovered that sitting at the far end, I could get WiFi from the adjacent bus station - which was when I got reconnected, and was able to communicate my progress to my friend, who'd been checking. I had no idea what was wrong with my mobile internet, which wasn't working at all. Anyway, in due course I boarded the train to Limerick Junction, and then onto the InterCity to Dublin - no reservations, they just advise people to sit apart from people not in their groups. And I'd forgotten how nice these trains are! Actually, I think they've improved since I last travelled on them - happily, these windows don't open, so I wasn't forced to endure a breeze.
Staying in the Clayton, as usual - too far to walk from Heuston Station, and anyway I was meeting people and wanted to get there in reasonable time. I couldn't get a direct bus, so took the Luas tram - with my only other trip on public transport being the return journey, the balance remaining on my Leap card from last time I was here did me entirely for this trip! And you'd better make sure to have paid, with the small army of ticket inspectors that boarded with me. Unfortunately, with a choice of two destinations into town, I chose the wrong one - it is really annoying how few Luas stops have route maps. Anyway, they both go the same way - it's just that one stops earlier than I needed. So I ended up walking two stops further than I needed to - which would have been all right, except for the lashing rain that coincided with my trip, which make the smooth pavements too slippery for comfort. I was relieved to get to the hotel, at last.
I'd tried to check in online, but had assumed that I'd have to wait until that day to do it - when I tried though, I discovered that I should have done it prior to my arrival date. It wasn't made clear. Anyway, there was no problem checking in on the spot - she made sure to tell me what was different, giving me a list of Covid rules about wearing a mask in public areas, and prebooking breakfast and dinner - neither of which I was having there anyway. She also explained that my room wouldn't be serviced for the duration of my stay, unless I requested it - and if I did, I'd have to move my stuff out of the way, as they'd start by spritzing the room with disinfectant. If I wanted anything, however, I could request it and pick it up from reception - and room service, available 24-7, was bookable online and could also be picked up from reception. I also noted the advice by the lifts, to avoid travelling in the lift with people not in the same party. Which is handier, generally!
The cheapest room available when I booked was the Executive King, ooh-la-la! (which includes complementary chocolates). A box of five chocolates, it was. And the bed was king size. Otherwise, no better than a regular room. And the decor leaves something to be desired, with peeling paint on the window frame, and a bubbly finish on the varnish of the work table!
Having said that, I still like this hotel - the staff are unfailingly friendly, cleanliness is impeccable, and I slept like a log in that big bed - happy to spread out, which was cooler in the overheated room. Gorgeous pillow, too - and another happy side-effect of Covid, they've done away with unnecessary and fiddly throw cushions. I freshened up and let my friend know I'd arrived. Another quibble with the bathroom though - when I stay in a hotel, I'm used to having a magnifying mirror in the bathroom, attached to the wall by an extendable arm. I find it very handy. Unfortunately, they don't seem to have heard of them, here.
We'd booked Cafe Milano for that evening - we had a bit of a worry, with the government saying that Covid certs, proving full vaccination, would be required, and them not yet having received theirs. But it was finally confirmed that, in that case, HSE cards, received at vaccination centres, and including details of both vaccines, would be accepted, with photo ID. Anyway, they conscientiously phoned me as I was waiting for my companions, just to confirm the booking - he asked whether we had our certs, and I explained to him that two of us had HSE cards. Which he said would probably do.
The rain was clearing as we embarked on the short walk to the restaurant. My word though, it was worse than an airport, having to show ID and proof of vaccination. It was kind of easier for my companions, who had two physical items to show - I had to present my phone, get the code scanned, then dig for ID! When that was all done, I was asked to scan the QR code at the door, and enter my contact details. I never did get it to work, and gave up, anxious to get to my meal.
Lo and behold, another QR code at the table, which the waiter explained to us was instead of a printed menu, although they had those if we preferred. Unfortunately, I was the only one at the table who seemed to know what to do with it - and when I did get it working, I had to read the menu to the others. Now, we'd discussed getting a bottle of wine, so I started at that section - however, it only seemed to list small glasses! With this proving so difficult, my friend's fiancé suggested that we ask for printed menus - this was much easier. We could all decide simultaneously, and the wine was offered in a variety of measures - including full bottles. Yeah, dunno whether the QR menus are going to prove a hit.
I had garlic bread to start - seems to come with cheese by default now, and it was delicious! So long since I had it. They shared chicken wings to start - and offered me one, but I had plenty of garlic bread, and knew I didn't dare take more food! As for mains - I was a bit disappointed by the selection, which I'd thought would be wider - never mind, my friend and I had chicken pesto (with penne pasta), and her fiancé tried the new "BBQ Burnt Ends" pizza, in the Romano (thin) section. And everything was lovely (including the pizza, which I was persuaded into trying a slice of). By 'eck though, we stuffed ourselves - to the extent that I literally couldn't finish my dessert of chocolate fudge cake. I did manage the scoop of ice cream with it, though - should probably have gone for ice cream on its own. My friend had cheesecake. And we had a lovely time, and a good old chat - he was worried about there being a time limit, but I was able to reassure him that they've finally scrapped that. Hallelujah, some normality at last! They insisted on paying - well, I hate to argue. And so we had an early night.
On Wednesday, the plan was to shop - I needed clothes. My friend's fiancé had other plans, so it was just the two of us - and first, I suggested lunch (brunch for me, as I don't pay for hotel breakfasts separately). So I suggested Flanagan's, and we set off on foot - the rain had cleared, and it was sunny, if breezy. We had a lovely walk along the quays:
(That's the famine memorial, where you can pay to have your name included on a plaque.) Anyway, braving quite strong winds that kept blowing things into our eyes, we made our way there - and were delighted to find that, not only did they have space for us, they don't even take reservations! And mercifully, they couldn't be bothered with QR menus - they had great fun trying to scan the code on my cert, though. Sensibly, they tended to all the ID business when we were seated at the table, and I wrote my contact details on the sheet provided.
I had soup to start, she had garlic bread - and it was so long since either of us had had these! My, they tasted good. For mains, I had a half roast chicken - just because it was so long since I'd had a relatively plain chicken dish - and she had a burger. Again, we were sated. Conscious that it was now late in the day, and had a booking that evening for The Good World Chinese Restaurant, I suggested we skip dessert. But it was all good, and we'd both be happy to return!
Our shopping trip was fruitful but exhausting - and when the blasted rain started again, we decided to make for the restaurant, despite being a bit early. With my damned phone still refusing to connect to the internet, I had to depend on her directions - but she got us there just fine. (When I checked later, it turned out that mobile data was switched off on my phone, for some reason.) And we were seated immediately - this time, she took my contact details herself. And let us sit before checking our ID. In all cases, only my contact details were requested - was that rule changed? There was to be a rule that you had to take everyone's details - which led to a lot of opposition from businesses. Perhaps they reversed it.
Anyway, neither of us was one bit hungry at this point. So I suggested we skip starters, and I ordered a Kung Po chicken - she had a chicken curry, and we both ordered fried rice, which came in a big bowl. And we had a bottle of wine - I suggested one of the "light and fruity", with us being so full. Sadly, neither meal got finished - she ate about half the curry, I couldn't even manage half of mine. The chicken was a bit chewy, and I really couldn't handle it - ate the cashew nuts, appreciated the lovely sauce, had some of the rice, and that was that. They were most understanding. We shared a mint trufito for dessert - that got eaten, all right!
She was kind enough to pay for a taxi back to the hotel, and we parted ways - she was busy next day, and couldn't meet me. Another early night for me, woke in plenty of time to check out next morning. Which I did, online. On the way back to Heuston, I passed Epic, the emigration museum - and it occurred to me that I could have spent some time there if I'd thought of it, nuts. At Heuston, I had time to kill, so I explored. And found some confusing signs:
(So.. where is one supposed to drink one's pint?) They also have plenty of material explaining the station name's origin, with a member of the Easter Rising:
Mainly, I sat near Insomnia Cafe, which had unlocked WiFi, and read my long-neglected book on Kindle. (It was hard enough to get seating, what with all the seats blocked off for Covid!) I thought I'd better get something to eat - but didn't fancy much, with all I'd eaten for the past two days. So I availed of the station's branch of Supermac's! Here, if you want to eat in, there's no problem - they have a large seating area at the back, and when they take your order, they give you a number for the table, and bring the order to you. And while I was there, sat directly in front of a large tv, I caught a replay of Ireland's gold-winning Olympic rowing race! Stirring stuff. As for my dinner - I had the cheeseburger meal. Which was fine - except the sauce was wrong! It was plain ketchup. :-( Ah well, it was decent.
And so I ultimately did my train journey in reverse. When I got to Limerick Junction, I got a nasty shock - when I last travelled through here, the InterCity trains in both directions stopped at the same platform, just across from the platform from the trains to/from Limerick. Now, however, the southbound InterCity trains - such as I was on - stop at another platform entirely.. and you have to cross one of those blasted high train bridges to get where you want to go. I nearly had a coronary, with all that unanticipated exercise. Came down panting so hard that a girl walking in front of me thought she was being stalked.. Anyway, we were 10 minutes late, but the connecting train had waited for us (what else was it going to do?!), and we got to Limerick five minutes late for the next train, but that had waited for us too. I messaged my cabbie friend that we were running five minutes late - and lo, he pulled up just as I left the platform!
Turned out that work meeting I was avoiding was cancelled anyway. And that manager that I predicted would forget I was on leave? Yep, he did! Ah, the joys of not being there. As for the car - I explained the situation to the cabbie, who kindly volunteered to push it into position so it was facing the gate. Which was good timing, because the mechanic finally came for it last night. Watch this space..
In the meantime, I've squeezed in a few episodes of Season 2 of The Purge, on Amazon Prime. This takes a different tack from Season 1, which was almost all action - Season 2 is more philosophical. Episode 1 shows us the purge from different points of view - we see an entertaining audition by the woman who provides the warning voice for the start of the purge: we follow a couple of college boys on a scavenger hunt on purge night, which doesn't turn out at all as planned: we see a bank robbery, by a gang who need the money for various good reasons: we see a couple under siege in their own home: and we enter the NFFA offices, focusing on a woman whose job it is to watch surveillance videos and make sure nobody's breaking the rules. While she's watching, though, she sees someone she knows, who's in trouble..
The rest of the series takes place in the days after the purge, examining its aftermath. One of those mild-mannered college boys develops a bloodlust after his purge night experiences, the bank robbers plan another heist, the man who was targeted in his home discovers there's a bounty on his head - the question is, who's funding it? and the woman who saw someone she knew on screen on purge night seeks to find the reason behind what happened to her: and in doing so, seems to bring several stories together. Like I say, there's always a new angle to The Purge.. still enjoying it!
Cultureseekers actually didn't have a quiz today - it's on Tuesday instead, which I can't make. Today, they seemed to be doing a guided walk instead. Which I couldn't make either. Ah well..
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