Ireland on a MotorbikeDay
1 – Nottingham to Dublin – 194 miles
Woke up to the sound of rain on my bedroom window (there will probably be a lot more lines from blues songs during this story). Doze off again and then get up at 7.00 am. The rain has stopped. See everybody off to school and then pack the bike and I’m off.
Take it easy for a bit to see how the weight is. The luggage doesn’t seem to bother the bike so it’s out of town on the A453 (notorious bottleneck in and out of Nottingham) and a bit of filtering practice. Onto the A50 heading for Stoke On Trent and a chance to open it up a bit. It’s a breezy and I get a bit cold so I stop at a Little Chef for breakfast and put on my fleece jumper. I’ve only done 36 miles! Finish breakfast and I’m off past Stoke. Mess this bit up a bit and have to correct my route. I’m getting into the journey and enjoying the bike. Finally get straight and hit the A5 – Llangollen to Bangor – This is a fabulous stretch of road and should be savoured, especially the bit from Capel Curig to Bangor. I get to Anglesea early and tour the back roads for a while. I finally arrive with an hour to spare. Get on the ferry and strap the bike down then it’s up in the bar with a Guinness and a sandwich on the biggest car ferry in Europe – next stop Dublin. Off the ferry first, another good reason for taking a bike. It’s hot as hell in the middle of the rush hour and the bike is over heating but stands up to it well. I find Trinity College, go to the accommodation office and get the keys to my room. It’s basic but clean and quite big. I have to share the showers with 2 other rooms but that doesn’t pose any problem. I have a kitchenette where I can cook something simple and make a cup of tea. It’s also very quiet. One of the things I like is that I have secure parking for free.
I found this place by looking in the Rough guide to Dublin and their Web Site. You can get Bed and Breakfast in a student room during the summer break for about half what a 3 star hotel would cost in the middle of Dublin (and Trinity is slap bang in the middle!) Showered and changed and it’s off down Grafton Street to find O’Donahues, a bar I was last in 28 years ago. It hadn’t changed a bit, although the Irish music session was a bit average. I head back to Temple Bar or FUN STREET ANY CITY. If it wasn’t Dublin you would swear You had found all the fake Irish pubs in the world in one place. The music, if there was any was ‘play to the tourist’ type of bands – Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam – you wonder why you bother. I’m soon tired of it and go looking for Slattery’s Bar. 28 years on and it’s a shadow of it’s former self. A quick half pint and it’s back thru Temple Bar for an early night. I spot a set of stair above a bar and hear music, at the top is a decent session playing. Finish the evening with a sing along and chat to a few folks, drink a bit too much and I’m back to the college and out like a light. |
....