Hello Everyone!
I am so sorry for taking so long to post again. It has been a busy few weeks and I wanted to do these adventures justice. So I'll start from the beginning.
Two weekends ago a few friends and I planned to go to Wales for the day. There is a ferry from Dublin Port to Holyhead, Wales and it's about 3 hours to get there. However, we were late getting to the port, not knowing that from the LUAS (inner-city transport) to the ferry was a two mile walk through tar and oil factories- ew. We ended up missing our 2:30 ferry by about 15 minutes and found out that the next one would not be leaving until 9:00 that evening. Having walked so far, with no desire to turn back, my friends and I structured a new game plan. We would take the 9:00 ferry, stay the night in Holyhead, wake up the next morning to get the bus to Caernarfon, which stopped first in Bangor. We would stay the night in Caernarfon and head back to Dublin the next day.
Little did we know that when we bought tickets for the "ferry" we would actually be getting on an small cruise boat. We all though it would be a dinky little ride with plastic chairs in rows and a little back deck. Boy were we wrong. This "ferry" was 11 stories tall with 5 stories for cars and buses, then two movie theaters, a gift shop, children's playground, lounge area, three restaurant areas, numerous arcades and gambling rooms and more.
Here is a picture of the bar, yes the bar, on board.
We were lucky enough to find a small corner to sit in for the ride over. There weren't too many people and when it got a little rough on the open sea we all had room enough to stretch out and get some rest.
Here is a map where you can see Dublin, Holyhead and Caernarfon.
The bus took us about 3 hours as well but it was a stunning ride.
This shot I took on the bus so there is a bit of reflection but there is a bridge in the distance that we crossed to reach Bangor, then the mountain range and big white clouds behind it.
When we finally reached Caernarfon around 2pm we took our things to a hostel called "Totters" where the guy was relived we were finally there so he could go out with his buddies and start drinking for the England vs. Wales rugby match that was on later that evening. He showed us our rooms, three sets of bunk beds(!) and headed out.
We knew we wanted to watch the game as well but since we were staying in the old city walls of Caernarfon, just as we do in Dublin, we decided to go see the castle.
Caernarfon Castle was commissioned by Edward I when he conquered the city in the 1200's. This is a photo I took from the courtyard.
Fortunately the castle is still in supreme shape and we were able to walk up all the towers and along all the wall and even into the basement. There were endless spiral staircases and it was exhausting, I can't imagine having to run up them with a sword or crossbow during a battle though! Near the bay end of the castle there are three towers, only one of them is currently safe enough for people to walk up to the top but and you can bet that we all did. It seemed like endless stairs before us but when we finally came out the top it was a beautiful view of the bay, the town and the rest of the castle.
Here are some of the boats floating in the harbor with the town and the mountains in the background.
Here are the three towers from the other end of the castle. The one in the back on the left is the one we walked to the top of. There are the remnants of what were once gargoyles at the top. They are disintegrating though from being exposed to the elements for 800+ years. However, it is obvious that the castle is being preserved with the rebuilding of some of the stairwells and bridges connecting towers inside.
This picture is of me on one of the bridges, over the edge it is about 30 to the ground.
Across the bridge is the old chapel in the castle, my friend Chris is a great photographer and he took this one of myself and my friend Tom. We joked that it looked like one of those senior portraits from high school. It's actually through on of the windows of the chapel and was taken from the bridge I am standing on in the last picture.
After romping around the castle for a few hours we were let out through a tiny door that was part of the bigger wooden door. Our crew headed back to our room, rested for a bit and got ready to watch the game. Not even two blocks up the street from our hostel was a sports bar, big by comparison to many of the pubs in Dublin that was broadcasting the game on 5 or 6 big screen TVs. We sat near the back of the bar and had a little bite to eat. We watched the game while Tom tried helplessly to explain the rules of rugby to us, enjoyed a few pints and cheers when everyone else did. Unfortunately Wales lost to England but I did have the opportunity to try a new type of beer, made of ginger, which is quite spicy and very delicious.
Here is a picture of my travel compainions, Aaron, Chris, Tom and Kate. This is the response I get when I say "smile" and I think it represents each of them very well.
Once the game was over we ventured out and met a few people our age who were very excited to find "real Americans!" and wanted us to meet there friends. We had a grand evening getting to know these Welsh students and they laughed at us when they would suddenly switch from English to Welsh and we looked confused. Before we headed home we had a celebratory drink to new found friends and to Welsh/American relations. Our new "mates" have promised to visit Dublin sometime so maybe we can take them out for a great evening, just like they did for us. Knowing we had to catch an early bus back to Holyhead we turned in for the night and slept wonderfully in our bunk beds.
The next morning we hoped on the bus and headed for the ferry. We arrived a little earlier than we had expected and got to take an earlier ride back to Dublin. But before we got on the ferry I snapped this quick picture of the bridge across the tracks to the port. I saw it when we arrived but it was too dark to accurately capture it. I have noticed that many bridge in Europe are really old and are generally interspersed with really new, modern looking bridges. It's a very cool juxtaposition and it's everywhere!
I promise to post again soon with all the pictures and stories from my trip up to Northern Ireland.
Missing you all so much.
Love and Hugs,
Annie
Love reading about your adventures. Keep it up!! Sounds like you are taking advantage of all that's being offered. Looking forward to more stories.
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