Back to the skies

Today it’s time to leave London and head back to Ireland. Luckily all we had to do was grab a cab outside of the hotel and head to Victoria Station and catch the Gatwick Express train to Gatwick Airport and catch our RyanAir flight to Dublin. It was raining as we headed out and at 6:30 am the streets were pretty quiet.

Victoria Station in London to catch the Gatwick Express

We have learned several tips on the trains. It’s best to book online and reserve your seats! That gives you a specific place to sit and is designated by your name over the spot. You have to hustle getting on the train to make sure you get a spot for your luggage. After that, just sit back and relax and let the conductor do the driving! The Express only took about 30 minutes to get to the airport and then straight up to RyanAir to load your bags. Everything is electronic and you do the work. Scan your boarding pass, weigh your bag and print your bag tag. Put in on the luggage and then load your bag on the conveyor that reads the tag and takes your bag off to Bagland. Easy peasy!

After breakfast at Starbucks we loaded up and were off to Dublin!

Once in Dublin we headed into Heuston Station to catch a train to Waterford for the night.

Pub at the station. We did not eat here🤣

Holy moly the tractors were actually working IN the fields this trip!

It’s about a 2 1/2 hour train ride from Dublin to Waterford so we all relaxed and enjoyed the ride. Joe was more than happy to not be driving!!

Waterford Marina Hotel. We also stayed here with the Hursts

Seamus at Waterford Crystal with a pure crystal saxophone

Max and a crystal violin. These were about 16,000 euros

We ran through Waterford Crystal before they closed for the evening. No purchases this year but they updated the showroom. It’s beautiful for sure!

I’m really not sure how one sits on these chairs. And no, I did not try.

Exploring the Viking aspects of Waterford was next up as we wandered around the city, hitting up Reginald’s Tower and several other spots. We learned that Waterford is where St. Patrick’s Day was originated too!

Luke Wadding that started St Patrick’s Day

Remains of Luke Wadding’s church and monastery

Meanwhile Max found himself in the stockades

We helped put these away in the Irish Wake Museum after the game

This cracked me up. Dog peeing post it reads!!

We did some shopping where Seamus bought his Funko pops and the rest of us wandered around. Dinner was definitely on our minds now, and we tried The Three Shippes but they had closed early, so we headed to Reg’s Pub for some fish and chips, or baby sharks as the bartender called them. They were HUGE pieces of fish and we probably should have split some meals here!