Day 16 - Glasgow to Dublin

Today is listed as a travel day as it will take us approximately 8 hours to travel to Dublin today.  We have a 10:40 train, so we checked out of the hostel in Glasgow in the sunshine.  Again.  I paid for some wireless on the train because I realized I didn't have geocaches for Holyhead for that Welsh cache before I leave for Ireland and the land of the euro.  Because of the length of the ride, I suggested to all students that they pack something for lunch today.  I had a lovely salmon and cucumber sandwich with some milk.

We were late to the station on the first train and I was a bit worried because we arrived after the train we were supposed to get on had left.  Fortunately, it was on the same tracks behind us and was just as late.  From the second train on we were traveling through the gorgeous countryside of Wales.  I would love to come back and explore here for weeks.  Easy transition to the third train, but unfortunately there wasn't enough time to find my geocache in Wales.  Hopefully I will have a better chance in two days when we will be boarding a train and not a ferry.

The students are finding riding on a ferry interesting.  They weren't expecting to feel the motion of the sea quite so much.  I have been on the water quite a bit, I forget that it bothers some people quite a lot.  However, we have fair skies and relatively calm seas, only a bit  of a swell as we race along over the water.
The connection from the Ferry to the city is pretty easy, but I am very glad for my German Euros since the bus is 3 Euros each.  The walk to the hostel is a lot easier since I added the GPS coordinates and knew we only had about 500 m to walk. Check in was painless, but it was late when we went to search for food.  Most of the Pubs were full at this time (after 8), so we ended up at a Chineese restaurant with good food and prety high prices.  We walked back to the hostel and Jeri and I fell into bed, glad to be quiet.

What makes a good hostel?  Having now experienced a few on this trip, I am beginning to be an expert.  Hot water is pretty much number one and, remembering Olson's last trip to Dublin, I am grateful that we have not had that issue in the shower.  I did miss it in the sinks in Edinburgh.  Free wifi.  I know I should just pay the extra money, but is a couple of pounds a day really worth it against the good will of your customers?  I know I will consider not returning to hostels that did not have any wifi.  Oh, and breakfast.  I guess if I were on my own it wouldn't be a big deal, but I get annoyed with the students not cleaning up after themselves when we have to cook on our own.  As I am typing this from the floor, I would say a chair or two in the room is really nice.  Last, having my room at least away from the bar.  There is a pub in the hostel in Dublin, but I didn't even notice it last night.  On the other hand, the bar in London was really loud until all hours and I really missed my sleep.  So, except for missing a chair and only instant coffee, the hostel in Dublin is pretty good.