Getting to Dublin by train and ship

I was already in the United Kingdom visiting friends, so I didn't take an international flight to Dublin's airport. I'm a train fan, so I took the train from the town in southern England where I have been staying to Holyhead on the coast of Wales, and there took a ferry across the Irish Sea to Dublin. It's not the fastest way to go (it took almost 12 hours in total), but it was certainly thrifty. The combined rail and ferry ticket, which also included a trip on the London Underground because I had to change train stations in London, was only about £39 with tax. I took a few photos on the train and ferry.

Waiting in London's Euston station for the track number for my train to be posted. All together now, pronounce "Caergybi", the Welsh name for Holyhead. I have no clue. Even "Holyhead" isn't pronounced the you might think: it's "holly-head".

The train isn't even considered really high speed over here, but it's much faster than anything we're likely to ride in the US. Impressions of the scenery flying past my window:

That's pretty much it, except when the scenery is in the foreground:

The ferry, run by Irish Ferries, was appropriately named for a ship going to Dublin: Ulysses. It was very large, with several restaurants, cafes, and bars. It's a car ferry, and I think more passengers were drivers of cars than were on foot like me. Standard cruise-ship glitzy decor. These are of the bar at the front, with windows looking out over the bow:

Naturally, there was a casino. Mostly slot machines like these, but I saw one table with a live dealer. She had no customers, and was reading a novel.

The ferry trip took about 3½ hours. The terrain of Ireland is just visible in the second shot below.

I was a bit amazed at how well everything worked -- every train was on time arriving and departing, and the ferry was also exactly on time.

Almost all the other tour-goers arrive tomorrow morning after an overnight flight from Portland. There's a walking tour of the center of Dublin not long after they arrive.  First stop:  the Book of Kells.  I've been in this time zone for a week now, so I'm up for the walk. We'll see how un-jet-lagged the others are tomorrow after an eight-hour time change!