Cheers and Beers in Boston - November 2016 Day 1 (London City to Dublin)

BONZO · 2 Jan 17, 10:42 PM

Cheers and Beers in Boston

CAST LIST

Me (Shaun): looking forward to the beers!
Alison: looking forward to the Cheers!

Link to trip report index: Here

Thursday 24th November 2016

So we’re off again! Alison had the day off, but I worked from home - well, at least logged on anyway. We pottered around getting the last few bits of packing done before logging off for a few days.

All packed (one rucksack and one wheeled bag bag each – all small enough to be hand luggage only as per usual for us) and we walked down to the local bus stop, before hopping on the bus to one of the local train stations that connects with the DLR.

Annoyingly we’d just missed a train by a couple of minutes but we knew the service was quite frequent so no real worry. We waited and waited as fast trains flew past and other trains were cancelled or delayed.

Then followed frequent heavy sighs, much monitoring of watches and monitors and finally we started discussing various options if this scenario continued for much longer as we didn’t want to miss our flight. We agreed a cut-off time to get a cab but before the deadline a train finally arrived following signalling problems further up the track.

Quick change over to DLR at Woolwich Arsenal and we arrived at London City with plenty of time to spare. Customs and passport control were all done super efficiently and we had enough time to buy a meal deal from Boots before being called for the flight.

It was quite a busy flight and due to the usual crush of people getting on Alison stole the window seat! What the heck is going on?! (Alison here: first time in about 30 years that I’ve sat by the window!) The plane took off on time at 2.35pm for the hour long hop over to Dublin.

We enjoyed our traditional Gin and Tonics before landing on time at 3.35pm. It was all very familiar for us as we walked out and straight onto the waiting Premier Inn shuttle bus, which charges the princely sum of €1 per person for the 10 minute ride to Swords where the Premier Inn is located.

We checked in and dropped our bags in the room before heading straight back out to the local bus stop to get into Dublin City Centre.

A quick bus ride later and we wandered about for a bit soaking up the atmosphere

before deciding on a few drinks in Grand Central in O'Connell Street. What a fantastic place and the drinks were good too. A bit of an odd but effective ordering system, order your drinks, find a table and then a waitress comes over with drinks and the bill.

Feeling a bit peckish we tried to get a table for dinner as the food looked good but tables were already reserved for a while. I remembered a Thai place nearby and as luck would have it the Thai Orchid in Westmorland Street wasn’t that busy. We’d eaten here before so knew what to expect which was good food at a good price and it didn’t disappoint on either count this time round either.

We had the set menu deal which was chicken satay, vegetable spring rolls, duck chilli, green thai curry and 2 rices with 2 coffees for €20 each. With some singha beers it was a real feast!

Time was moving on so we decided to head back for the hotel, not really knowing how frequent the buses were going to be. It took us a while to find the bus stop but eventually we found the 500 bus stop which would drop us near the hotel. We got off at the other end of the road where the Premier Inn is located and passed by the Hogs and Heifers bar hogsandheifers.ie which looked like it was quite good fun. We decided we weren’t ready to go to bed just yet so headed in to see what was on offer.

It wasn’t too busy so we grabbed some seats at the bar and had the undivided attention of the bar staff. Alison ordered a Pornstar Martini (which she’d not had before but came highly recommended by our daughters!) but I wasn’t sure what I wanted.

Most of the beers on draught were fairly standard and I‘d already had the perfect Guinness and some Singha beers earlier. The bartender asked what I preferred in terms of spirits and I said Scotch. After a short discussion I settled on an Old Fashioned (which wasn’t on the cocktail list). Delicious!

We chatted to the guy for a while as he seemed slightly bored (by lack of customers) and wanted to show off his cocktail making skill. Seconds (and possibly thirds!) were ordered and he gave them both a slight twist which really hit the mark.

We could have stayed here long into the early hours but unfortunately needed to take the short walk back to the hotel to get some sleep as we needed to be up early in the morning.

orlandosgr8 · 10 May 17, 02:55 PM

Sounds like a great start to the holiday and those cocktails look fab

disney owl · 24 Jul 17, 08:21 PM

great start to your holiday

2 Jan 17, 10:42 PM	#1
	2 Jan 17, 10:42 PM BONZO Imagineer
BONZO Imagineer Join Date: Mar 02	Cheers and Beers in Boston - November 2016 Day 1 (London City to Dublin) Cheers and Beers in Boston CAST LIST Me (Shaun): looking forward to the beers! Alison: looking forward to the Cheers! Link to trip report index: Here Thursday 24th November 2016 So we’re off again! Alison had the day off, but I worked from home - well, at least logged on anyway. We pottered around getting the last few bits of packing done before logging off for a few days. All packed (one rucksack and one wheeled bag bag each – all small enough to be hand luggage only as per usual for us) and we walked down to the local bus stop, before hopping on the bus to one of the local train stations that connects with the DLR. Annoyingly we’d just missed a train by a couple of minutes but we knew the service was quite frequent so no real worry. We waited and waited as fast trains flew past and other trains were cancelled or delayed. Then followed frequent heavy sighs, much monitoring of watches and monitors and finally we started discussing various options if this scenario continued for much longer as we didn’t want to miss our flight. We agreed a cut-off time to get a cab but before the deadline a train finally arrived following signalling problems further up the track. Quick change over to DLR at Woolwich Arsenal and we arrived at London City with plenty of time to spare. Customs and passport control were all done super efficiently and we had enough time to buy a meal deal from Boots before being called for the flight. It was quite a busy flight and due to the usual crush of people getting on Alison stole the window seat! What the heck is going on?! (Alison here: first time in about 30 years that I’ve sat by the window!) The plane took off on time at 2.35pm for the hour long hop over to Dublin. We enjoyed our traditional Gin and Tonics before landing on time at 3.35pm. It was all very familiar for us as we walked out and straight onto the waiting Premier Inn shuttle bus, which charges the princely sum of €1 per person for the 10 minute ride to Swords where the Premier Inn is located. We checked in and dropped our bags in the room before heading straight back out to the local bus stop to get into Dublin City Centre. A quick bus ride later and we wandered about for a bit soaking up the atmosphere before deciding on a few drinks in Grand Central in O'Connell Street. What a fantastic place and the drinks were good too. A bit of an odd but effective ordering system, order your drinks, find a table and then a waitress comes over with drinks and the bill. Feeling a bit peckish we tried to get a table for dinner as the food looked good but tables were already reserved for a while. I remembered a Thai place nearby and as luck would have it the Thai Orchid in Westmorland Street wasn’t that busy. We’d eaten here before so knew what to expect which was good food at a good price and it didn’t disappoint on either count this time round either. We had the set menu deal which was chicken satay, vegetable spring rolls, duck chilli, green thai curry and 2 rices with 2 coffees for €20 each. With some singha beers it was a real feast! Time was moving on so we decided to head back for the hotel, not really knowing how frequent the buses were going to be. It took us a while to find the bus stop but eventually we found the 500 bus stop which would drop us near the hotel. We got off at the other end of the road where the Premier Inn is located and passed by the Hogs and Heifers bar hogsandheifers.ie which looked like it was quite good fun. We decided we weren’t ready to go to bed just yet so headed in to see what was on offer. It wasn’t too busy so we grabbed some seats at the bar and had the undivided attention of the bar staff. Alison ordered a Pornstar Martini (which she’d not had before but came highly recommended by our daughters!) but I wasn’t sure what I wanted. Most of the beers on draught were fairly standard and I‘d already had the perfect Guinness and some Singha beers earlier. The bartender asked what I preferred in terms of spirits and I said Scotch. After a short discussion I settled on an Old Fashioned (which wasn’t on the cocktail list). Delicious! We chatted to the guy for a while as he seemed slightly bored (by lack of customers) and wanted to show off his cocktail making skill. Seconds (and possibly thirds!) were ordered and he gave them both a slight twist which really hit the mark. We could have stayed here long into the early hours but unfortunately needed to take the short walk back to the hotel to get some sleep as we needed to be up early in the morning. __________________ http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sign...igpic534_1.gif 1988 ~ Contemporary ~ Honeymoon 1989 ~ Off site 1994 ~ EuroDisney ~ Santa Fe 1999 ~ Off site 2001 ~ CBR (Aruba) ~ Poly (Tahiti) 2003 ~ WL & HRH 2004 ~ Pop Century, RPH, CSR, PBH, Contemporary 2006 ~ DLP ~ Newport Bay 2007 ~ POR ~ HRH ~ GF 2008 ~ All star sports, BCV, RPH, Vero Beach, VWL 2010 ~ OKW ~ BCV ~ HRH ~POP Century ~ Vero Beach ~ VWL 2013 ~ AKL ~ HRH ~ BCV ~ Vero Beach ~ VWL Edited at 10:56 PM.