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2022 US Trip – Day 1 (O’Connells Pub in Howth)

I should add that I only spent one day in Dublin for those wondering why this US trip is currently stuck at a suburb of the Irish capital, there will be more American content than you can shake a stick at soon enough though.

One challenging element with Howth is that there are a fair number of restaurants and pubs here, which is lovely, but it’s clear that the pubs are in general really looking for customers who want to have a meal. I noticed though that O’Connells had a large sign outside saying they were open, but their kitchen was closed, so this seemed fortuitous and so I went for that.

As another one of my irrelevant asides, I still can’t look at a Harp logo and not think of the memorable (well I remembered it) advertising slogan of “time for a cool, sharp Harp”. Who says children aren’t swayed by marketing messages for alcohol? Not that I ordered it, so it didn’t actually work here.

I’ve had plenty of Guinness in Dublin, including at the storehouse on a few occasions, but I hadn’t had chance yet on this trip and so I thought that was appropriate. I went for a nice meal with it, of salt and vinegar crisps, a flavour I picked as the entire range available was salt and vinegar. A beautiful combination of food and drink, some great flavour combinations were going on there. I won’t claim that it’s only possible to get great Guinness in Dublin, but it does seem to be served just a little creamier here.

This felt very Irish in terms of the atmosphere, plenty of character in the pub and it felt welcoming and comfortable. I had a pleasant half an hour or so here, soaking up the ambience whilst starring at my phone, which is something I wouldn’t be doing in a Sam Smiths pub as they’ve outlawed ambience. Not that they’ve got any in Ireland, and they seem to have ever fewer in the UK, but I digress. It wasn’t very busy, but perhaps many of their customers would have normally been looking for a meal as well, but the prices seemed reasonable for drinks and crisps at least.

September 20, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 1 (Leap Visitor Card)

I hadn’t known about these Leap Visitor cards on my previous visits to Dublin, but it worked out quite handy for my 24 hours in Dublin. Getting the bus to the city centre from the airport is a slight faff using local buses, as Liam and I discovered a few months ago, as it’s cash only and no change is offered. I think the system is being improved over the next couple of years.

I read that it was possible to buy these visitor cards at WH Smiths at the arrivals floor at the terminal. Pleased at how easy it was, I went to buy one, but was told their IT system was broken. However, they said they have placed a set of cards at another shop in the terminal, where I was able to get them from. After only 5 minutes of faffing about I found what I needed and was set to go. The card costs €8 for 24 hours, which is only a little more than a return bus ticket from the airport.

The card can be used on Airline, scheduled buses operated by Dublin Bus, the Luas (the city’s tram service) and DART (the city’s light rail service). It can also be used as commuter rail in the ‘short hop zone’ although I didn’t try that.

The bus from the airport and it’s easy to validate the card on the validators which they’ve put on, or at the entrance to, all forms of public transport. On buses it’s not on the driver’s little panel of stuff, there’s a validator on the pole when entering which saves some time.

The DART back from Howth to Dublin that I mentioned in my previous post.

And for completeness, I went on a tram so that I didn’t feel I was missing out. I’m easily pleased. I’d add that they’re quite shiny new trams and I will repeat once again, there should be more tram systems in the UK….. Particularly in Norwich to replace the bloody awful bus service, but I won’t go down that rabbit hole of discussion again.

And getting off at Connolly Station, named after the Irish republican leader James Connolly.

And the bus back to the airport which departs from O’Connell Street.

There’s more about the card at https://about.leapcard.ie/leap-visitor-card, with the one day card costing €8 as I mentioned, but there are also 3 day cards for €16 and 7 day cards for €32. It’s a shame that London’s public transport isn’t as cheap as that. It’s a handy card to have though to get around the city and it was easy to use and didn’t give me any problems at the public transport gate-lines.

September 20, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 1 (McDonald’s – Just Shut the Doors)

I popped to McDonald’s on O’Connell Street in Dublin before getting the bus back to the airport, primarily not for the delicious and decadent food (ahem) but because I wanted my phone fully charged. I’d add now that was a good idea, as it was quite hard to charge phones at Dublin airport, but more on that later.

Anyway, I mention this riveting tale here as it’s the first time I’ve been in a McDonald’s and it’s clear that they couldn’t cope with the sheer number of orders. They had over 30 customers in the store and at least 10 pick-up orders still to make, and the screens couldn’t cope with the number of orders so they were getting complaints that orders had gone missing. Who knew how many in Dublin wanted McDonald’s on a Sunday evening?

The manager, who seemed to be incredibly focused, had clearly been here before, and she shouted “just shut the doors” to the security guard who looked quite pleased at this idea. It reminded me of what it must have been like to shut the queue for those wanting to see HM Queen Elizabeth II resting in state at Westminster Hall, there’s always someone cut off who will be disappointed. I could see some very disappointed faces outside, but an air of calmness rode over the store at that point.

€2, a bargain. I was pleased at the store’s decision as I had lovely peace and quiet for about thirty minutes at an upstairs table with power points by it. Just what I wanted, it’s always a relief to have fully charged devices. This is definitely going to be a theme of this trip. As for Dublin, I think they need more McDonald’s, which I’m not sure can be said about Norwich, which seems to have about 60 already and is getting yet another one. Mind you, Dublin could do with more Greggs as well, but I’m digressing here.

September 20, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 2 (Night at Dublin Airport)

As one of my cost cutting measures for this trip, I didn’t bother getting a hotel in Dublin for the Sunday night as I had such an early flight on the Monday morning. Hotels were over £100 per night, so I wasn’t going to do that when I’d have to get up at about 03:00 anyway. Unsurprisingly, the airport wasn’t very busy when I arrived at midnight, I think others thought that they’d pay for a hotel. Such decadence.

There’s a restaurant upstairs at Terminal 2 landside which doesn’t seem to mind people using their tables overnight, as long as they clear off by the time they open. That’s where the entirety of the Dublin early morning flight brigade went anyway, other for the two people fast asleep in the middle of the floor downstairs. This was handy from a point of getting stuff done, although to be fair I was just a little tired. But, I had two flights to sleep on, so I was content that this was a good idea, even though it clearly bloody wasn’t. Incidentally, Terminal 1 security is open 24 hours which is convenient for those not flying from Terminal 2…..

Security opened at 03:30 which was earlier than I had expected, so I thought I might as well as go through for a change of scenery. I was trying to take as long as possible, but this plan was spoiled by a helpful member of staff who pointed me towards the front of a newly opened queue, which meant I was through security in about two minutes. The photo above is of the group of people who stood there waiting for the duty free shop to open as security had managed to get there first in terms of their efficiency. Usually, the duty free shops are open when security is (so they can sell, sell, sell to quote Del Boy), but instead the airport staff were calling passengers through another door to stop them backing up and getting in the way of the security process. But I then discovered news that the airport lounge opened earlier that I expected, so all was well, I only had a few minutes to wait before I could hopefully get a coffee.

September 20, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 2 (Aer Lingus Lounge – Terminal 2 Dublin Airport)

I had thought that the Aer Lingus lounge opened at 05:30, but it actually now opens at 04:15 which I thought was something of a result for my needs. The entry system here is a bit complex as Aer Lingus isn’t part of Oneworld, despite being owned by IAG who own British Airways, but they do allow entry to silver and gold BA card holders going to Heathrow and Gatwick when flying Aer Lingus. Although I had read this on Flyertalk, it’s noted on the door as is visible on this sign.

I arrived two minutes before the lounge opened and patiently waited outside, with the lounge opening dead on time. The member of staff seemed quite hostile though, which was unusual and I can’t recall that at an airport lounge before. Her welcome was “yes?” which seemed odd, I thought the little queue that had formed, and which I was heading as the earliest to arrive, were all likely to want to come into the lounge. Perhaps they get some sight-seers though and she was just checking.

I mentioned I had a BA flight to Heathrow, flying with Aer Lingus and had my Oneworld card. She then replied that this didn’t allow entry into the lounge as Aer Lingus weren’t part of Oneworld. My digital card has Oneworld on it, not BA, so I mentioned again that I was flying to Heathrow with Aer Lingus and had my BA card in case that made things better. She told me again that Aer Lingus weren’t part of Oneworld, before I apologised (as I’m British and assumed it was my fault) and then said as politely as I could said that I just wanted to gain access in accordance with what was on the door. She then let me in, but then started on the next person saying that his lounge card wasn’t valid. Whatever happened, he too arrived in the lounge about fifteen seconds later. I imagine it would be quite entertaining watching this, I might move a chair into the reception area if I visit again.

I have a slight suspicion that the lounge management have told the staff to try and minimise the number of entrants, as by the time I left an hour later it was very busy. It’s probably not a great strategy though. But, that matter to one side, I was in.

It was spacious, comfortable and there were plenty of different seating types. I like high seating so I can use my laptop and that was available by the food, so that was my seating arrangements decided. Also, it was the second time in two days that I was first into an airport lounge, I think I must be a bit desperate for airport entertainment at the moment.

The lounge was also clean and tidy, although perhaps that was inevitable given that I was the first person in, but everything was well maintained as well.

The food area, where there were yoghurts, biscuits, cereals, fruit and the like. It was all self-service and although relatively basic, it was handy to get coffee and biscuits to start the day with. I say “start”, although I’m not sure that I had finished the day before at that point.

Very pleasant and there were views onto the runway as well for those who wanted to spot aircraft.

That was a perfectly nice way to start the day and I was delighted that Aer Lingus had opened their lounge early as it meant time seemed to progress much quicker before my 06:30 flight to Heathrow. It’s not a hugely impressive lounge in terms of the food offering, but it was more than sufficient for me and I understand things get a bit more substantial later on during the day in that regard. It felt a modern and well designed lounge, better than I had expected.

As a repeat of the rules, BA silver and gold card holders can use the lounge if flying with Aer Lingus to Heathrow or Gatwick. The rules are though complex, but I did think the staff members could perhaps be slightly less confrontational, as someone who wasn’t sure of the rules would have likely just left without going in. But, I left happy, so all was well with the world.

September 20, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 1 (Getting to Heathrow T5)

Well, we’re off (I say we, it’s just me on this trip) and the first part of the expedition was getting to Heathrow T5. Luckily my ever-ready friend Liam was willing to take me to Heathrow T5, avoiding a potentially expensive hotel which I would have only been in for a short period of time.

As Liam has an electric car we had to factor a couple of charging points, with the first meant to be at Harlow. However, a horde of taxi drivers (is that the correct name?) were using the facilities and we would have been quite some time waiting for them. They’re not in the photo, I didn’t want to look rude by taking a photo of them. There seem to be ever more electric charging points being added to the network, but it’s still not comprehensive coverage and there’s little protection from a queue of taxi drivers wanting to use them.

We drove on a bit and found what seemed a slightly ridiculous set-up at a business park which seemed in the dark to be in the middle of nowhere. I’m sure it’s very vibrant in the day, but it felt rather shady at night.

Car charging doesn’t get any more decadent than this. Parking is free on Sunday, so I got a ticket printed from the machine in case we were meant to have one. I didn’t expect to see a parking attendant though at this time of the morning.

All was going very well, Liam’s had checked the app of where people were charging and that saw us glide into our second location at Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire. He went off to get a coffee for £1, a perk that you get when charging cars at BP petrol stations it seems. After 25 minutes or so, we were good to to.

Heathrow annoys me, it doesn’t let you walk in, it has scrapped the free travel zone and it now charges for drop offs. Far from ideal, but they do at least allow free drop-offs at the long-stay car parking. You get 29 minutes to park there for free, with buses operating every ten minutes or so. Liam, who built some of Heathrow T5, was pleased to see that this is on the site of his former works car park. I did wonder where to get the bus from at first, then Liam realised that it was the huge big bus shelter at the entrance to the car park, which is a very sensible place to put it.

I was busy taking photos having just got to the bus stop when I realised that the bus to T5 was coming to the stop, Liam had timed the drop-off perfectly. So, it’s quite a blurry photo, but the driver had a big smile and seemed unnervingly content for 04:30 in the morning.

It’s only a five minute or so journey on the bus to Heathrow T5, so in terms of drop-offs, it is convenient and saves paying the £5 fee.

Some professional signage there. But the service was timely, the bus was clean and it’s fast and efficient, so definitely worth considering for those who want to avoid the Heathrow drop-off charges. I’m not sure if you’re meant to, but you could actually just avoid paying for the TFL bus into Heathrow T5 and just get on this bus from the long-stay car park.

My obligatory “welcome to our home” photo, which has again come out blurry. I didn’t get the sleep that I had hoped for, which is also not ideal, but I’ll muddle on by. I’m not going directly to the United States, that’s not until tomorrow, I’m first going to Dublin.

Heathrow is commemorating HM Queen Elizabeth II in numerous ways, including on these large signs.

Timing wise, this was all rather lovely, the security process took around twelve minutes and I arrived at the entrance to the lounge one minute before it opened at 05:00. Liam is getting very good at this timing thing (he has been known to cut things far too fine) and it was very kind of him to do the dropping off. Hopefully he has good fortune using the chargers on his way back to Norwich.

September 18, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 1 (BA Galleries South Lounge Heathrow T5)

Liam’s impressive timing meant that I got to the airport at a perfect time, not too early (my usual style) and not too late (his usual style). I arrived at the Heathrow T5 BA lounge complex at 04:59, one minute before it opened. Very handy.

I was the first person into Galleries South lounge, that’s never happened before. I can’t claim it’s something that I should get a badge for, but it did let me get some photos without other passengers cluttering them up. This is the main food area in this photo where they were laying out breakfast.

One of the seating areas, this one is just behind where passengers enter the lounge. These lounges do sprawl and there are three of these Galleries Lounges for BA customers at T5, two in the main terminal and one at B Gates (plus the First Class Lounge and the Concorde Room, which are too decadent for me).

The seating area at the end of the lounge which overlooks south security, with the cinema room off to the right.

And my favourite seating area, high chairs and power points, very convenient for my laptop arrangement.

Another photo at the back of the lounge. You used to be able to overlook security until they put that sea of grey over the windows, which is understandable, but I did used to like watching it.

One of the coffee stations and sets of beer fridges, where I was pleased to see that Brewdog Jet Stream was available. I had a few espressos to wake me up, although I’m not sure that they worked that well.

The cinema room.

I only had one beer as it was a bit early. I was pleased to see that the lounge had burnt the bacon, which is good as that’s just how I like it. Those sausage patties are very moreish as well. The BA food offering has definitely improved recently at this lounge (and non burnt bacon was also available).

Some healthy eating. Along with some grapes.

Anyway, my three hours in the lounge was very productive, although I was a little sleepy. The lounge was starting to get very busy when I left, so I was pleased with my timing.

I’ve photographed this before, but it’s just an iconic image and so I thought I’d have another image of it.

September 18, 2022
Tuesday – The Bulmer Stone – Darlington’s Oldest Landmark (Part Four)

As some bonus footage, or whatever anyone would like to call it, I felt the need to mention the Bulmer Stone located on Northgate. This is named after Willy Bulmer, a former Borough Crier, who would shout the latest news and gossip out all about Darlington. Apparently it used to be said in the town that “no other town or city in the world has a more ancient monument in its midst”, which is certainly an aspirational statement for this rock. It’s a bit hidden away behind the railings, but to the town, it is an important lump of granite. I don’t think there’s any legend along the lines of “if the rock is stolen, then the town’s market falls down”, but perhaps there should be to add some extra intrigue to it.

And the nearby information board. It’s recommended (by me) to have a quick look at it, but I wouldn’t take kids there for a day out or anything.

[NB, the rest of this ‘riveting’ series of posts will be continued in 2023, as the US trip posts will have take priority. I hope that my loyal reader(s) aren’t too disappointed]

September 17, 2022
Tuesday – Quick Visit to Bishop Auckland (Part Three)

Setting off from Shildon railway station after my visit to the Locomotion museum, which has been here since 1825 and its siting here led to a great expansion of the village during the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, there’s not much here in terms of station infrastructure, even slow and steady improvements over just under 200 years should have seen more facilities. The nearby museum has though helped usage of the station and that is likely to increase from the expansion of Locomotion.

It’s a short rail journey into Bishop Auckland along the route of a line which is also original from the beginnings of the Stockton & Darlington Railway.

I don’t think that I’ve visited Bishop Auckland before and the main street from the railway station didn’t look anything particularly exciting, but then this rather grand and lovely market square appeared into view.

I thought as though I might as well pop into the JD Wetherspoon, the Stanley Jefferson. I clearly don’t know my comedy history as I assumed that this was some Victorian benefactor to the town, but instead:

“The Laurel Room, in Bishop Auckland Town Hall, is named after Stan Laurel. Born Stanley Jefferson, Stan Laurel is better known as the thin half of the famous double-act Laurel and Hardy. Stan’s parents managed the town’s Theatre Royal. Stan was christened here and, in 1903, attended the grammar school.”

Not overly decadent, but entirely satisfactory and there were also numerous power points to keep my devices charged. I seem to focus too much on that, but I can’t be one of those care-free people in life who wouldn’t collapse into a state of nervous tension if their phone died.

The pub seems well reviewed, but of course not everyone is surprised and delighted. I liked this one:

“4 Regular Real Ale enthusiasts Abbott Ale being our favourite. Today, no Abbott next choice 2 were pulled then off. Next choice also off. When we questioned it we were told “Well we don’t sell much Real Ale on weekends it’s mostly SHOTS ” !!!. What a load of insulting rubbish!!”

I make no comment on Abbot Ale as that would be cheap, but I was amused about the “on weekends it’s mostly shots”. I know a pub that was run like that…. Ah for the days of selling Apple Sourz.

St. Anne’s Church which is Grade II listed, but is relatively late for a town’s main church, with the building having been designed by William Thompson and dating from between 1846 and 1848. It was though built on the site of a former medieval chapel, but it’s not currently in good shape and is on the Heritage at Risk Register. It received funding a few years ago from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England but another project is needed to secure the building.

The town’s war memorial, which was moved a few years ago from its previous location on Station Approach.

A line was added in 1982 to note the Falkland Islands war. It’s a beautiful monument and in a nice area of the town, although those steps could do with a bit of tidying up.

Auckland Tower, which I had though was something to do with the fire service, but it’s actually a 29 metre high viewing tower. It was designed by Nìall McLaughlin and is meant to look modern but also to reflect the design of historic buildings. It has sweeping views over the castle and the Wetherspoons.

The town grew up from when in 1183 the Prince Bishops of Durham built their country retreat here, which later became Auckland Castle.

The entrance to the gateway, this area certainly feels salubrious.

The gateway from outside.

And a nearly identical photo of the gateway, this time taken from within the castle estate. The gateway was constructed in 1760 and was designed by Sir Thomas Robinson of Rokeby for Bishop William Trevor.

A rather glorious building, I can’t say I’ve seen one which has combined building materials like this.

One of the external walls to the castle.

And the reason I took the previous photo is that this interesting heritage board shows what they discovered on this site during recent archaeological digs.

Looking over to the gardens.

The entrance to the castle, which is open to the public during the day and there’s plenty to see during a visit looking at their web-site. If I come back to Bishop Auckland, I think I’d like to look around these buildings. I understand that the town feels it needs a major economic boost and it’s trying to create something of a tourist attraction of this castle, and other projects such as the aforementioned viewing tower and the gardens. They are aiming to encourage people to stay for a couple of days, rather than just briefly popping to the town. So, in short, trying to get people not to do what I did. The castle is still owned by the church and they use part of the site as offices.

Back in the market square and I was slightly surprised seeing such a grand building being used by Sports Direct (not that there’s anything wrong with that, but in a wealthier town it would likely by tea rooms or something). There were a fair few empty shops in the town and it didn’t have a vibrant atmosphere, despite all of the heritage and history all around.

Bondgate, a quaint street which is more what I’d expect from a provincial town and this was once the retail heart of Bishop Auckland. Shops down here are mostly independent retailers, similar to The Lanes in Norwich, something a little different from the usual number of chains.

Back on Newgate Street, walking back to the railway station.

I was rather taken by this building (not Heron Foods, but the former Lloyds) and it would probably make an interesting place to live, especially if there’s access to the bank’s former vault.

The number of shops to let is visible in this photo, there were probably around twenty along Newgate Street.

The town’s railway station (not Halfords, the building in the middle of the photo) which was opened in the 1980s after they had demolished the previous one. It was (in my view at least) yet another sad chapter in the history of British Rail, the demolition of a grand 1867 railway station to be replaced with a completely inadequate replacement. There are lots of photos of the old station, which is buried underneath Halfords and the other retail units, at http://disused-stations.org.uk/b/bishop_auckland/index.shtml.

The inadequate station is open for limited hours and for the rest of the time, passengers have to walk around the side to get access to the platforms.

The end of the line for the rail network, although the line continues on for 18 miles to Eastgate station as a heritage railway set-up. It closed long ago for passengers, in 1953, but freight services continued until 1992 which is why the line wasn’t entirely lost. Full credit for the heritage railway keeping it open, but this should ideally be opened to passenger services once again, and that has been suggested as part of the Government’s Restoring the Railways project. As it’s a very marginal constituency, it has a decent chance and I understand funding has been made available for a feasibility study.

With that the train to Darlington came in, another efficient Northern service. I had enjoyed Bishop Auckland, but I had expected it to be wealthier and not have quite so many empty retail units. However, they clearly have lots of exciting plans for tourists and I’d like to spend longer in the town.

Back in Darlington, ready for another peaceful night in the Mercure with the drinks in my little fridge being handily restocked again. And I got to use my welcome drink on a free Extra Smooth Ale from John Smith’s, albeit a little belatedly. How lovely (well, quite lovely in terms of the drink).

September 17, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 0 (McCain Backpack)

I’m now packed and waiting for Liam who has kindly offered (or been commandeered, pick your favourite) to take me to Heathrow just after midnight. To save the £5 drop-off fee we’ll have to work out the free long-stay parking option at the airport, that’ll be an interesting challenge in the middle of the night. I could have done with more sleep as well, but we can’t have everything.

So that we start on random drivel, I felt I should have one post about my McCain backpack, because at some point it’ll be nicked, accidentally destroyed or something else I might not like. I’ve worked out that it has been to around 30 countries, over 30 US states and I think nearly every county in the UK. It’s also made an appearance on just about every long-distance walk that I’ve done, so it’s a very well travelled bag. Bits keep falling off it, the zip is glued shut as it got broken (there’s another way in obviously) and it’ll probably fall apart in the next few years. But for the moment, I’m sticking with it. Although it regularly gets washed, it looks a bloody mess, but who wants decadent matching luggage anyway?

Bag aside, this will be an interesting trip, which goes via Dublin, as parts of it have already been troublesome in terms of needing to reschedule things (not least Amtrak who have amended, cancelled and refunded numerous trips I had booked) and half of it isn’t planned now. There are also rather cheaper Airbnbs making an appearance due to the horrendous pound and dollar exchange rate, meaning ever cost cutting measures. But over-planning is never good for the soul and I’m sure that nothing could possibly go wrong….

There might be a lot of posts over the next few weeks, I’ll do more shorter posts otherwise I’ll never catch up, so those people who subscribe to individual posts might want to switch them to the daily summary versions. Unless they like receiving exciting blog updates like the story of a bag.

September 17, 2022