Training toward Shannon

We communicated via email with another couple that was spending a few days in Dublin prior to joining the tour to ask if they would like to party on to Shannon.  They were at a Jury’s Inn, close to Dublin Castle, and they respond that they will be traveling on the same 11 AM train that we are planning, so look out for two orange backpacks.  

We taxi to the station, which mkes sense again for four people with luggage.  WE get to the station, find the ticket office, and are surprised to find that the fare to Limerick is in excess of 60 Euros.  Well that’s the immediate fare, and the ticket agent says if we call in for a reservation on the 2 PM train, pay by credit card over the phone, and pick up the ticket at the kiosk, it will only cost 37 Euros.  And if we had booked two days in advance, it would have been 27 Euros. But if we make a reservation for the 2 PM train, we can still get on the 11 AM train, and just find unreserved seats.  So that’s what we do.  

And there, two rows ahead of us, are the couple who are also headed for Shannon and the MoW tour. (Jack, in the green shirt and mustache in the foreground.)

The train is an hour and 35 minutes to Limerick Junction, change trains across the platform and another 20 minutes into Limerick.

Bus will take us from Limerick Colbert station to Shannon AIrport (we’ve done this before) and we’re at the airport hotel by 2:45.  Time for a nap before meeting the tour group at six in the bar, and Donnie is waiting for us in the lobby, ascertaining the last travelers to arrive and check in with him and the hotel.