Athlone and preparing to head to England via Belfast ferry

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August 18 – Saturday - For some inexplicable reason I woke up around 0600 this morning and could not back to sleep. So I finally got up around 7:30 and went downstairs and did a little homework on the train trip to Belfast from Ballinasloe. The ticket will be €80 and the trip will take about about 3 ½ hours. It goes to Heuston Station. Then you have to unload all your stuff and catch the LUAS tram to Connolly Station where you get the northbound train to Belfast. The West-East trains should logically go to Connolly Station to link up with the North-South train routes but they don’t. You have to make your own way to Connolly Station from Heuston Station in Dublin to catch the North-South trains. I’m sure it has something to do with the Cab Companies demanding a share of the trip.

I took the bus to Athlone today and retrieved a hat and coat I had forgotten there. Then I walked over to a park by the Shannon River and walked up alongside the river to the Cathedral and Athlone Castle. It was a beautiful sunshiny day and a pleasure to be outside in.

When I got back to Ballinasloe I found and booked a hostel in Belfast for Monday night and found and booked a hostel in Liverpool, England for next Tuesday and Wednesday. So that will be the next leg of my journey for this trip.

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