And Its Only the First Day

---

I had warned Joe about my bad luck with traveling and on our first day of our trip the 'bad luck' transcended. We managed to catch the early train (5:30 AM) over to Dublin in order to obtain a Chinese visa. Of course Joe had no problem in getting his visa next while my visa took 1 week. There was no point in staying and waiting in Dublin for a week being as our rail pass had already started, so we decided to get the visa in another country along the way...wouldn't mind staying in Italy for a week. So plans changed again and we took a ferry over to Wales. Waiting to board the ferry, the screen flashed 'departed' although no ferry was in sight to begin with. After rushing to another gate and crashing into a crowd of people at the bottom of the escalator, we finally made it on. No ore problems...wrong...the sea was so choppy that the bartender had problems pouring drinks, people were falling into other people, and going to the bathroom was a mission impossible stunt.

Arriving at the dock, we were ready to get onto stable grounds, but the door wouldn't open. What did this mean?- reversing the ferry around and going out backwards. Fortunately for us we were not in a car having to reverse out with all the other cars, coaches, and trucks. We stumbled off the ferry and into miserable weather. Back on the train to London and accommodation with Joe's uncle. Hopefully, the next day will be better...a trip to the Netherlands.

---