It was drizzly again in Dublin when we set off for brunch at a place called Alma in Portobello. It was recommended by the lady at the seafood cafe. Portobello is about a 15 minute drive away from Temple Bar and serves a reasonably affluent neighbourhood.

The cafe was packed with a queue and people eating outside but the South African hostess liked us and squeezed us onto 2 tables under large umbrellas. The umbrellas worked pretty well but Steve got wet twice when first Mikes glass of water slid across the slatted table and fell over and then Steve’s did the same thing.
The menu would go well in NZ. Quite spicy food and beautifully presented. I had the Turkish eggs, which were delivered on top of a head of roasted cauliflower and the others all had some egg and Argentinian sausage dish.

The service was a bit slow so I was getting a bit nervous by the time we finished and paid as had to check in for the ferry to Holyhead no later than 12.50am. By this stage it was raining so we all assisted with navigation. The problem is that it is not immediately clear where at the port we had to go to drop off foot passengers. Steve and Fiona’s flight back to Nottingham wasn’t until evening so they were going to do some exploring in the afternoon and then drop the car at the airport.
We found our way to the car ferry check in and the people there redirected us to a road that had totally inadequate signage and we eventually offloaded at midday. No issues with checking in thankfully. Jen had recommended we pay for the Club Lounge seats which was a good call. We got good seats right up the front (not that you could see anything out the window through the rain.)

The trip took about 2 hours and mostly I sat and watched the tennis on tv. As per getting on, we disembarked onto a bus that delivered us to the terminal. I had been nervous as my phone was telling me my key tag was back at Dublin (I put a key tag in one of the suitcases and we checked them in). But evidently that is just the GPS having problems. It was a relief to see both bags in the terminal at Holyhead waiting for us.

The sailing itself was remarkably smooth so it came as a shock to find there were gale force winds in Wales. Our car is a reasonably roomy Vauxhall and it was like driving through a hurricane.

Our accommodation in Porthmadog is an Airbnb mid terrace house. It has been renovated and has 3 bedrooms though the bathroom is upstairs and a long way from the kitchen. There is parking out on the street.

We decided to trot down to the local pub or restaurant for something to eat but the options were limited to say the least. It was a Monday night but it turned out our dining option was one pub (The Ship), Indian takeaways or fish and chips. Mike had the chilli con carne and I went with the roast chicken and chips. It was ok. The chips were good but the chicken was a bit dry. There were no other vegetables. The available red wine was Malbec or Shiraz. The Argentinians have done well marketing to Europe.

We noticed all around that this villages and others we drove through all need some TLC. There is a marked difference between the well kept appearances of rural Ireland and rural west Wales. There are loads more empty premises also.

After dinner we decided to walk back pas the ‘newly renovated’ Red Lion and have a glass of beer just to check out the locals. Newly renovated would appear to refer to the new wooden floorboard style vinyl flooring. Well the locals seemed nice. One of them insisted on buying us extra drinks which we didn’t want but they were friendly and the bar maid suggested some places to visit the next day.
All good until 2 am when I woke feeling extremely unwell. I will spare the details but ended up lying on the tiled bathroom floor where I proceeded to faint twice and split open the bridge of my nose. My nose was also bleeding out the nostril and I was still distinctly unwell. What a sight poor Mike was presented with. Eventually he got everything cleaned up and I crawled into the shower and things improved from there. I can’t actually remember ever being so ill previously and today have a black eye, cut nose, bruised knee and sore ribs. People look at me funny.

As if my nose doesn’t have enough issues with sinus infections!!
So far the cup of tea and toast and marmalade at the cafe up the road seem to be ok. We will try a car trip this afternoon if things are still ok! And I’ll wear sunglasses 🤗