Train travellers

I didn't choose the best of days for a trip to Belfast, but needs must (sort of).

I've been struggling with a less than ideal vacuum cleaner for some time, which hasn't made preparation for my music-group hostings any easier. I've been threatening to get a replacement, but it was only last week that a bit of online research led me to what seemed the very thing to solve my problems. The price here was considerably higher than in Belfast, even allowing for currency differences, so I bit the bullet on Tuesday and did a reservation thing in Argos in Castle Court.

I got the train to Belfast at 11:00 am, did some blipping, and completed the deal in Argos. The staff there were very helpful and agreed to hold on to my package until later in the day, so I wouldn't be encumbered while going on a mini city wander. I had a great lunch in Café Vaudeville, where I've been before, then hightailed it for a pub (Kelly's Cellars, a very nationalist-looking place) to dodge the nasty weather.

I picked up my vacuum cleaner and got a taxi back to the railway station. I overheard a couple of people complaining about the desperate journey they'd just had from Dublin, being delayed for forty minutes at a station along the way and having to complete their journey by bus. Then a railway official came around to tell passengers for Dublin that there had been a security alert, and that we would be bussed to Lisburn where a train would be waiting to take us back to Dublin. It wasn't the usual express, though the train was the Enterprise. Instead, we were joined by loads of Belfast commuters and the train made loads of extra stops to accommodate them. Instead of getting back to Dublin at 8:00 pm, it was 9:15 when I hopped into a taxi outside Connolly station and headed home.

It wasn't easy deciding on today's blip. Even in the camera I fancied the one I've chosen, but there were three others which came close to taking the honour instead. These are viewable in my Blipfolio in the Almost Blips selection. The first of those three came the closest to grabbing today's spot instead of the one I actually chose.