What Happened Next...

It's been nearly one year since Megs and I took this amazing vacation together to the homeland.  I can hardly believe the year that has surpassed us.  It's been one of tremendous struggle, but I am so thankful to have such unforgettable memories to look back on.

I've been thinking about the "Eel Food" blog and had some serious anxiety over the lack of finish it....lacks.  I realized...you know nothing of what happened after we left the ice.  Let me explain...

The last you heard, we were in Dublin.  Then there was a cryptic, drunken song written from somewhere very cold....and then the sweet sonnet my dear friend wrote on my birthday.  Oh, what you missed...

So, from Dublin we took an overnight steamship to Liverpool.  Ugh.  And Brrr.  We arrived at 5am to find the train station didn't open until 7am.  We also arrived to -20C temperatures.  So, here we are....not morning people...with huge packs on our backs, wandering around Liverpool in literally freezing weather.  We walked simply to keep warm.  We tried to find a coffee shop...no luck.  What we did find was a gentleman who wanted to whisk us away to his hotel room.  No siree.  I let him have an earful and almost punched him in the face. 

7am finally came and we found our way to our train.  We boarded and were settling in...finally able to feel some of the excitement for what was to come.  Our narrow boat!  We started discussing the fun that was about to ensue.  Then the train stopped.  And they asked us to de-board.  And then we waited in the freezing cold AGAIN while we waited 2 hours for a bus to come take us to the next station.  We arrived at the station to find the next train to Northwich wasn't for 2 hours.  UGH.  More waiting.  This time we went to a coffee shop in the station and snacked on toasted sandwiches and tea.  Ok.  Let's get the excitement going again.  The train arrived and off we go to Northwich!  WEEE!!!!

Northwich arrival.  We step out of the station and wander across the street to the supermarket.  We knew we would need to take a taxi to the marina to pick up our little boat and would need groceries while we were underway.  So we stocked up on supplies and hailed a taxi.  It was like being chauffered around by your grandmother.  Adorable.  We were loving England.

We arrive at the marina.  Not to this:

But to this:

The ice is about 6 inches thick.  We weren't going anywhere.

We'd already paid, and they wouldn't refund because this was out of their control.  We boarded the boat, took their little safety course, made some instant coffee and stared at each other across the table.  What were we going to do!?  We were devastated.

We decided that since we'd paid the money, we had better see it out and PRAY NIGHTLY that the ice would melt.  It didn't.

We wandered into town (quite cute):

We ate english baps, sipped tea, and stocked up on ciders of every variety.  We did this for 2 days.  Then decided we needed to get out of there.