Manchester - MC Academy and the Rough Irish Sea

February 23, 2014

We had an early departure of 8am on our last day. We packed up in time to have our breakfast of eggs and rashers before we headed out to the Manchester City Academy. This was where Manchester City trains all of their youth programs in hopes of identifying future stars for their football club. The girls were able to get an hour of training and skills session with the same coaches that work for the Manchester City Academy. 

Manchester City is currently in the process of finishing a new 200 million (in English pounds) Academy right across the street from their stadium. Boy, football sure enjoys a higher status over here. After the training it was right back on the bus and straight to Holyhead to catch the ferry back to Dublin. 

Beautiful full rainbow before the rain

Unfortunately that is when the weather turned bad. About half way to the shore the wind picked up and it started raining very hard. Shortly after that the bus driver announced that there was going to be a bit of a detour because the higher bridge had been closed due to the high winds. That's when I started worrying about the boat again. As we boarded we could see the waves hitting the sea wall and splashing up about 20-30 feet in the air, ohhh boy! It was a very rough ride to say the least. T and I took the tablets again but K refused. About an hour into the trip K really started to turn green. We moved further back on the boat (for a smoother ride) and K was able to lay down and regain her normal color. Luckily the waters really calmed down about half way home and the rest of the ride was pretty smooth. However, as soon as we got off K announced that she was never doing that boat ride again. But she managed not to get sick and I was very proud of her for that. We arrived back home in Dublin safe and sound a little after 6.30pm. I only had one more full day before my flight back to the US. L declared that my last day would be, "Daddy's Day" with her while K and T were at school. 

-Joe