Bad things come in threes (OR More)

Yesterday (Tuesday) was dreadful. 

I had picked it as a hard day - getting from Glendree to via Ennis and Limerick Junction and Dublin and Belfast was always going to be a big day in transit - but as always, trouble strikes in clusters. 

1 - I lost my credit card in Dublin, while walking to Connelly Station from Hueston. I immediately cancelled it, and there are no strange transactions showing, so I haven't lost any money, and I have backup options, but it was not very fun. I had to ditch my luggage at a travellers' rest and retrace my steps for about 2k, looking for the damn thing. No luck. I searched my clothes and luggage repeatedly. No luck. Dublin was crawling with other tourists, and it was quite hot. 

2 - Mysterious outages in the internet and phone coverage and payment systems were affecting Dublin, and lots of other people were struggling to buy train tickets with cash, etc. 

3 - The train from Ennis to Dublin was packed. The train from Dublin to Belfast was worse. It's the first time I've seen genuine public transport congestion in the entire trip. I ended up sitting on the floor of the train for several hours before seats finally freed up after everyone got off at Newry. 

4 - To top it all off, my accomodation provider suddenly contacted me saying the required a 100 pound deposit to be paid before they would give me the entry code to get into the building. This was to be done by bank transfer. The whole thing reeked of a scam. I explained that I was in no position to do this because I was on a packed train with limited and intermittent reception, and undertaking a complex international bank transfer with SWIFT and IBAN codes on my phone was out of the question until I could get a clear space to operate. They explained that it was their policy to blankly refuse to give me the access code until I had done so. I pointed out that their website says the deposit is to be paid on arrival, which strongly suggests the existence of a reception. They explained that it was not their policy to have a reception, but instead, to spring an urgent request for guests to perform an international bank transfer while in transit. I explained that this experience was very stressful and asked why they hadn't made the requirement known several days ago. They explained that it was their policy not to care at all about my experience, or to listen to any constructive feedback. I arced up on the phone, and told them this was the most ridiculous check in system I had ever seen, much to the amusement of several others who were sitting on the train floor nearby. I cancelled the booking, lost the cost of one night of the three I had booked, and staggered into a cheap hotel in Belfast when I finally arrived there. 

Dream Apartments Thomas Hall, Belfast, you know what you can do with your policy. 

I'm in Belfast now, waiting on my laundry, and making financial arrangements. It's not how I had planned to spend the day, but it will have to do. 

I hope that was all the bad stuff in one hot. It definitely felt that way.