September 15th is coming to a close in Ireland. Our first day is in the books....and what a day it has been. It feels like a day that just will not end. Our flight from Chicago to Dublin was really nice. Lots of food and drinks on the plane...free movies...just so little sleep. We arrived in Dublin on time and then 'hired' a car for a week. And so the driving on the wrong side of the car, wrong side of the road and on very little roads has been hair raising. We drove from Dublin to Conmacnoise....a 6th century monastery. Pretty fascinating. We then went on the prowl to get karlie's phone unlocked and on a local carrier. We went to the city if Birr to see a castle. We found the sim chip there in a market. But following the instructions to make it work....well it did not go well. So we pressed on to Galway. We arrived at our B&B at 3:30 PM. It is a very nice place fairly close to the ocean. The host...a young guy...gave us a nice welcome. But the good news was he was successful in breaking/ unlocking our phone.
In the evening we drove into the center Galway. It is pretty eat place. We parked after almost hitting someone head on due to me being in the wrong lane, and walked around the city center. Very narrow streets. Nice upscale shops. Very friendly people. Very expensive.
Off to bed now....I can barely stay awake any longer.
In the evening we drove into the center Galway. It is pretty eat place. We parked after almost hitting someone head on due to me being in the wrong lane, and walked around the city center. Very narrow streets. Nice upscale shops. Very friendly people. Very expensive.
Off to bed now....I can barely stay awake any longer.
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| Freezing at Galway |
Galway
Clonmacnoise
Day Two.....
Well day 2 is in the books. It was another adventurous day. We all slept very deep but woke up refreshed. Karlie had stayed up dealing with pictures. When we were all up, Karlie said that we did not have a three prong electrical adapter. I have many two prong converters. So basically our laptop was going to die. So I went looking for the guy who managed our B&B again. We found a different guy this time. When I asked him about a three prong plug in...he looked at me like I was from a different planet. But although he did not understand he said...come on...I think I have something. He pulled out of a drawer a brick looking thing about 2 inches by 4 inches. It had all types of adapter options on it....and it worked. After eating our Irish breakfast, I returned the box and he said...keep it. He said that someone had left it there a long time ago and he had never used it until now. It saved us a ton of time. We would have been looking for one in Galway.
Irish breakfasts....egg, ham, bacon, pork and beans, fried tomato, sausage and black and white pudding. Don't be confused by the pudding. Not what you think. It is round cakes made of oats and animal parts ground together then fried. I tasted it...I don't think that I'll order that again.
We drove about two hours to Clifden to see a castle. We found it....but could not get to it. It was very rainy and the little dirt road was too muddy. While starting our drive to Kylemore Mansion, Denise tried to roll down the back window of the car. Well it broke. Now the window would not stay up. So we asked around for a mechanic. We found one. And they used the universal tool...duct tape. They said a dealer would have see it. So we called the rental company. Long story short...they had a guy in Galway who could swap cars with us. He told us to go to a hotel to meet him. Funny thing was that we arrived at the hotel at the exact moment and about hit each other as we entered the entrance. I was embarrassed. We are now driving a Ford Fiesta.
Driving....well we are still alive. I have NEVER driven so fast on such curvy, bumpy, extremely narrow roads! And....doing it from the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the street and shifting with my left hand! And they drive huge motor coaches on these roads! It is nuts.
We drove to a mansion called the Kylemore Mansion (abbey). It was quite a picturesque place. It has the largest gardens in Ireland that were built in a bog. It has over 70 rooms. It is now lived in by Nuns. Check the pictures out. It was beautiful.
Driving back through Galway was slow and painful. We did not get to the B&B until 7:00 PM. We ran back into the village after checking in to get some dinner. The food has been pretty good. The B&B is nice again. Nice room we have. Uniquely though, the B&B keeper posted that Irish folk music was going to be played in the parlor at 9 PM. So we went out to listen. It was he and his college age son who played the accordion and an elbow pipe thing. They sang solos accapella also. They wanted us to sing...we just laughed at him. They played for 1.5 hous until Denise stood up and excused us. She broke the band up. They quit playing. No partying in that Irish girl!
Well fun day...on to day 3.
Irish breakfasts....egg, ham, bacon, pork and beans, fried tomato, sausage and black and white pudding. Don't be confused by the pudding. Not what you think. It is round cakes made of oats and animal parts ground together then fried. I tasted it...I don't think that I'll order that again.
We drove about two hours to Clifden to see a castle. We found it....but could not get to it. It was very rainy and the little dirt road was too muddy. While starting our drive to Kylemore Mansion, Denise tried to roll down the back window of the car. Well it broke. Now the window would not stay up. So we asked around for a mechanic. We found one. And they used the universal tool...duct tape. They said a dealer would have see it. So we called the rental company. Long story short...they had a guy in Galway who could swap cars with us. He told us to go to a hotel to meet him. Funny thing was that we arrived at the hotel at the exact moment and about hit each other as we entered the entrance. I was embarrassed. We are now driving a Ford Fiesta.
Driving....well we are still alive. I have NEVER driven so fast on such curvy, bumpy, extremely narrow roads! And....doing it from the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the street and shifting with my left hand! And they drive huge motor coaches on these roads! It is nuts.
We drove to a mansion called the Kylemore Mansion (abbey). It was quite a picturesque place. It has the largest gardens in Ireland that were built in a bog. It has over 70 rooms. It is now lived in by Nuns. Check the pictures out. It was beautiful.
Driving back through Galway was slow and painful. We did not get to the B&B until 7:00 PM. We ran back into the village after checking in to get some dinner. The food has been pretty good. The B&B is nice again. Nice room we have. Uniquely though, the B&B keeper posted that Irish folk music was going to be played in the parlor at 9 PM. So we went out to listen. It was he and his college age son who played the accordion and an elbow pipe thing. They sang solos accapella also. They wanted us to sing...we just laughed at him. They played for 1.5 hous until Denise stood up and excused us. She broke the band up. They quit playing. No partying in that Irish girl!
Well fun day...on to day 3.
Kylemore Abbey
Kylemore Abbey
Conemara Region
Clifdon
Hello all. Another sunny day in Ireland....NOT! After enjoying a wonderful breakfast at our B&B...which included OJ, yoghurt, lots of breads and jellies, toast, eggs, ham, porridge and peppermint herbal tea....which Karlie really enjoyed.....we headed south to the Cliffs of Moher. However, our B&B host told us to follow the coast line and not the normal route. It was awesome...really beautiful coastal towns. It is a really green place here. Why you ask? It rains for 10 minutes and then it stops for 10 minutes. And about every hour you see the sun for 5 minutes.
Cliffs of Moher....pretty neat. They are...well cliffs...that drop directly into the ocean. I think while we were there...we all received a shampoo and a new hairdo. It rained on us...very hard. The winds blew so hard that my comb over looked like a Mohawk. Then the sun would come out and dry your hair. At the Cliffs...it did that process three times! But it still did not dampen the beauty of the area. It was really nice.
On our way down to Tralee, we stopped at the Bunratty Castle. We paid to go in this castle and area...quite a lot actually....and I think it was worth it. We went into dungeons, chambers, dining halls, and up to the top of the towers. Pretty neat. They had a medeival village with live animals and all.
We arrived at our B&B around 6:30 PM. It was a normal house with a few additional rooms attached. It did not have the Internet. Bummer. Anyway, the host recommended an Italian food place. We actually found it...but they were full and required reservations. So we walked down the street to another Italian place. Did I tell you how expensive it is over here? You can't get any meals in a restraunt for less than 15 euros. And that is if you go for an early seating. And lastly, the service is pretty slow. 1 Euro equals 1.4 Dollars.
After dinner, we came back to the home and crashed. No Internet...so I watched a Tyler Perry (Madea) movie until I fell asleep. Day over.....on to day 4.
Cliffs of Moher....pretty neat. They are...well cliffs...that drop directly into the ocean. I think while we were there...we all received a shampoo and a new hairdo. It rained on us...very hard. The winds blew so hard that my comb over looked like a Mohawk. Then the sun would come out and dry your hair. At the Cliffs...it did that process three times! But it still did not dampen the beauty of the area. It was really nice.
On our way down to Tralee, we stopped at the Bunratty Castle. We paid to go in this castle and area...quite a lot actually....and I think it was worth it. We went into dungeons, chambers, dining halls, and up to the top of the towers. Pretty neat. They had a medeival village with live animals and all.
We arrived at our B&B around 6:30 PM. It was a normal house with a few additional rooms attached. It did not have the Internet. Bummer. Anyway, the host recommended an Italian food place. We actually found it...but they were full and required reservations. So we walked down the street to another Italian place. Did I tell you how expensive it is over here? You can't get any meals in a restraunt for less than 15 euros. And that is if you go for an early seating. And lastly, the service is pretty slow. 1 Euro equals 1.4 Dollars.
After dinner, we came back to the home and crashed. No Internet...so I watched a Tyler Perry (Madea) movie until I fell asleep. Day over.....on to day 4.
Cliffs of Moher
On the way to Cliffs of Moher
Bunratty Castle
Bunratty Castle
Cliffs of Moher
Day Four.....
Slept well last night. I woke up earlier (7:00 AM) today. I am almost back...schedule wise.
Great breakfast again. A little bit more elegant setting in this house. Not as much food as the last one....but plenty.
Today was our travel day....the Dingle peninsula and the Ring of Kerry. Again we followed the coastline down to the little coastal, tourist town, of Dingle. While driving there, we had to climb up from sea level and go over a very windy, narrow mountain pass called Brandon pass. It was an amazing drive and the valley views were beautiful. I hope our pictures take. Dingle was a very cool place. Very touristy...right on a big ocean bay. I can see why people like to vacation there.
After Dingle, we drove the ring of Kerry which is another, larger peninsula, jetting out into the Atlantic sea. The Ring of Kerry is about an 80 mile drive. You see beautiful country...lots of stone wall fences separating the country side. The homes here are well taken care of and pretty. Lots of cows and sheep grazing. Karlie is pleased that they do not brand the sheep or cattle. They spray paint them different colors.
Did I tell you that it rains here? Well it didn't rain much today....but always cool and cloudy. Yesterday, Karlie got some manure on her pants. I probably scared her in the car! :-). No....actually she stepped in some and it landed on her pants. So she washed them at the B&B. But they were not dry in the morning. So we turned on the defrost in the car and put them there. They dried quickly.
When we get home, you will need to ask Karlie about the moon that rose over the mountain roads in the Ring of Kerry.
Today was an all Ireland final for what they called futbol. But it is not soccer. I am not sure how the game is played...but they love their teams. Since we are in Kerry...all we saw all day was green and gold....Kerry colors. At 3:00 PM, no one was on the streets. Amazing.
We arrived at our B&B in Killarney earlier than yesterday. So we drove to a really cool castle (Ross Castle). It was right on a huge lake...pretty cool. After that we drove into the center of town to find something cheap to eat. Good luck...the streets were full of people...but they were bemoaning the fact that Kerry lost to Dublin. We ate some fast food, stopped in a supermarket to get something to drink and get an ice cream. Did I tell you that Europe is expensive?
Well....looking forward to tomorrow...we are off to kiss the blarney stone in Cork tomorrow and on to stay at the Waterford Castle.
Great breakfast again. A little bit more elegant setting in this house. Not as much food as the last one....but plenty.
Today was our travel day....the Dingle peninsula and the Ring of Kerry. Again we followed the coastline down to the little coastal, tourist town, of Dingle. While driving there, we had to climb up from sea level and go over a very windy, narrow mountain pass called Brandon pass. It was an amazing drive and the valley views were beautiful. I hope our pictures take. Dingle was a very cool place. Very touristy...right on a big ocean bay. I can see why people like to vacation there.
After Dingle, we drove the ring of Kerry which is another, larger peninsula, jetting out into the Atlantic sea. The Ring of Kerry is about an 80 mile drive. You see beautiful country...lots of stone wall fences separating the country side. The homes here are well taken care of and pretty. Lots of cows and sheep grazing. Karlie is pleased that they do not brand the sheep or cattle. They spray paint them different colors.
Did I tell you that it rains here? Well it didn't rain much today....but always cool and cloudy. Yesterday, Karlie got some manure on her pants. I probably scared her in the car! :-). No....actually she stepped in some and it landed on her pants. So she washed them at the B&B. But they were not dry in the morning. So we turned on the defrost in the car and put them there. They dried quickly.
When we get home, you will need to ask Karlie about the moon that rose over the mountain roads in the Ring of Kerry.
Today was an all Ireland final for what they called futbol. But it is not soccer. I am not sure how the game is played...but they love their teams. Since we are in Kerry...all we saw all day was green and gold....Kerry colors. At 3:00 PM, no one was on the streets. Amazing.
We arrived at our B&B in Killarney earlier than yesterday. So we drove to a really cool castle (Ross Castle). It was right on a huge lake...pretty cool. After that we drove into the center of town to find something cheap to eat. Good luck...the streets were full of people...but they were bemoaning the fact that Kerry lost to Dublin. We ate some fast food, stopped in a supermarket to get something to drink and get an ice cream. Did I tell you that Europe is expensive?
Well....looking forward to tomorrow...we are off to kiss the blarney stone in Cork tomorrow and on to stay at the Waterford Castle.
Dingle
Ring of Kerry
Ring of Kerry
Ross Castle
Dingle Coast
Kilarney Bed and Breakfast
Day Five.....
Another day coming to an end in Ireland. We woke in our two room B&B. It was a family type deal so we ended up in two rooms...with two baths. This place was very clean. It was called the Shraheen House. Not sure why. As usual the breakfast was awesome and the sky was cloudy trying to rain.
After loading this small car again...we headed towards Cork with a quick detour to the Blarney Castle. That was a fun place. And yes we kissed the Blarney Stone. I gave it a big French kiss! You had to wind up a very narrow spiral staircase to the very top of the castle. There you laid on your back and slid your head down a wall a few inches. Only air was between you and the grounds below. A person was there to make sure you were safe and another guy was taking pictures to sell. The grounds around the castle were very nice and .... Green. But then what isn't green. :-).
After Blarney, we headed to Cork. There we parked and walked through the city center of Cork looking at the carols shops and things. We spent about an hour there is all.
We are now in Waterford. We booked a 'lodge' on the island where the Waterford castle is. You have to be ferry'd across the river to get on the island. On the island is the castle, golf course, lodges, wildlife and lots of land. It is quite pretty here. But no Internet in our lodges...which is ridiculous! And the lodge looks like a normal apartment which would sleep multiple families. It has 3 bedrooms with queen beds in each. It has a big kitchen, front room with flat screen TV, 3 baths, etc.. It isn't quite the castle feel that we had hoped for!
For dinner, we went downtown to a legitimate Pub. It was rush hour so parking was challenging. We found a spot in an alley way and avoided 5 eoro parking charges. The food was pretty good and fairly priced. On the way back to our 'castle' we stopped at a market and bought some breakfast supplies...since breakfast is up to us tomorrow. So we are good to go.
Well...tomorrow we head to Dublin for a night then on to England! We are all getting a bit tired but glad to be seeing the sites.
After loading this small car again...we headed towards Cork with a quick detour to the Blarney Castle. That was a fun place. And yes we kissed the Blarney Stone. I gave it a big French kiss! You had to wind up a very narrow spiral staircase to the very top of the castle. There you laid on your back and slid your head down a wall a few inches. Only air was between you and the grounds below. A person was there to make sure you were safe and another guy was taking pictures to sell. The grounds around the castle were very nice and .... Green. But then what isn't green. :-).
After Blarney, we headed to Cork. There we parked and walked through the city center of Cork looking at the carols shops and things. We spent about an hour there is all.
We are now in Waterford. We booked a 'lodge' on the island where the Waterford castle is. You have to be ferry'd across the river to get on the island. On the island is the castle, golf course, lodges, wildlife and lots of land. It is quite pretty here. But no Internet in our lodges...which is ridiculous! And the lodge looks like a normal apartment which would sleep multiple families. It has 3 bedrooms with queen beds in each. It has a big kitchen, front room with flat screen TV, 3 baths, etc.. It isn't quite the castle feel that we had hoped for!
For dinner, we went downtown to a legitimate Pub. It was rush hour so parking was challenging. We found a spot in an alley way and avoided 5 eoro parking charges. The food was pretty good and fairly priced. On the way back to our 'castle' we stopped at a market and bought some breakfast supplies...since breakfast is up to us tomorrow. So we are good to go.
Well...tomorrow we head to Dublin for a night then on to England! We are all getting a bit tired but glad to be seeing the sites.
Blarney Stone grounds
Kissing the Blarney Stone
Blarney Stone Castle
Our Waterford Castle
Day Six.....
Well, we woke up today in our own little castle. The apartment was basically a town home. It was really nice. I went for a walk around the grounds...by the golf course...by the castle, and down by the water. I saw rabbits, deer, and lots of birds. It was blue skies and very nice. We had purchased food to make in the town home. So I scrambled some eggs and we had those with orange juice and pastries.
After checking out, we headed to Dublin. We really had no plans along the way. But, we decided to go off the route to see Kilkenney and the castle there. That was a nice diversion. The town was really cool and the castle was very photogenic. We parked and walked around the grounds.
We then continued our journey north towards Dublin again. While driving we decide to go east to a township called Glendalough that sits in a beautiful valley started by Saint Kevin (sounds like someone's cousin). We had to go through some pretty horse farms and up a few mountainsides to get here. But once there...it was serene and nice. We took a short hike to a near black looking lake. Well worth the drive out of our way.
Finally, we made it to Dublin. But our GPS could not locate the house. We drove all around. We asked a lady on the street. She thought we were close...and we were. The place is on a very busy street by a college...so the area is kind of trendy. We saw cars parked on the sidewalk...so we did too! Once inside the lady said the car was fine there. But if we wanted, there was parking behind the house. Getting there was tricky...the alley way was very narrow. But we did it. The place is nice. We will each have twin beds now. Everything equal...unlike home where I only get a third of our bed! :-). For dinner, we walked down the street to a pub called Fagan's. The food was pretty good for the price. No matter what you order...you get chips (French Fries...they love them here). Denise got chips with her pasta. Odd. We are one convinced that we are in a good area.
Tomorrow, we are off to London. We'll be back to Dublin on Sunday...staying at this same place.
Kilkenny Castle Grounds
Kilkenny Castle
Glendalough grounds
Glendalough grounds
Glendalough grounds
Our B&B in Dublin
Day Seven.....England!
A travel day. After having slept in twin beds, we got going at 6:30 AM. We went down stairs to our Irish breakfast that consisted of juice, cereals, cheeses, salami's, boiled eggs and lots of breads. Pretty good. We left our B&B by 8:30 AM. The trip to the airport was quick. It was only 3 miles away. We were at our gate by 9:30 AM...and our flight was late leaving at 12:05. I was worried about luggage size and sure enough...they checked the bag that Karlie had. It fit fortunately. Ryan Airlines is a no frill airline. They want to ding you for everything. We arrived in London at about 1:45. We were making pretty good time....until we came to the passport check for entering the UK. We stood in line for over an hour. If you were a Euro...you had 7 workers checking passports. If you were a non-UK...they had up to 3 and sometimes down to just one person. The line for non-UK was so long...and no one was in the UK lines. Yet 7 workers sat and did nothing while we all sat in lines. Some people began to speak loudly voicing their concerns. It was a joke. Welcome to England.
After clearing their customs, we headed to the Gatwick express. The train was in the station. So after getting our tickets, we climbed aboard. It was about 35 minutes...and we were in the middle of London...or should I say Westminister at Victoria square. As we came out of the train station, there in front of us is a huge sign for Wicked...the play we'll be seeing tomorrow night. That is the location of the theatre. Now we needed to find our room. We had hoped the gps would work....it really did not...or at least we were not sure how to follow it. So we began asking people as I knew it was close...and it was. On the way there as we walked...I heard Denise make a noise. Just as I turned around, I noticed that she looked like super woman flying throug the air as she did a face plant on the sidewalk. The sidewalks are a bit uneven and one jumped up and bit her causing her to fall. As I pulled her up she was embarrassed more than hurt and her only concern was for her new pants. But they were fine. She got scrapped up a bit...but nothing else.
The hotel room...imagine a $150 per night poor Motel6. It is not quite as bad as the one we stayed in in Houston before our last cruise...but it is close. I hope I survive. 2 nights here...bummer. 60 stair steps to get to our room. Who needs to workout at FIT! Internet is poor also. Oh well. The good news...the tourist sites are close. We immediately set out on a walk. We went to Westminister Abbey. They only wanted 17 pounds (25 dollars) per person to go inside. I don't think so! So we went to see Big Ben. We then headed down to Buckingham Palace for pictures and stuff. By now we were getting hungry. So we headed back towards our room and stopped in a pub. The food was good and the price reasonable. After eating, we headed to our room only to miss the street we were to turn on. We eventually asked someone. We probably walked .5 to .75 of a mile longer than we needed to. We are all tired.
Tomorrow we plan to do the On/Off buses. Should be expensive...but fun. Then we get to see 'Wicked' in London. How cool is that!!! Lights out.....
After clearing their customs, we headed to the Gatwick express. The train was in the station. So after getting our tickets, we climbed aboard. It was about 35 minutes...and we were in the middle of London...or should I say Westminister at Victoria square. As we came out of the train station, there in front of us is a huge sign for Wicked...the play we'll be seeing tomorrow night. That is the location of the theatre. Now we needed to find our room. We had hoped the gps would work....it really did not...or at least we were not sure how to follow it. So we began asking people as I knew it was close...and it was. On the way there as we walked...I heard Denise make a noise. Just as I turned around, I noticed that she looked like super woman flying throug the air as she did a face plant on the sidewalk. The sidewalks are a bit uneven and one jumped up and bit her causing her to fall. As I pulled her up she was embarrassed more than hurt and her only concern was for her new pants. But they were fine. She got scrapped up a bit...but nothing else.
The hotel room...imagine a $150 per night poor Motel6. It is not quite as bad as the one we stayed in in Houston before our last cruise...but it is close. I hope I survive. 2 nights here...bummer. 60 stair steps to get to our room. Who needs to workout at FIT! Internet is poor also. Oh well. The good news...the tourist sites are close. We immediately set out on a walk. We went to Westminister Abbey. They only wanted 17 pounds (25 dollars) per person to go inside. I don't think so! So we went to see Big Ben. We then headed down to Buckingham Palace for pictures and stuff. By now we were getting hungry. So we headed back towards our room and stopped in a pub. The food was good and the price reasonable. After eating, we headed to our room only to miss the street we were to turn on. We eventually asked someone. We probably walked .5 to .75 of a mile longer than we needed to. We are all tired.
Tomorrow we plan to do the On/Off buses. Should be expensive...but fun. Then we get to see 'Wicked' in London. How cool is that!!! Lights out.....
London England, calling Neza:)
Our hotel in downtown London England
Buckingham Palace
Big Ben
The eye of London
In front of Buckingham Palace
Parliament
Day Eight......
A 'Wicked' day it was....a really fun day. We got up early to eat in the basement of this dumpy hotel. The food, served by youg girls that appeared to be in slavery...but were very nice..., was an English breakfast. Toast, an egg, bacon (ham), a sausage, and pork and beans with OJ. It was quite good coming from a crummy hotel like this.
We then headed over to the on off bus lines. We jumped on the big bus line for a serious chunk of change. This one had bus tours, walking tours and a river cruise....and we did it all! The bus tour took us to notable persons homes, through all of Westminister and London's busiest spots. In the morning, we jumped off the bus near their theatre district and china town. We walked around there until the walking tour began. The walking tour basically focused on the changing of the guard...which was quite awesome. You can't believe how many come out of the woodwork to watch their pomp and circumstance. From there, we hiked back to the bus stop where we got off and followed the road into old London. We again got off the bus there to get lunch. I spotted a trendy sandwich shop with a long line meaning the locals liked it...and so did we. After eating we jumped on the bus again which took us over the London bridge and to the tower bridge. There I saw my first castle with a large moat around. Way cool. After seeing that, we jumped off the bus and headed down to the piers on the Thames River. We jumped on a river cruise boat which took us back to Westminister. The float was fun. After the river trip, we got back on the bus to see a few more sites until the bus dropped us off a couple of blocks from our hotel. That was at about 4:00PM. Denise and Karlie then took a nap while I rearranged a few travel plans. I canceled our rental car in Dublin since we are so close to the airport. We will use a cab service to get to and from the airport and city buses while there.
The cream of the evening was to see Wicked again. It was awesome. We all love this play. The music was great...as usual. The stage spectacular. Defying Gravity...a sight to behold! We came out of the theatre inspired again by it all. We all wish we had more time to see more plays. The theatre for Les Miserables was not far from us. We are kicking ourselves for not getting tickets. The cool thing was that Wicked had a lot of unsold seats. So yea....we seat jacked at intermission. I would have done it earlier but I was wedged in my seat. It was fun being much, much closer for the second half of the play.
Well...tomorrow we leave London with no place to sleep booked. Should be an interesting day. We love and miss all of you. I think the three of us are ready to come home. Two weeks is a long time...that is what my wallet is telling me!
Cheers!
We then headed over to the on off bus lines. We jumped on the big bus line for a serious chunk of change. This one had bus tours, walking tours and a river cruise....and we did it all! The bus tour took us to notable persons homes, through all of Westminister and London's busiest spots. In the morning, we jumped off the bus near their theatre district and china town. We walked around there until the walking tour began. The walking tour basically focused on the changing of the guard...which was quite awesome. You can't believe how many come out of the woodwork to watch their pomp and circumstance. From there, we hiked back to the bus stop where we got off and followed the road into old London. We again got off the bus there to get lunch. I spotted a trendy sandwich shop with a long line meaning the locals liked it...and so did we. After eating we jumped on the bus again which took us over the London bridge and to the tower bridge. There I saw my first castle with a large moat around. Way cool. After seeing that, we jumped off the bus and headed down to the piers on the Thames River. We jumped on a river cruise boat which took us back to Westminister. The float was fun. After the river trip, we got back on the bus to see a few more sites until the bus dropped us off a couple of blocks from our hotel. That was at about 4:00PM. Denise and Karlie then took a nap while I rearranged a few travel plans. I canceled our rental car in Dublin since we are so close to the airport. We will use a cab service to get to and from the airport and city buses while there.
The cream of the evening was to see Wicked again. It was awesome. We all love this play. The music was great...as usual. The stage spectacular. Defying Gravity...a sight to behold! We came out of the theatre inspired again by it all. We all wish we had more time to see more plays. The theatre for Les Miserables was not far from us. We are kicking ourselves for not getting tickets. The cool thing was that Wicked had a lot of unsold seats. So yea....we seat jacked at intermission. I would have done it earlier but I was wedged in my seat. It was fun being much, much closer for the second half of the play.
Well...tomorrow we leave London with no place to sleep booked. Should be an interesting day. We love and miss all of you. I think the three of us are ready to come home. Two weeks is a long time...that is what my wallet is telling me!
Cheers!
Queen Elizabeth and King George
Waiting for the change of guards to happen.
Changing of the gaurds
One of the many bridges in London England
Seeing Wicked
Day Nine....
Goodbye London....hello English country side. We had a great stay in London. I would like to come back to see and stay in London. Not at the Stanley Hotel run by mid-eastern folks. Somewhere else would be important. But in the same area. I did sleep good last night. Why you ask? I took ear plugs and I used them last night. I did not hear anything. Both Denise and Karlie were jealous. I would have shared them...but I couldn't hear them ask! :-)
We had the usual breakfast...they are all the same. After eating, we headed over to Victoria Station and caught the Gatwick Express back to the Gatwick airport. It wasn't much of an express as it stopped twice. It is supposed to go to the airport without stopping. None the less it took about 45 minutes which was pretty quick. After arriving at the airport, we headed to the rental car counter. They gave us a much better car than in Ireland. However when we got in, we tried to get the Gps going. We thought it was a car problem. It was not. We tried it on a second car. It did not work there either. It tuned out to be Karlie's car adapter. The metal contact at the tip was gone. Now we were in a pickle. We HAD to have a GPS. By now the counter agent and her boss were in the parking lot. I asked the manager how much it was to rent a gps. He said 10 pounds a day...which is 15 dollars a day. But then he said to come into his office. I followed him there and he pulled out a spare adapter and said just take it and return it with the car. So nice....
We then drove 90 miles to Stonehenge....the mysterious large stones stacked by Martians some how, some way. No actually...ancient people did this. It is out in the middle of no where. I paid a lot of dinero to take a 30 minute walk around these stones. Stupid really. Oh well... once you are broke...it doesn't really matter...does it?
Our next stop was the highlight of the day. We drove 30 miles to Bath. Bath is a beautiful place. It is an older looking place in a small valley with arriver flowing through it. We actually found a parking place. So we got out to walk around, eat some lunch and burn some dinero on fabric. We were really impressed with bath. I actually have calls with a guy who works for an English company who is contracted to write some software for AXP. This guy lives in Bath. He loves and I can see why.
We then headed to the coast. We drove to Bournemouth. Once we hit the Irish Sea, we began to look for a place to stay. I was a little worried as we did not see much. We used the gps to track to a nice looking Best Western. So we got a quote...accepted it. Turns out that we are not in the hotel but in a row of rooms behind the hotel.. The room's bathroom is bigger than our room at the Stanley! After settling in, we went walking to find some food. We ended up in a pub. In these pubs...nobody seats you. You just go find a table and sit down. You then HOPE a waitress will come over. In this case no one came. So I went to the bar to ask about placing a food order. The gal said that she would have to take our orders there as no one else was on shift. Anyway...she would have let us sit there forever! Their service...needs some adjusting.
Well...end of day 9. My money is shrinking...unlike my belly!
We had the usual breakfast...they are all the same. After eating, we headed over to Victoria Station and caught the Gatwick Express back to the Gatwick airport. It wasn't much of an express as it stopped twice. It is supposed to go to the airport without stopping. None the less it took about 45 minutes which was pretty quick. After arriving at the airport, we headed to the rental car counter. They gave us a much better car than in Ireland. However when we got in, we tried to get the Gps going. We thought it was a car problem. It was not. We tried it on a second car. It did not work there either. It tuned out to be Karlie's car adapter. The metal contact at the tip was gone. Now we were in a pickle. We HAD to have a GPS. By now the counter agent and her boss were in the parking lot. I asked the manager how much it was to rent a gps. He said 10 pounds a day...which is 15 dollars a day. But then he said to come into his office. I followed him there and he pulled out a spare adapter and said just take it and return it with the car. So nice....
We then drove 90 miles to Stonehenge....the mysterious large stones stacked by Martians some how, some way. No actually...ancient people did this. It is out in the middle of no where. I paid a lot of dinero to take a 30 minute walk around these stones. Stupid really. Oh well... once you are broke...it doesn't really matter...does it?
Our next stop was the highlight of the day. We drove 30 miles to Bath. Bath is a beautiful place. It is an older looking place in a small valley with arriver flowing through it. We actually found a parking place. So we got out to walk around, eat some lunch and burn some dinero on fabric. We were really impressed with bath. I actually have calls with a guy who works for an English company who is contracted to write some software for AXP. This guy lives in Bath. He loves and I can see why.
We then headed to the coast. We drove to Bournemouth. Once we hit the Irish Sea, we began to look for a place to stay. I was a little worried as we did not see much. We used the gps to track to a nice looking Best Western. So we got a quote...accepted it. Turns out that we are not in the hotel but in a row of rooms behind the hotel.. The room's bathroom is bigger than our room at the Stanley! After settling in, we went walking to find some food. We ended up in a pub. In these pubs...nobody seats you. You just go find a table and sit down. You then HOPE a waitress will come over. In this case no one came. So I went to the bar to ask about placing a food order. The gal said that she would have to take our orders there as no one else was on shift. Anyway...she would have let us sit there forever! Their service...needs some adjusting.
Well...end of day 9. My money is shrinking...unlike my belly!
Stonehenge
Beautiful Bath
Our hotel in Bournemouth England
Pub food in Bournemouth
Day Ten.....
Ok....I am just going to say ditto for our breakfast. Another English breakfast. Only this time it was a buffet. It was really nice and good. And let me get this question out of the way...did I tell you how expensive Karlie's trips are?
We had a really spacious room last night. But...I still woke up early. So after showering, I got dressed and went for a walk. I found my walk to be funny. We were so worried about finding a hotel and being close to the beach. Well the beach was one block away. And on my walk I counted around 10 hotels. I think we were fine.
After breakfast, we headed out not knowing where to go or what to see. As we drove, I made a decision to go into Christschurch...coastal town near by. Great decision as we drove right to a really neat spot...Highcliffe Castle. This castle sits on beautiful grounds near the edge of a cliff that overlooked the Irish Sea. From the castle grounds, we could take a path down to the beach...which we did. The castle did not allow us to enter as we did not have our invitation to attend the wedding that was going on that morning. I was a little under dressed! Very picturesque place. I wish we could have gone inside.
We then navigated the southern coast down into Brighton. This is where my employer has some offices. Upon arriving into town...it was apparent that something was going on. There were a ton of people in the streets. I think they were having a food and drink festival. We decided to get out of there. But in doing so...we drove right by the Amex offices. I was amazed that we saw them.
After our escape out of Brighton, we headed north to the Gatwick airport and our hotel. After checking in, we rested a bit and then set out to find the London temple and get some food. We did manage to find the temple. The grounds are beautiful. The temple seems aged. We did not go in as we did not dress properly and we did not want to leave Karlie walking around the grounds looking like an investigator that the Elder's would be excited to teach. :-) From there we went down into Crawley to find food. We ended up in a mall just as it was closing. We went really international...Karlie and Denise had Subway sandwiches and I had a wrap at Burger King. I did not like my wrap...oh well.
Tomorrow we are jetting back to Dublin for the final two nights of our trip. We are tired and ready to get home. But we are thrilled to have taken this journey. Love you all.
We had a really spacious room last night. But...I still woke up early. So after showering, I got dressed and went for a walk. I found my walk to be funny. We were so worried about finding a hotel and being close to the beach. Well the beach was one block away. And on my walk I counted around 10 hotels. I think we were fine.
After breakfast, we headed out not knowing where to go or what to see. As we drove, I made a decision to go into Christschurch...coastal town near by. Great decision as we drove right to a really neat spot...Highcliffe Castle. This castle sits on beautiful grounds near the edge of a cliff that overlooked the Irish Sea. From the castle grounds, we could take a path down to the beach...which we did. The castle did not allow us to enter as we did not have our invitation to attend the wedding that was going on that morning. I was a little under dressed! Very picturesque place. I wish we could have gone inside.
We then navigated the southern coast down into Brighton. This is where my employer has some offices. Upon arriving into town...it was apparent that something was going on. There were a ton of people in the streets. I think they were having a food and drink festival. We decided to get out of there. But in doing so...we drove right by the Amex offices. I was amazed that we saw them.
After our escape out of Brighton, we headed north to the Gatwick airport and our hotel. After checking in, we rested a bit and then set out to find the London temple and get some food. We did manage to find the temple. The grounds are beautiful. The temple seems aged. We did not go in as we did not dress properly and we did not want to leave Karlie walking around the grounds looking like an investigator that the Elder's would be excited to teach. :-) From there we went down into Crawley to find food. We ended up in a mall just as it was closing. We went really international...Karlie and Denise had Subway sandwiches and I had a wrap at Burger King. I did not like my wrap...oh well.
Tomorrow we are jetting back to Dublin for the final two nights of our trip. We are tired and ready to get home. But we are thrilled to have taken this journey. Love you all.
Highcliff Castle Beach
Highcliff Castle
Highcliff Castle
Highcliff Castle Beach
London England Temple
Smooching by the temple
Day Eleven....travel back to Dublin, Ireland
This is Denise and I am going to write today's email. Tim doesn't know it yet so you might still get one from him :-) I promise not to mention how expensive it is or talk much about the food!!We got up really early as we had to catch our flight back to Ireland. Tim got up an hour earlier than he needed to because he figured the time difference wrong and didn't realize it until he got out of the shower! Poor Tim. He was all showered for the day and it was only 5 am. We got to the airport and turned in our rental car. We had a bit of a scare when they looked the car over and saw some scratches and were trying to charge us 120 pounds. Tim assured her that we didn't do it and she finally looked at the contract of the person who rented the car before us and saw the scratches noted. Tim has done such a WONDERFUL job of driving on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road on roads that are no bigger than bike lanes back home. Karlie and I are so grateful that he has done this as we sure didn't want to.We flew back to Dublin realizing that we had decided to not get a rental car and just use city busses! A bit scary from my point of view, but an adventure! Tim talked to a lady and found out what bus we should get on to get us to our bed and breakfast and we were off. It all went very smoothly and was quite easy. We got unloaded, made sure we had internet (as we don't survive without it very well) and set off by bus for downtown Dublin. As we got off at our stop it started to rain. Not just a little rain. It poured down. We trudged along anyway and saw Dublin Castle, Trinity College, the Temple Bar district and lots more. The rain slowed off and on and finally stopped. We had a nice dinner and then figured out which bus to take to get back to our B & B and now are watching movies or napping.It has been an amazing trip so far. So many incredible places we have seen. This is a beautiful part of the world. So much history. I feel blessed that I could come here and experience all I have.We miss you all and can't wait to see you. We'll try to cut down from the 1000+ pictures we have taken before we force you to see them all!
The temple bar street in Dublin
One of many bridges in downtown dublinRainy day in DublinDublin Castle
Day Twelve.....
Dublin, Dublin, Dublin....we had a nice day doing things in Dublin. Our room here at the ABC house is large and spacious...unlike the last time we stayed here before going to London. It is really nice. And Mary, the host, has been very accommodating with our luggage and things.
We had a lazy morning. We did NOT however miss our Irish breakfast. They have salami, cheeses, cereals, breads, toast, boiled eggs, yoghurt, milk and juice all laid out. Then they come and ask if you want them to cook something for you. We usually get bacon (ham) and a couple eggs. It is quite good.
After breakfast, I went for a walk down to a bakery to see if I could buy a cake to celebrate Karlie's birthday tomorrow. They had some beautiful small cakes. I did not but anything then....but we did later. A wonderful black forest cake. Also while I was out, I purchased bus passes...it cost about 16 euros. But then each time you get on and off it costs about 1 euro 50. We planned to ride many buses today....so we would have consumed the 16 euros real fast. We ended up riding the buses a lot.
After laying around awhile, we headed downtown. For a shopping day...it was pretty good. The skies were blue most of the day and no rain at all. Denise and Karlie successfully got rid of all that loose change that was burning holes in their pockets. They acquired many souvenirs to bring home. It will be fun to show them off.
After a few hours of shopping in the Temple Bar area, we went to town center to do a bit more shopping. There we bought a bunch of sweet things to bring home. We then caught the bus back to the B&B. Denise and Karlie took naps...I watched criminal minds and other stuff. Around5:30, we left the house and went down the street to a pub that we wanted to try. It was called The Cat In The Cage. Their service in these Pubs is so poor....unless you are ordering Guiness...their beer. Denise finally had to go over and give our order at the bar. The food wasn't too bad. Lots of chips (French fries).
After eating, we headed back down town to get rid of more money and attend a live Irish music and dance show. It started at 8:30 pm. It was free in a bar at one of the hotels. We felt a tid bit funny taking one of their tables and not drinking anything. But they did not seem to care. The goodness was...the musicians were great. But we did not see any dancing. We only stayed about 45 minutes because of my discomfort on not knowing well the bus system. And buses quit running around11:30 pm. I wanted to give myself some time in case I made a mistake. We could have always caught a taxi. We had a great time listening to the music...an acoustic guitar, a fiddle and a banjo. The guy who sang had a really good voice.
Back to the cake...the original plan was to celebrate Karlie's birthday on her birthday at breakfast. But...there were two people with me who could not wait. So yes...we sang to her, cut the cake and ate most of it one day before. Just not right...I say! The cake was delicious. They have good bakeries over here. Tomorrow will have the longest birthday of her life...31 hours due to timezone changes! She should be in heaven.
Well..it has been a fun trip. Two weeks is a really long time. So we are ready to get home and see all of you.
Karlie's Birthday cake. YUM. Black forest cake.
Eating Karlie's Cake
Using public transportation to explore Dublin.
Enjoying Irish music at a restaurant in Dublin
Our bus ticket in Dublin
