Dublin

Notes - click on the links to the right in 'blog archive' for our other 25+ blogs. We are writing this for our family & friends and to have a record of our trip but if it helps anyone plan their trip or bring back memories that's great too.

Dublin 30th - 31st July 2014
A few photos from the sights we visited in Dublin. We only had two nights and that was cut short a bit as one day AR had to get a 2hr train to Belfast to bring a rental car back that cost $A530 for the 21 day hire. It was worth the effort as it was over $A 1070 cheaper than the first car we had booked from Dublin and dropping in Belfast at $A1447 plus $A150 one way fee.

Dublin Castle

Dublin was very busy and lots of tourists. Our hotel the Temple Bar Hotel was right in the thick of it and we had a street side 3rd floor room and heard the great music & partying until the wee hours each night. It was a great street but with earplugs and a fan (so we could shut the window) sleep was still possible.

The worst problem was the hotel's internet was so slow it wasn't useable and we had places to book and of course business things to attend to in Australia. AR went over to the hotel over the road Temple Bar Inn and asked if he could pay to hook into their internet which had a good signal in our room. They didn't want any money and were just happy to help so that saved a big problem as our hotel said the internet is never any good when they are full!

We did three main tours the first was the Chester Beatty Library which was great but NO photos. It has a massive and amazing collection that was donated to the Irish government provided it is never split up and is free for the public to visit. We took a guided tour and it was excellent. There are only guided tours at 1pm Wednesday and then Sunday at 3pm & 4pm. Our guide showed us around mostly the religious artifacts from every religion and she was very knowledgeable.

Trinity College Bell Tower

We just made it to the Trinity College last tour at 3:40pm for a student tour of the campus and then the Book of Kells and the library. It was 12 Euros for the student led tour and includes the 10 Euro entrance fee to the rest. It made it a reasonable thing to do but without the entertaining student tour it would have seemed expensive.

The next morning we caught the red tram to the Kilmainham Jail and we were in the queue at 9:15am for a 9:30am opening time as it get very busy. The tour was excellent and we learnt a lot about all the Irish struggles with England and amongst themselves. On the way out the queues were massive so go early is the secret.

On checkout day we were up early as again we had picked a busy place and we were packed up, breakfasted and in the car at 8am to head to the Bru na Boinne Visitors Centre to tour Newgrange & Knowth. The Trim Castle was next on the list after lunch.

Our English Heritage passes were GBP 86 for both of us and great value for our SW England tour but they also allow free entry to the Irish sites so Newgrange & Knowth at 11 Euros each was free and also Trim Castle at 4 Euros was free.

Magnificent sculpture at Trinity College - it spins too

This building at Trinity College has carved plants around the bottom and no two are the same

Trinity College old library

Might be hard to concentrate on the poker at this place advertised in Fleet Street - Temple Bar - Dublin

Some great pubs with live music even at lunchtime

Kilmainham Old Jail

Our tour guide at Kilmainham Jail did a great job

If you had money you could pay and get this room in the jail complete with your servants 

You even get gas lighting in your paid for cell

The newer part of the jail had a dumb waiter from the kitchen

Art from Grace one of the wives of the men executed for an uprising who painted this Madonna on her wall. She was married to him the night before he was executed and it was one of the things that turned the public towards wanting independence from England

Note the 'To Let' sign above the door

The 14 men executed for organizing a rebellion and they are credited with turning public sentiment

All the 14 men were shot here except one who couldn't walk from gangrene and he was shot at the other end. The story of a sick man being executed was also another thing the public didn't like and contributed to the turning of sentiment

The queue at the jail when we left

Wales

Notes - click on the links to the right in 'blog archive' for our other 25+ blogs. We are writing this for our family & friends and to have a record of our trip but if it helps anyone plan their trip or bring back memories that's great too.

Wales 27th - 30th July 2014
This blog is a bit light on for text/photos as we have been relaxing plus finishing booking the Ireland & Scotland legs plus the next Spanish leg having decided to include Portugal.

We drove from Bristol towards Cardiff paying the one way toll on the bridge of $A12 then kept driving to Swansea and then to the far SW tip for the day. We had booked the Premier Inn in Cardiff well in advance for 3 nights at the grand total of GBP 33 per night which just seems crazy. It was a super hotel right in the middle of town.

The second day we explored to the North before returning the car and having our third day to explore the city on foot (and have internet time to catch up on Ireland plans). Day four fly to Dublin with Aer Lingus who were great.

Cardiff heritage facade - helping the cement blend in behind

Wales has everything written in Welsh as well - we were asking the two girls who checked us in at the airport about how many people speak Welsh and they said that quite a few especially up North. One of the girls went to school that is taught in Welsh but she said she doesn't remember much having not practiced. She also said that it is much easier as more phonetic than English.

Beach at Worms Head, far SW Wales

Far SW tip of Wales

Sunday lunch in Wales

Easy and effective art

Cardiff wharf area - even has a man made beach

Cardiff wharf area - heaps of entertainment

Cardiff entertainment centre

Bus to the airport - few more Welsh signs, so many syllables!

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South West England

Notes - click on the links to the right in 'blog archive' for our other 20+ blogs. We are writing this for our family & friends and to have a record of our trip but if it helps anyone plan their trip or bring back memories that's great too.

Wednesday 16th July 2014 to Sunday 27th South West England

This blog is lighter than normal for text and we have also been a bit slack taking photos too. We have had a great relaxing trip driving around SW England. Made even more relaxing driving on the LHS of the road after our 4 previous rental cars being on the RHS. The weather has been hot and around 26 degrees each day which has the English in their swimmers and sunburned bodies are everywhere.

Cranky old codger

We flew in from Croatia and picked up a Vauxhall Astra at Gatwick and stayed at the following towns with lots of English Heritage castles and sites, National Trust buildings, pubs, one lane roads, hedges, beaches, magnificent villages and beautiful farms.

Nights:-

Brighton 1 

Salisbury 2 

Torquay 1 

Falmouth 3 

Bude 2 

Wiveliscombe 1 

Bristol 1 

We drive to Cardiff in Wales tomorrow for a few days then Ireland for 3 weeks, Scotland for a week, Northern England for a week before flying to Southern Spain for the next European leg.

Brighton Pier is pretty amazing - heaps of rides and lots of machines and games to play

Brighton Pier - even has a water slide ride on it

Brighton Pier seagull checking out the menu

Brighton Beach

Brighton fountain/park

Brighton has heaps of great little alleys often pedestrian only full of restaurants and bars

Brighton Beach Volleyball

Porchester castle - Sandy listening to the exceptionally good audio guide. There are two characters a French prisoner and an English guard who tell the story over about an hour from each countries/persons perspective

View from the top of Porchester Castle

The main building with 'the keep' the tallest building (last defence if walls breached) 

Renovating the straw roof on a house in Salisbury 

Salisbury Cathedral - we did the 'Tower Tour' and climbed right up the top of the spire.

Our hotel in Salisbury the Rose and Crown built in the 1300s. The following day, the heavy potted plant above Sandy's head fell to the ground with a huge thud when the steel bracket gave way - 
lucky escape by 24 hours.

Stonehenge was super busy and very interesting

Another audio guide - headphones are the best if you can remember them instead of holding the machine up to your ear for an hour

Drawbridge and moat at Old Sarum Castle

Stained glass Coats of Arms at Salisbury Castle

In the roof of Salisbury Cathedral on the tower tour - note the wooden joint in the middle with two tapered wooden pins

Salisbury Cathedral some later running repairs in steel to keep the tower solid - note how the steel work has not bolts but the same type of joins as you would find in wood work

Salisbury Cathedral is the tallest in Britain and the tower tour was excellent

The Salisbury Cathedral Tower wood work 

Salisbury Cathedral tour guide showing us the huge wheel that two guys worked to bring up a canvas bag of stone - plus there were two guys on the other side as the brake men - would take 1/2 hour to bring up the materials.

View from top of Salisbury Cathedral

Great fountain in the middle of Salisbury Cathedral

Note the windows in Portland Castle to prevent canon fire etc.

Portland Castle worked with another one across the river to protect the port

Our summer holiday spot in Tassie since AR was 10 is at Bridport and where we have a block to build on one day so had to put in a photo of the English town

Basil's Bar at Torquay. The Monty Python crew were kicked out of this hotel by its then 'unconventional' proprietor. John Cleese and his then wife Prunella Scales (Polly) returned to stay for inspiration to write the Fawlty Towers series.

Torquay beach

Love a good rust shot - Falmouth

Sandy wants a horsey sculpture like this from Bridport driftwood

St Michael's Mount - our English Heritage membership has been fantastic value but this one is National Trust so 8 quid entry

St Michael's Mount castle - lots of tourists and a family still lives in one section

Note the walkway on the RHS that is a path at a lower tide - we paid 2 quid each per trip on a boat to get to the island 

St Michael's Mount

Sennen Cove beach

Sennen Cove - nice little coastal town

Lands End - we walked 40 minutes on the coastal path from Sennen Cove where parking was better

Lands End photo spot - only 874 miles (1,407 km) to John o'Groats

St Ives - note all the boats waiting for the tide

Pendennis Castle - Falmouth

Pendennis Castle - loud mock firing of a cannon - Falmouth

Pendennis Castle view over some cannons

Rick Stein's restaurant was superb - Falmouth

The Doc Martin series was filmed in Port Isaac, here Sandy is outside the Doc's house

More coastal path at Port Isaac

The legend of King Arthur lives on - view down the coast from Tintagel Castle

Merlin's cave - Tintagel

Tintagel Castle

Old Post Office - Tintagel

Easy idea for a fountain

Couple of surfers with pooch - Bude sunset

English staple - interesting presentation using an enamel cup for the chips

Table and chairs made from old tyres - love it

Glastonbury Tribunal

Nice old Glastonbury pub

Glastonbury cafe with the smell of incense in the air and crystals shops, tarot readers and healing centres around every corner

St Andrew's cathedral in Wells