(To read a day-by-day account from the start, click here.)
Highlights of the trip:
The view of the Edinburgh city skyline from the visitor information centre
Kelvingrove museum, Glasgow
Rock of Cashel, Ireland
Getting upgraded from Singapore to Sydney coming home
Lowlights:
Losing a wallet
Hotel in Cardiff
American tourists, especially noticeable at Blarney Castle
Weather in Dublin (a shame since there was so much to see that we missed out on)
Friday, September 11, 2009
8 September
London - home
The weather forecast was for a hot day in London, but it wasn’t as bad as expected. We headed for South Kensington where I had arranged to meet up with some colleagues at Imperial College while Mum looked around the museums. Both of us had quite a productive time it would seem!
From there it was on to Heathrow and then the long flight home. On the Singapore – Sydney leg we found we had somehow been upgraded to premium economy which was a welcome change as the other flights were pretty full!
The weather forecast was for a hot day in London, but it wasn’t as bad as expected. We headed for South Kensington where I had arranged to meet up with some colleagues at Imperial College while Mum looked around the museums. Both of us had quite a productive time it would seem!
From there it was on to Heathrow and then the long flight home. On the Singapore – Sydney leg we found we had somehow been upgraded to premium economy which was a welcome change as the other flights were pretty full!
7 September
Cardiff - London
We had the morning to kill so walked from the hotel to Bute Park, next to the castle. We made our way back through the shops and arcades, picked up our bags and went to the train station. This was a bit challenging because Mum’s suitcase handle had decided to stop working. (Better than the wheels not working though...)
Again the train to London was uneventful, as was navigating to Pimlico and finding the hotel (the same one we had stayed at when we first arrived). Our last dinner before heading home: at Nando’s.
We had the morning to kill so walked from the hotel to Bute Park, next to the castle. We made our way back through the shops and arcades, picked up our bags and went to the train station. This was a bit challenging because Mum’s suitcase handle had decided to stop working. (Better than the wheels not working though...)
Again the train to London was uneventful, as was navigating to Pimlico and finding the hotel (the same one we had stayed at when we first arrived). Our last dinner before heading home: at Nando’s.
6 September
Cardiff
After a rotten night’s sleep – the bed was nothing more than a piece of hard foam on top of an mdf sheet - first stop on our list was the castle. This was very good, with an ‘interesting’ film illustrating the history of the site, and the audio tour was good as well (in contrast, for example, to the audio tour at Alcatraz which I just found plain annoying). The rooms in the house were amazing to look at. It’s hard to imagine living there though!
After this we made our way to the bus stop for the hop on / hop off tour, and got off at Cardiff Bay to have lunch and a bit of a wander around. Although the tourist information centre there had come highly recommended on an internet site Mum had looked up, we found it a bit pathetic really. The bay itself was very nice and the waterfront kind of reminded me of a saner version of Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. Then it was back on the bus to the national museum. We didn’t think this was as good as many of the others we had been to – there was not much flow from one gallery to the next. We spent the rest of the afternoon riding the bus around before making our way back to the hotel.
After a rotten night’s sleep – the bed was nothing more than a piece of hard foam on top of an mdf sheet - first stop on our list was the castle. This was very good, with an ‘interesting’ film illustrating the history of the site, and the audio tour was good as well (in contrast, for example, to the audio tour at Alcatraz which I just found plain annoying). The rooms in the house were amazing to look at. It’s hard to imagine living there though!
After this we made our way to the bus stop for the hop on / hop off tour, and got off at Cardiff Bay to have lunch and a bit of a wander around. Although the tourist information centre there had come highly recommended on an internet site Mum had looked up, we found it a bit pathetic really. The bay itself was very nice and the waterfront kind of reminded me of a saner version of Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. Then it was back on the bus to the national museum. We didn’t think this was as good as many of the others we had been to – there was not much flow from one gallery to the next. We spent the rest of the afternoon riding the bus around before making our way back to the hotel.
5 September
Manchester - Cardiff
The train journey from Manchester to Cardiff was uneventful, and we were able to check into the hotel at about 2 pm. There were lots of road works in the area around the hotel, but even so it gave an impression of the streets being modernised in contrast to most of the other places we had been to. We had the afternoon to wander around – to the tourist information centre as a first stop, then through the various shopping malls and arcades back to the hotel.
The train journey from Manchester to Cardiff was uneventful, and we were able to check into the hotel at about 2 pm. There were lots of road works in the area around the hotel, but even so it gave an impression of the streets being modernised in contrast to most of the other places we had been to. We had the afternoon to wander around – to the tourist information centre as a first stop, then through the various shopping malls and arcades back to the hotel.
4 September
Manchester
Showers throughout the day. We made our way to the tourist information centre, then decided to use the hop on / hop off bus tour. We got off at the Museum of Science and Industry, which was quite interesting (although we only looked around the exhibits in the main building). The tour buses here only went every 45 minutes, and we must have just missed one coming out of the museum.
Showers throughout the day. We made our way to the tourist information centre, then decided to use the hop on / hop off bus tour. We got off at the Museum of Science and Industry, which was quite interesting (although we only looked around the exhibits in the main building). The tour buses here only went every 45 minutes, and we must have just missed one coming out of the museum.
3 September
Dublin - Manchester
The sun was out as we made our way from the hotel to the ferry terminal at Dun Laoghaire by bus and local train. The ferry to Holyhead was not as smooth as the Stranraer – Belfast trip, but I slept for some of it and managed ok. At Holyhead we had a 45-minute wait for the train to Manchester, but when we arrived there we managed to find the hotel very easily.
The sun was out as we made our way from the hotel to the ferry terminal at Dun Laoghaire by bus and local train. The ferry to Holyhead was not as smooth as the Stranraer – Belfast trip, but I slept for some of it and managed ok. At Holyhead we had a 45-minute wait for the train to Manchester, but when we arrived there we managed to find the hotel very easily.
2 September
Dublin
In the morning we left the rental car at the hotel to be picked up and made our way by bus to the city centre. There was a bus stop right outside Trinity College which was one of our planned sights so we got off there and went to see the old library and the Book of Kells. It was intriguing to see all these people who had come, essentially, to look at a Bible!
After this we made our way to the museum to have a look around.
After lunch we got on the hop on / hop off bus tour. By this time it was raining quite persistently, which added to the traffic woes. We got off at the Christ Church / Dublinia, but decided we would rather go and see the prison. The next bus didn’t come for about half an hour, and by the time we had crawled past St Patricks and the Guinness brewery, the last admission time had well gone by. So we just stayed on the bus back to the city centre, had something to eat, then got the bus back to the hotel. A bit of a shame that it rained all day and we were only there for one day – it seemed like there was a lot to see and do.
In the morning we left the rental car at the hotel to be picked up and made our way by bus to the city centre. There was a bus stop right outside Trinity College which was one of our planned sights so we got off there and went to see the old library and the Book of Kells. It was intriguing to see all these people who had come, essentially, to look at a Bible!
After this we made our way to the museum to have a look around.
After lunch we got on the hop on / hop off bus tour. By this time it was raining quite persistently, which added to the traffic woes. We got off at the Christ Church / Dublinia, but decided we would rather go and see the prison. The next bus didn’t come for about half an hour, and by the time we had crawled past St Patricks and the Guinness brewery, the last admission time had well gone by. So we just stayed on the bus back to the city centre, had something to eat, then got the bus back to the hotel. A bit of a shame that it rained all day and we were only there for one day – it seemed like there was a lot to see and do.
1 September
Cork - Dublin
In the morning we set off from the hotel in Cork – encountering roadworks on the way, which would not have made the previous night any easier if we had come from the ‘right’ direction! – to Blarney Castle. The grounds there were quite extensive and pleasant even though it was raining somewhat. It was amazing to see how much of the castle is still intact; no doubt because of the upkeep required so people can still go and ‘kiss the Blarney stone’. Unfortunately for us, we arrived about the same time as an unknown number of tour buses full of Americans, so the atmosphere was completely wrecked by these people vocalising every thought that came into their head. Yet despite this they were all queued up to kiss the stone at the top of the castle – as if they needed the ‘gift’ of extra verbosity!
From there we drove to the Waterford crystal factory only to find that the factory itself had closed down, although the visitor centre (including the shop, of course) was still open.
Then it was on to Dublin. We had been warned by the rental car people in Belfast that driving in Dublin was akin to driving in Paris, but we didn’t find it too bad at all (maybe because we didn’t have to go near the city centre).
We checked into the hotel and walked down to the nearest shops, where we found one of the best meals of the entire trip – roast dinner cafeteria style for about €8.
In the morning we set off from the hotel in Cork – encountering roadworks on the way, which would not have made the previous night any easier if we had come from the ‘right’ direction! – to Blarney Castle. The grounds there were quite extensive and pleasant even though it was raining somewhat. It was amazing to see how much of the castle is still intact; no doubt because of the upkeep required so people can still go and ‘kiss the Blarney stone’. Unfortunately for us, we arrived about the same time as an unknown number of tour buses full of Americans, so the atmosphere was completely wrecked by these people vocalising every thought that came into their head. Yet despite this they were all queued up to kiss the stone at the top of the castle – as if they needed the ‘gift’ of extra verbosity!
From there we drove to the Waterford crystal factory only to find that the factory itself had closed down, although the visitor centre (including the shop, of course) was still open.
Then it was on to Dublin. We had been warned by the rental car people in Belfast that driving in Dublin was akin to driving in Paris, but we didn’t find it too bad at all (maybe because we didn’t have to go near the city centre).
We checked into the hotel and walked down to the nearest shops, where we found one of the best meals of the entire trip – roast dinner cafeteria style for about €8.
31 August
Galway - Cork
From Galway we headed south: past Dunguaire castle to the Aillwee caves – somewhat different to the ones we had seen the day before at Marble Arch – and the Burren birds of prey centre.
After this we stopped at the prehistoric tomb at Poulnabrone before heading to the Cliffs of Moher. The amazing views were spoiled somewhat by the ignorance of some people...
We drove on to the Rock of Cashel which was well worth the visit.
All of these stops meant that it started getting dark well before we reached Cork, where we were staying the night. We had directions from Google, but no map of where the hotel was in relation to other streets or landmarks. Eventually, after driving around for about an hour, we stopped to ask for directions. Fortunately the person we asked lived very close by the hotel and was willing to drive there so we could follow him.
Rock of Cashel
From Galway we headed south: past Dunguaire castle to the Aillwee caves – somewhat different to the ones we had seen the day before at Marble Arch – and the Burren birds of prey centre.
After this we stopped at the prehistoric tomb at Poulnabrone before heading to the Cliffs of Moher. The amazing views were spoiled somewhat by the ignorance of some people...
We drove on to the Rock of Cashel which was well worth the visit.
All of these stops meant that it started getting dark well before we reached Cork, where we were staying the night. We had directions from Google, but no map of where the hotel was in relation to other streets or landmarks. Eventually, after driving around for about an hour, we stopped to ask for directions. Fortunately the person we asked lived very close by the hotel and was willing to drive there so we could follow him.
Rock of Cashel
30 August
Belfast - Galway
From Belfast we drove to the Marble Arch caves. Finding it was a bit of a challenge, but the effort was worth it. Then on to Galway for the night.
From Belfast we drove to the Marble Arch caves. Finding it was a bit of a challenge, but the effort was worth it. Then on to Galway for the night.
29 August
Day trip north of Belfast
With a long day ahead of us, we made our way (relatively) early to the airport to pick up a rental car and headed north to the Giant’s Causeway. Obviously the roads are quite narrow compared to what I’m used to! but it wasn’t too much of a problem. On the way there we stopped at the Carrick-a-Mere rope bridge, and walked along the cliff path in between the showers. When we arrived at the Giant’s Causeway the rain again cleared. It was a really fascinating place.
With a long day ahead of us, we made our way (relatively) early to the airport to pick up a rental car and headed north to the Giant’s Causeway. Obviously the roads are quite narrow compared to what I’m used to! but it wasn’t too much of a problem. On the way there we stopped at the Carrick-a-Mere rope bridge, and walked along the cliff path in between the showers. When we arrived at the Giant’s Causeway the rain again cleared. It was a really fascinating place.
28 August
Belfast
Our only day in Belfast, and we made our way to the centre of town to sign up for a walking tour of the city – only to be told that it was fully booked. So we went for a walk around ourselves, before deciding to go to the Ulster Folk Museum (which had won some 'best tourist attraction' award). This required taking a local train to Cultra and then a lot of walking, which wasn’t really worth it - left us wondering what the award it had won was! The Folk Museum was associated with the Transport Museum which we had a look around too.
Our only day in Belfast, and we made our way to the centre of town to sign up for a walking tour of the city – only to be told that it was fully booked. So we went for a walk around ourselves, before deciding to go to the Ulster Folk Museum (which had won some 'best tourist attraction' award). This required taking a local train to Cultra and then a lot of walking, which wasn’t really worth it - left us wondering what the award it had won was! The Folk Museum was associated with the Transport Museum which we had a look around too.
27 August
Glasgow - Belfast
In the morning it wasn’t raining so we went for a walk to George Square to take some photos. At lunch time we started our journey to Belfast: by train to Stranraer and then by ferry. The crossing was very smooth which was a relief.
Walking around the streets near the hotel in Belfast, we couldn’t help but notice how many empty shops and apartments there were.
In the morning it wasn’t raining so we went for a walk to George Square to take some photos. At lunch time we started our journey to Belfast: by train to Stranraer and then by ferry. The crossing was very smooth which was a relief.
Walking around the streets near the hotel in Belfast, we couldn’t help but notice how many empty shops and apartments there were.
26 August
Glasgow
Second day in Glasgow, and the weather was not as good as the first day so we got the bus again to George Square to use internet at a church cafe there. In the afternoon we went to the Kelvingrove museum which was really good.
Second day in Glasgow, and the weather was not as good as the first day so we got the bus again to George Square to use internet at a church cafe there. In the afternoon we went to the Kelvingrove museum which was really good.
25 August
Glasgow
Day one in Glasgow, and we started off the day by going on the hop on/hop off tour. We chose to get off at the Science Museum, and also went up the tower there.
Day one in Glasgow, and we started off the day by going on the hop on/hop off tour. We chose to get off at the Science Museum, and also went up the tower there.
24 August
Inverness - Glasgow
We had a couple of hours in the morning to kill in Inverness, then made our way to the train station to go to Glasgow. We arrived to a bright sunny day and didn’t have much trouble finding the hotel.
We had a couple of hours in the morning to kill in Inverness, then made our way to the train station to go to Glasgow. We arrived to a bright sunny day and didn’t have much trouble finding the hotel.
23 August
Inverness: day trip to John O'Groats
Second day trip from Inverness, to John O’Groats: the northernmost point of mainland Scotland and gateway to the Orkney Islands. The tour group was a smaller one than the previous day, and a few more stops along the way, including some prehistoric sites. Although the terrain wasn’t as rugged as at Skye, it was just as remote. We saw many stone buildings that had been left to become ruins, and the cliffs at the headland were very impressive.
Second day trip from Inverness, to John O’Groats: the northernmost point of mainland Scotland and gateway to the Orkney Islands. The tour group was a smaller one than the previous day, and a few more stops along the way, including some prehistoric sites. Although the terrain wasn’t as rugged as at Skye, it was just as remote. We saw many stone buildings that had been left to become ruins, and the cliffs at the headland were very impressive.
22 August
Inverness: day trip to Skye
Our first day trip from Inverness was to the Isle of Skye. We saw so many different landscapes along the way, it’s hard to sum up in just a few words. There was a lot of driving, much of it on very narrow roads. The mountains of Skye were quite impressive, even though we only saw a small corner of the island. Coming back was through the highlands and along Loch Ness.
Our first day trip from Inverness was to the Isle of Skye. We saw so many different landscapes along the way, it’s hard to sum up in just a few words. There was a lot of driving, much of it on very narrow roads. The mountains of Skye were quite impressive, even though we only saw a small corner of the island. Coming back was through the highlands and along Loch Ness.
21 August
Edinburgh - Inverness
We were on the move again, this time to Inverness. The scenery was great – hillsides covered with purple heather. Unfortunately the trip was spoilt by a group of about a dozen yobs who got on the train about an hour and a half from Inverness, obviously in the process of starting a stag weekend of some sort.
Inverness city centre, being quite small, was easy to navigate and so we checked into the hotel and went for a walk along the banks of the river.
We were on the move again, this time to Inverness. The scenery was great – hillsides covered with purple heather. Unfortunately the trip was spoilt by a group of about a dozen yobs who got on the train about an hour and a half from Inverness, obviously in the process of starting a stag weekend of some sort.
Inverness city centre, being quite small, was easy to navigate and so we checked into the hotel and went for a walk along the banks of the river.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
