Day 25 - Dublin to Brugges

Up at 0445, on the bus to the airport and short flight to Amsterdam. I was impressed that we could change our flight so easily just the afternoon before.
The train from Amsterdam to Brugges  took about 3 hours with a change at Brussels. I like travelling by train - seats are comfortable, most have wifi and power points, toilets and food and drink, plus you get to see the country.
Arrived at the hotel and the room was very small, but most European city hotels are like that so we didn’t mind.
Dropped the bags and headed out. I'd been to Brugges about 30 years ago and as we walked around I started to remember it. It's a very pretty town, the main square has some impressive buildings and the whole place was delightful - lots of old buildings, very clean, quaint alleyways, and more chocolate shops than I have ever seen. We decided to wait until after dinner before buying chocolates but they were definitely on the agenda. We walked along the streets, a nice change of pace after the driving of the last few days. The weather was perfect - sunny and warm  -  Google said it was 17C but it felt warmer, probably after the wintry conditions in Ireland. It was hard to believe that just a few days ago we were  walking in a howling gale being pelted with freezing rain. We wandered around the streets, lots of tourists about, just enjoying the environment. We stopped at a restaurant around the corner from the main square. I had Flemish beef stew with apple sauce, salad and chips, Song had mussels. I also had a beer because I was no longer driving - a Leffe Bruin, which I think was the nicest I've had on this trip so far.
Left the restaurant and suddenly found the streets empty - we guessed all of the tourists were on day trips and were heading home because there were very few people around. We stopped for an ice cream despite the temperature dropping as the sun went down and went back to the hotel.
Tomorrow we're going to Luxembourg, then onto Metz in France.

Impressions of Ireland

Cold, wet and windy. Wet. Rainy. Lots of wind. Did I say cold?
I was very surprised that the weather in Ireland was worse than Iceland. I suspect if the sun ever came out the Irish people would wonder what it was and would probably start worshipping it.
Dublin was very busy, awful traffic and not really a lot to see. The drive through the countryside lived up to expectations - rolling hills, green fields with sheep, old abandoned buildings covered in ivy which fit with the landscape. I expected to see small villages, but there were lots of places with a few houses but no cafes or shops.
Galway was lovely - a real buzzing place, lots of people having fun, buskers, lots of cafes and restaurants.
Also liked Cork, we didn’t stay long but felt it had a nice atmosphere.
Some fantastic scenery that we discovered by accident, really amazing.
Overall a pleasant experience except for the appalling weather most of the time.

Day 24 - Wexford to Dublin

Filled up with the included breakfast and back into the car for the last time to drive back to Dublin.
Although Wexford is in the south and Dublin the north, it only takes about 2 hours to drive via the freeway, and since we'd seen Dublin decided to use the back roads to see more of the country. We stopped for a coffee in a small town that had a castle then continued on.
After about half an hour we were both a bit bored of the same hedges and fields and were still going to get to Dublin early so I looked at the map and decided to cut across the country through some hills.
This turned out to be a great idea because the scenery was amazing - almost like Iceland.
We drove along the top of the hills on a small road which I think was the most isolated I've ever been on. We saw a few cars but for the most part we were the only ones on the road. The landscape was as if it were another country - similar to moorland and vast, with hills all around.
We stopped for another coffee and scones in a small town, I checked the map again and set off along another minor road. We soon came across a waterfall pouring into a valley. Truly spectacular. I think we saw the best scenery in Ireland just by chance.
Finally drove out of the hills and headed to the airport to drop off the car, then went to get the Aer Lingus desk to see if we could change our flight. Brussels airport was running a limited service so we couldn't change the time, but we were able to switch the flight to Amsterdam and leave in the morning. This would save us having to spend another day in Dublin and get the train to Bruges from Amsterdam, giving us some time in Bruges.
Got to the bus station and saw our courtesy bus waiting so hopped on and got to the hotel in 5 minutes. Looked at the hotel name, then at the booking and realised it was the wrong hotel. Ours was Clayton, we were at the Carlton. Close but no cigar. Got back on the bus to the airport then got on the right one.
Song wasn't hungry so didn't want dinner but I was so went to the hotel restaurant and had a burger plus a pint of Guinness - trying to bring Australia up in the rankings.
Getting up very early tomorrow to fly to Amsterdam, then on a train to Bruges.

Day 23 - Cork to Wexford

Woke up refreshed, packed up and headed to Cork city (we stayed just outside), stopped for a very nice breakfast in a small trendy cafe. I had porridge with honey and banana and Song had Granola, whatever the hell that is. We were heading for the English market, one of the sights of Cork. We came across a small group of people who were clearly agitated and were pointing at the sky. There was a blue area amid the grey, and an old man said "I remember the great blue patch of 1965. It lasted for nearly 10 minutes. I didn’t think I'd live to see it again. Many witches were burned that day".
Carried on around the town, found it very nice, small alleys full of cafes and shops, clean and friendly. Found the market which was also nice but small.
Walked back to the car then on to Blarney Castle. I liked Cork, even though we didn't stay long it seemed pleasant.
Blarney Castle was nice, there were gardens with rivers and the setting was wonderful. We climbed up the narrow spiral stairs up to the top and had a great view of the area. We decided not to kiss the blarney stone, and climbed back down. As we walked through the gardens a miracle happened - the sun came out! I even took off my jacket. The locals were cheering and hugging each other.
Back in the car and did a bit of a backtrack to the Rock of Cashel, another castle. Only took about 40 minutes up the freeway, but as we got closer the clouds came in and the rain started.
Got to the castle which was impressive, but unfortunately there were renovations going on and a lot of it was covered in scaffolding. Took photos then found a place for a sandwich for lunch. Passed through Tipperary on the way to Waterford - I didn’t know it was a long way to Tipperary - and arrived in Waterford. Walked up and down the high street, not a lot to see, then back to the car and onto Wexford where we stopped for the night. Drove into town for dinner around some back roads and saw some magnificent homes - long, tree lined driveways, large grounds and huge houses - I'd noticed this before, on the outskirts of towns there tended to be these large properties. We parked in the city and found the 3rd best place in Wexford, called The Yard. I had cod with ratatouille and roast potatoes, Song had Monkish with cous cous. I'm beginning to worry that she'll develop gills.
Went back to the hotel, back to Dublin tomorrow.

Day 22 - Galway to Cork

We were staying at one of those corporate hotel chains that cater for travelling business people so it was pretty average. However, the one saving grace is that they usually have a good breakfast spread, and this one did. I had bacon, sausage and baked beans. Then toast. Then yogurt. Then a fruit smoothie. Then a croissant. And orange juice. And coffee. As I was drinking the frankly diabolically crap coffee I had one of my (many) brilliant ideas - these hotels should buy a proper cafe coffee machine and train some staff to be barristas. No more of the drip, filtered rubbish, but a cup made properly.
We popped back into Galway to see the famous Bay (and took photos of course), then hit the road to the Cliffs of Moher.
It wasn't far, but it was along country roads and the coast road so took a bit of time. The weather was typical of the Irish weather we've come to expect - cold, raining and windy. The scenery was very nice, we stopped off at a small castle, and followed the narrow coast road, Song taking photos out of the window and me driving and trying to avoid being collected by one of the many tourist coaches.
Eventually arrived, parked the car and stepped out into a howling wind and light rain. Song opened the car door and a bag blew out and I had to chase it across the car park, which wasn't too bad with the wind behind me, but turning round and heading back to the car was hard work.
We walked over to the cliffs, the wind pushing us along, and onto the path along the cliff. The wind was so strong that the rain felt like needles against the face, and it was bloody freezing. The car said the temperature was 4C, but with the wind I'm certain it was below zero. We struggled along the path, taking photos, but I had to stop after a few minutes because my hands got numb. We turned around and headed off along another path, braving the elements. We got to the top of the other side and took photos but I'd had enough so we went back to the visitors centre. This time we were walking into the wind, and we had to struggle - head down, hands in pockets, fighting the wind. We passed an old guy who I think was insane - he was busking with an accordion. He was huddled against the wall, his instrument covered in a plastic bag trying to be heard over the wind. Song gave him some money for his sheer bravery.
The cliffs were impressive, very imposing, but as with the Giant's Causeway, I think I would have enjoyed it more if the weather was better.
We carried on to the centre, and I was thinking if the coffee machine was broken I'd cry.
Staggered into the warmth and quiet of the centre, found a seat and had a nice hot drink and an apple pie for good measure. After preparing for the epic journey back to the car, we set off again.
We both agreed these were the worst weather conditions we've ever experienced.
Back in the car with the heater turned up full, we thawed out and carried on to Cork, passing through Limerick with a quick look at King James Castle. We continued along the country roads, the scenery as I expected and delightful - stone walls, green fields and the occasional abandoned house covered in ivy. At one stage we turned a corner and saw 3 snow capped mountains. We eventually got to Cork at around 1730.
We're usually quite hardy and don't let the weather get in the way of what we want to do, but after dropping the bags in the hotel room and looking outside at the rain, and listening to the wind, we didn’t fancy going out, driving to the city, parking and trying to find somewhere to eat, so just went to the hotel restaurant. I had beef brisket followed by pork belly with mash, pureed carrot and gravy, and then apple crumble. Song had a caesar salad, the pork belly, and cheesecake for dessert. It was reasonably priced for a hotel and very  nice. I also decided that since I wasn't driving I would have a beer, and finally succumbed and ordered a pint of Guinness. It was a lot nicer than I remembered. Here's a trivia question - which country is the second largest consumer of Guinness? No. No. Nope. Nigeria. Ireland is number 3. UK is number 1 (yay for the alcoholic Brits).
Suitably stuffed, went back to the room without having to step outside and relaxed. Off to Wexford via the Rock of Cashel tomorrow. Let's hope the weather improves, because I don't think it could be worse.

Day 21 - Dublin to Galway

Had a bit of a lie in till 0800, then out to get the car. She said it was a BMW X1,  then said that wasn't available so would upgrade me to the next class for free and I had visions of a Mercedes, BMW 5 or something but it was a Hyundai i40 which had 115k on the clock and was a bit of a clunker.
Drove back to the hotel to pick Song up, then set off for Galway. According to Google it was about 2 hours 45 minutes by freeway or 3.5 by the other road, so decided to go the slower way to see the countryside. It turned out that the roads were basically country roads and narrow, with tall hedges either side, so it was difficult to see anything. There were no towns or villages, just the odd clump of houses. The weather was alternating between sun and rain, about 7C.
Feeling hungry, stopped at the first town we came to, called Edenderry, and what a dump it was, but we'd paid for parking and the thought of giving away 1.5 euro was too much to bear. There were boarded up and derelict shops, and more betting shops than cafes. We found a pub that looked ok, and there were no fights going on inside so we risked it. Song had the full Irish breakfast and I had cottage pie and chips, both were ok but I was just happy we weren't mugged.
Set off again along the country roads, passing some nice houses as well as some old abandoned stone ones, and headed for a town called Mullingar because it had a cathedral and looked nice. The weather turned and it started to hail and then snow and dropped to 2C. It was colder than most of Iceland. Parked and walked to the cathedral, turned round and walked back when we saw we had to pay to get in. It's not that we're tight, but we've seen plenty of cathedrals and weren't really in the mood.
Wandered up the main street, it was reasonably pleasant despite the weather, then back to the car and on to Athlone, another place that Google says is nice. The sun came out again for about 30 minutes, then it started raining as soon as we got to Athlone. Stopped for a coffee but decided to just get going to Galway, about an hour away. We passed pleasant countryside, stone walls, old stone houses that had been abandoned but didn't look ugly, they gave the fields character. We also passed fields of sheep with lots of lambs - tiny, cute, white, and just delightful.
Arrived at the hotel in Galway and dropped the bags and went into the town.
It was buzzing - lots of people milling around plenty of cafes and restaurants (and pubs of course). Found a restaurant and tried to decide what to have, and chose lamb. I had braised lamb with lamb sausage on goats cheese mash, cranberries and apricots - it was very nice. Song had - guess, go on. Yes, fish again - cod ling.
We decided not to have dessert and just went back to the hotel, it was getting a bit late. Walking up the road we saw a band of buskers, and still lots of people around, the place had a nice vibe.
Tomorrow we're going to Limerick via a couple of sights.

Day 20 - Giant's Causeway

Up at 0515, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm actually on holiday, taxi to the city to get a coach to the Giant's Causeway which is actually in Northern Ireland. The drive took about 3 hours and the driver was one of those people who thinks he is funny because foreigners laugh at his jokes just because they think they should. He also insisted on not only talking all the way there but also burst into the odd song, and regaled us with a couple of verses of traditional Irish songs a couple of times. I half expected him to stop and perform Riverdance. Consequently I didn't get much of a chance to sleep.
We stopped off at an avenue of trees called the dark bushes which featured in Game of Thrones, although I can't remember it.
We stopped for lunch at a cafe that was probably paying kickbacks to the coach company so Song and I were a bit dubious but the food was surprisingly good and reasonably priced. I had beef and Guinness pie and Song had leek and potato soup.
The coach carried on and stopped at an old rope bridge which we walked across to a small island, then onto the Giant's Causeway. The weather was pretty awful - cold, a light rain, windy and about 5C. Wandered around the thing, taking pictures and trying not to get blown into the sea, then went and sat in a pub to wait for the coach. It was interesting, and I think I would have enjoyed it more had the weather been better and my cold gone.
Back on the coach, a quick look at an ancient castle and then a stop off in Belfast which as far as I could tell had no redeeming features and the hour we spent there is an hour of my life I'll never get back. We just sat in a cafe, watched the rain and miserable people and waited for the coach to leave.
On the way back the driver decided to play some traditional Irish music which was bad enough, but then he insisted on singing along. What was a long day seemed to go on forever.
Got back, it was still raining, walked to the bus stop then crashed in the hotel once again, neither of us fancied eating.
The icing on the cake for the day was the flight to Belgium in a few days had been changed from 0640 to 1830, which stuffed up our plans a bit but could have been worse, at least we didn't have a connecting flight. We'd have to call the airline to see if they could get us on an earlier one.
Tomorrow we pick up the hire car and drive around Ireland for a few days.

Day 19 - Dublin

Up early again, still battling the cold and cough. Taxi then train to the airport then the shortest flight I think I've ever been on, about 30 minutes.
Taxi to the hotel which was very impressive - an old castle (I don't think there are any new ones actually).
The room wasn't ready so we dumped the bags and took a bus into Dublin and wandered around trying to find something to eat, most places seemed to serve fried breakfasts or pub food but we found a cafe that did rolls and bagels. The weather was cold and a bit overcast, around 7C.
Every second shop is a pub - drinking appears to be the national pastime.
The weather got worse and started to rain heavily and I'd decided to leave the umbrella at the hotel so got a bit wet, not doing my cold any good. Walked over the Ha'penny Bridge and into the main part of Dublin, through some alleys and back streets heading to Dublin Castle. It wasn't that impressive to be honest, so we carried on to St Patrick's Cathedral. Paid our 6 Euro to get in and heard what I thought was recorded music but it turned out to be a choir of teenagers performing, so we sat and listened for a while. Very pleasant and relaxing. Wandered around inside, found out that Jonathan Swift was buried there and took some photos of the inside of the cathedral.
Left to go to another church but when we got there it was shut so continued back to the main part of the city. We were both tired from the early start so stopped off for a coffee, then found ourselves outside The Temple Bar which Song said was famous. Unable to resist any longer, we went in for a beer. I was going to have a Guinness for appearance, but I don't really like it so had a Murphy's, and Song had a Beamish - both stout. Song had a couple of mouthfuls and told me to finish it - gee, the things I have to do.
We were still tired and debated whether to go back to the hotel and come back later  or to keep going and eat, although I wasn't hungry. We decided to keep going and found a restaurant serving traditional Irish food. I like to try the local food, although I drew the line in Iceland because theirs consisted of shark, whale, puffin and horse. I had a beef and Guinness stew, Song had corned beef. Mine was ok, not great. Song said hers was not bad. Struggling to keep awake, got the bus back to the hotel and crashed. Another early day tomorrow, heading to the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland, taking a coach tour that leaves at 0630. Oh joy. Still, we can sleep on the bus.

Day 18 - Manchester

Got the flight time wrong, it was 0800, not  0640, that's the flight from Dublin, so we only had to get up at 0530 instead of 0330.
Flight was uneventful although the landing was a bit bumpy.
Got the train to the main station then a cab to the hotel, then went out to eat. The weather was worse than Iceland - overcast, rainy, windy and about 5C. It's grim up north. Song decided we needed new walking shoes so we bought some.
Later found out they only charged us for 1 pair. Free shoes!
Just had a pizza for dinner, relieved to be paying less than $100 for a meal.
Went back to the hotel and crashed, another early start tomorrow to get the flight to Dublin.

Impressions of Iceland

Iceland, or Land of Ice as I like to call it, is truly spectacular. You quickly run out of superlatives when trying to describe the landscape. Song and I both agree it's the best scenery we have seen. The photos don't do it justice - the vistas are too wide to capture on camera, and I tried using the panorama setting but it just doesn't show it as it is in reality.
Reykjavik is where you need to stay - it has all the best restaurants, all the tours,  and is within easy reach of the Golden Circle.
One bad thing about Iceland is that most things are expensive - coffee was between $5 and $7, a decent meal (and an average one) costs around $30-$50 a head. The bus to the Blue Lagoon was about $85 for 2. So if you go, be prepared.
Another bad thing is that the drivers are rubbish - most of them never signal and cut across lanes and in front of you without warning. Half of them drive 20 kmh above the speed limit and the other half 20 kmh below the limit. So you are either being tail-gated or have to drive too close to the car in front or drop to a crawl. However, because the landscape is generally flat where the roads are, you can see for miles and can overtake. Sometimes we drove for ages without seeing another car.
Song wants to come back, so we're thinking about when - we didn't explore South of Reykjavik so maybe we'll do that next time.
If you are travelling to Europe, I'd highly recommend adding Iceland to the itinerary - it's less than 3 hours from London. We spent 6 days and we felt that was enough time to see everything and not be rushed. I'd also recommend hiring a car - it gives you flexibility and isn't too much more expensive than taking the coaches.

Day 17 - The Blue Lagoon again

We got up in the middle of the night, around midnight, to see if we could see the Northern Lights again, but although the sky was clear we didn’t spot them so went back to sleep.
Halfway through the Europe trip, still got Ireland and France to go.
Woke up around 0800, still not feeling 100%, had breakfast and went into the city.
Wandered around a bit, into the cathedral  where someone was playing the organ, and it was very peaceful. Then down to the waterfront and stopped off in a cafe for what I think is the most expensive coffee we've ever had, about $7.
Walked back to the car and then headed out to the Blue Lagoon again, stopping on the way to visit a Viking village but it was just a hotel so carried on to the Blue Lagoon. It was Song's idea to go twice and what a great idea it was. We spent another 2.5 hours there just floating in the hot water, standing under a waterfall that was like having a massage, and visiting the not too hot sauna, the hotter steam room and the 'holy crap I can hardly breath this is hot' steam room.
I've put on a bit of weight because of all the eating out, but I didn't realise how much until I went back to the Blue Lagoon. A whale watching bus stopped and people took photos, and some people from Greenpeace tried to drag me back into the water.
The steam and saunas did me the world of good, I felt a lot better.
Drove straight to the restaurant, the French one, where I had baked salmon with spinach and asparagus and Song had mussels, continuing her unbroken run of eating seafood. I didn't have alcohol because I had a thought - the drink driving laws might be different here. Turns out I was right, you can't have any alcohol and drive.
Went back to the hotel and packed up, we have an early flight and have to get up at 0330. We're flying to Manchester, staying overnight then onto Dublin.