Monday 3rd August Today is our full day in Edinburgh and I have an optional tour first up in the morning so we pile onto the bus at 8am for our wee jaunt into the Scottish Highlands however our first stop on our journey this morning is Stirling Castle, this was the site of a famous battle between Kind Edward and Robert de Bruce. The location of this castle is in a very key location and lookouts kept an eye out for "the wicked English" or any other enemy troops heading into Scotland from the south. We don't go into the [View Full Entry]

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Saturday 1st August My god August has arrived, crikey I have to go back to work by the end of this month!!!! Alas this morning we get wake up calls at 5.15am...... by mistake.... :( so as a result I am up and ready by 6am!!!! and breakfast not till 6.30am!!! This is because this morning we are catching the ferry to Holyhead which is where we arrive around 11.30... hooray some sunshine!!!! Sorry to say I am heartily sick of leprechauns, shamrocks and everything Irish having had the tourist spiel and commercialisation in my face non-stop for the last four [View Full Entry]

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Friday 31st July Today is our free day in Dublin and I have passed on the optional tour to Glendaloch in favour of spending the day in Dublin seeing the sights... First stop of the day is Trinity College to see the Book of Kells which is just beautiful and busy but glad I got to go in first thing in the morning as the queue to get in is out the door by the time I get out. Once you see the Book after wandering around the rooms explaining how the books were written and decorated etc, you go upstairs [View Full Entry]

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Monday 27th July Cardiff Went to bed by about 10pm last night and with Dan's warning about the morning wake up calls not always being reliable it meant that I was awake at 4.30am worried I had overslept!!! DAMMIT!! So after a broken morning sleep I dragged myself out of bed at 6.15am and got my wake up call at 6.30am!!! Had breakfast which was the works!! cereal, cooked breakfast, fruit..... blah blah..... and then we were OFF to Cardiff Castle for a tour of about 4 rooms and then walked up and in the Motte Bailey Castle - went to [View Full Entry]

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At last a chance to update my blog!!! Spent a fabulous five days in London with Sarah getting the chores done (mountains of washing) and seeing the "must see" tourist destinations such as the London Eye and Westminster Abbey.... I also managed to walk through Hyde Park, Green Park and St James Park and of course the shopping street of Oxford Street... can't remember how many shopping bags I came back with.. :D I only hope Emirates still has the 30kg weight limit when I come home!!!!! Anyway Sunday 26th July was the start of my next tour which is The [View Full Entry]

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Monday 20th July 2009 Our last full day in a destination on this tour, it's finally coming to a close, the first week of the tour seemed to go so slow and the last week or so has just flown by! Up at 8am this morning and checked out the breakfast at the hostel, bread and coffee is free but I buy muesli and orange juice... its hideous!!! Then we all troop just up the road to Mike's Bikes and are split into two groups for a bike tour around Amsterdam which is really great. Most people in Amsterdam bike or [View Full Entry]

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Saturday 18th July 2009 Another morning and another 6am wake up, this morning I get up and get dressed into a skirt and top without realising that the thunder, lightening and rain last night has indeed cooled the temperature substantially and after breakfast I change immediately into jeans and a shirt which I had fortunately packed into my backpack... PHEW!!!! We head off from Prague at 8am and today we are off to the Rhine Valley in Germany. When we arrive in St Goar we go straight to the Stein Shop where they tell us how steins are made and what [View Full Entry]

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Thursday 16th July 2009 Up at 6.30am this morning to have bags ready by 7 and breakfast by 7.30am when we leave Kirchdorf, Tirol, Austria and head off to Prague.... It only takes about 30 minutes and we are in Germany, completely different countryside now passes by the windows, Austria was just beautiful with mountains, green valleys and cut houses. In Germany its flat and the houses are diffferent - not that they aren't lovely but it is different to Austria - it's pretty amazing that these different countries have not blended together and lost their identity or culture which why [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday 14th July 2009 Sarah’s birthday I am awake yet again from about 6am, it’s hot even though we have had the airconditioner running all night - this has been one of the few places WITH aircon!!! Got to bed about 11.30 last night after cashing up the camp card and having a shower. YAY up and into CLEAN CLOTHES TODAY!!! Never take this for granted people!!! I have missed my tan skirt which I hadn’t worn since Greece when I spilled tomato and god knows what else all down the front of it!!! Lol!!!! Breakfast is at 7.30 and it [View Full Entry]

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Monday 13th July 2009 Venice Today is our free day in Venice - hooray!!! This is one of the places on my list that I am really looking forward to!! I wakeup at 7 and can hear the planes flying overhead as our camp ground is near the airport. This camping ground is part of the nationwide chain that we have stayed in at all our stops in Italy. At 7.30 Joy knocks on my door and we all get ready thinking that breakfast is at 8 but we find out it’s been changed to 8.30 so we all troop over [View Full Entry]

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