sophieandclint

Our trip though Ireland really got started at Derry (Londonderry). With much regret we had to abandon our plans to visit the Giant's Causeway and the scenic north east because of really bad weather. We were grateful to catch our train to Derry and leave the snow behind us. In Derry we had a great meal and some beers then caught up on the sleep we had missed the day before. The next day we went to the Free Derry Museum and took a tour with 'Jerry' around the murals and the sight of the 'Bloody Sunday' riots. Sophie was delighted to find 'Primark' and came out with a top for five pounds, all that she could cram in her backpack! We caught a bus to Donegal and stayed there over the Easter weekend. Caught some ... read more

THE SNOW, THE SNOW OH MY GOD THE SNOW!!!!! It is really cold here! We left Fort Augustus in the sun and it is freezing here. It was too cold to wander around outside so we found the nearest gallery and spent the afternoon there. On the way home we ventured up to the impressive necropolis and marvelled at the view from the top of the hill, then went back to our room as fast as we could! We were ready to leave at lunch time the next day, and walked the 20 minute walk to the bus station with our packs on in a record 10 minutes, so freezing in the snow that it brought tears to our eyes, only to find our bus had been cancelled because a wind storm had hit the coast ... read more

Stirling the home of William Wallace Our arrival was spectacular - to our surprise we found ourselves in the middle of a drug bust! Not involving us fortunately, but we were reading our map on a corner of the main street when a couple of plain clothed policemen tackled a couple of guys standing next to us! They got out their handcuffs and we took that opportunity to head to our hostel wondering what kind of place we'd arrived at. We spent a wet afternoon at Stirling Castle and it was absolutely fascinating. Different to Conwy because at Stirling they had started a 'renovation' project and were setting out to make it look like it was. The next day we caught a bus to the Wallace Monument and enjoyed the views from the top of the ... read more

As soon as we arrived here we knew that we had made a big mistake! We had only allowed one night here instead of 4! We had to decide quickly what we wanted to do as we only had one afterrnoon and one morning. To see where the Beatles had lived and how they got inspired was it. We got on the bus and our first visit was to Paul's childhood home and then onto John's. It was amazing to see where they grew up and where they wrote some of their songs! Onto Strawberry Fields. Only the gates remain and they were completely covered in messages to the Beatles by their fans. It looks like it may get repainted but the fans persist and rewrite on them. Then onto the church hall where Paul and ... read more

To get to Capel Curig, it took a full days travel on the train and a short bus ride from Betws-y-Coed. The weather wasn't the best so we decided to go on one of the shorter local walks that took about 3 hours. This went in a big circle around our hostel and we knew that there were exits along the way so we could bail if the weather turned really bad. It started to drizzel about half way round but we completed the walk as we knew that the hostel had a drying room, we didn't really get that wet. We enquired what else there was to do and there was the Snowdon railway that takes you up Mt Snowdon, but because of the weather, we were told the on thing you saw was fog ... read more