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Published: September 6th 2009
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On our last day on Manchester we decided to tackle the rail system and go into the city - a far better option than driving in! It is safe to say that Hong Kong really did spoil us for any future public transport, and the rail system in Manchester was neither speedy, nor clean! We did make it in to the city and back however, and had a great time exploring, including going on the Manchester Wheel to get a good view of the city. Jen and I were terrified and held hands - well more like clutched hands - for the entire 10 minutes!
Then it was back to the hotel and off in the little VW again - to Liverpool this time. Liverpool was great and we all loved it. Our accommodation was fabulous and we seemed not too far from Lark Lane so after settling in, set off on foot to find a nice place for dinner. That we had no idea where we were going (in the daylight) should have discouraged us from walking home but...(more of that later!). We cut through Sefton Park and after wandering up and down the street , settled on a
Pub that was bursting at the seams. Once seated, we found that there was an awful lot of dope smoking going on just outside the door (we were getting stoned sitting inside!) and I think that the waitress must have been partaking in it also (or had been standing too close to the door for too long) as she managed to mistake the red wine for white (to my utter displeasure!) and Andy's chicken burger contained no chicken what-so-ever but rather 2 rather plump meat patties!!! We ate and drank regardless and after having contemplated a taxi, decided we would brave it back through the park in the dark. After all, how hard could it be???!!! What seemed like an eternity later, we ended up Penny Lane (literally) - nowhere near where we needed to be, and had to ask a late night stroller how to get to where we needed to be. As it turned out we had taken a wrong turn (or had not turned where we should have rather) and were miles away from our B&B! We certainly wore off our dinner that is for sure!
The highlight of the following day was definitely our Beetles
Tour! We went in a Fab Four Taxi and got taken around for 3 hours - with our own personal taxi driver/chauffer/tour guide telling us stories of the Beetles as he drove us to their homes, schools, favourite haunts etc. We were very lucky that the old lady who lives in Ringo Starr's old house allowed us in (as she is friends with the tour guide and used to live 2 doors down when Ring lived there). She was a dear old thing and had her walls adorned with photos/memorabilia and the like, and told the best stories. It was great fun, despite the wind and freezing temperatures!
A stiff drink was in order so we got dropped off at the Docks and had a great meal and a few bevys before looking around the area, and the shops of course. My 'carry on'ack pack had grown too small for my posessions so a new carry on bag was in order. It was suggested to me that I might like to send some of the pressies I had bought home rather than buying a new bag but what girl doesn't need a new bag I say!! And boy did
I need it!!! The Ryan Air flight to Ireland only allowed 15 kgs for check in and 10 kg for carry on - 2 bags each in total! We had been allowed 23 kg check in on Qantas, so much rearranging and stuffing in of articles was needed in order to meet the requirements! That trusty fish weigher we bought at the camping shop sure came in handy and after throwing out all the papers and wrapping material we could muster, we managed to come in just on weight. Things were not that simple however, and on checking in at the airport, we had too take all of our toiletries out of our bags and fit them into one 20x20 cm clear plastic bag each! With my duty free Lancome, that just was NOT going to happen!!! So Jen managed to assist me cram it into 2 bags and scam it through the check through point by saying tii was one of the boys who had already checked through aheah of us! Great job!
There was a strong tail wind and the flight only took 40 minutes (hardly even time for the valium to kick in, let alone take
advantage of the 2 for 1 top shelf drinks on board!) and then we had touched down, abit before 10.30 p.m. - Ireland! Yippee. But our day was not yet over! After successfully clearing customs (always makes me nervous after watching too many airport shows!), we managed to get a totally mad, suicidal, and quite possibly drunk, taxi driver whose accellerator was stuck on 120 kms p/h. I kid you not! And this was all the way through a 60 zone, with road works to boot! He was absolutely crazy, and laughed when we told him to slow down. he almost ran us into the back of a stationary car except that Jen yelled at him to STOP! He told us he didn't like to go slow as it made him feel like a turtle! And then proceeded to tell us that he has had 6 fines recently but that it was okay because he has lots of different licences! If he loses one, he just uses another!!! To say that we were grateful to get there alive is an understatement!!!
Dublin was great and we spent the day in the city looking at everything. We also went on
the Guinness Brewery tour and had a complimentary pint (well, Jen and I had a bit but didn't really appreciate the burnt bitter taste!). The boys on the other hand thought it was great! After the tour we took a horse and carriage rid back to Tenple Bar and spent the rest of the afternoon/evening there, combining a progressive dinner with a pub crawl. It was great fun and all I can say is that I am glad we decided to include some food with the drink!
This morning we headed back to the airport to pick up another hire car for our tour around southern Ireland. In true irish style, we were dropped off at the CAR 'drop off' point rather than the part where you have to get the keys and 'pick up' the car, so the boys got a shuttle bus to the other side of the airport to get the keys and car - only to discover that you get the keys from there but have to come back to the drop off section to get a car that someone else has dropped off!!! Confused yet???? Anyway, we got a lovely Ford Mondeo and managed
to get on our way at around 12.30 (all starving, having not had breakfast before we left!). We had a great carvery on route to Galway though so that satisfied our hungry bellies.
We went out into the town for dinner tonight and had a great meal. Even though it has rained most of the day, it has been a great day. Everyone had such a good time, and I feel happy to be here, as I sit quietly and reflected on my first Father's Day without my Dad.
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