Blogs from Blarney, County Cork, Ireland, Europe - page 5

Hello from Ireland. We have been touring around the Emerald Island for the last couple of weeks, knocking a bit of rust off our van Bert (due to the very bumpy roads). We dropped in on some more of Sandra's relations Hugh, Peter and Clodagh for some welcome home cooking before sailing out of Holyhead, north Wales. We landed staight into rush hour traffic in Dublin, and immediately got very lost and rather frustrated with the traffic queues (especially as we had arrived without a map). Thank god for Jonny White, our cellphone and his map, who in 20 minutes had talked us to his front doorstep :) Jonny took very good care of us over the following couple of days, giving us the run of his apartment, entertaining us in the evening, and letting us ... read more

The alarm goes off at 3am......After only two hours sleep and too much beer from The Roots concert the night before ..... up and on the road again for the next adventure.....Ireland! I'm amazed at how many people are looking so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at Stansted Airport at 4:30am......I'm somehow running on adrenaline & momentum from the night before! But bright-eyes and bushy-tails seem a world away to me!! We arrive at Cork airport at 8am and are greeted by our lovely friend Stewart. None of us are from Cork, so we proceed to drive around in circles trying to find our B&B! All I can think about is breakfast and a quick powernap, but they seem miles away!! We finally stumble across 'Killarney House', our lovely B&B in Blarney and then go on the hunt ... read more

Rachel: First thing to say.... COWS! They in the field next to us as we landed... nice.... Not too much drama, we were able to find Rob's other bag that we didn't have..... Definately a good thing that Rob is not having me drive... pics will be shown soon.... the cringing will commence.... We are finding internet cafes ok but must be there in good time. Shops out here open late, close early. More to come once we have more time to add more things.... Rob: So I got my whip out and have been forcing Rachel to scale mountains with me and traverse through forests. She'll probably say it's not true but I'm sure she'll show some people the whip marks later. Otherwise things are going well. We've just finished up a tour of the ... read more

I'm catching up on this many days later - no Internet in Belfast - but more on that later... 5:00 am is much to early to get up when on holidays. Have to be at the train station (across town for 6:40). Shower is a must. It's bad enough I'm not a morning person, but someone has forgotten to turn up the water pressure (pressure is down during the night, so toilet flushing is an experience as well). There is barely enough water to get me wet. Having trouble getting my hair wet and then getting the shampoo out. Dumping my head under the sink is out of the question (it's 2 faucets tight up against the back wall of the sink), and the toilet bowl isn't an option. We do the best we can, ... read more

So not as easy as it sounds, the climb up the castle walls is enough to kill you and I tell ya what, I wouldnt have wanted to be much taller or fatter haha... I was struggling for room in those narrow staircases.. Dont know how some of the people around got up there haha.. But lets go back to the beginning.. I arrived in Cork city yesterday which is where Im staying, picked me hotel off the internet and loved what I saw.. Until I got here.. They definately made it sound alot better than it actually is.. Not a bad location when you consider the city centre is just across the river but I got the impression just walking around during the day that its not a place to be out and about at ... read more