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Published: July 28th 2011
Day 13:
I keep on meaning to discuss the people on the tour. Most of the people are very friendly. We have one person on the tour that nobody can stand but that is it. I am not having too much trouble with the party reputation the tour company has. There are a few people who are happy to not party and return to the hotel at an early enough time (like myself). The tour guide warned us about the Contiki cough at the start of the tour and many people have fallen victim to the cough. Myself, I haven't got the cough but, I do have a bit of throat thing going on-nothing too serious, just a tinkle in the throat.
The Internet wasn't free yesterday so I didn't use it. Today was free thankfully. I hate having to pay for Internt use. I don't bring my laptop when traveling in Canada so I have no clue if it costs to use Internet at hotels in Canada. It may cost and I don't notice because I never have a reason to look into it.
Yesterday we had a two hour drive to the Cliffs of Moher with a quick stop at Burren Cliffs (rock formation remains). The Cliffs of Moher have made it into the Top 28 finalist stage for the new 7 Wonders of the World contest and after viewing them one can see why. I wonder if they will make into the final 7. I will have to watch out for that. After the Cliffs of Moher we drove to Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney Stone. It was quite an adventure (a steep and narrow staircase) to get to the stone. In the end it was worth the climb just to say I'd kissed the stone. It was hard for me not to be freaked about the germ issue though. After the stone we drove for thirty minutes or so to Cork to get to our hotel. I wandered around the city centre before returning to the hotel to get ready for dinner. After dinner a big group of tour members headed out to go bowling (organized by our tour guide). I quite enjoyed myself despite being exhausted and sucking at bowling. At the end of the game I didn't look at my score and they never showed it again. I think I got around 60 something. It was fun though and that is all that really matters.
Today we went to the Cobh (pronounced Cove) Heritage Centre in Cobh. It has displays on immigration from Ireland to other places and a display on the Titanic (the last port of call of the Titanic was Cobh). The Titanic was built in Belfast and when we did the Belfast bus tour, we saw the big buildings they are building for the hundredth anniversary next year as well as where it was built. We then drove onto Middleton. There was a tour of a Jamieson whiskey distillery. I didn't go in as the name of the whiskey didn't mean anything to me and the tour didn't appeal to me. I wandered the main street with a group of people not going on the tour and we had lunch. We then pushed onto the Rocks of Cashel. This was a castle made out of rock on a hill. This was another amazing site to see. I feel like I keep on using the words amazing, beautiful, and lovely again and again but, they are really the only words to describe the nature and castles we are seeing. We then continued onto Kilkenny. There was an optional walking tour through the city that I participated in. It wasn't the best tour we had so far. The guy wasn't as into it as the two different tour guides we had in Northern Ireland. Kilkenny is a beautiful medieval town though. I would like to visit it in more depth if I ever return to Ireland.
It is time to head down for supper now so I will end with my shout outs. Before I go I think this may be my last blog till I get home. Tomorrow is the last actual traveling day of the tour as Saturday is the drive back to London for the people who started the tour in London. The people that did the Scotland and Ireland part or just the Ireland part end their tour in Dublin and fly out from there. We have an optional tour of the Guiness Storehous and free day in Dublin tomorrow. In the evening we have our Irish experience dinner (traditional Irish food and music). It will be a late night and the Internet costs (we stayed in the same hotel in Dublin when we started the Ireland leg of the tour) so I won't use it the Internet tomorrow. I don't think my hotel in London the night before I fly home on Sunday has Internet. If it this is the case then on Monday I will blog and let everyone know I arrived safely home.
I didn't get a chance to post this before heading down to supper so I will tell you about the dinner we had. I chose the chicken curry with rice option. The dessert option was either ice cream with jelly or sherry triffle. I am not a fan of sherry so I went with the ice cream and jelly option not thinking that it would be jello. It brought me back to my childhood days. This meal was the fastest included meal that we had. The meals always seem to take so long with the starter, main, and dessert with a lot of time in between dishes. We always have to wait but, this one was done in less than forty-five minutes. The curry was quite yummy but, it was served with fries. I don't get the obssession with fries here. We (the tour members) have found that almost every meal is served with fries (or chips as they call them). I would never pair up chicken curry with fries or lasagna with rices like our meal the other day in Galway. I can't wait to have raw veggies at home in Brandon-bring on the carrot and celery sticks along with the tomatoes and mushrooms! Also, another thing that I am tired of is the soup. Most of the starters are soup which I will eat if they don't have a salad starter option. They are big soup fans in the UK and Ireland. I am not a big soup fan to begin with but, I am forcing myself to eat the soup as I need the food as I am starved by the time we have supper at 7 or 7:30 . The soup does give me some vegetable intake too. I am looking foward to eating dinner at 5:30 or 6:00 again.
Shout Outs:
Pauline: Thank you. I hope you are having a great summer too!
Melissa: I didn't overally like Dublin. Perhaps my more in-depth exploration of it tomorrow will change my opinion. The architecture is similar in Ireland. It is a bit different though. There are more buildings with bright and interesting colours painted on the front. I have seen some farm fields with castle remains which is kind of interesting. Are you in Thompson? If so I will give you a call when I get back home. Perhaps you can visit Brandon if you are down in Winnipeg in August. Do you know what number Erica's apartment number is? I never bother to look as I just ring her door bell. I have a postcard I want to send her.
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Myra Lowe
non-member comment
Shopping
Since I am addicted to shopping, was wondering if you did any in Ireland? Did you go to any of the crystal factories - Wedgewood or Belleek? They have beautiful stuff at such reasonable prices there. Did you buy any wool at all? We got beautiful sweaters when we visited Galway. Sounds like you have had a good time. Safe trip home.