Blogs from Ireland, Europe - page 11

Ireland the North 2 Day 2 Dublin and Galway Good breakfast at the Gresham before setting out into the Irish drizzle and wander around the Temple area of town. Trinity College, Dublin Castle and a stroke of Molly Malone’s sticking out bits before a coffee and sticky bun for lunch. Next job go to garage and get the bikes onto the van for transport to Galway. Guess what, as soon as we ended our saunter around town the sun came out and my sun cream was in my panniers. What am I to do? My ears will be big blister in no time. Disaster. A phone call at 1pm, after waiting an hour, from our van man to say our van has been delayed and will not be able to collect until 4pm. What a shambles. ... read more

I noted earlier that the folks from my tour of Ireland (Overland Ireland) suggested I move my tour one tour later in the year to avoid the havoc (crowded restaurants, etc.) brought about by The Galway Races Summer Festival. I agreed, but my return to London from the Wales tour “late in the day” on Friday and a 0830 departure on Sunday for the Ireland tour gave me only Saturday to move my base of operations. Fortunately, I will have two days to explore Dublin after the conclusion of the tour of Ireland. That early Sunday appointment got me up and going on Saturday to have breakfast, stock my small suitcase with clean laundry (from the big suitcase that had been in storge), stow the big suitcase AGAIN and get to London Heathrow to catch the ... read more

July 20 Up at 6:30. Luggage to the bus at 7:15. Breakfast at 7:30. Bus pulls out at 8:30. This is the first time we haven’t had a buffet breakfast, but the menu was still pretty much the same, with the addition of pancakes and French toast. Today I had French toast with fresh fruit and cream cheese. Our first goal today was The Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs of Moher run along the west coast of Ireland, in County Clare, for about 8.6 miles. They reach a height of 600 feet at O’Briens Tower. It is so beautiful! I even climbed O’Briens Tower and took pictures from the top! One thing i particularly liked about this site is the way they built their gift shop, restaurant, and bathrooms. They were all built into the hillside ... read more

July 18 This day started like all the others. We get up, get ready for the day, take our luggage to the bus, and go to breakfast. We always have appointed times to do all these things. I usually set an alarm on my phone so I’m not late to the bus. Today our goal was The Blarney Castle, The Ring of Kerry, and overnight n Killarney. I enjoy the bus ride to and from places. Many people sleep, but not me…I’m too busy looking at everything and taking pictures. I also love listening to the guide. I try to take notes and then look up what he talked about once I’m in the hotel room. I take lots and lots of pictures. My philosophy has always been if I take a lot of pictures I ... read more

One shinning day in July 2022 Bird and HP hopped abord a boat for a one hour ride to Skellig Michael that mystic home of ancient monks and puffins. Monks arrived at Michael during the sixth century, not long after the remnants of the Western Roman Empire were extinguished. They scratched out a meager existence until the early 12th century, eventually being driven ashore where another monastery was established boasting only meager remains. But Michael's are impressive, and all are at least one thousand years old, Landing upon the island apparently can be something of an acrobatic act with our guidebook likening it to "jumping off a trampoline onto an ice ring". In fact boat captains report they are able to affect successful landings on only five days per week, which created no small amount of ... read more