Advertisement
Published: August 13th 2008
Week 2
This is the end of our second week away from home.
After arriving at Rhyl and being met by Kath, we were off to Abergele. I cannot get over the narrow streets and the amount of traffic they carry. In some places there is hardly room for two cars to pass each other and the smooth flow is only achieved by courteous and patient drivers.
Kath and Karen spend a great deal of time catching up. I spent a great deal of time listening!
We had hardly arrived at Kath’s home when we were off to their caravan. (actually more like a transportable home) in Pwllheli.
On the way we stopped at a very large Tesco shop where they sold just about everything. A combined supermarket and variety store. They even had a bottle of Penfolds Grange for 99 pounds - I was a little tempted but did manage to resist.
The drive to Pwllheli took about an hour. We travelled over some interesting roads, through tunnels in mountains and under waterways. I was glad to have finally stopped moving after our train trip from London earlier in the day.
Whilst in Pwllheli
we had planned to go out on Kath and Ian’s boat but the conditions were a little adverse. There were certainly some impressive boats at the marina.
Australian wine seems to be everywhere. I saw Wolf Blass red label wines for as little 3 pounds a bottle!
Ian and I drove along the coast to Criccieth. What a beautiful little town, narrow streets and a stony beach that is towered over by the remains of the castle.
We had a beautiful seafood meal at Twnti. The drive to the restaurant was over the typical narrow windy roads. You seem to be in the middle of nowhere when you seem to stumble over tiny little villages.
On the Sunday we had the wonderful experience of visiting Port Meirion. This quaint and very picturesque location produces some wonderful pottery. All the buildings on the site have been transported from Mediterranean sites and rebuilt on the site. It is a wonderful collection of architecture. Lunch at the hotel was as wonderful as the rest of the site.
On our return journey to Abergele we stopped to visit Carnarvon Castle. This is the castle where Prince Charles was invested
as the Prince of Wales. The old castle is very impressive especially when you realise that only a portion of the original castle still survives. I did manage to climb a very narrow and steep circular stone stairway to reach the top of one of the towers.
Return to Abergele from Caravan Park
Packed up and left the lovely caravan park after a few wonderful relaxing and enjoyable days. Just before we left there were two RAF Hawk jets doing really low passes - quite exciting.
We drove through very lush green countryside to Carnarvon. Walked around the outside of the castle - quite a large and impressive castle especially we you consider that a fair part of the castle has been lost over the years. Spend some time there walking around the castle and I managed to climb to the highest tower.
Travelled back to Abergele, the roads are very good with some impressive road tunnels.
August 5 - Abergele to Dublin
Drive to Holyhead through some beautiful countryside. The line up for the ferry with a huge number of cars and trucks was very long.
The ferry was very large
- fast cat built in Tasmania - quite impressive with plenty of room and facilities for everyone - including a bar and duty free shop. The ferry delivered a smooth and uneventful crossing. The drive from the ferry port at Dun Loaghaire to our hotel in Dublin was a bit of a laugh with Kath continually mocking the GPS directions. Despite a couple of wrong turns we did manage to find the hotel. The Waltons Hotel was clean and comfortable although a bit dated with creaky floor boards and thin walls.
Arrived at Dun Loaghaire after a 90 minute crossing- sea smooth although visibility very restricted.
Drive from the port to Dublin was adventureous - the GPS took us in the right direction but Kath questioned the directions - went round the block once after a wrong turn but we got to the hotel eventually.
Went in and checked in to the hotel - the room was small but acceptable. The facilities were quite basic no air conditioning and no mini-bar!
Had a walk around Dublin and ended up in Temple Bar for lunch. Had a lovely beef boxty and a pint of murphy’s. Karen
had a gaelic lamb boxty and a pint of murphys too!
Temple Bar is very tourist based and very busy. Very cosmopolitan.
At night went out for a meal, walked a long way to the Arlington Hotel but the set menu was around 30 euro which was a bit too expensive. Walked a little more and ended up in a pub - food Ok but a bit of a funny pub.
Dublin strikes me as a lovely city although it seems a bit dirty in parts. Not very many tall buildings at all. Very spread out. I think I would like to take some more time exploring the lovely countryside.
August 6th Dublin
Lovely Irish breakfast at the pub.
Visited the Guinness Storehouse. It was 15 euro to get in and you get a free pint of Guinness at the end of the tour.
The tour was quite impressive. Ended up on the 7th floor in a circular bar with floor to ceiling glass walls. What a view of the City of Dublin. We spent around three hours in the brewery.
Off to see Riverdance in the evening after a dinner at
a French restaurant which was very good. Then off to the Gaiety Theatre.
Riverdance was sensational - very quaint theatre. We had seat in a box which was a real novelty.
August 7th Dublin to Abergele.
Had a bit of a drive up to Malahide to see the castle and the marina. Quite an enjoyable morning.
Had lunch in a little place called Dalkey.
Back on the ferry for a 6:00pm crossing back to Wales and Abergele.
The next couple days were spent resting and catching up on washing. We did manage to have a Chinese meal with the family.
On Sunday morning we left Abergele at 7:30am and caught a bus to Edinburgh to see the Tattoo.
The trip up was wet and cold (every day has been wet and cold - I am really pleased we came here for the summer! The countryside was spectacular and very green.
I even managed to see some highland cows.
That is enough for this week’s news - more on the Tattoo and our travels in the next instalment.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.269s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 10; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0409s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
