Of Saints and Sinners.

Day dawns and we're off early to do a city tour of Dublin.

Over night something had happened. We had turned our watches back over thirty years. It was Sunday and Dublin was closed for business. Those not at mass were tucked up in bed asleep after yet another Saturday night of frivolity and boozing. It comes as no surprise that over 40% of Ireland are under 40 years of age. Also after many years of the good times they are really having hard times with the recession. Not in the same league as the PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain) nations but nonetheless still not doing well.

The early tour was very good with most of Dublin off the roads and as the guide Dorothy  said it is great to be out on a Sunday as traffic would be so light. Seen left was some of the Georgian architecture. Valued at about 4 million Euros, they tend to be used these days as businesses rather than residences.                                        

Then onto see the St.Patricks cathedral seen right. There are two cathedrals within spitting distance. Apparently one was inside the old walled city and the other was outside. So now both are really close. 

After the morning city tour we went on an optional to Glendalock . This was the site of an ancient Monastery where it is the resting place of St.Kevin. A saint who ranks next to St. Patricks in the hall of Irish Saints.                                                       

Seen to the right is the only surviving Tower with a stone roof. Built around 1024 AD it has survived throughout the ages. It enabled the monks to survive the various raids from the Vikings/Danes.

Seen below is the resting place of St.Kevin. Dorothy our guide is on the right of The Gallic Cross.

So that's the Saints. Who's the sinner. Molly Malone the famous cockleshell seller, known by the locals as the Tart with the cart.

Tomorrow we leave Dublin and Ireland and return to Britain, much to Lois's relief.  Though I thought Ireland pretty Lois thought that it was a bit boring in parts. The Ring of Kerry she felt looked like much of the countryside around Warnambool.

As I write I am watching a semi-final between Kildare and Dow in the All Ireland Gallic final. I am supporting Dow as they are in Red and Black.

Neil & Lois

Countdown Day 8

Gallway Bay

Well it was off to tour Bunratty Castle and the 19th century Village today.

Seen to the left is our Hotel The radison at Limerick where a wedding was being held when we pulled in to stay last night. Apparently all went well with the wedding as "the Garda" (Police) was called and there was a donnybrook between the guests. As one of the guests told Lois at breakfast that that was alright as the fighters were from the brides family and the grooms family were grand (Innocent and not involved) to quote the irish sleep deprived gentleman, who was at that time crashing the breakfast area. 

There were two Trafalgar tours staying at Limerick last night. Our Coach (Bus) was the one displaying the towells. Poor old Syd our driver had to help repair a damaged fender on the other bus so really had not much down time.







So onto Bunraty Castle (seen right) where we had a local guide to show us around both the castle and the 19th century village. Good tours where we learnt a lot.

All the village were authentic 19th century houses as seen right, along with our guide for this tour.

Overall a good tour and we enjoyed it immensely.

From there onto Gallway, via Gallway Bay. After a nice lunch we travelled non stop through Ireland to Dublin, where we will stay for 2 nights.

Just resting my eyes on that run.

Neil & Lois

Day 7

Ring around the Kerry.

Today we left Ken mare Bay Hotel.
A nice Hotel located in a very pretty part of Ireland. We are really starting to get to know our fellow travellers and with the exception of Poor old Betty are getting along well with every one.

Today we visited Bingle Bay, Ring of Kerry and Killarney.
Lois saw her first sight of the Atlantic Ocean, but declined to dip her toes into it. What a wasted opportunity that was.
Below are a couple of shots of the Ring of Kerry.

After the ring of Kerry we then went onto Killarney for a Jaunting Cart Ride which though were going to do, declined at the last moment due to a change of plans. Instead we went for a short walk into town and visited a Local Irish tea room, where we had tea and scones with Raspberry jam and clotted cream. It was one where the locals frequent. There were many tables taken and you could listen to the buzz of gossip from the local woman in their quaint brogue. A real experience. Afterward we strolled looking at the local shops many of which looked similar as pictured below.

To be Honest Neither I or Lois has been impressed with the Ring of Kerry. Killarney was great. Tonight we are at Limerick at a nice new hotel a little ways out from town. There is a wedding happenning here tonight which may mean a noisy night.

Neil & Lois

Countdown  6 Days

Its a Whole Lot of Blarney.

Today we left Waterford and the "Days" Hotel, which was a real rabbit warren and even after one night it was still a raffle to find one's way out. It was also real hot inside although not an overly hot day outside. No A/C in the room and No Fridges in the rooms either.

However it was one of the nights where dinner was provided and though not overly large it was a three course meal and I found it most satisfying. Melon entree (Choice of 3), Pork main course (Choice of 3) and desert, again about 3 choices.

After leaving the hotel we went on a optional tour of Waterford with a local guide. This Irishman was great. He not only was right up to date with his History but his performance during the whole tour certainly involved the tour and captivated one and all. Fortunately I have managed to film, with his permission, most of his tour. I think I missed the first part of his talk. Hopefully it doesn't take anything away from his tour. Only about half of the tour bothered to come along and they missed out on one of the highlights of the tour so far. Seen left is one of the churches ruined by Henry VIII, but later allowed to become an aged care facility for over 300 years.

We then went on a tour of the Waterford Crystal factory. This was a bonus as they have recently, about two months ago, reopened both their Showroom and factory for tourist visits. Seen left is a table set with their product in their showroom.

The tour was in depth and they enjoyed the interaction between both visitor and staff. A good tour which puts their product and costing into perspective. A good product that still maintains a hands on approach through artisans rather than machine production approach. A thoughtful tour that "Uncle Bunny" would have loved.

At this point it was a day to remember, especially for the cam-corder which got put through it paces. After Waterford Crystal we then motored onto where the Blarney Stone is located. Sorry no photos were taken here  except with the camcorder.
Lois's Leg was very sore so we only got a view from a distance.  I didn't climb the tower to kiss the stone, much like I didn't 30 years ago when I was much fitter and didn't have blood pressure problems.

On the way back I did make one discovery and that was that leprechauns do exist as witnessed by the photo seen to the right. We are stopping at a place called  Kenmare where we once again have an included Dinner meal

Neil & Lois

Countdown 5 Days

You say Castle..... but I say Carsell

Today we moved onto Ireland.

However not before we saw our first obligatory Castle. The lucky place being Cardiff Castle. We toured the Castle's private apartments which were redeveloped back in 1860. They are exquisite

Old Norman Keep

After the tour I walked up to the Norman Keep which is now but an empty shell. (on the left)

Interestingly this area supported Parliament during the cival war and was taken by the Royalists. The King even stayed here for a short period. Cromwell retook the castle and it was during then that the old Norman Keep was destroyed.

       Just another couple of ruins (Pictured Right)

After that we headed for Ireland stopping for a short time where we were shown a demonstration of the Welsh art of making the wooden spoons.

We then boarded our Ferry and set sail across the Irish sea where we Finlay made our hotel about 8pm after a very long day and some quite wet and woolly weather. Overall the voyage took about 4 hours and 15 minutes.

We also experienced the Irish Drunk  a lovely chap seeking some company from the girls we were sitting with. However I'm not sure that his pick up line "Hi I'm drunk and I'm a alcoholic and professional gambler" would be all that effective?

Our Hotel is "Days" Hotel in Waterford.


Tomorrow's We start our time in Ireland. It should be a good time.

Neil & Lois

Countdown.     4 days.

The Stones Of Salisbury.

Today we started off on our Britian trip.

What a massive day it turned out to be. We started out by losing two of our fellow travellers before we started, who couldn't travel due to illness. We then were forced to travel to pick up two people from Heathrow due to late arrival.. So after a late start we headed to Stonehenge.

Here we saw some ancient ruins (seen Left). Pictured right is yet another set of ancient ruins.

We then went to Salisbury Cathedral which is the Highest Spire at over 400 Feet high. After that we had a nice walk around the Village where we enjoyed  the local fare and weather. It has been wet and woolly in patches. A raincoat is certainly a needed commodity.

From here we left to go onto Bath, a picture of which can be seen to the left, looking down on the main pool. Whilst the baths  hasn't changed much since 1980 the way that the site is presented is now first class. Lots of electronic guides available at sites to help explain what you are seeing.


After Bath we headed onto Cardiff for the night.
Neil & Lois

Countdown Day 3.

Wheel of Fortune.

Today we were at Leisure.  Doing just what we wanted to do. Thankfully no signs of jet lag.

Lois had the great idea of doing the London Eye and River cruise today. So after a sumptuous breakfast we headed out to do battle with the underground.

Really quite different to what we both remember. New trains, very clean, run very often with little or no waiting even during the day when you would thick it was off peak. All non-smoking which to me was the greatest difference between 1980 and now.  Stations are clean, staffed with helpful and pleasant people who seem to understand the meaning of customer service. Quite a long way from the unhelpful and down right rude attitude of the rail people back home. Also not one bit of graffiti. Having experienced once again the London system of ticketing it just beggars belief that our Moronic politicians would waste many billions designing a system when they could have used the British system.

Anyway we found our way from the Gloucester Rd station to Embankment and there onto the site of the London Eye.

Pictured Left is a shot of the eye from the bridge opposite the Parliament House.

We decided to go on the Thames River Cruise as well as the eye. Both were superb. You simply can't have London with out the Thames river which plays such a crucial role in this city. The weather was not good with rain over night and showers in the morning. But surprisingly was good during our  river cruise and when we where on the eye.

The houses of Parliament as seen from the London Eye looking good despite the overcast sky and cold wind.

Finished with a stroll down to Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square to round off a top day, despite the weather and the school holidays.

Tomorrow we start our first tour, looking forward to it.

Neil & Lois

Countdown Day 2

Lawd You Made The Night Too Long.

Well the great adventure has finally started.

After having been dropped off at Tullamarine airport by our Daughter Kate and her friend Tim and having checked our bags into Etihad Airlines we headed for the Doors of Destiny and that international land neither in Australia or yet overseas, called transit.

It was here that we both understood that not only had our adventure started but all our previous experiences of overseas travel had no relevance to what lay ahead, but were simply old and precious memories of a time long gone.

Its hard to believe that with security the way it is anything untoward could possibly happen, but anything is possible I guess.

All went well with flight, with a smooth takeoff, smooth flight, but a very bumpy landing. It bounced sideways and all over the place. Not a very smooth runway as our next flight also seemingly careered all over the place as well when we got up speed  for the leap into fate.

As far as Etihad Airlines is concerned we really appreciated the clean modern planes, the great mix of middle eastern and Western cuisine, the great service from attentive and respectful crew. It was certainly a different experience travelling on a foreign aircraft where English is not the major language spoken. To be fair though, all crew were well versed in the English language and the entertainment systems were in English with Arabic sub-titles.

Also travelling during Ramadan was interesting though less disruptive than I first thought would be the case. The funniest thing was when we asked if we could have a  alcoholic drink, the hostess said that that would be OK as we were westerners, it was just they were not allowed to display the drinks due to Ramadan.

The only problem we encountered throughout the flight was when we went to board our flight from Abu-Dhabi  to London when for reasons best known to themselves the Government agents corralled us all into restricted seating area after perusing our boarding cards and our passports. All Europeans went through this process easily and with out much bother, but boy did they get stuck into any one of Asian appearance. They were grilled and questioned with out mercy. One of the few times I was glad to be a white Honky.

The flight onto England was really easy and smooth though after so long flying and with the delay of the last leg to London, we were really glad to get to our hotel, being pretty well out of it with fatigue. Hit the sack about 8.00 pm and slept the sleep of the dead. A rest well earned.

About 1930 Bing Crosby sang a song entitled "Lawd You made the Night too long" sung with the Boswell Sisters it aptly described our flight from Melbourne to Abu-Dhabi. A night which went for 13 hours what with the time changes and one that we both felt.....made the night too long.

Neil & Lois

Countdown Day 1.

Thunder Birds Are go!

Well its finally here. After a seemly endless feat of endurance the trip awaits us tomorrow. Just one more night and then we're off into the wide blue yonder.

It certainly does make you wonder what mixed feelings that the older generation must have had as they contemplated a 8 to 10 week voyage from the old dart to the shores of Oz. My Grandmother came out from England in this manner way back two centuries ago in the 1890's. Saw her certificate for entering the Port Of Melbourne in the colony of Victoria just after her death. It listed all her family and the Ship that she sailed on.

Life on board ship as an migrant must have been hard. As steerage passengers they would not have had much in the way of amenities whilst they were on board, pretty spartan conditions on those old Steamers.

In contrast it should take all of about 24 hours travelling before we arrive in London. A much better situation than what they had to endure, although they may have had more to see than what we will do and certainly they had more room to travel in than their latter descendants will have.

Lois's knee seems ok and she will be keeping an eye on it whilst we are away. My Finger has improved to the point where it is effectively healed. We are packed, weighed in and ready.

In the words of a famous TV show... THUNDER BIRDS ARE GO!!

Neil & Lois

Countdown  1 Day

Fickle Finger of Fate.

With only 7 days to go and all that we can think of has been done. We may have a trial run at packing to see what we will have to leave behind. Also a good idea to weigh everything so that weight is not a problem either.

Interestingly Etihad has a 23 Kg limit for checked in luggage, even for Cattle class (Economy) and a 7kg limit for all cabin luggage. However Trafalgar Tours has a 20 Kilo limit which is a bummer, so that's the limit we will have to work through. I guess they don't want their drivers hurting themselves when lifting bags on and off the Bus....oops COACH.

We also have a size limit on Suitcases that go under the bus as well as size limits for cabin bags in the bus. No weight limit for cabin bags in the bus. I guess that if you can carry it on, then it comes on the bus.

Lois is at her last Physiotherapy session and if all goes well then she's ok for the trip. As for my Finger it appears that all there is going well to. I have to see the Doctor Tomorrow for her final ok. I guess it really will be the fickle finger of fate if its not OK.

Countdown: 7 Days

Neil & Lois.

More Drama than Shakespeare.

Well the good lady has finally been given the all clear and after physiotherapy is moving around like a startled gazelle. She is getting most of her movement in the knee back and should be OK if she keeps up her knee and leg exercises and doesn't take on too much too soon.

Its the old crock me that's the trouble now. Stupidly I bit my cuticle on my right ring finger and as a result it has become infected. Very nasty red swelling and throbs like Ringo belting out a beat on his drum. Yet another visit to the GP to end up on Antibiotics, cream and tablets. The only problem is I am finding it hard to keep the tablets on the sore finger and the cream tasted vial.

I am obliged to revisit the Doctor this Sunday when the doctor will take another look at the finger to determine its progress. Here's hoping that the infection can be controlled and beaten which is not always an easy thing for Diabetics, such as I.

As for our other problem, namely getting some information on our flight to London so we can check in on the Internet, seems to have become too difficult for our Travel Agent to manage. Despite my asking for the information two Mondays ago and again last Thursday nothing has been forthcoming.

Should have been an easy task, its not a state secret. Am getting concerned that there is something we are not being told. True, probably paranoia on my part, but who knows and the way things are going with this trip you could be forgiven thinking that is some sort of Shakespearean drama. Just hope it ends better than most of his plays!

Countdown: 11 Days.

Neil & Lois

Better Than Lazarus.

We have just come back from the Doctor and Lois has got a clean bill of health and the go ahead for the trip.

It appears she has the onset of Arthritis in the knee. The pain she experienced was the bursting of a cyst that can sometimes be found behind the knee in such cases. Having had her knee in brace helped the swelling to go down, though did nothing to improve her mood at the time.

We are both ecstatic and hope now to have a clear run into the trip in just 17 days time.

Countdown 17 Days

Cheers

Neil & Lois