August 2012

A quick update from Ireland

August 20, 2012 Europe Ireland

What can you do and see with three weeks, a rented car, a  glorious/glovebox map, three guide books, and no set itinerary or plan?  We’re two weeks into our three week trip and we’ve travelled about 1400 km so far.  We have visited castles and forts, burial sites, ancient monuments, beautiful gardens.  The scenery has ranged from spectacular to mundane.  We’ve done some amazing hikes, and met some interesting people.

While we’ve been on the road, we haven’t had much free time to blog or go through the hundreds of photos Chris is accumulating so I thought I’d just give a brief update of what we’ve been doing, with the promise to share more details and photos later once we slow down again.

We began our trip in Dublin.  After arriving very late we stayed overnight at an airport hotel and then headed north in the morning.  We didn’t travel very far that first day as there was lots to see within a 100 km radius of Dublin – a medieval castle, cathedral and abbey ruins, ancient burial passage tombs to mention just a few.  From there we headed to Belfast where we met up with our friend Andrew who we met on our Antarctica Cruise last February.  We got a big dose of Irish hospitality as Andrew toured us around Belfast, organized a day of hiking in the Mourne Mountains along with his friend Susan, and generously treated us to everything.

We continued up the coast following the coastal route and hitting all the tourist hot spots like the Giants Causeway and Bushmills Distillery – the oldest distillery in the world, in operation continuously since 1608.  We bypassed Londonderry completely and scooted over to County Donegal where we meandered through the coastal backroads for a couple of days, enjoying several really good hikes that offered amazing views from 600m high cliffs.

Rain hit us hard as we made our way through the stunning Connemara region and in fact the weather brought us to a grinding halt for a couple of days.  There was nothing to do but surrender to it in the comforts of a cosy B&B in Westport.  A couple of nights on the Aran Islands in our favourite B&B thus far gave us a real sense of the people and the harsh conditions they must deal with to survive.

Our friends in Galway were unavailable by the time we reached that area so we decided to keep going and landed in the small town of Doolin which is reputed to be a music mecca in the area.  We did it justice the night we were there, checking out the music and drink in each pub in town.  After the rugged, natural scenery of the north, we debated whether or not to stop at the Cliffs of Moher which is now a tourist attraction, complete with entrance fee and bus loads of tour groups, two things we have avoided quite well so far.  We’re glad we decided to visit as we were really impressed with the Visitor Center…oh, and the cliffs are pretty amazing too.

This brings us to our current location, Dingle on the Dingle Peninsula.  We’ll spend another day here and then make our way east through the Ring of Kerry, Cork and area, and then up the coast to Dublin from where we fly back to London next Tuesday.  So that’s our trip in a nutshell.  Sorry there’s no photos quite yet, but they’ll be coming later, I promise.

 

Enroute to Ireland

August 8, 2012 England Europe Ireland

Bath Abbey

We’re sitting in the airport in Bristol, England waiting to board our flight to Ireland which we have just learned has been delayed by 4 hours.  I see this delay as a bit of a blessing as I’m feeling rather unprepared for our upcoming three week road trip in Ireland. I’d like to do more research to figure out a loose itinerary.  As of this moment, we don’t even know if we want to go north towards Belfast and travel the perimeter in a counter-clockwise direction, or if we should go south in the opposite direction. We haven’t booked anything other than a rental car so we are entirely flexible, which is probably a good thing since who knows when we’re going to get there today.  I’d love to hear from our Irish friends as well as others who have been to Ireland to get your suggestions of what you think we should see and do.

In the meantime, I can share with you what we’ve been up to during our last two weeks in England.  After both kids left for home, we spent one final week in Newark-on-Trent in our home base.  We didn’t do too much that final week, and nothing too interesting.  Mundane chores like cooking, laundry, housecleaning and gardening kept us occupied that week.  The car insurance had ended as well which kept us close to home.  The weather was still wet and cold most days, with just shorts periods of sunshine here and there. It has been one of the wettest summers on record in contrast to one of the hottest, driest summers back home in Canada.  But the Olympics had started and we took advantage of our down time to watch many events on TV.  At first we were a little annoyed by the partial coverage on the BBC…..”Team GB” as the UK team was known was watched closely whether they were coming in first or ninth.  Sometimes, we didn’t even see who had won because the camera was glued to the Team GB athlete coming in third.  But soon we found ourselves cheering for “Team GB”, especially since Canada was trailing so far behind in most events.

Next on our itinerary was a visit to another cousin (Lulu) who lives with her family close to Windsor, about 45 minutes west of London by train, and my Aunt Maureen (Lulu’s mom) who lives in Windsor.  I had met Lulu back in 2004 when I visited England with my mom and dad and youngest brother, Jim.  The 2004 trip was a week-long tour of England visiting all my relatives on my dad’s side, followed by a week-long tour of Germany, visiting all my relatives on my mom’s side.  When I met Lulu back then, we hit it off right away, so I was really looking forward to seeing her again.

In preparing for our visit, Lulu had mentioned they were just finishing up a long renovation on their 16th century manor house.  And what a renovation it was!  The addition on the back of the house is nothing short of stunning, yet the front of the house retains all the charm and period features of the original house.  They have achieved a perfect blend of old and new.  Both Chris and I were inspired by what they have done, and I could see Chris chomping at the bit for a new project to sink his teeth into.

We were warmly welcomed by Lulu’s family – husband Sean, teenaged daughters Scarlet and Octavia and their son, Columbus who is ten, and their sweet cat, Spartacus.  We also had the chance to visit with Lulu’s older brothers: Mike and his wife Sara, and John and his partner Charlotte and her two children.  I had met both of my cousins (Mike and John) in 2004 and it was great to see them again.

Michael (left), Shawn (right), Sarah (left), Lulu (middle) and me on the right.

During our visit, we spent a few hours in Windsor, home to Windsor Castle, the primary residence of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillips. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to visit the Castle, something we hope to do when we return to England after our Ireland tour.  I had plenty of time to chat with my Aunt Maureen and I was happy to listen to her stories about both her childhood as well as Lulu’s.  My aunt is almost 80, yet she is so spry and energetic and sharp as a tack.  She has been following our travels through our blog and often sends me emails to share with me her thoughts about our travels as well as her own travel experiences.  I think she is one of our biggest fans, and I am definitely one of hers.

Aunt Maureen and I in front of my cousin Lulu’s house.

Throughout the weekend, we talked a lot about our travels (hopefully not too much!)  Everyone had so many questions. Columbus, in particular, seemed quite interested in the faraway places we have been, the things we have done and the exotic animals we have seen.  I was really impressed with all the children – they were so polite, well-mannered, and good conversationalists.  Columbus was simply adorable and I’m sure he would have jumped into Chris’ backpack to join us on an adventure if he could have.

Our weekend at Lulu’s passed far too quickly, in fact, we even delayed our departure by a few hours because it just felt too rushed.  We are planning to return for a few days at the end of the month.

Our final stop was Bath, where we spent a couple of days exploring this city renowned for the ancient Roman baths in the centre of town.  We visited the Roman Baths during the evening when there weren’t many crowds.  As the evening light faded, and the soft torch light illuminated the main bath, the atmosphere was magical.  We joined the last guided tour of the evening and were amazed at the history of the baths that date back to pre-Roman times.  The next day, we joined a walking tour and learned the colorful history of Bath through to the Victorian Ages.  Later that day, we spent a few hours relaxing in the thermal spring waters of the municipally run Thermae Spring Spa.  It was wonderfully relaxing.

On our last morning we toured the Bath Abbey, the third such church that has been built on the same site over the course of history.  It is a bright, beautiful church with many gorgeous stained glass windows.  What I enjoyed the most, however, was reading the inscriptions on the memorial stones that adorned one wall of the Abbey.  Many of the writings dated back to the 1600’s and were written in a form of English (vocabulary and spelling) that was slightly different from modern day English (for instance “f” was used in place of “s”).  The often endearing and descriptive expressions themselves offered such a lovely tribute to the deceased. It was so much nicer than the usual name, date of birth, and date of death which is so common on most headstones.

And so here we are still waiting for our plane….we have just learned it has been delayed for yet another 2 hours.  Who knows, we may not be going anywhere tonight!  Next up, our adventures in Ireland.

Travel Tip:  If you travel by train to Bath, check out the current 2 for 1 promotions offered by the First Great Western train line.  You need to complete an online voucher, print it and present it when purchasing your entrance ticket.  Note that some establishments don’t even require you to show your train ticket so even if you didn’t travel by train, you may be able to use the voucher, not that I’m recommending you do that.

Travel Tip:  If travelling by train in the UK, purchase your tickets as far in advance as possible as prices will vary tremendously.  For instance, Lynne and Colin purchased 2 return tickets to York for us as a gift.  The price difference between those tickets and the ones we purchased for the kids at the last minute was 25 pounds each way!  So it pays to buy early.

The family vacation continues in the UK

August 3, 2012 England Europe Travel Tips

We left Paris at noon on Wednesday under warm, sunny skies and we were greeted with gloomy,  rainy weather as soon as the train emerged from the chunnel onto British soil.  How disappointing!  We arrived back “home” in Newark-on-Trent by mid-afternoon, giving us plenty of time to give the kids a tour around the town centre.  That evening, we  cooked dinner together and enjoyed our first home made family dinner in almost a year.  It was a much needed early night as we had a full day ahead of us travelling to York which is a mere 45-minute train ride from Newark, making it an easy day trip.

York is an old city, founded by the Romans in 71 AD, under the name of Eboracum.  The city centre is enclosed by medieval walls, which are a popular walk.  There is also a castle and castle museum, and a beautiful cathedral, York Minster.  I think we were all a bit tired from our Paris trip, and in need of a slower pace so we spent our day leisurely meandering through the narrow alleyways of this medieval town, exploring the unique shops and enjoying the local pub fare. Alyssa loves antique jewellery and was thrilled to discover York to be a haven of antique dealers.  We especially enjoyed The Shambles which is a narrow medieval street full of shops, boutiques, and tea rooms.  Chris and Andrew spent some time taking pictures but then decided to discover more of the local brew in a few pubs.

The Shambles

The medieval wall around York.
(Photo courtesy of Alyssa) 

The pub where we enjoyed a typical English lunch of
bangers and mash with a pint, of course. 

Pub instructions – handy info as these applied to every pub we went into.
(Photo courtesy of Alyssa) 

Lunchtime in a pub in York
(Photo courtesy of Alyssa) 

Pouring a pint

One of several pubs Andrew and Chris enjoyed.

Yet another pub….and another pint.
(Photo courtesy of Andrew) 

Friday was a free day where we spent a little more time exploring Newark and just taking it easy, enjoying the comforts of our home base.

A wedding at the castle ruins in Newark.
(Photo courtesy of Alyssa) 

On Saturday, Alyssa and I left early by train to London where we spent the day sightseeing.  We followed the itinerary prepared by my friend Pauline, from the Camino, who lives in London.  She put a lot of thought and effort into her London in a Day guide for us, with photos of landmarks to help us stay oriented, custom maps, historical background info, funny stories, and restaurant recommendations.  It served us well and Alyssa is keeping it as a souvenir of her day in London.  We hit all the major tourist sites – London Bridge, Borough Market, Buckingham Palace, the Parliament Buildings, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul Cathedral – we saw it all.  (All photos below courtesy of Alyssa, unless of course she is in the photo, in which case I took the photo with her camera 🙂

Tower Bridge – ready for the 2012 Olympics

Alyssa on London Bridge with “The Shard” in the background.

The Gherkin Building

The Globe Theatre

St. Paul’s Cathedral
(where Princess Diana and Prince Charles were married)

Borough Market

So what did we think of London?  Interestingly, we shared the same impression: it seemed very congested and cramped, a real hodge podge of buildings crammed into every conceivable nook and cranny.  It was very crowded with tourists in part I imagine because of the Olympics that would begin the following week, not to mention the fact that we were visiting in the peak of the tourist season.  We found some of the iconic buildings like Buckingham Palace to be somewhat of a let down, in much the same way as we felt when we saw the White House in person – it was so small in real life compared to how it is portrayed in the media.  We’re glad we saw the highlights of the city but neither of us feel compelled to spend more time exploring it, although I’m sure it has a lot more to offer.

At the end of the day, we made our way by bus to our hotel in Gatwick close to the airport.  Alyssa was taking an early flight the next morning.

Buckingham Palace

Fountain in front of Buckingham Palace

Guard at Buckingham Palace

Westminster Abbey

The Eye

The Parliament Buildings as seen from the Eye.

Chris and Andrew stayed behind in Newark and spent the weekend enjoying the pubs of Newark (no driving involved) and they also visited Nottingham in search of the castle.  Turns out, there isn’t much left of the castle which explains why Chris and I didn’t see it when we were in Nottingham a few weeks ago.

Oldest inn in England dating back to 1189!

Nottingham – home to Robinhood.

Robinhood

Castle wall in Nottingham.

The canal in Nottingham.

After seeing Alyssa off on Sunday morning (yes, there were tears), I headed back into London to spend a few hours with Pauline, before returning to Newark by train. Pauline and I spent a quiet day together, getting caught up on each other’s news since we parted on the Camino.  We enjoyed the unusually warm and sunny day as we walked around her neighbourhood in East London and then just relaxed in a lovely park.  I was back in Newark before dinner which Andrew prepared for us – delicious chicken wraps.

On Monday morning, we were back at the train station, this time heading north to Edinburgh, Scotland to visit my cousin Andrew and his wife Jen.  I had met Andrew briefly back in 2004 when I  visited the UK with my parents and youngest brother, Jim.  When I let my cousin know we were planning to visit Edinburgh, he generously invited us to stay with him even though we had never met his wife, nor did we really know each other.  We had a great time getting to know them, as well as his sister, Susan who I had never met before.  We even dropped in on a distant relative, Bill Baber, who has a knitwear shop in downtown Edinburgh.  Bill is keenly interested in his ancestry and is in the process of creating a family tree.  He casually pulled out the family tree from a high shelf in his shop and I was able to show him where I fit in. Bill was quite pleased that we had dropped by to say hello. Both my cousin Andrew and my son Andrew are also researching our family history.  There are lots of unanswered questions about our past.

Jen, who is Canadian, introduced us to Scottish food: she served us haggis one night and blood pudding for breakfast the next day.  The haggis was actually pretty good, and both Andrew and Chris enjoyed the blood pudding.  As for me, I found the blood pudding to be rather tasty, but I just couldn’t get past the idea of what I was eating.  Jen went out of her way to make sure we had a good time (while Andrew was at work), driving us here and there, showing us the sights.  One of the highlights, at least for Chris and Andrew, was a visit to a local scotch distillery where we observed how scotch is made, and of course, after the tour, we sampled a variety of single malts.  In the evenings, we visited with my cousin Andrew over a dram or two of scotch.

Downtown Edinburgh.

At the top of Arthur’s Seat – a hill in the 
middle of Edinburgh that offers spectacular 360 degree views of the area. 

Blood pudding for breakfast, with poached eggs and toast.

This is what blood pudding looks like up close!

Edinburgh Castle high on the hill.

With my cousin Andrew and Jen outside their house in Edinburgh.

Dinner with my cousins, Susan (left) and Andrew and Jen. 

With my cousin Susan (centre) and Jen, Andrew’s wife.

On Wednesday afternoon, we said our good byes to my Andrew as he boarded a train to London from where he took the bus to Gatwick where he stayed overnight before flying home on Thursday.

And so concluded our 2012 family vacation.  The kids are already talking about meeting us in Thailand next year, but we’re not making any promises just yet.  When the time comes, we’ll see where we are and how much money is left in the travel kitty 🙂

Travel Tip:  If you need to get to Gatwick airport from London, consider taking the bus.  It’s dirt cheap (from 2 pounds per person each way), comfortable and flexible.