Next stop: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

Trust me, it's not gibberish.

Hard to get up this morning. Wasn't hungover, just suffering from a lack of sleep. Up for brekky at 6.15 and the bus leaves at 7.15. 

Sad times. Time to leave Ireland. My final drink count roughly came to 10 Guinness, 5 Bulmers and 2 Irish Coffees. I also treated myself to two Galway Hookers.

The Irish Ferrys vessel was ready to go. This is a mini cruise ship. Duty free shops, bars, restaurants and even a cinema. They weren't showing Titanic today.

Three and a half hours later we arrived in Hollyhead, Wales. Non-stop back to England. Driving on Welsh motorways are entertaining as the road signs are bilingual in English and Welsh. The Welsh words for some towns appeared to be absolute tongue twisting marathons. Looks like a very interesting language to speak.

Back into England, signified with a tiny sign that most people on the bus missed. We stopped in the smallish town of Chester for a look around. There was a "roman "amphitheater"" (note my double use of quotation marks) and a pleasant town centre.

Time for Liverpool. The home of two huge clubs in the English Premier League (Everton and Liverpool) as well as a band that I've admired hugely for a long time for their talent and catchy tunes; The Wombats.

Yes Mum, for The Beatles this is "where it all began"! 

Shortly after checking in we were back on the bus for a city tour with a local who knew the city backwards. On the highest point of the city sits the largest Anglican Cathedral in the world. I'm not a huge fan of old buildings or churches but this was a sight to behold. Whilst we walked around the inside the choir started practicing for their next service, giving the place a more harmonious atmosphere.

The bus took us all around the city whilst we learnt the significance of certain buildings and landmarks. The esplanade area along the Mersey River looked beautiful in the evening twilight. We hop out at the Cavern Club, where it all began.

This is still a live music venue where a local musician was belting out some good tunes. It caught us out how far beneath the ground the actual club is. It was the basement of an abandoned warehouse before becoming the Cavern Club. We only stayed for 15 minutes, not enough time to really appreciate the place. I'm not a fan of The Beatles, but even Poppy looked fairly interested in what was around.

Back to the hotel. Very nice room. One bedroom apartment overlooking the outer part of the city. We both got queen beds! The food at dinner was terrible, but everyone was hungry.

I now sit on my bed writing this blog contemplating checking out the city by night or even checking out Cavern Club again...hmmm. Will see what happens, if anything at all. Might save myself for Glasgow tomorrow night!

By the way, Galway Hooker is a beer. Also a boat that's docked in Galway. Get your mind out of the gutter.

Footballs and Sliotars

Dublin Dublin Dublin, oh how I like you so very much. Ok, I've had a few pints but at least let me tell you how I got to this point.

I always comment on the breakfast, a natural place to start. Not a great spread this morning. Mushrooms were good but other than that it didn't look too appetising. Then phone calls home. Thanks for liking the blogs everyone, it's great to hear that you are interested in this. Sorry for the "old fashioned" words I use now and again, but when hanging around the older generation on the bus it's bound to happen #yoloswag

Hopped on the bus at 9.30 for an introductory tour around this fine city. Georgian houses, cobblestone streets, old churches (of course) and Trinity College. It was nice, but I wasn't interested one bit.

Poppy stopped off at a shop where you can trace Irish family history, to trace the other side of his family. Afterwards we walked back to the hotel to drop some things off that he purchased and I had forgotten my Samsung Galaxy phone; i.e my good camera!

Poppy's hip started playing up a little bit so he decided not to join me on my next expedition. The one place I've always wanted to visit in Dublin. The Holy Grail of sport in Ireland. The one, the only, the unique, Croke Park.

Croke Park is Ireland's biggest sporting stadium. In fact, it's the third biggest stadium in Europe (82,300 capacity) behind Wembley Stadium (90,000) and Camp Nou (Barcelona ~99,000). Only the sports a part of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) are played here, the two notable ones being Gaelic Football which is just known as 'Football' and Hurling, the ones with the wooden sticks. The most intriguing thing of the GAA is that they are amateur sports. Ireland's biggest sporting stars are not paid for their on field heroics. After their weekend game they go to work!

Back to getting there...

I caught a taxi and he dropped me off at the wrong entrance for the museum! Oh well a kilometre won't hurt me. I finally arrived to a very friendly man who seemed excited that an Aussie was taking interest in Gaelic Sports.

The tour started. The only foreigners on the tour was myself and a young couple from the UK. The other 15 or so were Irish. We watched a 15 minute film showing how the stadium prepares for the All-Ireland Final, the biggest days on the Irish sporting calendar. Then through where the busses drive the players on that "one day in September". We arrive at the dressing rooms, where each county team has their jersey represented. Into the warm up rooms where the players make their last preparation before heading out onto the field.

It was set. We were ready to run out onto the pitch for the All-Ireland Final! Well...we couldn't touch the grass. The stadium is huge. The history behind the stadium and events that have happened here that changed Irish history are moving. This place rivals the MCG, very closely as my favourite sporting stadium now.

The tour finished and I went through the GAA Museum. A very good and interactive place to learn everything you need to know about the history and the mechanics of the sports. You can even try out Football and Hurling yourself. I failed badly.

I walked back to the city, going down O'Connell Street, the main street of Dublin for a look. I met Poppy back in the room where he told me what he got up to then we went on the next optional tour, Guinness Brewery! 

Fantastic building. The guided tour took us through how Guinness is made and the history behind it. We then had a free pint of the "Black Stuff" at the Gravity Bar. 360 degree views of Dublin.

It was only fitting that I had a pint looking out towards Croke Park. It was a coincidence (I promise) but it really did top off my dream day in Dublin. It's such a shame we only have one day here.

 
Now, how did I end up here, in my bed nearly drunk typing the worlds longest blog??

After the buffet dinner, I told Geoff that I was keen to check out Temple Bar, the pub hotspot in Dublin. Out of the 35 others on the bus, no one else joined me. Their loss. The bus dropped me off on the way to the hotel. I found a pub with plenty of brews on tap, darts on TV (not exactly Irish but oh well) but there was a musician playing Irish tunes. We have to be up very early tomorrow to cross back into Wales, so I kept my consumption down.

Ireland. Such a beautiful country. It's a shame we have to leave so soon. I really do want to come back one day! Words cannot describe landscapes, the people and the overall experience we have had here.

Liverpool awaits...

Blown away, literally

Woke up and my throat felt like it was pregnant. I felt ok, there's just a bug or something in there. Oh well, it's not Ebola.

Stuck to good old Rice Bubbles this morning before quickly packing for another long day on the bus. It was wet and gloomy outside. Not to mention freezing. On our way to the first stop, The Cliffs of Moher, we were warned that the view would most likely be fogged in.

Fogged in it was, bugger. It gave the otherwise spectacular view an eeriness to it. The wind by this stage was blowing about 50km/h, maybe more and everyone's knuckles were paralyzed. Most people didn't even opt in for the view and went straight into the visitor centre anyway.

Continuing on, passing through a town known for match-making as well as a lot of LGBT flags, going down a twisty mountain range and watching the fog lift; we eventually arrived in Galway for lunch. The bakery was highly recommended and we gave it a thumbs up. After a quick stroll around the centre of town it was finally time to head to the big smoke, Dublin!!

It takes two hours to cross Ireland, from west coast to east coast on a very good motorway. Our hotel is right on the edge of the city centre and overlooks the River Liffey. Best of all, there's Dublin's take on Oktoberfest right outside the hotel door! You bet I had a sneaky pint there before dinner

It was time for the Irish Show. On the edge of the Dublin suburbia sits an old building with thatch roofing. We were treated to a three course meal, an Irish stage show and the comedian. It was fantastic. The singing was bold, passionate and really told the story of Ireland beautifully; same goes for the dancing. The comedian, I forget his name. He is about 70 years old, and has the experience that not many other funny men can match, and it shows. His jokes weren't necessarily top shelf, but his delivery of the lines and the way he read and interacted with the audience proved why he is widely regarded in this part of the world.

A full day in Dublin tomorrow. The next post may or may not be written by a drunk man...

Dingle Dangle Dongle

Early rise again as we prepare to depart Killarney. Not a huge brekky selection but I'll wait out for lunch to have a big meal. 

It's freezing outside. 9 degrees but the rain and fog shows promising signs of lifting.

Out of Killarney town we go. We drive 5 minutes to the top of a hill. The view, spectacular. 360 degrees of absolute beauty (if you don't mind an old cemetery). A rainbow appeared to top off the perfect early morning Irish landscape.

A bit of driving now. We go around the Dingle Peninsula, which overlooks Dingle Bay and far near the horizon, The Ring of Kerry. The road is very narrow with tight, twisty bends built into the mountainside. Coaches can only go one way on this road as it's impossible to pass one another. Even two cars cannot pass in extensive areas of the road. The scenery...I've ran out of clichés. 

Here's a brain teaser for those reading. If you're driving around the Dingle Peninsula, looking at Dingle Bay, what's the name of the town we stopped at?

If you said Dingle, well done. Fish and chips for an early lunch. I ordered Smoked Haddock, freaking fantastic. Worth the €11. The weather cleared up yet the wind is howling through, it's only 13 degrees!

A very long drive now. The outside view was fantastic as always whilst I listened to some tunes. Next stop was a town called Adare. A small town, with many pubs and an old castle. Stereotypical Ireland. In for a pint of Guinness with the locals. Just the one this time around.

We checked into our hotel at Ennis. After a quick check of Facebook we were off for an Irish Banquet at a 15th century castle! I've been fighting a sore throat all day and now it's getting very bad. My fail safe of Strepsils aren't really helping either. But good money has been paid for this excursion so I'm not going to miss it.

Into a medieval castle, Knappogue Castle. Addressed as "My Lord", we were served mead whilst violins and harps were giving off delightful tunes. Into the feasting hall. Firstly a smoked salmon dish, followed by a nice tomato soup (I normally won't go near the stuff, don't get excited Mum!). Of course spoons weren't around in the 15th century so we drank the soup directly from the bowl. The stage show of songs, dance and the lovely harps and violins were first class. As were the mains of chicken in white wine sauce  and a sorbet desert (we'll ignore the lack of sorbet in the 15th century). The night finished off with a brilliant tap dancing performance with a lot of jokes and laughs shared. It's hard to describe what really transpired in text. By now I'm reeeally feeling under the weather.

Back to the hotel and to bed. Dublin tomorrow. Very, very excited!

Pinching yourself isn't enough

For once we don't have to pack our bags. Two nights in Killarney! Today takes us around arguably Ireland's best scenic drive, The Ring of Kerry. 160 kilometres of breathtaking landscapes, seascapes, villages and pubs. I like to mention the pubs.

We hop on the bus. It was raining. It was 10 degrees. It was foggy. Visibility wasn't great. Not the best news going to the scenic drive but a few of us hold high hopes.

First stop was a "bog village". It's difficult to describe. Pretty much an old Irish settlement for working people. Nothing overly spectacular. Although there are two Irish Wolfhounds that live here and our tour guide Geoff got some bacon to give the dogs some "breakfast". It's amazing how tall these dogs can stand. Still not as tall as me hahahaha.

We walked into the café next door for our first Irish Coffee. Ok it was 9am but one won't hurt me? I was buzzing for the next three hours...

Two minutes down the road we meet "Donkey Man" with his Donkey! It's a huge tourist trap but for some spare change you can take a photo with donkey man amongst some spectacular scenery. I took the 21st century option #selfie

Onto the scenic route. Sorry but I'm going to pull a Brian Taylor top shelf line here. Wowweee, boy oh boy! Big boy McEvoy! 

Remembering it was raining, foggy, miserable etc etc; the views were just jaw dropping. The weather adds to the atmosphere and romance of it all. Let the pictures do the talking. I still can't get over it.

Around the Ring we drive to lunch, overlooking the coast. I had Irish stew. Yum.

We arrive back in Killarney at 3.30. Time for a ride in a Jaunting Car. In other words a horse drawn carriage through the town and national park. It was a nice hour learning about the history and the sights of Killarney.

Back to the hotel. Chicken burger with a Bulmers for dinner. Poppy had scampi. I went back later on for sneaky seconds of cider hehe.

Higgo's Irish drink count:
Guinness: 3
Bulmers: 4
Irish coffee: 1

A pint, please

The morning in Tramore started out on a positive; mushrooms on the buffet. Shortly afterwards we were on the bus to Waterford, home of Waterford Crystal. The industry is all but gone in the town since 3500 jobs were slashed in 2009, meaning the glass makers have no where to go. Much of Waterford Crystal is now made in Slovakia. This didn't stop us from having a look inside their shop, which still stocked some pre-2009 items (the freaking expensive stuff!)

The trophy for the Irish Open (golf) proudly sits on display next to an impressive bear that costs €30,000. Other than that, if it's made of glass then this place probably has it. Don't get too excited folks, this was far too expensive to get gifts!

Onwards to Blarney, home to a castle and a stone you can kiss. I went up the 100+ spiral, steep and extremely narrow stairs to look, but not kiss the stone. After getting back down we stood on the lush green grass, gazed through the autumn trees and admired what remained of the castle. It was surreal.

We were hungry. I've been in this country for 18 hours and haven't had a Guinness. Walked in, ordered the "best fish in town". Turned out to have more batter than fish. But the pint of the black stuff sailed down the oesophagus smoothly.

Onwards to Killarney! Supposedly the biggest tourist town in the Republic, it sits in the county of Kerry. Now I'm a huge fan of sports and have recently taken an interest in Gaelic Football. Kerry has just won their thirty-seventh GAA All-Ireland title and the whole place is celebrating. Just about every house has a green and gold chequered flag on its mailbox, the colours of Kerry County. Shops have posters plastered with "CHAMPIONS!" and any proud local will mention number 37! 

We check into the hotel. There's a single and a queen bed. Poppy chooses the single, wow, ok...yay!! Off to our second optional excursion, mind you we are doing all of the optionals on this tour.

Nigel drove us down a very long narrow road where no tourist would ever dream of going. There it was. Two boots hanging upside down in a barrel and an old rusted "Guinness sold here" sign. We were at The Shanty, a 150 year old pub. Walked in to find two gentleman having a Guinness, one with an accordion. They were the Craic for the evening. Craic is a Gaelic word for someone who entertains, mainly at pubs and normally in the "old days". They sang Irish ballads with some old Australian and American classics thrown in. In amongst all of this was a few jokes, told like an old Irish tale. The delivery was spot on! Sooo funny. I think two pints of Guinness helped!

It was sad leaving. Then the Cosmos bus magically turned into a party bus. We were buzzing! Everything from the YMCA to the Chicken Dance were played from the comfort of our seats. What a great drive home.

Not being the biggest fan of Guinness I get on the Bulmers cider when we have dinner at the hotel pub (yes there's a pub inside our hotel!). A chicken Fajita later I'm full of cider and chicken and it's time for bed. What a day...bring on tomorrow.

Ahoy matey!

Good morning Cardiff! Well, it was rainy. Pretty relaxed morning. Buffet brekky had mushrooms! Yayyy! On the coach at 8.30 to negotiate our way through the Cardiff traffic. This was also doubling as our city tour. We stepped off the bus outside the University of Cardiff, the home of a grand building. The rain and clouds magically disappeared in what turned out to be a perfect morning. We also had a look at the park across the road which displayed a large and impressive monument of The Great War.        

                

                   
Out of Cardiff we went. Millennium Stadium looks huge! A motorway reststop gave me a much needed Red Bull and we were on our way to Tenby, a seaside town in South West Wales. The town is surrounded by an old city wall to guard from attack. Walking in we were greeted by pastel colours everywhere. It was a nice change from the stony browns you see everywhere else. Down to the seaside we walked.

Speechless. Wow. My goodness. What an incredible view! Staring for I don't know how long, the sheer cliff along the coastline dotted with large houses and a small island in the water ahead was a sight to behold. The rain clouds threatened to roll in but they held back. Pictures x1000. I went down the steep steps to look at the water and to dip my toes in, as you do. Prime selfie backdrops too.   

   

Walking back towards the bus you feel sad that you couldn't stay a bit longer to really soak up the serenity that Tenby offers. We have a ferry to catch.

     

Nigel, our bus driver took us on the scenic route to Pembroke. It was a lovely drive until we came to the bridge. The 3.75 metre bus had to squeeze under the 3.80 metre clearance.  Threaded the needle we came through undamaged! Nigel is our unsung hero of the trip thus far. His execution of driving finesse through extremely narrow roads (with on coming traffic) as well as his first attempt reversing into tight spaces has been second to none. Yeeeah he's made one or two wrong turns but he has 4 countries worth of roads to remember.
                                                       
Onto the Irish Ferrys ship and we set sail to the Emerald Isle. The voyage took four hours on very smooth water. It was a great time to really get to know some of the others on this tour. A lot of interesting stories and reasons for coming all the way to the UK/Ireland.

Docked into Rosslare at 6.45pm we were straight onto Irish roads and headed for Tramore. Arriving at the hotel at 8.30pm we went directly to the restaurant for dinner. Nothing exciting happening tonight.