Vacations | Carl's Blog

Plymouth

Here is the hotel in Exeter followed by a gray squirrel I saw running around the garden

Day 2 in Exeter has us traveling to Plymouth.

Plymouth Bay

Location of the pier the Mayflower left from in Plymouth

light house at Plymouth Hoe Park

Looe for lunch. A nice small beach and a beautiful Saturday to enjoy it.

Roadway arch by the beach in Looe

Stopped near a place called Pillar Bridge for some drinks.

Pillar Bridge

purple flower near Pillar Bridge

On to Dartmoor to get some photos of Dartmoor ponies. They are free range horses that as you can see will come right up to the coach. There were also hairy cows and sheep roaming free along the road.

This mare wanted to get onto the coach and come back to the hotel with us.

Free ranging horses in Dartmoor

Published in:

Vacations

on July 6, 2013 at 1:58 am Comments Off
Tags: beach, Dartmoor, Looe, Mayflower, Plymouth, summer

Exeter Day 1

Leaving for Exeter today which is south west of Cardiff. Sadly I didn’t get to see Torchwood nor did I spot the Tardis

First stop this morning is Bath well our stop is more of a traffic jam at the moment.

Finally made it. All I can say, the Romans were very good engineers to build a huge bathing complex around a small natural hot spring.

View from bath level

View of bath from level above

The area over the entrance to the bath

The remaining head of the statue of the goddess of the bath

The Abby across from the Roman Bath ruins

Me in front of Bath Abby

Bath Abby

Dinner tonight at the restaurant was grilled salmon. Over my 3 weeks here in the UK and Ireland I’ve noticed that some sort of fish is always one of the main or first course dishes at all meals. Wonder if that has to do with these countries being an island? 😉

Published in:

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on July 5, 2013 at 2:18 am Comments Off
Tags: Bath, Exeter, Roman Ruins

Chester and more

Well I’m in England again but it was just for the night. Cardiff today, but first a tour of Chester

and some ancient Roman sites.

Ruins of Ancient Roman Amphitheatre in Chester

Lunch in Ludlow

Walking back to the coach, I was blessed by a bird from the heavens. 😦 So I bought some chocolate to forget the bombardment

Chocolate Cow 🙂

On to Cardiff

Farm land

View from my room

Dinner tonight at a castle.

Ceiling of Upper chamber of Cardiff Castle Clock Tower

Floor of upper room of Cardiff Castle Clock Tower

Entertainers from Cardiff Castle Banquet

Cardiff Castle

Published in:

Vacations

on July 4, 2013 at 1:47 am Comments Off
Tags: Cardiff, Chester, ludlow, Roman Ruins, Wales

To Wales

Hopping a ferry this morning heading to Wales. My mobile data will work again 🙂 and Stonehenge is sometime in the next few days.

Stopped at the longest named train station.

Lunch in Caernarfon.

Off to Chester.

There are more photos related to the above ale.

View of the river from the Corn Mill Bar

Upstream from the Corn Mill Bar

Old Fort viewable from the Corn Mill Bar

Close up of water at the Corn Mill Bar

We stayed at The Queen hotel in Chester.

Saw a working Roman aqueduct.

Roman Canal System

Boat navigating the Roman Aqueduct

Roman Aqueduct 100s of feet above a river

The Horseshoe pass.

View from above Horseshoe Pass

Horseshoe Pass

Published in:

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on July 3, 2013 at 12:07 am Comments Off
Tags: Caernarfon, Chester, Corn Mill Bar, Wales

Dublin Day 2

Off for a tour of Dublin via the coach.

Bridge in the shape of a harp in Dublin

Book of Kells, which is a very old manuscript of the Bible. (sadly no cameras are allowed )

Library at Trinity University in Dublin

This afternoon (12:15 pm) is the tour of the Guinness brewery.

Went to the Irish History Museum

More Swords

Ancient spurs.

Sword display at museum

And the Natural History Museum

Leaving Ireland tomorrow and heading to Wales. One thing I’ve learned is a pint of Guinness is cheaper the farther you are from Dublin.

Published in:

Vacations

on July 2, 2013 at 2:27 am Comments Off
Tags: Dublin, Guinness, Ireland

Dublin Day 1

Heading to Dublin for a two day stay.

But first a tour of the Waterford Crystal showroom.

Crystal clock

Waterford seahorse logo. Notice the clover design in the tail

Got to hold the football that is part of the college bowl trophy.

Me holding a BCS Trophy football

Lunch in Kilkenny

In Dublin and finally a hotel with a mini fridge.

Published in:

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on July 1, 2013 at 3:55 am Comments Off
Tags: Kilkenny, Waterford

Waterford

Heading to Waterford today.

I downloaded an offline gps map app. Giving it a test while here also switched back to my galaxy s3.

Pictures and updates at the next free wifi I find.

First stop is Blarney Castle. And no I’m not going to kiss the blarney stone; that has to be the most unsanitary spot in Ireland.

Blarney Castle

Blarney Stone from ground level.

Blarney Stone up close.

At the Blarney Castle is a garden of poisonous plants guess what was in the garden…

What the hell? Is that marijuana?

Took the stout challenge at the Mill bar and got the 3 samples right. Beamish was the best of the 3, and being so close to Cork you really can’t get Guinnes they make Bemish here. Think of it as a Bub vs Miller rivalry yet with good tasting drinks.

Hotel charges €4 for Internet access and the signal in my room is crap. Will have to go looking for a coffee bar with free wifi.

This room here in Waterford has had the best view. My window is directly over the hotel entrance facing the river.

Walking tour of the city very soon.

Published in:

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on June 30, 2013 at 1:28 am Comments Off
Tags: Blarney Castle, Ireland, Waterford

Killarney Day 2

Getting ready for breakfast. Today we are doing a 179km circular tour of the county, called the ring of Kerry.

Stopped at a shop called Macken of Ireland for an irish coffee and some shopping. The coffee was not the best even if it had a dram of whiskey in it. The place had some very nice jewelry. I just bought some polo shirts with Ireland logo on them.

Old ring house/fort.