Carl's Blog

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:

Vacations

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:

Vacations

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:

Vacations

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.

Note: add above view of a ring fort

Stopped for a potty break at Waterville.

Photo op of irish coast from a high vantage point, in fact we are in a cloud atm

Costal bay in Ireland

Lunch at a B&B in Sneem . Why must all sandwichs come smothered in mayo. 😦 The fresh scones made up for the mayo.

Water fall in Sneem

Street in Sneem

180° view from the Ladies Viewpoint.

Published in:

Vacations

on June 29, 2013 at 1:25 am Comments Off
Tags: Ireland, irish coast, ladies view, loch, ring fort, Sneem, waterfall, Waterville

Killarney Day 1

Went back to Bunratty Castle and saw more of the castle.

Off to Adare for lunch. Had some very ominous birds watch me eat my sandwich in the park.

Park in Adare

Two nights in Killareny, laundry time.

Staircase in the hotel.

Went on a horse cart ride. Was a nice ride through the local national park here in Killarney. Even got to see another castle.

panoramic collection of castle near Killarney

Had dinner at a small little restaurant called Cronnin’s Restaurant. I’m trying the grilled sea bass.

Grilled sea bass

Published in:

Vacations

on June 28, 2013 at 2:12 pm Comments (2)
Tags: Adare, Bunratty Castle, Killarney

Limerick

After breakfast today, we head off to Limerick with various stops on the way.

Stopped in Cong for tea. This is the little town The Quiet Man was filmed.

Lunch in Galway.

Dinner tonight at a castle here in Limerick. Food was good, plenty of wine and the entertainment was good.

Tomorrow we visit the castle again where they’ve recreated life in the olden days.

Published in:

Vacations

on June 27, 2013 at 12:30 am Comments Off
Tags: Cong, Ireland, the quiet man

Heading to Sligo, Ireland

Details as the day progresses

Before leaving Derry-Londonderry, I had a short driving and walking tour. Saw the site where “the bloody Sunday” happened.

Memorial for “Bloody Sunday” in Northern Ireland

Street in Derry-Londonderry

Saw the parliamentary building that looks more like a church and was blown up on more than one occasion.

Walked across the peace bridge.

Guildhall from the Peace Bridge

Walked along the old city walls.

Skyline of Derry-Londonderry

In the museum inside the Guild hall, they had an exhibit that told the history of the region. The troubles in Ireland started way back in 1600’s.

Me and the statue of Queen Victoria in the Guild Hall

Donegal for lunch. Seems my UK mobile data doesn’t work here in Ireland. I guess I will be begging for free WiFi until I get back into the UK.

Pottery place.

Stopped here along the coast, I think mostly to stall for time since we were going to get to the hotel before the scheduled check in time.

Irish Coastline

W B Yeats grave.

Grave of Yeats

Waiting for the sun to set to get the view from the Radisson Blu here in Sligo. They have free WiFi here for guests. 🙂

Published in:

Vacations

on June 26, 2013 at 1:03 am Comments Off
Tags: Ireland, Northern Ireland, pottery, yeats

Off to Ireland

Leaving Glasgow, heading to catch a ferry then two hour ride to Ireland.

Made it to Northern Ireland. The ferry ride was very smooth. The ship had a café on board that let you buy breakfast or lunch. I opted for the muffin and coffee deal.

The Giants Causeway

Portnaboe

Do you see a camel?

Rock formation at Giant’s Causeway

Wall of rock at Giant’s Causeway

The Giant’s Organ

Purple flowers along the path at the Giant’s Causeway

Pink flowers along the path at the Giant’s Causeway

Made it to Londonderry in Northern Ireland. Staying at the Ramada Da Vinci. This is the first hotel I’ve seen were you need to put your room card into a slot by the main light switches to get the power to work in the room. Seems like an interesting idea to help conserve power or possible charge people for their usage.