Hello from Dublin
29/09/2006
22 °C
Hi All,
Sorry it has taken me so long to update our webpage.
We have been in the UK for a week and haven't had time to jump on the internet. I was hoping to use my mobile to update the webpage but unfortunately I haven't been able to get it working.
For those of you who don't know we are spending the first four weeks of our honeymoon holidaying with Bec's sister Mandy and her finacee Michael (who was born in Barrow, England).
We arrived in London after a LONG 22 hour flight. After arriving at Heathrow we caught a bus to Birmingham which is about 2 1/2 hours north-west of london(its the home of the Villa for those football (soccer) fans).
We were fortunate enough to stay with some family friends who were very accomodating. We visited the city centre, a palace around the area which was spectacular and had a medievil themed dinner at an old abby that is now a popular restaurant.
We stayed there for 3 days but could have easily been much longer.
We hired a car from Birmingham and set off for the 2-3 week driving part of the holiday/honeymoon. The car is a Vauxhall Vectra Wagon similar to a Holden Vectra). Fortunately, most of the road rules are the same over here so we haven't had much trouble getting around. We have taken the wrong turn a couple of times but overall it has been uneventful. The trickest thing about driving in the UK is that the indicators and windscreen wipers on the car are on opposite sides from that in Australia. So we have made a deal that if you turn on the windscreen wipers instead of the indicator you have to buy a round of beers (and we have had plenty of those).
From Birmingham we travelled west to Chester. We stopped over in Shrewsbury for lunch and took a guided tour of the town which was classic and somewhat stylish place. We arrived in Chester late that afternoon. The accomodation we were at was fantastic they looked after us very well being a honeymoon couple (sorry I can't remember the name of the place). We recevied free chocolates and a good sized room.
The next day we went on a hop-on-off bus tour of the town and unfortunately the weather turned nasty! It bucketed down. A large storm that had been effecting Ireland finally hit the UK. The heavy rain, thunder and lighting only lasted a few hours in the morning so fortunately we had the afternoon to look around without an trouble. We saw some old roman ruins, walked along the towns walls which were built to protect the city during battle times.... I'm not the historian so Bec will need to fill in the details. We had some local Beers in one of their oldest pubs and relaxed.
We set off the next day for Conwy in Wales. Conwy has a castle over looking the city it really magnificant. As I hadn't seen any castles before I really got to experience a few in Wales. The Conwy castle and town walls were mostly standing so we got some fantastic photo's. I hope to upload a few photo's later on.
We spent the next day driving around Wales visiting Castles built by King Edward and Lewyellan (sorry about my spelling). The castle I really enjoyed was Caernarfon. It had been completely restored and it was huge! It was easy getting lost in the passage ways and towers. I think everyone was exhausted from all of the walking as it was a big place.
I think Bec's favourite was Conwy or Dolwyddelan Castle due to their rustic look and historic significance (I'm not saying that Caernarfon was not historic it seen a few battles!).
We returned to Conwy ready for the next busy day.
The next day left Conwy for Ireland... we drove to Holy Head and caught the ferry to Dublin, Ireland. The ferry trip was quick and a bit choppy but we were lucky as the afternoon ferry was cancelled due to rought seas.
I think I spent most of the time in Dublin testing out the local brew... Guinness ! We went on the hop-on-off bus yesterday (which is becoming routine) and stopped over at the Guinness factory yesterday. We could have spent a whole day there with no trouble. It's a self guided tour and there is so much to see and do for Guinness fans. We all poured our own 'perfect' pints on the 5th floor (and have a signed certifcate as proof
and took our drinks to the Gravity Bar on the 7th floor for a great view of Dublin. The merchadise at the factory was great so we spent alot! The handy thing is that foreigner's can claim back the VAT (consumption tax like GST) when they leave the country which is a 10% saving.
After the factory we went to a traditional Irish pub and listened to some local music. Many people in the pub were singing along to the Irish songs... it was a great night, fantastic day and very tiring.
I was surprised at how busy Dublin was. It has a population of 1.1 million but the tourist seem to out number the locals, the're everywhere. At night time everyone is out the streets. A massive golf tournament was in Dublin last week so I think that could have something to do with the number of people around but it is a real party place.
Unfortunately, I have to end it there as its almost dinner time and I have some Guinness to drink. I will try to update our webpage more regularily. Farewell from us in Dublin.
Posted by BecandAndy 7:49 AM Archived in Ireland Comments (0)
