Hoppin' down the Dublin Trail ... or A school A Book and A Beer ...

Today was our first of two full days of Dublin sightseeing.  After breakfast at McDonalds ... yep they are basically the same here as in the states ... we boarded a 'tram' into the city center.  The tram is really what we would refer to as 'light rail' and very easy to access and serves a significant number of city workers.  It is fast, clean, easy to use and I wish San Antonio would learn something from these folks and get this going ... used the proper way it makes very good sense.  As we were riding the tram a local couple was helping us identify where we might do laundry tomorrow ... as it turns out at least near where we can easily access, the "laundromats" are not 'self serve' ... in other words we will leave our laundry off in the morning and pick it up later in the day ... 8 euro per 'load' ... not really sure how big a load is at this point.  As we zipped along into the city I noticed that regular cars and trucks and bicycles were using the same 'road' as the tram ... obviously the tram was on tracks but it stopped at signal lights and was basically 'sharing the road'.  I have commented about how narrow the roads are ... adding a train to the mix does not improve matters one bit!!!!!!  I mentioned this to the fellow beside me and he said when the tram first came on line there were many accidents.  I don't doubt it ... I really can't imagine actually having to share the roadway with a train ... I guess to some extent the cable cars in San Francisco are like that but to me it just added to the abject fear.

Once we arrived in the city center by tram we located the "Hop On Hop Off" bus stop ... we had used these to good advantage in Rome and these are essentially the same operation ... you buy a ticket (in our case a 2 day ticket) and then you can get on and off at any of the route stops all day ... very handy ... one does NOT want to drive in downtown Dublin as the pics will show.

Here is a picture of one of the Hop On Hop Off buses ...

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

Here is a shot looking down the street at the Spire Of Dublin.  

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As you can see the  traffic is just a tad congested.

They have some "interesting" names on the shops along the street ...

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

We 'hopped off' the bus near Trinity College .   Other than around San Antonio, when I tell people I graduated from Trinity University they invariably ask me how I liked Ireland ... so I figured I'd better see what all the fuss was about ... we arrived on the campus to discover that the "Freshers" were being welcomed by all of the 'clubs' on campus trying to get them to sign up ... apparently the more members a club has the more power it has on campus.

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

The term will start soon.

We bought tickets to join a tour group and got a short walking tour of parts of the campus that included some interesting commentary.  Our guide was an undergraduate history major and he did a good job.

Our guide dropped us off at the old library and Book of Kells exhibit.

To be perfectly honest I knew nothing of the Book of Kells ... I supplied a link for you above ... and while it really isn't THAT impressive to see as an object ... the idea that it was written in the years around 800AD and I was standing there looking at the real thing ... was pretty cool.

Carolyn and I bought Trinity College T-shirts thinking we were 'almost' alumni ...

We "Hopped On" our tour bus and headed to the Guinness Factory.

On the way we saw several more interesting landmarks ... here is a statue of  Molly Malone.

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The Guinness factory is really big .. the tour takes you through parts of the old works and give a fairly high level explanation of the brewing process.

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

We all tasted some ...

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It's apparently good for you ...

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We had a bite to eat and then headed to the top floor for our "free pint" ...

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

The top floor is a huge room with glass all around giving a panoramic view of the city of Dublin.

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

Then we "hopped On" our bus again ... rode over to the tram station and rode back to the stop near the hotel.

After a brief rest we went down to the bar and ordered ..... Margaritas !!!! An much to our surprise they were very good!!

Tomorrow more sightseeing in Dublin ... oh ... and dropping off the laundry.

We land on the Emerald Isle ... or Row Row Row Your Boat ....

OK ... I apologize for the seemingly disjointed last post ... the problem was no WiFi in Wales and the Wifi on the ferry was so slow uploading really wasn't possible ...

So ... as I type it is 9:30PM and we are in for the night at our hotel in Dublin, Ireland.

Today was fairly mundane ... after breakfast in Holyhead we waited at our B&B there until it was time to drive over to the ferry port.  The ferry departed Holyhead, Wales about 1:50PM and we arrived in Dublin at about 5::15PM.  As you will see from the photos the seas were calm and the skies were partly cloudy ... almost perfect for an easy crossing.

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

We had purchased "Premium Passage" tickets which allowed us to roll onto the ferry as the first group and we were given access to the Stena Plus Lounge   ... basically a front row seat with refreshments, special reserved toilets and comfortable seating ... we were also allowed preferred disembarkation.

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

So we arrived in Dublin ... just in time to catch the 5PM traffic and we had to drive through the city center ...
This trip is making us all appreciate the WIDE roads and streets in the US.  You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone ...

Somehow we managed to get through the city without getting killed, killing a bicyclist or even being crushed by a bus .. and made it to our hotel.

We stopped for a drink in the bar and discovered the only "real" restaurant with out going back in the city was the hotel ... it was NOT a price we wanted topay so we walked three blocks and enjoyed McDonalds!!

Tomorrow we intend to eat breakfast at Mickey D's and then get on what is referred to as a "tram" to go into the city and there get on a "hop on hop off" bus to see several sights ...

On a personal note I want to say I LOVE "Wicked Wanda" and don't ever want to travel without her ... knowing what turns and twists are ahead in time (for the most part) to get in the right lane and mentally prepared is really nice ... not to say we might sometimes be taken on a more 'scenic' route than we might like but SO FAR ... Wanda has gotten us where we want to go ... so ... whoever invented consumer GPS devices ...you have my deepest heartfelt appreciation!

Blogging without a net! ... or In search of WiFi

We are at the moment sitting in the common room of the Monrovan B&B in Holyhead, Wales.  It is Monday morning September 20 about 10:15AM ... we are awaiting our short car ride over to the ferry landing for our 3+ hour crossing to Dublin, Ireland.

I will try only a couple of pictures in this posting since I'm not sure how they will flow (if at all) having created the post offline.

By the way, we learned that "wold" means "on the upland" ... the Cotswold area is famous for the quality of wool produced but  over the past several years the locals have started "harvesting tourists" as a better cash crop.  Since we had a 3+ night stay at the farm we were allowed a tour of "the farm" by Lucy's husband Paul.  So Saturday morning after breakfast we piled in the Land Rover with Paul and took a 30 minute tour of the 600 acre working farm.  They have 600 registered Charlois (pronounced Char Lay) cattle and 1200 sheep and they raise horses for hunting fox.  It is definitely a family business with Lucy's parents handling much of the farming with her husband Paul.  Her parents also lease out several houses to tourists as does her sister.  Lucy's family has been on the farm for 5 generations ... the B&B building was constructed in 1624 ... I guess it isn't a temporary fixture in the village at this point.

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

We bid a fond farewell to Lucy King and "The Farm" in Weston-Sub-Edge in the English Cotswolds yesterday morning about 9:45am headed for Wales.  The drive to Holyhead where we had the next B&B was about 210 miles.


We had opted to drive on some of the lesser roads for this leg of the trip so we could pass through the Snowdonia National Forest and see a few sights along the way.  We knew that this route would take us down some fairly narrow roads but none of us were prepared for one of them ... I'll put a picture here and if it doesn't flow to the weblog when online I'll edit it in.

This road was barely the width of our fairly compact vehicle and we drove down it 9 miles ... aaaaaiiiiiiieeeee

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

As one of the sights along the way we stopped at a small 'artisans park' where there  various crafts being displayed and a 'ride' called "King Arthur's Labyrinth".  This was a ride where we entered a revamped 8 level slate mine   The operator of the attraction had posted various sets of figures throughout the mine depicting stories about King Arthur from a Welsh perspective.  I'll post a few pictures here to give you an idea ...

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

We did NOT go to this 'attraction' ...

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Another part of our drive through the park took us to Swallow Falls ... about 4 miles of cascading water ... it was raining fairly steady as we got out to look at this natural wonder.

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

We arrived in Holyhead, Wales around 6PM and had a little trouble finding our inn for the night but thanks to "Wicked Wanda" our GPS friend we managed to locate the Monrovan B&B ... it's really a nice place and the proprietor is a friendly fellow. 

 

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

I had a Steak & Ale pie for dinner ... think a VERY GOOD beef pot pie ... it was fine!!

We've had breakfast

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That brings us up to date ... sitting waiting to drive over to the ferry.

I'll post this to the web log once I get WiFi ... hopefully on board the ferry.

The PLAY wasn't "the thing" after all ... or Shakespeare loses out to shopping!!

Our plan for today was to visit Blenheim Palace and then go to Stratford Upon Avon ... what we actually did was visit Blenheim Palace and then opt to go to Burford in the Cotswolds .  Meaning poor old Shakespeare lost out and we didn't visit his birthplace or any of his points of interests.

Blenheim is a pretty impressive place ... particularly when you realize it is currently resided in by the 11th Duke of Marlborough and it is the 2nd largest "private residence" on the planet ... If you were ringing the bell to pick up your date ... you'd be pretty intimidated!

A few photos ... they wouldn't let us take photos inside so I provided a link above if you are interested ...

I had to climb a tall tree to take this photo

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

Ring Ring ... can Suzie go to the movie with me .... ????

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Across the courtyard looking at one of the "wings" ....

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A side "garden"

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Looking at one of the "sides" from a garden ...

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I do NOT want to mow this lawn!!!

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Looking down the street in Burford ....

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A pub in Burford

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Tomorrow we motor up to Holyhead, Wales ... this will be a 5 or 6 hour drive on some smaller back roads so we can pass through the Snowdonia National Park .   

Some have asked about our dining ... we  have so far enjoyed a "Full English Breakfast" served at the farm every morning ... this consists of cereal if you want it, a fried egg, toast & jam, mushrooms, a half baked tomato, a banger (link sausage) and some Canadian bacon.... tea, coffee, milk and juice.

We are skipping lunch in favor of touring and driving and then having dinner at a pub or restaurant ... the fare has been good and we have so far enjoyed the diet change ... HOWEVER ... I am beginning to jones pretty bad for a bean and cheese nacho ... ( we DID see a "Nacho Kit" and a "Fajita Kit" in one of the market stores ... not really sure what was in the kits ... but the pictures on the box looked good ... also saw canned refried beans, tortillas but no jalapenos!!)

As we motor thru the expected rain on the narrow windy roads to Holyhead .... pray for us ...

Splish Splash We Were Takin' A BATH ... or ... Narrow roads will try a man's soul!

Today we motored from "The Farm" South about 75 miles to the city of Bath ... this city is famous for the largest remaining Roman Bath on the planet.  Basically, Bath always considered itself to be the Hollywood of England.  During the Roman empire days it was discovered that there was a hot spring (I believe the only one in Great Britain) here and so they decided it was an appropriate place for a temple for the goddess Minerva.  When the English were turning it into something of a resort, they held massive eloquent parades and festivals in the area.  At one time Bath lost favor as a popular spot until one of the Georgian era queens was having trouble conceiving ... she went to Bath and doused herself in the waters there and 10 months later bore a new heir to the throne ... Bath was back in business big time!!

So ... we naturally needed to see Bath ... it was as advertised ... a hot spring fed place that first the Romans and then the English tried to turn into something special ... I'll let the reader decide for themselves by looking at the photos ... as before there are more photos in the gallery ...

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

Minerva

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

After our bath ... we drove to Bradford on Avon ... we THOUGHT we would do some shopping here ... instead we basically took our lives in our hands trying to maneuver through the incredibly NARROW (think an alley in one of our cities where a single garbage truck can barely pass through ... NOW ... park cars on one side of that alley and allow two way traffic to pass through it on a twisting curvy road  up and down a very steep incline ... add to that many pedestrians ... that was the situation).  ... oh and by the way .. we had no clue where we were going and still driving on the wrong side of the road with the driver on the wrong side of the car ... THIS IS SCARY DAMN STUFF I AM HERE TO TELL YOU!!!

We had a plan ...

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

From Great Britain Odyssey 2010

Soooooo by the grace of God and whoever looks out for old people we managed to escape with our lives ... and headed back towards the Farm ... we stopped in Chipping Camden for a bite of dinner in a local pub ... we all had something to steady our nerves ... and are now safely back and ready for bed ...

Tomorrow ... Blenheim Palace and Stratford Upon Avon ...