UK and Europe 4 month sojourn!

[OZDUCK]

Thanks @OZDUCK . Driving on some of those roads is certainly an experience.

I damaged the passenger side rear view mirror going into the grass/shrubs on the Ring of Kerry to avoid a tourist bus. Luckily I had paid for full insurance on the hire so no extra cost to me.

 

[Must...Fly!]

Wild Atlantic Way is just unbelievable, great to see some photos of it, bringing up some memories. When I did it a few years ago I had a week of straight sunshine. Now one day was 38 degrees and terrible in a car with no aircon, but the Cliffs of Moher on a clear day really are something.

 

[OZDUCK]

Wild Atlantic Way is just unbelievable, great to see some photos of it, bringing up some memories. When I did it a few years ago I had a week of straight sunshine. Now one day was 38 degrees and terrible in a car with no aircon, but the Cliffs of Moher on a clear day really are something.

A week of sunshine! I think we got around 20 hours of sunshine spread over about 15 days in 'summer'. It showed me why it is called the Wild Atlantic Way.

 

[Scash]

I damaged the passenger side rear view mirror going into the grass/shrubs on the Ring of Kerry to avoid a tourist bus. Luckily I had paid for full insurance on the hire so no extra cost to me.

We were lucky and got through unscathed but did pay for full insurance just in case.

 

[Scash]

Wild Atlantic Way is just unbelievable, great to see some photos of it, bringing up some memories. When I did it a few years ago I had a week of straight sunshine. Now one day was 38 degrees and terrible in a car with no aircon, but the Cliffs of Moher on a clear day really are something.

Loved the Wild Atlantic Way apart from narrow roads. Pretty much the last month in England, Ireland and Scotland has consisted of 2 or 3 days of rain, then a day or two of cloud wth an odd sprinkle but no straight sunshine!

 

[Scash]

As an aside I’d like to say thank you to everyone for liking and or commenting. It’s hard to know if I’m boring people with detail or if I’m just rambling on. It is a little self serving I guess but in some ways it makes the trip a little more special by sharing with like minded people. I also love it when people comment about how it brings back memories because it connects with me and this is what travel is all about!

 

[kookaburra75]

Loved the Wild Atlantic Way apart from narrow roads. Pretty much the last month in England, Ireland and Scotland has consisted of 2 or 3 days of rain, then a day or two of cloud wth an odd sprinkle but no straight sunshine!

We too enjoyed southern Ireland when we were there several years ago - and your photos have reminded us to start planning our next trip there. We did a loop from Dublin, through Kilkenny, a couple of nights at Dingle, Ballyvaughn and back to Dublin - and only had one day of drizzle. Next time, we'll spend a whole month doing a slow loop around Ireland.

And, we were told that the Brazen Head in Dublin was the oldest pub. Maybe that was just a story for the tourists.

 

[VPS]

As an aside I’d like to say thank you to everyone for liking and or commenting. It’s hard to know if I’m boring people with detail or if I’m just rambling on. It is a little self serving I guess but in some ways it makes the trip a little more special by sharing with like minded people. I also love it when people comment about how it brings back memories because it connects with me and this is what travel is all about!

I think most people on AFF love a good TR and I'm enjoying yours so keep it up

Thanks

 

[Scash]

The Giants Causeway was next on our agenda and a must see. We didn’t get there till about 1PM and it was crazy busy. We hadn’t pre booked and couldn’t get a car park so ended up driving back to Bushmill, parking there and getting the public bus to the Giants Causeway. For those who haven’t been there it’s quite a walk down and a big walk back up! There are electric buses that run up and down for anyone that couldn’t do the walk.

 

[Scash]

More photos!

 

[Scash]

I even managed to get a bird in one of the pictures! If you look at the second photo you’ll see it in the middle of the photo.

 

[Scash]

Our time in Ireland ended with two nights in Belfast. While we were in Belfast we did a black cab tour called politics and murals which took us around the different sections of Belfast and provided background on the troubles. It was quite sad to see and hear what happened and disappointing that people were glorified and treated as heroes when in essence they were just thugs and murderers. One person in particular has a massive mural and nicknamed Top Gun because he is believed to have killed at least 21 random people. These were innocent people including an elderly man, a mother and an 8 year old who was shot purely because he was wearing a football jersey of a different team! So many people killed over ideology but mainly money and power. The wall that separates the Catholics and Protestants still stands and gates are still closed at night.

 

[Scash]

On a brighter note we happened to be in Belfast for a Remembrance Day march to commemorate the Battle of the Somme and also a Pride Day parade. The placing buzzing with people and colour and everyone has having a fun time. I only took videos of the Remembrance Day march so don’t have photos to upload.

 

[Scash]

And, we were told that the Brazen Head in Dublin was the oldest pub. Maybe that was just a story for the tourists.

According to google Brazen Head is the oldest pub in Dublin but Sean’s Bar is the oldest in Ireland. Though it’s a bit like every fish and chip shop has a sign saying that theirs are the best fish and chips in the town

 

[kookaburra75]

According to google Brazen Head is the oldest pub in Dublin but Sean’s Bar is the oldest in Ireland. Though it’s a bit like every fish and chip shop has a sign saying that theirs are the best fish and chips in the town

That makes sense. I think they love a good story in Ireland.

 

[Scash]

On out last day in Belfast we visited the Titanic Museum which is well worth it. The building itself is spectacular and the story of the Titanic and the ship builders is so interesting. The manual labour that was involved is mind blowing and the engineering incredible. The tragedy itself is so typical of how a number of little things can lead to a much a much bigger problem. As often happens this was a combination of human error and judgements, and possibly lack of knowledge.

The Titanic museum.

 

[Scash]

The Titanic story includes a carnival type ride which takes you through the various parts of “the shipyard“ and shows the different stages of the titanic being built. It was hard to get good photos just using my phone so I haven’t uploaded any sorry.

The first photo is at the start of the ride and the rest are of a floating model of the Titanic at the end of the tour.

 

[Leonie]

Great TR has give me many ideas

 

[Magoo]

I've really enjoyed re-visiting parts of Ireland I've seen. I need to go back and check out the rest.

Thank you

 

[Scash]

Edinburgh is our next port of call where we’ll base ourselves for most of August. Our son lives there so we’ll stay with him (payback ) and use it as a base to travel around Scotland.