JAMESON IRISH WHISKEY COULD BE FOR ME

WEATHER:  The sun was out (for a little while) but I would have to say 16C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY:  Our visit to the Titanic Museum in Cove

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Group is getting on my nerves

BUYS OF THE DAY:  A bunch of Jameson souvenirs

WORD OF THE DAY: - AFD = Alcohol Free Day

It’s a shame that we didn’t get to see too much of Cork, but we departed at 8.45am.  These later starts are just awesome!  We had a 30 minute drive to get us to Cove aka Cobh aka Queenstown.  On 11 April 1912 Queenstown aka Cove was the final port of call for the RMS Titanic as she set out across the Atlantic on her ill-fated maiden voyage. Local lore has it that a Titanic crew member John Coffey, a native of Queenstown, jumped ship although there is no record of him on the crew list. 123 passengers boarded in all; only 44 survived the sinking.  We got to go into this great museum that had some Titanic displays and also historical information on the immigration of approximately 2.5 million people of the 6 million that emigrated in the 1900’s during the Potato Famine, and they passed through Cove.  Due to its naturally protected harbour Cobh has historically been important as a tactical base for naval military bases through time also.  But the museum was pretty cool.

From Cove we drove another 30 minutes to Middleton where we got a chance to go to the Jameson Irish Whiskey’s home.  I would call it the birth place, but originally it was located in Dublin, but moved in the early 1900’s to Middleton.  Even though it is spelt differently from my surname (missing an i) it is pronounced the same way.  Jameson Irish Whiskey is distilled three times to deliver exceptional smoothness.  Triple distillation is what makes the Irish whiskey unique to American Whiskeys, which are typically only distilled once, and Scotch whiskies, which are usually distilled twice.

The tradition began in 1780 with the Great Master Distiller John Jameson, who worked out that three distillations was best for his Jameson Irish Whiskey.  They roast the barley clean (no fossil fuels like Scottish whiskeys) and they distill the whiskey in casks that they buy from the USA that have previously had sherry and bourbon in them which also helps with the taste of the whiskeys.  A whiskey cannot be called ‘Whiskey’ until it has been distilled for 3 years by law; Jameson’s minimum distillation is 4 years.  The tour was really quite interesting and at the end, like any other grog tour, a free sample.  I am NOT a whiskey drinker, but as it was free and also my name sake I went for a whisky and cranberry and it was actually quite nice.  It still had a subtle whisky kick, but I think it maybe something I could get used to.  I think I will buy one while I am out tomorrow night and just see how it goes down.  If I’m not going to drink Guinness ( I am drinking Smithwicks beer which is Irish also ) but I may as well try and get into some whiskey while I am here!

Back in the bus and on the road again – we drove to our next stop which was The Rock of Cashel.  It was the traditional seat of the kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to the Norman invasion. Cashel is reputed to be the site of the conversion of the King of Munster by St. Patrick in the 5th century.  So we were all pretty looking forward to getting into the castle – BUT when we got there, there were a lot of police around and barricades around.  You know what is coming right?  The bloody QUEEN was coming tomorrow, and they have closed the castle for security reasons.  Bloody Hell!!!  We got our group photo taken here (some nice police were happy to get into the photo) and I also got the group to do the Bernstar jump.  They were so enthusiastic – NOT – but thanks Dave for forcing the point, as I was about to tell them all to not worry.  So it turned into a photo stop only from the base of the castle and then back in the coach for the remainder of the 2 hours to Kilkenny.

I have been to Kilkenny before, but it was quite a long time ago, and I don’t really remember much of it from then.  We had a walking tour that went for 1.5 hours around the old town and Kilkenny is home to the Smithwicks (pronounced Smitticks) and also the Kikenny brew.

Dinner was at the hotel, and I have decided to have an AFD.  ALCOHOL FREE DAY.  I am feeling quite despondent with the group and I am really just looking forward for the tour to end.  Not in the socializing mood, so as soon as dinner was finished, I escaped to my room to catch up on more office work, blog, diary and FB.  The upside is that I save money, my liver gets a night off and I get more than 6 hours sleep tonight – depending on how much work I need to do.  I want to make use of the free Wi-Fi (and it is fast) while I can.

I was on the verge of cancelling my seat on the final dinner tomorrow night – but I am going to suck it up.  Besides already paying for it and it’s not refundable, there is no point in losing 43EUR.  There are a few people, not many, that I would like to say good-bye to, so hopefully I will be able to get to sit with them tomorrow night.

KISSING THE BLARNEY STONE – NO THANKS

WEATHER: Sun, rain, wind, Sun, rain and wind……

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY : The Cliffs of Moher

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Not seeing anything of Cork

BUYS OF THE DAY: 

WORD OF THE DAY: - Did you kiss the stone?

We drove around an hour this morning for our first stop at The Cliffs of Moher.  I wasn’t too sure what to expect, but once we got to the cliff edge, there was an amazing view to be had.  The cliffs rise 120 meters above the Atlantic Ocean at Hag's Head and reach their maximum height of 214 meters.  The Cliffs of Moher rank as one of the most popular tourist destinations in Ireland and topped the list of attractions in 2006 by drawing almost one million visitors and I can see why.  When we first got there, it was spitting with rain and windy – then the sun came out and it was still windy – and then the rain started to come in again just after we left.  The weather is really a guessing game and I now always have my wet jacket and umbrella on me.  The wind was so strong that when you were walking against it, it was like taking 2 steps forward and getting blown back one – it was intense.  The Cliffs of Moher have been featured on film numerous times, including Leap Year (2010), The Princess Bride (1987), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), and in the Tentacles of Doom. 

From the cliffs we drove for 2 hours to get us to Blarney and the famous castle and the more infamous Blarney Stone.  According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of gab.  The stone was set into a tower of the castle in 1446. The castle is a popular tourist site in Ireland, attracting visitors from all over the world to kiss the stone and tour the castle and its gardens.  I always had in my mind that I would be kissing the stone, but had a niggling doubt on the hygiene of where everyone smacks their lips.  In 2009, Tripadvisor.com ranked the Blarney Stone as the most unhygienic tourist attraction in the world (although it admitted it had no scientific evidence to back its case) but I think I have to agree.  The kiss, however, is not casually achieved. To touch the stone with one's lips, the participant must ascend to the castle's peak, (which is a trek up some skinny spiral stone steps to the summit) then lean over backwards on the parapet's edge. This is achieved with the help of an assistant. Although the parapet is now fitted with wrought-iron guide rails and protective crossbars.  Besides the position you need to get into to kiss the stone and after seeing the spot where everyone plants their wet one, it looked a little manky – was the deal breaker for me and was certainly not appealing at all. So I stood in the line, got a picture and stepped right past and I am still glad that I didn’t do it!!

Cork was only a 45 minute drive from Blarney.  After checking in and eating dinner we headed to a Tenpin Bowling alley, to let our bowling skills unleash.  I was originally in team ‘fun’ and then got kicked off, as we had to make another team, as we had an additional lane.  So I got with team ‘original’ who don’t have too much time for the ‘newbies’ and team FUN were having that much fun, they didn’t know I was missing – how rude.  I bowled a 92 which I think was okay, but our top bowler for our team was Henry and he got 172!!!  Too good!  I walked home after bowling and caught up on some office work of blogging and photo uploading.

There are only 2 days left of tour, and I hate to say it, but the tour experience itself for me has not been 100% fun, and I am looking forward to the start of my Spanish Spree.  I don’t know if it is the modulation of the tour, having a single room – so no room buddy and there seems to be a lot of Debbie Downers on the trip, but it just has not gelled for me.  I don’t know why these people come on a Contiki tour when they don’t even socialize nor have fun.  I don’t know how many smiles I have thrown their way (they are free right) and get a blank stare or the ‘look away’ look.

Anyway – I have to realize that not all tours are going to be like my Trans Mongolian group or my Contiki Discovery group.  I really made some ‘real’ friends on these tours and just assumed it would be the same for all my tours.  In Contiki Ireland’s defence, there is a pretty high standard that has been set, and maybe my expectations were just a little too high, but some common courtesy needs to come into play and these guys can’t give a toss.

Off to Kilkenny tomorrow and then one more night in Dublin on tour and I have an additional night after that.  Ireland has been great and I have to say the highlight has been the Aran Islands and the Jameson Irish Whiskey Experience it is just a shame about the company.

I probably shouldn’t have put my blog address on the ‘stalker sheet’ yesterday………. 

THE BEAUTIFUL ARAN ISLANDS

WEATHER: Rainy, overcast 12C plus wind chill

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY : The Dun Lungon Fort

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Starting the day with only 4 hours sleep

BUYS OF THE DAY:  Bar Hamburger on the island – best hangover material 8.95EUR

WORD OF THE DAY: - CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s not wrong it’s just different

Off to the Aran Islands this morning and there are a lot of sore heads and upset tummies from last night, which is not a great start of what is potentially going to be a massive day.  I’m feeling okay, just a little tired.  Considering I drank like a fish last night I would have expected to have pulled up a lot worse.  There were some people that shady that they thought about not going to the islands, but I think once they got there they were glad they did the hard yards.

We had to drive to the port that was 1 hour away and then we transferred onto the boat that was to take us to the island.  This was a very rocking and rolling journey of 40 minutes, and I am so glad I was just feeling tired and not hung-over, as I think the boat would have sent me over the edge, it was quite rough!!  After getting onto the island, we hired bikes and got 4.5 hours to discover all we wanted.  The weather when we first picked up the bikes was a little dodgy, so we headed to one of the 5 pubs on the island, and thought we would start with lunch and see if the weather would pass.  Well after the best burger I have had in a long time, the rain had stopped and we hit the road.

The islands inland landscape of uniquely blanketed rock surface are glazed with man-made rock walls that meander and cross all directions as far as one can see is just amazing.  How long have the rock walls been there?  How long does it take to make them?  Who made them?  It is an amazing site seeing these rock walls everywhere……..  We rode our bikes with our destination being the Dun Aonghasa Fort.  The brochure said it would take 30 minutes (yeah not on bikes) as it took us 1.5 hours to get there, but in our defence there were a lot of photo stops along the way.  We stopped at the seal colony, and this nice lady let me look through her binoculars to see them better.  We then carried on past a beautiful beach, which if the sun was out, the water would be a stunning colour, it was so clear, and a stop at a local cemetery, where a lot of the head stones were in Gaelic and also had the Celtic crosses.  The road we were riding on was wide enough for one car only, true country road style, and riding on it finally made us feel like we were in Ireland.  CAR… was a call we made when we had to pull over to the side to let it pass us and then we would carry on again.  I can’t put into words just how amazing this experience was and this is the highlight by far for this trip.

We finally made it to Dun Aonghasa, where we had to park our bikes in the bike park and then trek 20 minutes up to the fort and to get a glimpse at the cliffs.  The fort is a monument that is a world heritage site, which stands over a dramatic 300 foot cliff that spans the entire western part of the island and faces the moods of Atlantic sea.  The view from here was UNBELIEVABLE!  The wind was so strong up there that it would push you if you weren’t careful.  The thing that surprised me the most was that there were no safety railings at all at the top of the cliff or at the fort.  People wanted to get better photos of the cliffs, so they would crawl on their stomachs to get to the edge to get the shot.  Yep, well I wasn’t that brave / stupid, so I stood as close as I though was safe and snapped off some pictures that way.  Apparently one person a year falls off the cliffs and I could not think of a worse way to die.

Our ride back was a lot quicker than getting there, as we had snapped off all our photos heading out.  There was another way we could have gone back, but you needed to be Lance Armstrong with the hills and it was a little longer, so we decided to go back the way we came.  Plus we didn’t know how long the other way would take, and if we missed the 5pm ferry, which was the last for the day, then we would have to overnight on the island and then get our own way to Cork to meet up with the tour, ah yeah we’ll go back the way we came – thanks.

We got back to the town with 45 minutes to spare, so we got out of the cold weather, that was starting to turn nasty, for a beer and to watch the live coverage of the Queen in Dublin, reverting stuff.  By the time we got back on the ferry, the whole group was comatose and really couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel for showers and dinner.  We were all that buggered that we didn’t even have drinks afterwards, we all just went straight to bed, which at the end of the day to have an AFD ( alcohol free day ) – well besides the beer I had with lunch and before the boat, will not kill us and to get more than 7 hours sleep sounded like heaven.

The Aran Islands were AMAZING.  Stone walled fences, donkeys, seals, horses and scenery – if you are ever in Galway this should not be missed.  It seems a long way to get out there, but believe me it is certainly worth the effort.

PARTY IN GALWAY

WEATHER: 12C plus a wind chill factor

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: New friends

BUMMER OF THE DAY:

BUYS OF THE DAY: Smirnoff reds at the bar for 5.50 EUR

WORD OF THE DAY: - Fu#kwit

We had the latest start this morning on all of my Contiki trips of 9.45am.  I set my alarm for 8am and woke up at 7.45am in a panic that I slept through and missed the bus.  It was really an odd feeling, and more pressure for the wake-up’s for the next 6 weeks as I have no roomie.  Odd but GREAT feeling.

We left Derry and had a 2 hour drive to Sligo, where we stopped for lunch.  The weather comes and goes, but when it rains it is a light mist, and not full on pelting rain (touchwood), so it is bearable.  It is the wind that drops the temperature by 5C.  I have just about given up trying to use an umbrella, as the wind is quite gusty it turns it inside out or keeps catching in the wind and I feel I may do a Mary Poppins and float off ( well maybe not ) but it is pretty windy.

A further 2 hour drive got us into the university city of Galway.  We got a few hours free time here before driving to our hotel.  We visited a jewelry shop that is the original makers of the claddagh rings from 1750.  Legend has it that an Irish young man, Richard Joyce, bound for the West Indian slave plantations - was kidnapped in rough seas by a band of Mediterranean pirates and sold to a Moorish goldsmith who over the many long years of his exile helped him perfect the skills of a master craftsman.

When in 1689 King William III negotiated the return of the slaves, Joyce returned to Galway - despite, it said, the Moor's offer of the daughter's hand in marriage and a princely dowry of half of all his wealth.
Back in Ireland a young women had never stopped faithful waiting for her true love to return. Upon which time when he presented her with the now famous Royal Claddagh gold ring - a symbol of their enduring love. Two hands to represent their friendship, the crown to signify their loyalty and lasting fidelity, and the sign of the heart to symbolize their eternal love for each other.

They soon married, never to be separated again – what a beautiful story!  After all that I walked out of the shop with a shiny new claddagh ring!!!  I am wearing it the right way, which is upside down, heart facing my fingernail – telling people my relationship status is single. 

Our hotel is located about 20 minute drive from town.  So we checked in and then Aaron drove us back into town for dinner and a night of drinking and dancing (I know – a big shock).  We went to a pub called Munro’s, where we ate dinner and they had a live guy playing his guitar.  He was pretty good, and even though the drinks were a little expensive, it was a great place.  From here we walked to a nightclub called Karma at 11pm.  When we got there we were the only people in the place.  It is a 4 level club, so even with 35 of us in there, it really wasn’t that busy.  Well 40 minutes later, the place was swarmed with people – where the hell they all came from I have no idea, but the night just picked up a notch and we partied the night away.  The club closed at 2.15am (which was a blessing in disguise) and we were back home by 3am.  Big Dave asked our awesome taxi guy about doing a Macca’s run for 9 cheeseburgers, but we were already too far out of town for him to turn around (another blessing I do believe).  It was an awesome night out and a great way to meet some more of the ‘original’ and new Contiki’ers.

Plenty of stories to tell, it is Contiki after all, but as the saying goes “What happens on Contiki, stays on Contiki so my lips are sealed!!!

NORTHERN IRELAND

WEATHER:  Rainy and overcast 13C – oh and windy

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Giants Causeway

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Still haven’t cracked the tour group yet

BUYS OF THE DAY:  A pint in Londonderry was only 2.50 pounds

WORD OF THE DAY: - DROP BEAR!!

I was told that doing the Ireland tour in between the Europe and Spanish tour was a great idea, as the driving distances aren’t as long and we get some later starts in the mornings.  Well first travel day in the coach and we had an 8.45am departure – oh man, music to my ears.  We have a full coach, well will.  There were 2 people who haven’t shown in Dublin and 2 people meeting us in Londonderry this afternoon, otherwise a full complement on the bus.  I got to the coach 5 minutes before I needed to, and just about everyone was on board and ready – shit – where do I sit?  I still only know a handful of people from last night.  Well I had to ask like a flipwit ‘is this seat taken?’ and thankfully the 2^nd time I asked was free, so I didn’t have to make my whole way down the bus.  I really HATE starting tours half way through – have I told you this already?

We had a 2.5 hour drive from Dublin to Belfast.  The drives are going to be so short after our long travel days in Europe, a walk in the park actually.  I just get ready to get all settled, and by the time Dave has given his chat for the morning, we are getting ready to pull into our stop.  This will be a good thing or a bad thing.  It means that there will not be too much time for sleeping on the coach, and this is the time where we caught up on it, but I guess we will be having later departures to make up for it, and I would prefer to sleep horizontal than vertical any day.

Belfast was pretty cool.  It is one of those places that has always made the news, synonymous with bombs going off, IRA, Sein Fein, Protestants and Catholics.  After a very long period of turmoil they now do live in an uneasy peace – but the way they lived their lives back then is really hard to believe.  It was like you needed to have eyes in the back of your head and always watch your step.  The new Belfast emerging is positive.  There are international hotels popping up and they are refurbishing the waterfront, and the city itself felt quite safe and inviting.  We did a city tour by bus for an hour (which was lucky as it was raining) and saw the Harland and Wolff crane that the Titanic had been built with, the University and the Parliament building, which is a massive building on a hill.

A further 1.5 hour drive got us to the Giants Causeway.  The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, and a National Nature Reserve in 1987.  The Giant's Causeway was named as the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven and eight sides. The tallest are about 12 meters high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 meters thick in places.  The walk to the stones was about 15 minutes downhill, with a stunning view and the National Park offers a bus for 1 pound to come back (as it was up hill this was a popular option).  We were lucky with the weather; it just started to turn nasty as we had to head back to the coach.  There was a close shave for 2 of the girls from our group, who got hit by a freak wave on the edge of the stones, that knocked them off their feet, and then a second wave nearly swept them off the stones.  I am sure it was super scary for them, I didn’t see it happen, but Anita got a massive gash on her arm, and all their belongings including passports, iPods, camera’s and phones were drenched, along with the girls themselves.  They were very lucky indeed.  A little shaken but okay!
From here we then drove another hour to get us to our final destination of Londonderry or Derry, depending if you are Catholic or Protestant.  Our guide, Ronan, was unbelievable.  Born and bred in Londonderry, travelled and studied overseas, is actually a Buddhist, so he was able to give both sides of reasoning with the IRA and Sein Fein ways of thinking, an impartial view on Northern Belfast.  He wanted to really make a point that all the fighting is not always politically motivated; it has other factors like employment and economics and at the end of the day, no matter what side you are on, it is some-ones son or daughter that has been killed.  It really was super interesting, and he was a great speaker.  It still comes down today, that he has police officer friends that need to check under their cars each time they drive it to make sure there are no bombs underneath – scary stuff right.  We did a walking tour of Derry, and it was interesting to see the political murals on the side of buildings, the city walls that have been there since the 17^th century, the church they believe Amazing Grace was penned and also the monument that stands where Bloody Sunday took place in 1972 and that was also the basis of U2’s song of the same name.  Ronan called our group ‘hope’.  He would never had believed that 2 years ago there would be tourists coming to Northern Ireland, ever and ‘hopes’ that his children will grow up in a different Northern Ireland that than what he did.  He was awesome.

Dinner was at our own arrangements tonight, and majority of the group headed to the local pub, I use this term loosely as it was kind of like an RSL, but the meals were far better.  I’m getting in to the Irish food and I have to say I am a sausage lover.  The bangers and mash is to DIE for and I have had it all 3 nights while I have been in Dublin.  Maybe I should try the stew tonight?  I sat with 2 gals I had met the night before Kya and Sam from the USA and then we met another couple, Jamie and Scott, that joined us in Derry also from the US and we had an AWESOME night!  I think I may have finally found some travel buddies to spend the rest of my week with.  It has been tough, and as it works out all my new friends are all the newbies, the original group hasn’t given us much of a look in.  But maybe they need to warm up some more.  I was explaining to the guys about Drop Bears in Australia, Steve Irwin, crocodiles and yes Crocodile Dundee also made the conversation. 

The hotels have been amazing.  As I am now in a single room ( I had to because of my age ) Dublin was the first time I have slept in a queen bed for 48 days!  I have been in single beds the whole way and since I am now used to that I don’t even sleep on the whole bed, just my side looks slept in! 

Galway is tomorrow where we have a 2 night stay, and apparently Galway is quite the party town, so I think a BIG night will be had tomorrow night.

Beer, beer and more beer will be on the agenda…..

CONTIKI IRELAND STARTS

WEATHER: Cold and rainy with a ray of sunshine (once)

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY:  SLEEP IN

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Caught in a rain storm

BUYS OF THE DAY:  My Milk Thistle tablets – explanation below

WORD OF THE DAY: - Thanks a million

SLEEP IN – like a well and truly proper sleep in.  Jessie and I headed to the Temple Bar last night, the actual bar in the Temple Bar area after dinner.  It was so busy in there, and as we were waiting at the bar to order drinks, 2 seats became available, so we were super lucky and were able to sit down.  After 3 pints, we called it quits and said our farewells again for the 50^th time with promises of catching up again next year when I am in North America and on Facebook.

So home just after midnight, I signed up for some internet, and low and behold, Blogger was back up and running, so I was able to load my 2 outstanding entries.  I also updated my FB status, and considering I had 5 pints and an apple cider, I think I did quite well.

The weather outside was really howdy doody.  So I spent the morning getting all my Europe photos on FB.  As mentioned before, if I don’t try and keep on top of the loading, I will get so far behind and it will be a real pain to try and catch up.  I am on a landline here at the hotel, so the speed is like lightening, so it really isn’t taking too long to get them all on FB.  I am happy to report, they are now all on, and I will just need to try and go back and caption them when I get a chance.

So with that done, I donned my umbrella and I hit the streets of Dublin for lunch and some sightseeing.  I didn’t want to see too much as we have a city tour tonight with my new Contiki group, so I bought some souvenirs, went into a department store to have a look around ( it was raining ) and then took a walk down to the Liffey River for some snaps and into the Temple Bar area to get some photos.  I got stuck down there in a massive downpour, so lucky I did take the umbrella and I battled the rain and headed back to the hotel.  The one thing I have noticed is that Dublin doesn’t have a lot of awnings.  So when it rains they all congregate around doorways waiting for it to subside.

I also bought some Milk Thistle tablets (a recommendation from Anusha) that is well known for its Hepatoprotective (protects the liver).  It is especially useful in eliminating accumulated toxins as a result of alcohol consumption.  Sounds good to me, so I got a pack that has 60 (horse) pills and to take 2 each day.  Well anything that is legal to help my alcohol recovery is more than welcome, and it can’t hurt taking them, so I stated my Milk Thistle medication today, so fingers crossed my liver is a little thankful for it!!

I do have to also point out that Dublin is currently under city lock down, as the Queen is making her first ever visit – EVER, on Tuesday.  Ordinary cars are now not permitted on the main roads of downtown, only buses and taxis and the presence of the police is massive, they are just about on every corner.  To also top all that off, President Obama is also coming, but not till next week, so Dublin is really getting its fair share of fame in the next week.  Apparently the Queen is also going to Cork, where we are also going, but I think she is there the day before us!  I tell you what, a Royal Wedding in London, Queens Day in Amsterdam and now the bloody Queen in Dublin!  Will they just stop following me!  I mentioned on FB that if they are going to disrupt my holiday, that she could at least bring some eligible princes to make up for the inconvenience!!!

My Contiki briefing was at 4.30pm.  I didn’t realize till I spoke to Mark last week, that the Ireland trip of 8 days is actually a module of the 16 day tour of the UK.  I HATE joining tours part way through, as people have already made friends and groups, and no matter what people tell you, new people coming in and challenging the dynamics is not always welcomed.  There were 7 of us at the briefing, but apparently there are 18 of us joining, so I guess there is a little comfort in that there are a larger number of us joining.

Well dinner rocked around.  I miss all my friendly faces, so when I walked into the restaurant, they were already all seated, but I did find a table that had a spare seat and chatted with 2 gals from Perth, Anita and Erin.  Our city tour got cancelled, as there are no coaches permitted in the X zone, so I think we may be doing the city tour upon our return to Dublin in a week, so a little spare time after dinner and then we walked to the Temple Bar area and over a few beers I got to talk to some more people on tour.  They were all mostly the ‘newbies’ all hanging together, but that did have something to do with not being able to get tables for 40 people close together…..  The people I was talking to seem really nice though, so it is amazing what can be achieved over a few beers.

We head into Northern Ireland tomorrow, and I am guessing the drive is going to be a walk in the park compared to Europe and I am really looking forward to getting out and seeing some of the countryside.

Contiki Ireland has started to be sure and I am looking forward to meeting more people tomorrow

TRAVEL DAY FROM LONDON TO DUBLIN

WEATHER: Sunny, rain, cold, warm… Just like Melbourne, 4 seasons in one day

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY:  Getting a massive discount off my transfer

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Bus transfer missing my stop and walking 15 minutes with my 35 bags

BUYS OF THE DAY:  Coach transfer from Dublin to the city for 7EUR

WORD OF THE DAY: - To be sure, to be sure…..

It is amazing to travel on a 54 minute flight from London to Dublin; the process starts 5 hours prior to departure.  From getting up and finish packing, to getting collected at 8am for a 12.35pm flight, which I do believe you need the time due to traffic and also Heathrow is just, well Heathrow and finally landing in Dublin at 2pm, means 6 hours of airport fluff for the flight.  This is why I always recommend people catch the train from London to Paris for this exact reason – it just makes no sense.  Unfortunately there is no train from London to Ireland, so it is a case of sucking it up Princess.

As Murphy’s Law would predict, there was no traffic and there was no-one in the bag drop area after I self-checked in, so I got to the airport way too early – but you could guess that was going to happen.  I am a firm believer that it is better to have more time than not enough.

I booked the transfer through the Royal National.  You pay them 5EUR and then the balance of 14EUR goes to the driver.  Well I was the first drop off at terminal 1, and there was this old couple also getting the drop here.  They were seriously 150 years old and had 10 bags each (well slight exaggeration but you get my drift) so I just wanted to hightail it out of there while they fluffed about.  I felt sorry for the poor driver!  I checked myself in and then I realized I hadn’t paid him the balance of the transfer.  So I actually got a personal drop off in a transfer for the grand total of 5EUR.  I do feel bad that I hadn’t paid, but that has to be the buy of the day – unwilling though……..

So the beauty of getting there early is that there is no-one else there yet for your flight, so you get to go straight up to the counter.  These next flights are not included on my round world ticket, they have been purchased separately, so I lose my 23kg luggage limit to 20kg, and I also lose my 2 piece system, which was my back up should I exceed the 23kg.  So from all my flights I just knew I was going to be over, it was all going to come down to how nice the check-in agent was going to be.  This can be a hit and miss with check-in staff, but I am always pleasant, with a smile and nothing bothers me, because at the end of the day, they hold all the power.  From where they seat you, to weighing your hand luggage, to enforcing checked in baggage restrictions.  They could crucify the hardiest of packers.  So I whack my bag on the scales and it is 22.2kg!  How the hell is my bag getting lighter?  Hmmmmm makes me think the drunken packing has gone a little astray and I just haven’t realized what is missing yet?!  Anyway little chicky lets me through without a glance, so I high tail it out of there before she pulls me up with my little backpack, side pack and bag.  Seeeeee yaaaaaaa…….

I’ve never gone out of terminal 1 before.  It looks to me in better nick than T3.  T2 is currently undergoing building / refurbishment due to the Olympics next year, so there is a lot of work going on out there at the moment.  Once you pass through the actual terminal, the gates are all new and of course my gate was 80, which is the furthest gate you can get at T1 and they even give you approximate walk times to the gates and mine was 15 minutes – just to walk to the gate!  Well exercise never killed anyone right?  No free internet, so I did pay to get on.  It was 9.95GBP, but I got a FB album loaded and was hoping to get my blog up to date, but Blogger has been down since last night and it has wiped my last 2 entries that I loaded yesterday due to technical reasons.  Apparently the last 2 posts will be loaded back, once the ‘bug’ has been fixed, but it is driving me nuts when I actually have internet connection.  Oh well, I am sure they will get it back up as soon as they can, but it is like FB, I rely on these sites now, to let people know I am alive and well.  It is sad but a true fact of my travelling adventure.

I haven’t really organized transfers or looked at the information on how to get from airports to the hotels.  I just check all the options after I have come out of customs and then make the call.  Dublin had a coach service for 7 EUR and they drop you pretty close to your hotel as they can.  So I paid my 7EUR, put my own bag on the coach as the driver was no-where to be seen (after checking with another employee) and took my seat on the coach.  My ticket, I would like to point out said Trinity College.  So we get to Trinity College drop and I asked if this is where I get off for Jury’s Inn and he said you should have got off 2 stops ago – yeah like I should know!!!!  He said I need to hop off here and it is a 15 minute walk back up O’Connell Street to get to my hotel.  Well okay for him, he didn’t have a backpack, front pack, side pack and a handbag!!!  Well, he did suggest I cross the street to catch the airport coach in the opposite direction 2 stops, as I think he realized just how much I was carrying.  So I thanked him for his pathetic map and his sincere apology and walked the 15 minutes to my hotel.  A little more exercise never killed anyone did it?

I am meeting Jesse from my Europe Contiki tour tonight and we are heading to dinner and a bar on Temple Street.  So it should be fun to hear some live music and listen to the wonderful accents of the Irish language, which to me is the most beautiful and sexy accent in the WORLD xx.  Not sure how much Guinness I will have, as I find it really heavy to drink, but I have turned into a bit if a beer drinker since Munich, so I am sure I will find something to my liking.  I am currently sipping a Carlsberg, not Irish at all, but it is beer all the same.

My tour starts tomorrow night with dinner and a group meeting.  So round 2 of Contiki starts all over again…….  Ding ding…….