Bring on the Scots

So, nothing much happened in Belfast. We had a great dinner, slept, and left. Caught a car ferry from Belfast port to Stranraer in Scotland. The most eventful part of the journey was Genny the GPS taking us to the cargo port instead of the passenger port. Thankfully we usually leave early for things so the 30 minutes this cost us didnt stop us getting on the ferry.

We spent the night in Glasgow. Nice little town, but we didnt see much of it as we were only there a few hours (and there was a great bottle of wine involved as well as sleeping!). Dinner was, interestingly enough, in a french restaurant run by Scots. Hearing all the fancy dish names pronounced in a scot accent was kinda funny.

Guinness and Whiskey

First stop of the day was to Trinity University for a tour including a visit to their library which contains over 250,000 books – including the Book of Kells. Written in about 800 AD, it is highly decorated (sometimes at the expensive of grammar) with colour and gold-leaf. 

Gravity Bar

We got soaked as we made our way across town to the Guinness Storehouse for a tour. At the very base of the tour is a copy of the lease that the founder Arthur Guinness signed for the site – a 9000 year lease. Seven stories of history, interactive exhibits and even a tasting session!

We finished off the tour with a pint of the black stuff in Gravity Bar – Dublin’s highest bar with 360 views of the city.

Dodging the rain we made our way across the other side of the river to the Old Jameson Distillery – Irish Whiskey time! While the actual distillery has moved south to County Cork, there is still a tour of the old factory, which ends with a glass of the ‘Water of Life’ (Irish whiskey).

After some recovery time, we had dinner at a local restaurant that I can only describe as sublime.

Coast to Coast

Galway Street

We took a walk around Galway dodging the weather (inside shops). Parts of it were exactly what you’d expect from a typical Irish town – winding cobbled streets filled with tiny shops.

Then we drove from the wild west coast across to Dublin on the east coast. The hotel had a good central location but this meant that parking was a nightmare, plus we arrived in peak hour afternoon traffic. 

Eventually we sorted it out before heading off to a movie.

No more toothaches!

Rock of Cashel

Our hotel was previously the palace of the archbishop and sat at the foot of the Rock of Cashel (St Patricks Rock). In fact it has its own private path to the Rock so, after a quick detour to pick up some Euros, we headed up the hill.

Originally the seat of the Kings of Munster (who ruled half of Ireland); it was handed to the Church in 1101. We saw an 11^th century tower, a 12^th century chapel (with some frescos still visible) and the remains of a 13^th century cathedral. 


There is a local legend about a 12^th century Celtic cross (known as St Patrick's Cross) which says that if you wrap your arms around it and can touch your fingers together, you'll never have a toothache again. I did it - sorry dentist!


Because of its height, the Rock also gave us a good view across County Tipperary (despite the light showers). 

We then drove up to Galway on the west coast.

Emerald Isle

Today we drove to Fishguard in north-western Wales to catch the ferry to Ireland. We said farewell to Wales and after 4 hours at sea, we landed on the Emerald Isle. From there we drove to Cashel, in the middle of Ireland.

Rock of Cashel (from our hotel room window)