Blarney, Killarney and Galway.

On Thursday morning I left Cork and headed to Blarney, where I visited Blarney Castle. Blarney Castle is home to The Blarney Stone, which imparts the gift of eloquence onto anyone who kisses it. To get to the stone, it involved climbing the steps in the castle up to the top, then leaning backwards over the railings (whilst a helper held onto my legs) and planting my lips on the stone set into the castle machicolations. I didn´t realise quite how high up I was (or that apart from a couple of iron bars, the helper was all that stood between me and a broken head!) until I was bent backwards over the edge. It was quite an adrenalin rush afterwards though, and time will tell I guess, to see if it´s worked!
After kissing the stone, I walked around the beautiful gardens which are part of the castle grounds, then headed to Glengarriff, a little holiday resort, where I hopped on a boat which took me to Garinish Island. This small island was transformed into a beautiful garden by an MP who owned it from 1910 when he brought it from the British War Office. It changed to public ownership in 1953 and now you can take a tour boat to the island and walk around it. On the way, the boat captain takes you past small islands with seals on them.
When I got back to Glengarriff, The Aygo and I headed to Kenmare, a lovely town with lots of great restaurants and some very colourful buildings! I got a lovely chocolate milkshake from a café here, then headed back on the road again, driving around the Iveragh Peninsula (on the "Ring of Kerry" coastal road) until I got to Killarney where I spent the night.


Again, I had an awful time trying to find the hostel which I´d booked into! I finally found it though, and had to park about a mile down the road, as that was the closest (free) car park available. I had booked a bed in a mixed dorm with 8 beds. When I got there, I found that I was the only girl in the dorm! I thought that maybe another girl would turn up later in the night (as there was one free bed), but none did. I was pleasantly surprised though that no one snored, and each time I went to the toilet the lid was down!

The next morning I got up early (again) and headed to a coffee shop for breakfast, before driving to Limerick. Limerick has the very appealing nickname of "Stab City", so I didn´t particularly want to spend a great deal of time there. I ended up visiting King John´s Castle where I learned about the history of Limerick, and grabbed some lunch before heading out of the city again. I drove to Lahinch, a lovely seaside town, where there were at least 3 surf shops right near the beach. It was a beautiful sunny day, and I think everyone was at the beach enjoying the weather. I got an icecream from a cafe and ate it while walking along the beach, then it was back in The Aygo and I headed for The Cliffs of Moher. Apparently they're home to colonies of puffins, but I didn't see any.After enjoying the sunshine on the Cliffs, I headed north, to Lisdoonvarna. This little town hosts a matchmaking festival every September. Unfortunately, I was a week too early for the festival, so didn't think there was much point in stopping!

I tried to take some back roads through The Burren, on my way to Galway, but unfortunately I took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up going down a driveway to a farm yard! I thought when I was going down the road that it wasn´t very well maintained and very narrow (I was scared that I was going to meet someone coming in the opposite direction as there wasn´t anywhere to pull over), but I thought it was a road marked on the map, so kept going anyway! I ended up having to open the farm gate, turn around in the yard, then head back out and shut the gate behind me! I got back on to the main road after that, and went the regular tourist route from that point. There are limestone cliffs on either side of The Burren (and also some interesting rock formations that I didn´t see because I couldn´t find the right "back road").
I arrived in Galway about 8pm, and only looped the city one and a half times before finding my hostel!

My Little Car Tour!

It´s Sunday night, and I´ve been in Ireland for just over a week now, but I feel like I´ve been here for ages, just because I have seen and done so much.

Last Tuesday morning, I picked up my little rental car and headed South out of Dublin. When I made my booking for my rental car, I made it for the economy-sized car, knowing that I´d only need a little car, being as it´s just me on my tour. I didn´t realise exactly how small my car would be! I realised pretty quickly when I opened the boot and realised that my backpack had absolutely no hope of fitting in, so it was dumped onto the back seat instead! My car is a new little dark grey Toyota Aygo.

So, heading south out of Dublin, my first stop was the little town of Enniskerry and Powerscourt Estate. This is an old, stately home, but the gardens are it´s main attraction. When I drove through the gates and got my first glimpse of the house, I thought that you must have been able to hire horses and go on a trail ride around the grounds, as there were a few people around on horses. Then I noticed all the cameras and film crew around, and noticed that the people on the horses were actually in period costume! It turns out that they were filming some scenes for The Tudors here! Actually, they film a lot of this television series in Ireland (I´m not sure if it´s been on in Australia yet, but it´s probably been on the ABC if it has).They were filming in several spots in the garden, but I was still able to walk around the garden. The Italian Garden was a highlight, but I would have to say that my favourite part was the Pet Cemetery. It was quite large, and there were even proper headstones and graves for Jersey cows!After having some morning tea at the café on the Estate, I then drove 6km down the road, to see the Powerscourt Waterfall, which is apparently the highest in Ireland. I didn´t spend much time here though, as it wasn´t exactly Niagara Falls!

The next spot I visited was Glendalough, an old Monastic site that was founded by Saint Kevin in the 800s. The buildings on this site are very well preserved and feature an archway, a round tower, a couple of chapels and a priests house.

On my way from Glendalough to Waterford, where I was spending the night, I stopped at Avoca which is famous for being where the TV series Ballykissangel was filmed, and which also has the oldest weaving mill in Ireland. I stopped at the weavers and watched the weavers do their work and then tried not to spend too much money in the gift shop.

When I arrived in Waterford that night, I drove past my hotel twice before finally spotting it! I had dinner that night in the pub on the ground floor of the hotel. There I chatted to a couple that were on holiday from Dublin.

The next day I saw the main sights of Waterford: The Treasures of Waterford Museum, Reginald´s Tower, and The Waterford Crystal Factory.

Late in the afternoon I headed to Cork,driving along the South coast of Ireland.
I stopped at Cobh on the way, a seaside port which was the Titanic´s last port of call before it set sail to America. I arrived in Cork at about 8pm, however I then spent about an hour driving around it trying to find my hostel! I got very frustrated and had to call the hostel in the end to ask for directions! I have decided that Birmingham is actually a piece of cake compared to driving in Irish cities! And I can understand now why visitors to Launceston get so frustrated with all our one-way streets!

Anyway, that is about all from me for now. Obviously, I´ve got a lot more to tell you and show you, but it´s getting late, and I´m quite tired now and I want to get an early start as I think I´ll have quite a long drive tomorrow. I´m thinking of and missing all of you. One of the great things about travelling on my own is that I can go wherever I want, whenever I want. However, sometimes it would be really nice to have some company in the car, or at least a navigator (especially in the cities where I´ve been having a hell of a time trying to find my way to my accommodation!).

Thanks for all your emails and comments. (Sorry I´ve been a bit slack replying to emails, but I do really appreciate them and will reply to them soon, I promise!).

Love,
Lis x.

Dublin

I arrived in Dublin last Saturday evening. After checking into my hostel, I headed into the city to see what I could see. The first thing I spotted was ¨The Spire¨, a huge stainless steel pointy thing sitting in the middle of the main street, O´Connell Street. If you´re a local, you might refer to it as ¨The Spike¨, or ¨The Stiffey by Liffey¨. I headed to the Italian Quarter and had some dinner and gelato, before heading back to the hostel for an early night (I was pretty tired after an early start).

The next morning, I joined another Hop-on-hop-off bus tour of the city. This took us around lots of the popular and historical sights of Dublin. The bus driver was the commentator, and he even sang to us! He burst into a few bars of ¨Molly Malone¨ whilst we drove past the statue of ¨The Tart with the Cart¨. These Dubliners, they have different names for everything!

My first stop on the tour was The Guinness Storehouse. Here, you take a self-guided tour through the old Store house at St James´Gate, before having a complimentary pint at the Gravity Bar on level seven, which offers panoramic views of the city. I can´t remember tasting Guinness before, but apparently it tastes better in Dublin. I can´t disagree with that as I have to say that I enjoyed my pint. After finishing off my pint, it was back to the ground floor and a quick look around the gift shop. I´m not sure if it´s the brainwashing that they do throughout the tour, or the pint that I had just drank, but I had a strong urge to buy LOTS of Guinness paraphernalia. The urge wore off though by the time I got to the checkouts, so I´m thinking it must have been the pint! By the way, I´m now an honorary Master Brewer´s Apprentice, so if anyone wants to visit the Storehouse, mention my name at the door and you´ll get a 10% discount on your entry fee!
Contrary to popular belief, the water used for Guinness has never been sourced from The Liffey, they have always used pure water from The Wicklow Mountains.
I hopped back on the next bus, and got off a few stops later at a pub called Ryan´s Victorian Bar. Here, I had a very nice lunch of Steak and Guinness Pie with mashed potatoes. This is Dublin´s oldest Victorian pub, and highly recommended for a pint and some food, and to check out the decor inside.

My last stop of the day was Kilmainham Gaol. Here, I was taken on a tour inside the jail, where they talked about some of the famous prisoners (the leaders of the Easter Monday Rising were imprisoned and executed here) and the different styles of cells inside the jail. There are Georgian and Victorian styles of cells. The Victorian side gives a feeling of light and space in the jail, whereas the Georgian style is very damp and dark and the passageways are very narrow.

After my tour, I got back on the bus. It was raining by this stage, but I still decided to sit out on top of the bus, and consequently got drenched! I got off at the Quay, and decided that before checking out Temple Bar, that I would have a cappuccino somewhere first. I chose a place called Chocolate Café, where you get a free chocolate with your cappuccino! I didn´t realise this though, so also ordered a slice of Banoffee pie!

I checked out Temple Bar, the "Cultural Centre" of Dublin, before heading back to my hostel.On Monday, I took a historical walking tour which started at Trinity College.
It was lead by an historical graduate of the College and his name was Thomas Graham. He took us to various locations throughout the city including; Trinity College, The Bank of Ireland (which used to be parliament house), Dublin Castle, City Hall and Temple Bar. During the tour, he covered all aspects of Ireland´s history, from the original Celtic Inhabitants, to the Viking invasions, the Anglo-Norman invasions, the Great Famine, The Revolution, the Civil war and up until current times.

We finished the tour at Temple Bar where I had lunch, then headed to the Georgian area of Dublin and to The National Gallery.

After checking out The Gallery, I headed back to Trinity College where I went to The Library and looked at The Book of Kells. By the time I left the library it was pouring with rain again, but I braved it to walk to The Famine Memorial. Here, the silhouettes of seven figures walk in procession along the Liffey, with Customs house behind them.

Birmingham

Hi Everyone!

I just thought I should post some photos of my last weekend in Birmingham. Last Sunday I decided that I should do a bit of sightseeing in Birmingham, being as I´d been working there for 4 months and had only managed to see The Bullring and The Jewellery Quarter in that time!

Birmingham actually has more to offer in the way of sightseeing than I had thought. Did you know Birmingham has canals? I didn´t until 2 weeks ago!

I again caught the train into the city, and walked around The Bullring, to The Mailbox- an old mailing centre which has been redeveloped into some swanky shops. Now, my aim of going into the city on Sunday was purely to do some sightseeing, but I did find myself sightseeing in quite a few shoe shops (well, the sales are on don´t you know?). Dragging myself out of the shoe shops empty handed, I had some lunch at a Gourmet Burger Kitchen at The Mailbox, before heading out into the rain to walk along the canals. I´m afraid that I timed my lunch break quite badly. The sun had been shining when I sat down to have my lunch, and it just clouded over as I left the restaurant. I walked down Gas Street, alongside the canals until I got to Brindley Place, where I crossed the canal and walked through Centernary square, past the war memorial, through Paradise Circus and Chamberlain Square; where a beach had been placed, through Victoria square and back to the shopping centre of the city. Back at the train station, there was an old steam train which runs between Stratford-Upon-Avon and Birmingham during the summer months. I did have to return 2 days later to buy a pair of shoes which I had seen on my travels!I finished work in West Bromwich on Friday and after packing and cleaning up the flat on Saturday morning, I headed to Birmingham International Airport and caught a plane to Dublin, which is where I am currently. I had a great time working in West Bromwich, and I´ll be heading back there in November, after I´ve finished my travels.

The Jewellery Quarter

On Saturday, I went to the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham. Birmingham has historically been an industrial city. It has been known as the City of one thousand and one industries. In fact, at one time there were over 5000 industries running in Birmingham. Obviously, the Jewellery Quarter is where Jewellery was (and still is) produced. Jewellery has been made here for over 200 years. Jewellery which is made in Birmingham has an anchor stamped into the back of it.

The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter is housed in a factory which in 1981, closed it´s doors. This factory was the home of Smith and Pepper and they had produced Jewellery from the 1890´s. Unfortunately, the 1980´s was a bad time for the industry, and so in 1981 the owners of the factory closed the doors and walked away. About 20 years later, the council took over the building and found everything left in exactly the same place as it had been in 1981. The tour of the Museum took us through the factory and upstairs office, talked about some of the people who had worked in the factory for years, and explained the jewellery making process.

It was one of the most interesting museums that I´ve been to. A very enjoyable way to spend an afternoon (and I didn´t even buy any of the lovely jewellery that was on display in the museum and in the shop windows lining the streets).