Waterford 30 August

We had a late start again this morning with bags & breakfast at 8:00 and left the hotel at 9:00. We drove a couple of hours to the Blarney Castle where we spent the morning wandering around the gardens. We didn’t venture to the top to kiss the Stone. The weather was overcast but quite warm today. We had 2 hours wandering & then enjoyed a nice bowl of soup from the café for lunch before heading off again on the coach.


Blarney Castle

Poisons Garden

Blarney House & Gardens

 Our next stop was Waterford. We had a quick wander to the Quay area before meeting at the Waterford Crystal Factory for a guided tour.

Waterford Quay

Moulds & Shaping Crystal



Bevelling Edges & Marking

Multiple pieces & Cutting

Finished Products

The weather was turning raining & cool as we made our way back to the coach to go to the hotel for the night. Dinner was in the restaurant tonight.

Killarney 29 August

It was a lazy start to the day today. Breakfast was at 8:00 and we didn’t leave the hotel until 10:00am. Today was the Ring of Kerry drive to see the beautiful scenery on the west coast of Ireland. We started out in beautiful sunshine but with a threat of rain. Our first stop was a picturesque site on the side of Loch Lein about 15 minutes away. It was beautiful even though it was a bit hazy.

Loch Lein

We continued on along the Wild Atlantic Way taking in more lovely sights along the way.

We stopped at Killorglin for an Irish coffee break before continuing on to Dingle Bay where we viewed the Atlantic Ocean.

Dingle Bay

Just outside of Cahersiveen we saw the ruins of the house where Donald O’Connell was born & raised.

 We continued on our way to Waterville which was our lunch stop. It was very windy but we had a picnic overlooking the Atlantic before exploring a bit of the town.

Watervale

The next stop was Sneem for a short break about an hour from Killarney.

Sneem

We made a couple more stops in the Killarney National Park on the way.

Killarney National Park

We got back to the hotel about 5:00. Dinner was at 7:30 in the hotel.

Killarney 28August

Another wet and miserable day. The weather is so changeable – sunshine one minute followed by pelting rain & wind then back to sunshine. It makes it difficult when we are out walking as you need to take raincoats, umbrellas & jumpers. We left the hotel at 8:45 on our way to the beautiful Cliffs of Moher via the Wild Atlantic Way. Unfortunately due to the rain we could not appreciate the full beauty of the west coast of Ireland.

Along the Wild Atlantic Way

Cliffs of Moher

 Next stop was Bunratty where we had lunch at the Blarney Woollen Mills, checked out the surroundings & the castle before travelling on to Limerick where we made a quick photo stop at King John’s Castle & the Limerick Treaty Stone.

Bunratty

Limerick

Back on the coach & off to Adare to see the thatched cottages & grab a snack before heading off to Killarney.

Thatched Cottages & Adare Castle

We arrived at the hotel in the centre of town at 5:30.

Galway 27 August

We got up to dumping rain today. We left the hotel at 8:30 for a short drive to see Donegal Castle. It was freezing out of the coach & the wind was so cold.

Donegal Castle

Back on the coach for another short stint to Sligo with a side trip to view the Mountbatten summer palace.

We got in to Sligo about 11:00 which was to be our lunch stop. Cold & windy and just as we were looking for somewhere to eat our lunch, down came the rain again. We ducked into the Town Hall entrance and decided to eat there. A nice gent who worked there spent a half hour chatting to us. Once the rain stopped we headed to the warmth of the coach to wait for everyone else. We travelled on to see the grave of the poet WB Yates and the round tower & cross from the Drumcliffe monastery.

The next stint was just over 2 hours. We made another side trip to the Holy Well and then headed off to Galway.

We watched the movie The Quiet Man with John Wayne & Maureen O’Hara & ate Chocolate Orange. The movie finished just as we arrived at the hotel. We didn’t go into town as it was too windy & my asthma was playing up again. We had dinner at 7:30. It was long & drawn out and we didn’t get out until 9:30.

Letterkenny 26 August

After breakfast I walked across to Stormont House where the Parliament presides. I had a bit of a chat with the security guard & he said to get the coach to go up to get photos on our way out. We were on the road again at 8:30 (with the detour to Stormont House) on our way to the Titanic Quarter.

Stormont House & Hotel

We had 2 hours to explore the Titanic Experience - the story of Boomtown Belfast & the ship building industry, the building and the sinking of the Titanic. It was very interesting.

The fit-out of the Titanic

The coach picked us up at 11:00 and we travelled to the Giant’s Causeway – steeped in myths & legends – another interesting natural wonder caused by volcanic action. Large hexagonal pillars, some up to 400m high have risen up from the ground.

The Giants Causeway

Beautiful scenery

We continued on to Derry/Londonderry and had a guided tour & heard more about the Catholic/Protestant fighting from a Chinese/Irish/Buddhist. Rather a light look at the troubles. We walked along the top of the wall passing over several of the gates and finishing at the Town Hall.

Derry/Londonderry

We went back to the coach for the 45 minute drive to the Radisson Blu at Letterkenny. We had the best meal ever in the hotel.

Belfast 25 August

We left the hotel at 8:30 to spend 2 hours wandering around Dublin. We walked down to the Liffey River to see the bridges & the Millennium Spire (locally known as the Stiffy on the Liffey). We went to the National Museum and had a look around at some Bronze Age artefacts and the Bog Bodies.

We boarded the coach for our 2½ trip to Belfast. We had a 1½ hours to look around before our ride around the mural sites in Black Taxis. We heard the story of the IRA/UDA battles.

Protestant Area



Catholic Area

We got to the Hotel at 6:00 and it had just started to rain. We ate our dinner in the room and settled down for the night.

Dublin 24 August

This morning we did a short bus tour of Dublin.

 

Rather than stay in town we went back to the hotel as I was not feeling well – sinus headache, so I had a snooze before we went out to get some lunch. At 2:00pm we went to the Guinness Storehouse where we saw the process for making Guinness. We then got to pull a pint of Guinness & drink it – not too bad at all.

 

 

Then it was back to the hotel at 4:30. Some were going to an Irish Craic but we just had dinner in the hotel.

Dublin 23 August

We left the hotel at 8:30 for the short drive to Chester. We arrived there at 9:15 and did a walking tour of the famous Chester Rows to see the many beautiful old buildings. We also saw some of the ancient Roman remains and the Cathedral.

Roman Amphitheatre

Chester Rows

We had free time until 10:15 so we explored the old Roman Garden. We headed back into the town centre to hear the Town Crier.

Roman Gardens

After this we were back on the bus heading to the Holyhead Port ready to board the ferry to Ireland.

Wales

We arrived there about 12:45 and had to go through the customs checkpoint before lining up to be boarded onto the huge ferry. The journey across the Irish Sea took about 3½ hours and was relatively calm despite the poor weather. No seasickness evident. We disembarked the ferry at 5:30 and drove into Dublin. We went to look at the huge 12 acre park then dropped those off who were going to the dinner before reaching to the hotel at 7:00pm. We had dinner in the hotel restaurant as, once again we were not within easy walking distance of the town centre.

Liverpool 22 August

Today was an easy day. We left the hotel at 9:00 and travelled about 2 hours to Manchester where we visited the Quarry Bank Cotton Mill which still has some working machines but is used more as a working museum. It was really interesting to read about the industry and see the progression through the Industrial Revolution. We watched spinning demonstrations and saw how the old looms were used and their improvements to make it easier while giving the ability to weave wider material.

Quarry Bank Mill

Cotton Spinning

Weaving Looms

 

Mechanisation

We left there at 1:10 to travel on to Liverpool. We arrived there about 2:15. This was our stop for the night. As we were not going on the Magical Mystery Tour around Liverpool we did a bit of exploring ourselves and stocked up on toothpaste & shavers. We had a quiet dinner in and then an early night as the last few days have been so full on.