An Irish Vacation!

"This isn’t a vacation; this is traveling” – Jeremy

We have been sightseeing non-stop for the last 5.5 weeks. We haven’t been staying in the nicest places, we have had to use way too many public restrooms, and we have been eating way too many peanut butter sandwiches. But Ireland has truly been a vacation! At last! We stayed in a nice place, had real food, and weren’t pressured to do everything we could possibly cram into one day!

View from our hotel out onto Dingle Bay:

The morning after our Halloween fest we took a flight to Ireland, the final stop on our trip! The flight was pretty short, but the airline we flew with ripped us off big time and charged us almost $120 to check in at the airport because we didn’t check in online. What the heck kind of fine is that! Not everyone has internet access! Anyways, we flew to the Kerry airport which is on the western coast of Ireland. We planned on taking 2 buses to get to the Dingle Peninsula where we were staying, but after standing at the bus stop in the rain for an hour, the bus never showed up! We decided to call a cab and luckily he was able to give us a ride all the way to Dingle. The cabbie ended up being super nice and gave us tips on what to do in the area and just some general info about Ireland. It was dark when we got to our hotel and by the time we made it into the town to get some dinner we found out that they don’t serve food past 8pm. So we ended up eating some ramen noodle type things and chips. Very healthy! The next morning however we were greeted with a full course breakfast in our B & B. The breakfast room had large windows throughout looking down to the Dingle Bay and out to the surrounding mountains and hills. It was beautiful. Everything was so green and picturesque.

After a nice Irish breakfast we went into town to try to rent some bikes to cruise around the Dingle Peninsula. We went to the first bike shop we were sent to and found out it was closed. The nice lady in the convenient store gave them a ring at home, but they weren’t able to rent us bikes, so we tried 2 other places she suggested and finally found a place. The bike rental shop also served as a hardware store and a bar. Quite an interesting site to see 10 people at the bar at 10am and hardware being sold in the same place! Once we got our bikes and helmets we set out along Slea Head Drive which goes for about 29km along the Dingle Peninsula. The ride started along the marina in the town and then out past some farms in the town.

We made our way to the coast line which was absolutely breathtaking. The green grass, the blue sky, and the cliffs along the ocean made for some of the best scenery I have ever seen. We stopped along the way at an old prehistoric fort where we met a very friendly donkey!

 

 

Our new friend!

 

  We also stopped at some prehistoric beehive huts. The coastline was so dramatic with the cliffs, the grazing sheep and cows, and the waves crashing below.

 

 

 

Sheep Grazing along the cliffs:

Beehive hut:



As we biked along we came to an area where you could see the Great Blasket Island off to our left along with some other islands. The clouds and rain started moving in however, so our views weren’t the greatest, but you could still appreciate how beautiful the landscape is. As we started biking inland a bit, it really started raining on us, but luckily we had some rain gear with us. 

 

 

Great Blasket Island:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eventually the rain let up and we were able to make it back to Dingle without being completely drenched. We took some afternoon tea at the guesthouse and then went into town for some traditional pub food. Jeremy got some traditional lamb stew and I got a seafood pie that was excellent. After dinner we stopped in one of the local pubs where there was some live music. The nice thing about visiting Ireland in November is that the pubs are full of locals instead of tourists, so we were able to get a real feel for the place.

 

 

The next day we weren’t sure what the weather was going to do, so we decided to go on one of the local hikes in Dingle (After our amazing breakfast of course!). We walked along Dingle Bay by one of the beaches up to an old prehistoric castle and then by the lighthouse.

Prehistoric Castle:

 

Dingle Lighthouse:

 

 Since it was a bit drizzly and sunny we saw several rainbows along the way! After the lighthouse we walked along some cliffs for a bit, made our way down to another beach, and then ascended up to some more cliffs. The views were absolutely amazing along the way. Again, the green grass, the blue sky, and the ocean made for amazing scenery.

 

 

 

 

We walked for a couple hours and then made our way back to Dingle where we did some souvenir shopping since we could finally start to throw some of our things away to fit souvenirs in! We ate some more local pub food that night and got ready to leave early for Dublin.

 

 We took a bus and then a train to Dublin. It was pretty easy and we weren’t hit with any crazy fees, so that was good. We got into Dublin after dark so we only had time to get dinner the first night. The next morning though we went to the Guinness Storehouse. The storehouse is at St. James gate in Dublin, the same place they have been producing Guinness since the 1700’s. The tour was quite commercialize, but we learned about how the beer is made, how to properly taste Guinness, and of course how to pour the perfect Guinness! The rest of the day we wandered around a bit and basically just got ready to come back to the states after our long 6 week journey!

London Calling...

From Amsterdam we flew over to London. The flight was super short and we were able to get to our hotel our noon that first day. After setting our packs in the room, we set out to go check out the Tower of London. We stayed in the Swiss Cottage area of London, which is a little bit north of the city so we had to take the tube everywhere we went around the city. When we got off the tube at the Tower of London stop that day, we were thrown into a massive crowd of people. There were thousands of people all around the castle. We were so confused; was the Queen making an appearance!? Soon we found out that it was school break and everyone was there to see the poppies; a ceramic flower display around the grounds of the tower commemorating victims in WWI. The red poppies themselves were beautiful, but there were so many people that we didn't even get to go into the Tower that day because of the crowds. Instead we decided to take a stroll along the river Thames. We walked along the river, up to St. Paul's cathedral where Princess Dianna got married, then across the millennium bridge over to the south end of the river and then back across the Tower bridge. Along the way we stopped in a traditional English pub; no food, just beer! The pub was like an old house, with several different rooms, all decorated in antique pub furniture. The city lit up at night was beautiful, especially all the bridges going across the Thames.

Tower Bridge:



 

St. Paul's Cathedral:

 

Poppy display at the Tower of London:

 

 The following day we got up early and made it to the Tower of London before the big crowds got there. The Tower was built in 1078 by William the Conqueror, and has been used as a castle, fortress, prison, and army training grounds since. We started out by going in to see the Crown Jewels! The jewels include the crowns of the current Queen and many other past Queens and Kings. The collection also includes other fine jewelry and adornments used and worn by the royal family. No pictures allowed though! :(

After the jewels we roamed around the castle some more, touring an old torture dungeon and learning about some of the exotic animals they used to keep in the fort.

 

Tower of London:

After exploring the Tower of London, we went over to the British museum for a few hours. This free museum holds millions of treasures. The most well known being the Rosetta Stone, which was used to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Rosetta Stone:

We toured a few more galleries about European history and then set out to find a pub to get some traditional Fish n Chips!
 

On our third day in London we decided to do a hop on hop off bus tour in one of the big red buses. The bus first drove us past Trafalgar square which was swarming with people.

Trafalgar Square:

 

Next we decided to hop off at Hyde Park and take a short stroll through the park. The fall colors were beautiful! We hopped back on the bus and decided to ride it around the city until we got to the Westminster Abbey area. The bus had commentary which was nice to be able to learn a little bit about the different things we were seeing along the way.

 



Once we hopped off the bus we were greeted by a great view of Big Ben; the clock tower at the Palace of Westminster. The Palace also has the Houses of Parliament in the back side of the building. The building itself was very beautiful, with ornate detailing on every inch. By the time we made it over to the Westminster Abbey it was closed for the day! We snapped some quick photos on the side of the abbey and decided to try to come back the next day.

 

Houses of Parliament Building:

 

Me at Westminster Abbey:

 

Our hop on and off tour came with a free river cruise on the Thames, so we decided to hop on the boat! The cruise took us from Big Ben up to the Tower of London. The boat commentator was great and was pretty funny too. We were able to catch the sunset over the city and had some nice views of the moonlit city towards the end of the cruise.

 

Sunset over Big Ben:

 

Moon Shining behind the London Eye:

 

Sunset on the Thames River:

 

Moon behind the "Shard" skyscraper:

 

On our fourth day in London we took a bus tour to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath. Although the tour was a bit pricey, there was no other feasible option to do all three in the time we had. We left pretty early for the tour and our first stop was the Windsor Castle. The castle is currently a royal residence of the Queen and her preferred weekend residence. The castle was built in the 11th century, so the architecture was quite amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We started our tour by touring the Queen's Dollhouse. This room houses a large "dollhouse" and several dolls of Queen Mary. Next we toured the drawing room, which held several letters, journals and other important pieces from over the years. One important piece was a letter from Abraham Lincoln to Queen Victoria after her husband had passed away. Next we visited the State Apartments. To enter the Apartments one has to walk into a great hall with several ancient war pieces hanging on the walls. As you continue the tour you are brought through several grand halls, dining rooms, drawing rooms, libraries. Many of these rooms are still used today by the Queen herself, especially when she has guests. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed inside.

 

After touring the State Rooms, we made our way over to St. George's Chapel. The Chapel had beautiful stained glass windows and the tombs of several of the Kings and Queens of England.

 

King George's Chapel:

 

 Since we were on the bus tour we only had so much time at each place. We were really cutting it close and made it back to the bus just in time! We had about an hour drive before stopping at our next destination; Stonehenge. The drive there was quite beautiful with the green countryside and rolling hills. Once we arrived at Stonehenge we had to take a short shuttle to get to the actual area. We had an audioguide from there that guided us along the site and informed us of the different theories about what Stonehenge is and how it was constructed. What scientists do know is that it was built somewhere between 3000 and 2000 BC by Neolithic peoples. The function of Stonehenge remains a mystery; was it a worshipping ground, a burial ground, or did aliens create it?! What also remains a mystery is how the stones got there, as they came from ~350km away. The whole area was quite spooky. Many bodies had been found around the area and within the larger area surrounding Stonehenge there are hundreds of burial mounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our final stop of the day was in Bath. Bath became a "spa" city when the Romans took it over around 60 A.D. They built a large bath house, spa, and temple around the natural hot spring that is present in the city. Today, the bath and spa houses are still mostly intact, while the temples and other surrounding features are still being excavated. It was just about dark when we arrived, but we were still able to tour the entire bath house. There were several rooms, each with a different function. There was one large outdoor pool and then several spa rooms off the sides. Some people came to the baths to soak in the "healing" waters from the spring, while others just came to socialize.

 

 

 

 

 

After a long 2.5 hour bus ride back into London, we were exhausted! We had originally planned to go out for Halloween that night, but we decided the next night would have to do!

 

On our last day in London we got up. semi-early to make it to the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. There were tons of people right outside the Palace, so we stood along the street where the guards came marching to and fro. Next, we watched them do a little march along with their band in front of St. James' Palace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me at Buckingham Palace:

The Guards marching down the Mall:





 

The Victoria Monument outside the Palace: 

 

 After watching the guards, we went and got a closer look at the Palace since the crowds had cleared a bit. We wandered through one of the gardens in front of the palace making our way up to Westminster Abbey again. The garden was quite beautiful and had a small lake in the middle with white swans, black swans, and lots of ducks.

The Gardens:

 

When we finally made it up to Westminster, we found out it was closed again! We were at least able to get some good views of the front of the church with the sun shining though. I can only imagine how crazy the little square in front of the church must have been when the Prince married Kate Middleton!

 

 

 

After not getting into the church again, we decided to go check out Camden Town which is just north of the city center. There is a large open market in Camden with tons of clothing, food vendors, souvenirs, and all kinds of other crazy stuff. When we got there it was jam packed with people. The area seemed to be inhabited by mostly punk rockers. Almost every other person had a mo-hawk! We wandered around some of the different shops and found some absolutely crazy stores. One had glow in the dark outfits that looked like something Lady GaGa would where, and another shop we went into was clearly the most punk store you could find. The staff looked like they were going to murder you! We wandered around for a few hours and got some Halloween outfits in one of the Vintage clothing stores. Jeremy found a sweet pumpkin vest and I found an interesting mix of items. Together we became the Halloween Pumpkin Punks and spent the rest of the night out in Camden Town!

 

Happy Halloween!