The Handy Ireland Trip 1 -10^th August 2023

Tuesday 1^st August

Packed and ready to go, to pick Charlotte up at 11:00, got there a bit late but set off for Liverpool at 11.30, me driving.

Smooth journey up the M3 and M25, to the M40, no hold-ups or road works, unusual! Stopped at Charwell services 1pm -1.45pm, drove 90 miles to Stafford services, Charlotte driving. Got to Liverpool at 5.30, so in a good time. Checked into the Leonardo Hotel for one night. Found Tiger Rock Thai restaurant, had a lovely meal then wondered around the retail district for an hour or so, amazing shops and so lively. Ended up in Royal Albert Docks, beautiful area, had a drink at the One o Clock Gun and walked around some more before getting back to the hotel. Would definitely like to visit Liverpool again! Took photos of us by the Beatles statue, and the Liver Building. Got to bed pretty knackered, not a good night’s sleep only 5 hours. Made arrangements to meet at 8.00am to get to the ferry.

Nice Group shot

 Wednesday 2^nd August

Woke too early 6.00am ish, got packed and downstairs. Charlotte fetched Alphi (the MPV) from the garage, we loaded up and set off for the Stena Line ferry leaving at 10.30. Found the terminal, queued, embarked and set off for the 8 hour journey to Belfast.

We booked the Hygge lounge for the extra cost, well worth it. Very comfortable seats and unlimited tea/coffee. Unfortunately the machine broke down so they gave us access to the inclusive lounge which would have been worthwhile, maybe next time!

The journey was 8 hours, uneventful, but we started with the full breakfast (£12.50) which was very good. Chilled out in the lounge and watched TV, with subtitles and read my book. Later went up on deck, first with TC and then Fran; very blowy but not cold. I whiled away the time waiting to dock; bought sandwiches to stop the worms from biting. Docked at about 7.30pm, got off and drove through Belfast to the Air BnB on Wellesey Avenue. Got there easily and off loaded the whole car (lots) into the 1^st/2nd floor flat. Ist floor was the living room/ kitchen and main bedroom with a utility room and a bathroom and separate shower down the hall (and down two steps!). Upstairs was two bedrooms for the girls, all very spacious and comfortable except…the bloody bath towels were for children or midgets! Turned round quickly and went out for a bite. Ryan’s bar at the end of the road was fully booked so booked for the following night. We wondered further on and eventually found Ginza Kitchen, Sushi and Japanese. Lovely food especially the Tappan plates. Walked back to No 28 and basically crashed, totally knackered.

Titanic Exhibition

Thursday 3^rd August

Got up at 7.30, refreshed, good sleep; the girls sorting plans for the day, for a bus tour round Belfast city ending up at the Titanic exhibition. Walked two streets away and waited for the open top bus. Got stung by a bloody wasp, while minding my own business, damn well hurt! Luckily TC had antihistamine cream which helped. The sting lasted two weeks. The tour was circular so you could get off and on at any stop. It went through West Belfast was the seat of the ‘Troubles’. Very interesting, took great photos of the murals depicting ‘heroes’ of the IRA struggle like Bobby Sands. Got off the bus at the main terminal went for a drink at The Curious Lounge opposite the Europa Hotel, famous for the number of times it was blown by the IRA during the troubles. Went to lunch opposite Belfast City hall. They served 0% Guinness as well, result, unheard of at home. We then walked around a bit and caught the bus to the Titanic exhibition.

Quite a fantastic depiction of the ship’s story, from conception, the build, the launch and the maiden voyage. All done really well with marvellous graphic displays, interactive consoles and plenty of archival photos and cine footage. It’s hard to imagine how big Titanic was but the front of the building was the same height and width of the actual ship. We spent two hours there, also visited the Titanic’s tender vessel SS Nomadic, which was in service until 1968, used as a pleasure cruiser. We caught the bus back into the city, had booked Dinner at the Crown Liquor Pub opposite the Europa Hotel, and went there for beer and food. It is a fascinating place, we were in a booth, very private and could stay as long as we wanted. Charlotte wanted to visit Queen Katherine’s Cathedral so we trogged around a bit until we found it…and it was closed. We walked back to a pub and they called a taxi for us back to No 28.

Harland and Wolfe Crane

Friday 4^th August

Giant’s Causeway Day!

We had a light breakfast at the Air BnB, then left before mid day to drive to Giant’s Causeway (GC). Stopped off to get petrol, then the journey was 1 ½ hours to get it. Luckily it’s National Trust so as Fran and I are members it was free, even though we had to book a slot, the girls though had to pay £13 each. Got there and parked and the entrance price included a guided tour. The guide was great; he explained everything fully and showed us the whole area in a group. Walked over 10000 steps walking around and over the GC and round the amphitheatre as its known. Back to the reception area and bought souvenirs and left for home. We booked Ryan’s bar at the end of Wellesey Avenue because we couldn’t get in there the night before. The food was lovely and everyone had a great meal. Back to bed totally knackered.

Giants Causeway

Saturday 5^th

Left Wellesey Avenue to drive down to Inch Beach in the south western corner of Ireland, 327 miles in total. Meeting my friend Paul Van Tromp (PVT) from my RAF days stationed in Northern Ireland. We met him and his wife Elaine at the Ardhowen Theatre in Enniskillen for coffee and cake. Had a lovely time catching up with him, he’s lived in NI for 21 years and married Elaine, a local girl. They have a grown up family. We drove on and stopped at the Custom House County Inn for a nice lunch then carried on into the Republic of Ireland. No border, no indication that we had entered the EU, the only clue was the yellow lines at edge of the road. We stopped in Galway for a look around; it’s a lovely town right on the river. Carried on past Limerick to reach Inch Beach Guest House at 22:18. Met by the owners got into bed: crashed! A very long day.

Galway

Sunday 6^th August

Had a superb Irish breakfast in Inch House, then drive into Dingle the nearby town for the day. Parked in pay car park, no machine working so couldn’t pay! Walked around the busy little town and went for a coffee in Kathleen McAuliffe a clothes shop with a cafe at the back. Had coffee and cakes.

Decided to walk to Dingle Whiskey Distillery after a drink at a bar, where Teresa tried draught Guinness for the first time and loved it! Also tried a whiskey I bought and that went down as well.  The distillery was fully booked, we couldn’t even buy any off sales, they don’t have a licence. Can brew the stuff but not sell it retail. Visited a few places and ended up at a seafood restaurant for a lovely meal in Doyle’s Fish Restaurant which was fantastic. Then we ended up in Neligan’s bar, fantastic atmosphere. Music was going on in the corner from a couple of guitars and singers. Sat there for a while and were joined by Linda and Dave, who were down from Dublin for the Irish Bank Holiday. Great laugh much booze drunk and good friends made. Swapped emails and promised to keep in touch. Dave is from Yorkshire but has lived in Ireland for some years, Linda is a Dubliner. Left Neligan’s with Linda and Dave and went to Curran’s bar that looked like the inside of a regular house but  had a huge area out the back where we kept on chatting and  drinking (not me!). Friends of Linda’s.

Monday 7^th

Left Inch Beach to drive to Glenda Lough and then Dublin. We were told about Conor pass by the BnB owners. It’s a mountain pass over the middle of the Dingle peninsula (part of the Kerry loop) and is only 6 feet wide. The Alphie is about that but I thought it was worth the risk. There were stories of HGVs having to reverse ¾ mile because they couldn’t get through the gap. We managed to get through though. Conor pass is like Switzerland with huge drops down one side and is VERY narrow. We carried on the journey to the Lough, stopping a couple of times on the 179 mile journey. Glenda Lough consists of two lakes one large and one much smaller set in beautiful countryside. As usual the Irish roads are superb probably due to low usage and EU money doing them up. After the visit to the Lough we had booked at the Wicklow Heather Restaurant, lovely food, ate outside with a few wasps for company. Good job we booked no way was there any ad-hoc seating.

We drove on from Glenda Lough past possibly the closest number of stud farms ever. There was certainly the smell of money in that area. Arrived at the Trinity Hotel at 10.20, ee had to wait for the car to be parked in their underground car park. Valet parking, then we got our rooms for two nights. Lovely hotel, really swish; we got an upgrade to executive rooms, so that was nice. Had a good sleep.

Tuesday 8^th

Went out for breakfast and found Fitzgerald’s bar near the river (Liffey). Super Irish breakfast again. We bought circular bus tickets a la Belfast to see around Dublin with commentary. Got off at the Little Museum, this showed a lot of history of Dublin, augmented by a humorous talk from a museum guy. Told us some potted history illustrated by artefacts in the museum. Back on the bus again and got off at the Guinness Storehouse, a fascinating insight into brewing of the dark stuff, over 7 floors with the promise of a free pint at the top. It went through the whole process and history of cooking the wort and making the beer, and done with pizzazz and flashing lights. Fantastic views from the top of the Storehouse over the whole of Dublin which is really quite small. Then after our free pint (the place was heaving) it was back on the bus for a reset and out on the town.

Found the Temple Bar, a really lively well known tourist place in the city. Singers and players belting out tunes, packed full of people. The serving staffs were brilliant and found us a table and took our orders for food and drink (Guinness of course!). Seriously good time had by all. Left there and walked around the crowded streets, visited a few shops and up and the Brazen Head, probably the oldest pub in Dublin. Another great atmosphere and full of people. Walked back to the Trinity.

Inch Beach

Wednesday 9^th

Home day!

The girls went for a walk into the shopping area: Grafton Street. We went to find it, got lost and gave up; went back to the hotel. Packed for the journey, settled up and got the car bought up from the garage. Loaded up and set off for the docks. Easy check in and line up to get on the Cat to Holyhead, Stena line; journey time2 ½ hours across the Irish Sea. Unfortunately Charlotte felt sick and collapsed in the toilets. Not very well poor love, she put it down to the vibration and the pitching of the boat, but it didn’t affect the rest of us.

Landed at Holyhead at 4.00pm, for the long journey south. Drove for a while then stopped at a place that said there were services.  We accidently came across the rail station with the longest name:  Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch. It was very low key, with a multi store and car park next to it. Took pictures to say we’d been there. Set up one of the back seats for Charlotte to lie down, still feeling ill. We drove on for 297 miles stopping for fuel, food and pee stops and got home at 00.10.  Charlotte fully recovered.

LLanfair Station

We did 1361 miles all together door to door, don’t know much petrol we used but spent over £300 on it, it was cheaper in Ireland, strangely. The Alphard didn’t miss a beat and was a superb ride all around the island. Grateful thanks for Charlotte and Teresa for organising the accommodation and most of the eating places. Fran made a lot of suggestions, all well received. If it sounded like an eating trip, it was; the food was fantastic and so was the drink and scenery, but most of all the company was lovely. We all gelled together and there weren’t many arguments. We all had a drive and found it easy and pleasant.   

All of us want to go back again, says it all really.