Hello again!
Our apologies for being a bit slow updating this..there has just been so much to do!
Now, after we left Edinburgh we headed off to Ireland for 4 nights. The first day we spent wandering around Dublin seeing its limited sights and pushing through the emormous crowds in the main shopping district. Basically we were pretty dissapointed with Dublin..it was a bit of a dump from what we saw. Dublin Castle is among a dodgy office area, smack bang in the middle of a carpark. We saw a big church, and 'the wall of dublin'..which was ok..not great, but nice enough. The nightlife seemed to be going off but we never made it out to experience it.
The second day we jumped on a train tour which was quite expensive for what we got. We sat on a train for about 2 hours, then changed trains for another half hour..then got on a bus driven by an old man who had a voice like a softly running motor, easing us into sleep every 20 minutes. He felt we all wanted to know about who lived in what house over the last 50 years, and what tennis courts he had never seen anyone playing on...rather than telling us history or anything else more interesting. We were taken to the Ring of Kerry which is meant to be one of the best scenic routes in Ireland. We were unimpressed. Lots of shrubs, rocks, mud, fog, and uninteresting landscapes. The best thing we came across that day was an Irish Coffee - delicious.
The third day we did another train tour which again was too expensive for what we got, however this one was almost worth it because it was much better than the day before. We jumped on a train for about 2 hours, then a bus. However this time we had a proper tour guide talking to us on the bus, and not just the driver. We were taken to a castle and given a tour which was really good - we were told all about the history and who owned it and so on. We went to the Cliffs of Moher, which are meant to be magnificent...fog permitting. Fog was not permitting. We walked to the edge of the cliff...looked out..and saw nothing but a wall of white fog 2 inches from our nose, and could hear waves crashing 2-300 metres below. So that was a bit dissapointing, but a giant icecream we bought at the gift shop made us feel better :)
We were told lots of history including stuff about the famines. Basically there used to be about 8 million people in Ireland, and the famines killed so many, only this year the population has reached its highest since then - 4 million. So you can imagine it was pretty shocking times. We were told about the English trying to kill them all, like they did the Scottish (bloody English). The English decided to give the starving a bowl of soup to help them out...but only if they worked for it. They realised that starving diseased people couldn't do work of any value, so they made them build dodgy rock walls that did nothing and lead to nowhere, simply so they wern't getting food for free. Obviously a lot of them died doing that pointless bit of work.
After this long trip, we decided to go to the airport that night rather than pay for another night accomodation somewhere (we are master budgeters now). At about 1:30am we headed through crowds of drunk Irish and tourists, caught a bus to the airport....and upon arrival we really expected to be the only idiots trying this tactic..however the place was a sea of bodies. Families, couples, singles, all camping on the floors, steps, cafe seats..we were flat out finding a free piece of carpet to set up our TP. After a scuffle with some rouge children running amok while thier parents slept and considerably pi$$ed us off, we went and camped next to the escalators. We managed 2 or 3 hours sleep, and had to get up cause the place was just so busy and noisy. It was only about 4:30 at this point. You can imagine how we were feeling. However we were still in high spirits as we were very much looking forward to arriving back in London..back to a room of our own, a double bed (we slept in dorms in Dublin..you almost get used to having no privacy), and friendly family faces.
So here we are in London..but that's another post.
Here are some pics for you:
1. Dublin Castle..note Ize is standing in a car park, and the dodgy brick building attached seamlessly to the back of it.
2. The side of Dublin Castle...don't the new add on's blend in??
3. The castle we visited on our second rail trip.
4. Irish landscape
5. We would like everyone to add a caption for this pic..we think its a classic. The winner will get a prize. "Hey man, welcome to the party" or "Can I borrow a cup of brown sugar?"
6. The Cliffs of Moher.....mmm white.
7. Limestone..Ireland seems to be made of it.
