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Ring of Kerry, and the castle(s) road to Galway 16th and 17th May

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 Hi all Yesterday we took the long drive along the Wild Atlantic Way around the Ring of Kerry. Even though the weather was a bit mixed, overcast with the odd sunny spot, the rain mainly stayed away. The trip is definitely worth the effort with some stunning cliff top and coastline views. We had a welcome stop for lunch, of course, along the way. Holly may well be becoming a seafood chowder addict! After the long trip back we put our feet up and took the chance on fish and chips for tea from the local food truck down the road from the cottage. No disappointment there - excellent locally caught fish. Today we said farewell to Kinsale and headed North West towards Galway - with a few Castle stops along the way. Morning tea was taken at the old town of Cahir, castle included. Then we proceeded to The Rock of Cashel - one of the oldest castle (and former cathedral) complexes in Ireland. It was windy and grim which really set the scene for the visit - magnificent. The cathedral would hav...
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Kilkenny, Waterford, Kinsale, Cobh - 14th and 15th May

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 Hi all, We set off south from Dublin yesterday, with a coffee stop and castle visit at the medieval town of Kilkenny. The 11th/12th century Castle was very well preserved and well worth a visit.   Then we were off to Waterford for great lunch at the Tower Hotel and a long awaited catchup with Norm’s Auntie Caith, cousins Theresa, Siobhan, Stephen and Second cousin Vicki (now 37 a bit older than the last time Norm met her at age seven). They gave us a great Waterford welcome, and a great send off towards our final destination of Kinsale. We were very happy to find our lovely Lobster Cottage (with the blue door) - home for the next three nights. Nice view just across the road: This morning we took a short one hour trip to the port of Cobh (“cove”), which was the last place the Titanic left from in 1912, plus the port that many Irish embarked from in the mass migrations of the 19th century. The town is well past its heyday, very quiet now, but boosting a magnificent Cathedral as...
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Dublin Ireland, Wednesday 13th May

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 Hi all, another day for us in Dublin City with bit more exploration of the history of this place. We started the day going to Church at the Church of Christ Catholic Cathedral, circle 1030.  It was impressive to say the least, probably a little more understated than many of the European Cathedrals we have visited, however the floor tiles were outstanding. Then we had a nice, windy, walk along the Liffey River towards the “other side” of the city from Temple Bar. It is a bit more impressive than Tasmania’s Liffey! Halfpenny Bridge We carried on across the River towards O’Connell Street - the Main Drag! Were we had a very pleasant and enlightening visit to the GPO Easter (1916) rising Museum. This was an excellent museum, telling the story of the valiant but failed independence rebellion in 1916, seven years before the struggle was eventually successful - a sad time indeed as over 400 citizens perished in the fighting, ironically at the same time that over 1200 republican Irish...
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Dublin Town - 11 to 12th May

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 Hi all Yesterday we said farewell to beautiful Bath and the surrounding Somerset and Gloucestershire countryside and headed to Bristol Airport for the short Emerald Air flight to Dublin. Holly was a bit perplexed when she saw the plane was a twin prop job - but we needn’t have worried as it was a very smooth flight.  There was further concern when our African taxi driver from the airport needed Norm to enter our destination into his phone, then he still had trouble finding the Oak Bar, bright red as it is! Anyway, we managed to check in to our airbnb shabby chic “penthouse”, which was four floors above a lap dancing private gentlemen’s club! However, we are in the centre of Temple Bar which is a good place to start our exploration of Dublin’s fine city. Today we started our exploration at Trinity College, taking in the very well presented Book of Kells exhibition and the old Trinity Library. Then we set off to visit the  “Cathedral” which we travelled to via St Stephen’s...
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The Cotswolds - Sunday 10th May

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 Hi all Today is our last full day in beautiful Bath, so after dropping Holly off at the Badminton Horse Trails, we headed north to the Cotswolds villages. First stop was the town of Cirencester, which 2000 years ago was a major Roman city. Not much sign of the Romans today, but it is a lovely town for a coffee stop and explore. Complete with a lovely old Abbey that, luckily, Henry the eighth managed to leave intact. Unfortunately, the Roman museum was closed for Sunday and we did find the ancient Roman Amphitheatre, however this has been pilfered over the centuries and now is represented by a lumpy field. After coffee we set of to explore some of the smaller Cotswolds villages starting with: Chipping Campden We expect this lovely town hasn’t changed much in 500 years apart for the cars - parking was at a premium. All that walking and taking in the heritage was a thirsty business, so thank you to the old Lygon Arms pub we managed to find a lovely local cider, but more importantly p...
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