Ireland

From London I took a train to Cardiff, staying in a hostel near the Millennium Stadium. It was a nice day so I made the most of the Waterfront which is nicely done up, grabbing a meal and a couple of pints in the Sun. For my full day I ended up walking up the Taff Trail, which goes from the centre of Cardiff along the river Taff, up to Castle Coch. It was a pleasant day for a walk a decent hike along the river and back.

I flew from the tiny airport at Cardiff to Belfast and caught up with James. This involved a mini pub crawl round Belfast; the bit that stands out was the view down the street of something on fire as we were in a taxi back.

I got the train from Belfast down to Dublin which an easy enough trip but spent the rest of the day holed up sick in a hostel feeling miserable. Not the best way to arrive in what’s meant to be a fun city.

I joined a Shamrockers tour for a weeks tour around some of the main sites in Ireland. We left Dublin in the morning and headed south to Blarney Rock, where you lean backwards over the side of castle to kiss a rock. From there we headed out to Killarney where I explored the lake and park nearby, making my way down to Ross castle. In the evening we listened to Pa, an Irish storyteller in a local pub.

From Killarney we drove up the Coast, dipping our the seat in the freezing sea off the West Coast, having muscles for lunch and murphy's ice cream. There was even a brief stop to watch a game of Hurling on the TV that a tour leader wanted to catch.

We continued northwards, stopping at what out tour leader claimed was a Fairy circle before making our way to the spectacular Cliffs of Moher. From there we headed up to Galway and ended up playing a fame Touch footy in the park where I showed of my amazing lack of any skills. The evening was a few a drinks in some nice pubs. I liked Galway, it was a cute little town.

The next day was a trip out to the Anas Islands where we had a day cycling round. It’s about the first time I’ve really enjoyed cycling and it was fun seeing the sites the island had to offer.

We continued our march North, stopping in Leenane for Irish coffee before continuing through Conneman national park on our way to Derry. We had a walking tour through Derry in the afternoon where we were given some history on the troubles Northern Ireland has faced.

Next we headed out to Giants causeway, with a brief stop at Bush mills along the way. You cross a Rope bridge out to an island at one point and the heavens decided to open up at this point and we got poured on. We ended up in Belfast for evening and played a bit off pool. The next morning we did a Black Cab tour around the streets of Belfast getting a bit more history along the way.

We finished our trip back in Dublin. Ended up watching an AFL games, Collingwood vs Hawthorn before parting ways. The next day I checked out the Guinness factory in the morning before getting a flight in the afternoon back to London.