Amsterdam, it’s quiet and we sleep in, just a little bit.

The pressure is on from the navigator as we’re meant to be at the National Monument at 10.30 for our walking tour, despite her concern we make it to Dam Square and have some breakfast before we slowly wander over to the meeting point, get checked in and wait our start.

We booked a Sandermans – New Europe Free walking tour , it’s not really free because at the end you pay what you think it’s worth – we end up paying €10 each as it was pretty good. Alex was our guide, about 35, didn’t finish law at uni, lived in the USA for a year, seems to have a good sense of humour, we’ll find out if he’s good on the information and stories.

The first thing we learn is a little bit of Amsterdam etiquette, that is, crossing streets, bicycles, the safe areas ( all of it), so here are some of Axel’s thoughts;

• Cyclists should be called cyclopaths, the Dutch are pretty calm people but put them on a bicycle and they are aggressive and snarling. They fairly rip along in their laneways, sitting upright, some talking on mobiles, dinging their bells and snarling or giving the evil eye at what they see as f….wit pedestrians who wander into their space. What out for them all the time, we do and still nearly get mown down a number of times.
• Naming in Holland isn’t complex – Amsterdam is because of the Amstel River and where they built the dam is now Amsterdam, they call the West Church West Church etc etc.
• The Dutch East Indies company really ruled the world for many years with an economy equivalent to 7 trillion $ , bigger than France and Japan combined today, they did with private armies, private ownership owned by shareholders not the government.
• The Red Light area – if you feel a hand down your pants and you didn’t pay for it, then it’s a pickpocket. Engage and defend.

• The Dutch have 3 Rules that have applied to a lot of things through their history when making a decision whether to allow something that might upset somebody – it’s ok if;

a) It’s good for business. Eg Dope is not legal to grow, sell or own but it’s good for business so it’s tolerated. Same with the hookers in the windows in the red light area, now legal and now pay taxes but at one time not so.

b) If it can’t hurt anybody – eg hookers and smoking a little weed

c) Plausible deniability – the authorities turn a blind eye and say oh I think you’re over thinking this or words to that effect and effectively deny that there is an issue. This is how they became a Protestant country despite having a large catholic population and not having to evict or kill the Catholics. Long story this about the Catholic and Protestant’s but it all relates to the 80 years war with Spain and a few other BIG issues in their history

• Coffee Shop = Weed.
• Cafe = coffee
• There are 110 km of canals and 15,000 bicycles per year end up in the canals – mainly through drunks and vandals. They fish them out and recycle them – that’s a joke!
• Amsterdam has a long history of tolerance and was the first country to agree legalise to gay marriage- good on them – so they ( the government) erected a monument celebrating the gay population but also the many gay people who were incarcerated ( with pink triangles rather than the Jews star) and killed in WW II by the Nazis. This monument is in front of the most conservative church in Amsterdam.

We end the tour and lunch in the Jordaan area at a place called R03M, a groovy, funky area with way less tourists but crafty shops and nice cafe’s.

We walk the streets until about 4 then take an hour on a canal tour, sort of interesting but it was a little warm in the boat.

Genelle has a nail problem so while she gets her nails done I drop into a nearby gay bar for a beer, Mark keeps walking, but while the beer is enjoyable I’m not afforded the slightest interest by the well dressed chaps who bat left handed sitting nearby. Not sure if the problem is me or them?

we wander into the red light area, a few girls in the windows, the crowds growing but it’s still light so I’m guessing it gets busier later on.

We have dinner in a little Italian restaurant and keep walking back up towards Dam Square, our feet are hurting and despite wanting to stay a little later we hobble back through the alleys and streets, up canals and down canals to our haven at the Hotel Sebastian’s.

We have another half day here, so tomorrow morning is exploration of a few things we missed and then we’re on a train to Brussels and then on to Bruges in Belgium.

Ciao from Amsterdam

Paul

Day 18 – Berlin to Amsterdam

Dinner last night was down at a small restaurant on the Spree River, with the Berlin Dome, a Protestant church, it looks like a museum but it is actually a church, on the opposite bank. It’s a pleasant night, the food is good and we find it’s not more than 5 minutes from where we are staying, we just wandering in the long way.

A 6.30 rise, then a quick breakfast, shower and we’re out the door and checking out a little after 7. A little backerie (German for bakery I think) near Hackescher Markt provides some sustenance for the trip to Amsterdam. We pick up the M5 tram and we’re at the Berlin Hauptbahnof ( central station) way earlier than we thought.

The big board doesn’t tell us what platform yet so I walk to the Information desk where a surly bloke with a bit of a Sergeant Schultz type bloke tilts his head and looks at me with a “ this better be good” look. But it’s all OK, he tells me Platform 4 is our train and actually cracks a slight smile, “Danker” I say and mean it.

The wait until 8.34 when our train leaves, then mild panic from the navigator trying work out where Car 8 will come in is all eased when we are on board, bags stored and seats found.

The train moves quickly on to Spandau and Wolfsburg which looks like a large VW factory town.the country looks dry and in need of rain, a concept that we’re a bit familiar with. The train races through the flat farming country quickly at 150-200 kph, the wheat and barley in the small paddocks waving in the breeze and getting close to ripening.

When we get to Hanover at 10.50 it’s raining outside, today’s forecast is happening as predicted, the further west we go the darker the clouds look. Also, the further west we go the more I see of a maize like crop that’s just turning, I wonder if this is food, fodder or ethanol bound? My guess is ethanol. Oddly there are very few animals in the fields.

Berlin sum up.

Berlin is a happening place, spread out so you need to get a handle on the public transport system to handle it. Even then there is a lot of walking. There are still beggars on the streets and gypsies plying their scams like the piece of paper with sick babies or the peas under the cups scam, but there are also the funky ones with the twirly whirly mows and the way out skinhead types with shaved or half shaved heads, lots of body piercing, boots and knees out of their skin tight jeans, none of them are fat, and usually a dog with them. People walk around with dogs on leads everywhere, they get on trams and trains with dogs, we saw an Alsatian with a homeless type looking guy attack a guide dog in Hackescher Markt which was not much fun. People walk around with stubby of beer in their hands usually held by two fingers at the top – Berliner style I guess. The buskers are everywhere, lots of classical buskers. Peter our Urban Adventure man said Germans didnt have many poets but they had plenty of composers, I’m not sure what that means though, except maybe you don’t hear of many of the classic pop or rock songs ( poetry to music) written by Germans but there is a lot of timeless classical pieces written by German composers.

There is plenty of shopping, traditional at Alexanderplatz, the Mall of Berlin at Potsdamerplatz and many other areas, plus markets and fantastic specialty shops everywhere. The Saturn shops are huge electrical shops, nothing anywhere in Australia like this.

There are museums and galleries everywhere, young and old attend and look like they are interested. The streets are safe to walk pretty much anywhere, other than the odd stray remains of a vomit, there is little dog shit on the streets and strangely you see few police roaming the streets. Most toilets are pay to pee, 50c or €1 usually covers it and in the shopping centres you get a voucher that you can recover your spent penny from a shop if you actually do spend a penny.

Prices of coffee etc are about the same as Australia.

We cross into the Netherlands about 1.30pm, the fields have dairy cows and the odd sheep and the rain has got heavier.

A girl sitting behind me talks non stop, loudly the whole way from Berlin. Very inconsiderate, and rude, whatever she said the whole carriage heard, lucky for me it was Dutch and I didn’t understand a word other than “Mein Gott!!!!”

We arrive into Amsterdam Central on time, just after 3pm, we’re a little weary but work out which way to leave the train station ( nearly took the wrong way),set the hotel into Google Maps and walk, the navigator is a little whingey, but gets over the sore feet and shuffles along, Mark keeps and eye on her. Soon enough we’re at Hotel Sebastian’s, lovely area on the canals, and a nice unobtrusive little place, well decked out and friendly staff. Our room is nice but Genelle still has a little chip at the musty smell, I can’t smell it but she does.

A short rest and then our own orientation tour, a walk to Dam Square where some young people are doing a big dance thing, very entertaining. Observation – Amsterdam is dirty and grungy compared to Berlin but also more tourists I reckon, the place is chockers.

we have a quick fix dinner at a little place on the canals near the red light district, only the odd seedy looking sex paraphernalia shop around in this area, but the meal and the Grolsch beer is good. We wander deeper into the red light area and the odd girl is in a window trying to sell her wares, but it’s still early and a few have opened up shop early. Last time we were in Amsterdam was ten years ago in. Trafalgar tour, we had about 4 hours here so not much of a memory of Amsterdam from then about where things are.

We wander back through the alleys and across canals, Genelle doubting Google Maps and my direction but we’re back at Sebastian’s in about 15 minutes, I think her sore feet were impacting on her sense of direction, we’ll say no more.

Tomorrow we’re doing a walking tour of the city at 10.30, a boat canal cruise with food and drinks tomorrow night.

Ciao from Amsterdam

Paul

Breakfast is done and we’re off out the door heading for the Berlin Wall memorial area near Nordebahnof station. The M5 tram gets us up near there, we walk the rest of the way then explore the park where a large section of the wall has been retained, and where they moved a cemetery to cater for the space the wall needed.

Some Berlin info while I remember;

The 4 ways to get around on Public transport are :

• S – S Bahn Trains above ground
• U – U Bahn trains below ground
• M – trams
• Buses – 100 bus runs east west and 200 runs north south, that’s all I know about that option.

these work very well but it takes a few days to get the hang of them.

Berliners of all ages and sex walk the street with bottles of beer, larges and smallies, drinking, they hold them by the top of the bottle between thumb and index finger, a style that is or seems to me anyway particularly Berlin. There are groups of young people gathered in park and on footpaths drinking and joking, no sign of bad behaviour other than the telltale vomit stains on the footpath around the place.

Bikes – we haven’t got to Amsterdam yet but in Berlin there are lots of people on push bikes riding very fast in designated lanes, stay out of their laneway or you’ll get run over or abused. Bloody scary sometimes when you forget and walk in the laneway accidentally and turn and see a snarling Berliner on a bicycle bearing down of you – at pace.

Back to what we did for the day. In 1989 Ronny Reagan said ” Mr Gorbachev , tear down this wall”, in front of the Brandenburg Gate ( Brandenburger Tor) and Gorbachov did, to the surprise of everyone in the West, and effectively ended the Cold War. Very brave man Gorbachov. We wander through the wall memorial area, then catch a tram up to the Mauer Market, a large flea market in the old East Berlin. It’s seething with people in the dusty potholed area. They have designer stuff and genuine flea market stuff with copy Russian badges and medals trying to fleece the tourists. Genelle buys a very nice T shirt, I buy a piece of original art and Mark buys next to nothing despite much pressure from his mother. A small purchase relieves the pressure for him.

The tram back to Hackescher Markt is slow affair, not before the navigator thinks we should go left when we come out the gate, then arguing about it when I suggest she might end up in Moscow, things settle and a little lunch at a cafe at Hackescher then the S3 train to Warschaurer to the Eastside Gallery, famous for its murals on a long section of the wall still standing on the banks of the Spree River and where designated artists have done murals. It’s quite spectacular, but there is lots of it. The murals are very political and the language and art work can be confronting. It’s odd that a lot of the murals done by graffiti artists now have graffiti over them but that sort of adds to the effect in my opinion. The most famous mural is one of Brezhnev kissing Ronald Reagan in a full on pash, a pre cursor to the wall finally coming down in 1989, after 28 years standing and dividing the Berlin community and Germany in general.

Our feet are tired, we catch the train back to Alexanderplatz, wander around the plaza, hardly any shops open but a huge vegan festival going. One funny thing we see is a guy walking with a bulldog on a skate board, he wasn’t drinking and neither was the dog but the dog sure could ride! A really nice ice cream is what the Dr orders.

I retire to the apartment to take the weight off my feet, rest my aching back and sip a Heineken beer, and write up the final detailed version of the blog for yesterday while Genelle and Mark head to Museum Island I think in search of yet more markets.

They return for a rest while the sun is still in the sky, only being partially successful in the hunt for more German bargains.

Tomorrow we are on the 8.34 train to Amsterdam, 2nd class. I love travelling by train over here. It’s a 7 hour trip so it will allow a bit of a down day to rest the feet and back and regroup. Genelle and I were in Amsterdam 10 years ago for about 4 hours, it will be nice to have a few days to get a bit better look at it. After Amsterdam the bit I’m really looking forward to is a stop in Bruge in Belgium and I’ve got a trip to the Flanders Field battle fields where 5 family members saw service in WW I, only 2 returned home, 2 died in Belgium ( Battle of Messines and the Battle of Passchendaele) and 1 died in the Somme valley in France not far away in the Battle of Pozieres. I’ll stay for the last post at Menin Gate, a service that has been held every day since the end of WW I in 1918 wher 1 of them has a memorial plate on a wall – his body never found.

Cheers from Berlin for the last time – this trip anyway. Tomorrow I’ll sum up on Berlin, a city I really love

Paul

Ok, where was I? Oh I know, yesterday the Long Night of the Museums, with detail.. this time.

The Hackescher Markt Markets are a happening place, set in amongst the restaurants, all sorts of arty craft things, probably not my thing, but Genelle and Mark have a good look around and she finds a pair of linen pants to wear, the jeans have resulted in a rash over her legs, so any excuse to buy something I say, but not to her, and then they head to Alexanderplatz to get their train tickets to Potsdam.

Potsdam is about 24 kms from Berlin centre, and is renowned for the palaces and beatiful buildings. Potsdam was a residence of the Prussian kings and the Kaiser until 1918 ( that ended well for him – you know WW 1). Its planning embodied ideas of the Age of Enlightenment – through a careful balance of architecture and landscape, Potsdam was intended as “a picturesque, pastoral dream” which would remind its residents of their relationship with nature. For me, the knees are good, but the feet and calf muscles are aching so I decide to bail out on a trip out there and take it easy, and start my Museum day at the Art Museum beside the Pergamon and Nues Museum.

I have an easy start to the day, a slow breakfast, a walk through the market at Hackescher, and strange as it might seem I can’t find any jewellery, clothes or street food that suits me. I settle for a coffee and a marzipan and icing pretzel thingy, totally decadent but I feel that caffeine and sugar will help me get through the day, last year I would have had the coffee with 3 codeine and iboprofen tablets, and hobbled away with regular sit downs to keep myself going.

I head to Museum Island, it’s only 5 minutes from Hackescher Markt, to the Art Museum on the banks of the Spree River, but no action, WTF – the sign says ” Air Conditioner has Broken and we are not open until further notice”. Change of plans is now the order of the day, but change to what? I sit in the beautiful gardens amongst some of the sculptures and contemplate what I can do without the gentle hum of the navigator in my ear and the tension of every direction taken being challenged. I’m sure I’ll work something out.

Ok – my plan is now, seeing it’s drizzling rain, is wait for the Lange Nacht Der Museen (Long Night at the Museum) – tough translation that, which costs €18 and you can visit any museum in the 76 museum listed between 6pm and 2am, meanwhile I wander back Hackescher Markt way and wander in the drizzling rain around the alleys and and old buildings. I then get the train into Freidrichstrasser then Potsdamer Place, get my ticket for tonight at the Espionage Museum, my first planned museum. I have about 7 marked.

I’ve checked with Genelle, her and Mark are lined up at a palace and won’t be back in Berlin until about 6.30, but Mark would like to see the Espionage Museum. This is right near the Mall of Berlin, an extra large shopping centre, a brief interlude watching some professional dancers, a coffee and a waffle at a cafe, and by then I’ve had enough of the shopping centre.

Genelle and Mark have had a good day, but their feet are sore, they’ve walked all day and are exhausted and after Mark checks out the museum he’s decided that he’s had enough for the day. The Espionage Museum is great but it’s crowded, there is masses of stuff, real spy stuff from the Americans, the Brits, the East Germans and the Russians. We catch the trains back to Hackescher, via Hauptbahnof, the navigator decided against advice to take a train – which ended up being the right train but going the wrong way. Never the less she feels it was justified as we get the tickets for the train trip to Amsterdam out of the machine, Mark and I stay quiet, preferring not to poke the tiger.

Back at Hackescher we have a beautiful dinner in the restaurant area and they head back to the apartment, I head to the Altes Museum on Museum Island, on foot.

the Altes Museum is Berlin’s oldest museum, lots of Roman, Etruscan, Greek artifacts, lots of stuff. It’s quite late at night, the crowds are building, I get the M5 tram up the the Naturkunde Museum ( Natural History Museum). It’s packed but as it’s an enormous building the crowd is spread out. I get back about 12.30 am ( is that what I said yesterday?),exhausted, my eyes can’t focus, I’m dusted

Tomorrow is a bit of a freelance day, more about that tomorrow.

Ciao from Berlin again

Paul

The picture below is a Leunig cartoon I liked – not sure how to attribute him?

The Long Night of the Museums

Sounds like a good name for a movie. It’s 1am in Berlin, the city is still humming, there’s a slight chill outside, just enough for a coat, and the 87 museums involved in the Long Night of the Museums ( or words to that effect) – 6pm to 2am for €18 are still flat out with big lines to get in.

It’s a short blog tonight as I can hardly focus my eyes let alone my brain, so I’ll do a more detailed blog tomorrow.

In summary today was this;

• Genelle and Mark went to the markets in our area then to the palaces at Potsdam
• I went wandering, the art gallery, near Nues and Pergamon was closed due to the air con breaking and they’d shut down, then I went to the Espionage Museum, met Genelle and Mark
• We had dinner back at Hackescher Markt, they went to bed and I continued with museums until 1am

More details tomorrow when I can think straight

Ciao from Berlin

Paul

We’re over last nights nightmare, cranky, sulking millennial Corolla driving krauts are all forgiven.

We wake, muesli up, Irish tea scoffed and we head out to get our Berlin Welcome card for the free travel ( I know, you pay for it actually). But last year it worked really well. We head out to find the bus station to get Bus 100 to the Reichstag building to meet the Intrepid Urban Adventures tour and get lost, and I get lots. We can’t find the f….g bus stop, Google Maps has let me down, and the co navigator suggests a taxi. Of course I’d we’d had time to walk or get ready it may not have been a problem, but I admit I’m only saying this because I feel a little embarrassed.

A €10 taxi ride fixes the problem. We get to the big German flag on the western side of the Reichstag building before time, we meet 4 other Aussies who are on the Intrepid – Storyline of Berlin 4-5 hour walking tour of Berlin https://www.urbanadventures.com/Berlin-tour-storyline-of-berlin?__uap=Berlin. Our guide, Peter arrives in time and we are immediately into the Berlin thing. Peter is a local, has lived in the East before the wall came down, he escaped after 3 attempts and 2 years in goal, with a girl who was pregnant ( a friend not a girlfriend) in 1978/9 and now lives in Mitte in Berlin after some time living overseas in England and the USA. He’s pretty well qualified to give us an intimate view of being a Berliner in the 20th and 21st century. Our fellow travellers are from the Newcastle area, no names as I don’t recall them giving me permission to use them, but great company and one of the couples actually lived in Dubbo for some time many years ago.

Anyway on to the recent history of Berlin. It’s bloody, violent, and then the last 18 years or so have been pretty peaceful. Peter guides us through the area that linked East and West Berlin, the Russians, American and English took the world to the brink of war on a number of occasions because of dickhead military types getting into schoolboy pissing contests – that’s my simplistic way of describing what Peter tells us. But, there is a heart and a soul to the city, there is culture, the written word, music and a fusion of people from all over the world, it feels like a fun place. We walk through where Russian tanks and anti tank guns are displayed, the Brandenburg Gate, Hitlers bunker ( he didn’t survive it folks), Checkpoint Charlie, the Gendermarkt area, the museum area and finally we have a few beers and lunch in the Haeckerscher Markt area. Peter has done a great job, we feel that his personal story and that he gave something personal to us let us inside his shell, I think and believe what he said was true.

Lunch was hoot, the Newcastle guys drank 2 x litres of beer each as well as eating.

We rest up at the apartment for an hour and head the Alexanderplatz on foot, check the shops out, mainly the C&A shop for cheap jeans for me – none bought – yet. We then head on the trains, R trains and U Bahn trains back to Checkpoint Charlie, and then catch the trains back to Hackescher Markt for a light dinner, a giant 1 litre of lager and then a walk up the hill in the Mitte area of Berlin. This city goes late, I expect it will be too late for me. The only thing that would excite me and keep me up late is to find that pouting, cranky, barely out of teens driver and beat the crap out of home in Dark Berlin laneway, but then that’s not really me is it.

Tomorrow it’s Markets and castles for Genelle and Mark and Museums for me

Ciao from Berlin

Paul

The lap of Ireland, the Reid’s world tour of Ireland ends tonight when we leave for Berlin – ” Don’t mention the war!” I say to my fellow travellers, any of the wars I , II, and the Cold one.

Breakfast in the hotel is great, I go smaller with baked eggs and chorizo, Genelle and Mark go for the waffle, all are good and the fresh orange juice (probably Spanish) is delicious. The Pembroke is very modern by the standards and age of the establishments we’ve been staying in, a bit of modern is nice for a little while.

Kilkenny Castle is next, beautiful building and gardens, the day looks grey and by the time we’ve got around half of the castle it’s raining. Cats and dogs raining, feckin falling out of the feckin sky as an Irishman would say.

If you’ve seen one castle you’ve seen them all, sound familiar? Soon we’re at the Kilkenny arts and crafts local place in the old stables of the castle over the road, I buy a cap, Genelle buys nothing, is their anything wrong with this story, I’ll let you be the judge.

We walk to St Candice’s Cathedral, built in the 9th century, it’s spectacular, and agin the church yard full of graves old and new.

Checkout of the hotel, the sun comes out for 30 seconds and tea and scones and we’re on our way to Dublin, I’m the pilot for the last leg.

All goes well until we get toDublin airport, and trying to find the rental car drop off is a nightmare, the gps takes us to Departures, so we call on Dr Google maps and after 3 laps of the airport we find it. The air in the car is a little blue and full of Irish f…. words, one corner right at the end of our driving nearly results in my co navigator suffering from whiplash, and I did hear a few words of advice that I won’t repeat.

We can’t check in with the machines, useless f….g things, we have to go to a human as they at least recognise that Mark and I aren’t female and have the same name as the co navigator. Finally in, through the tunnel of no return and as usual my knees set all the bells off, so again I get frisked, and metal detectored, by a mildly funny Irishman, I’m past seeing the humour in it, so I grin and look towards the roof.

The flight is good, and then we land and it turns to shite, we get our passports stamped, head out past the uniformed former Stasi guards looking for our driver. He’s nowhere to be seen, Genelle rings the people, they say his name is Greg and he should be there and we have his number, after a lot of calls and a long wait, Genelle nails him near the Easyjet counter, he’s in. T shirt, jeans also wearing a sour look on his face. The cranky prick wanted us to walk about 500 metres to his car and expected us to find him, he’s obviously done no customer skills training. We make him drive to pick us up, and when he gets there he doesn’t even put the bags in the car, I do, then all the way into our Berlin hotel in Haekerscher Markt he says nothing, then when we arrives he says “this is it”, stays in the car while we unload which Mark does slowly, then I walk slowly in front of the car hoping he might get cranky or at least give me the bird, but no, he sulkily looks at his mobile phone. I feel a very negative TripAdviser report coming on.

The Adina Apartment Hotel Haeckescsher Markt is very nice, the room lovely, and the staff very friendly, a nice change after the cranky Kraut who drove us in.

We explore, very late by now, the market area, cafes still open but now closing, so we find a little super market, buy some goodies for breakfast and hit the sack.

Tomorrow we’re doing an Intrepid Urban Adventures Day walk of Berlin starting at 10 at the Reichstag building.

Ciao for another day from Berlin

Paul

It’s 10.30pm, I’m just finishing a Jameson’s, neat – no ice no water, nuthin !

So today, unlike yesterday when it seems I backtracked and cover something twice, blame Guinness or Jameson’s, it wasn’t my fault! Sorry, there I go again, today was the topic, we started with the breakfast bit, the second B in B&B, it was delicious, large and washed down with really nice strong tea. I couldn’t finish mine the meal was that big.

Fuelled up we’re back down into Dingle shopping, some purchases made by Genelle and Mark, he has inherited some of his mother’s genes it seems.

On the road to Blarney, it’s a lovely drive, Tom tries his best to throw us out into the boondocks and backlanes but we’re better than him today.

Blarney for me is the pub to pass an hour or so, Genelle and Mark do the castle thing. None of that kissing the filthy rock thing for me. The Guinness at the pub was very tasty though.

We then make our way up the M8 with a €1.90 toll, towards Castel and the Rock of Castel, once the throne of the Munster kings of Ireland then a church. The place is being restored, it’s very old, but there is a lot of Ireland’s history around here.

We then take a quick trip to Coolmore Ireland and leave some of Tim’s ashes at their stud, we didn’t tell them as it’s probably not kosher to do that, the place was busy and there was lots of security about. Then it’s the back lanes to Kilkenny, Ireland nearly minus one truck that Mark nearly collected one one very tight corner.

Kilkenny arrives in time, it’s been a long day on the road. The Pembroke Kilkenny is pretty swish, and rigs in the centre of the town. We wander the streets, have dinner at a small pub called The Playwright, buskers beside us – a banjo, a violin, a double bass, and a guitar player, all singing. It’s pleasant sitting outside eating and listing to Irish folk music and hillbilly music combined.

Early to bed tonight, tomorrow is our last day in Ireland

Ciao from Kilkenny

Paul

Currently we’re in the village of Listowel, having tea and scones in John R’s Foodhall. The tea is strong, the scones are very tasty, it’s a local place, only Irish accents can be heard, the bill is hand written, the service oh so friendly and helpful. There is a poster congratulating “our Limerick neighbours” on winning the All Ireland Hurling final on Sunday. They also offer luxury accomodation, what a versatile place.

So what did today look like? Now, the day is done and I’m reflecting back on the whole day as I sit in our B&B in Dingle, overlooking the Dingle Bay, sipping a Jameson’s Crested Whiskey, fecking tough life it to be sure to be sure.

Galway, breakfast at the Skeffington Arms or the Skeff as it’s revered to is included in the price and it’s a sumptuous affair on level 1. The first thing you notice is the ornate wood panels of the carved ceiling, the stained glass, the little stairs up and down, lots of things. It was built in the 1600’s and a fair while later turned into a hotel. The breakfast is good, and large, the usual affair over here, we leave we’ll sated, ready for the long day ahead.

Today’s newspaper, The Irish Independent, gives us the issues of the day in Ireland;

• The Pope saying “we showed no care for little ones….” – no shit Your Holiness!
• Limerick beating Galway in the All Ireland Hurling Championship at Croke Park last Sunday for the first time in 35 years – they are loving it down this way, up Galway way they are crying into their Guinness.
• There is a measles outbreak in Europe – suggest travellers to the continent get the jab before they go
• Pilgrims going to see the Pope in Dublin this weekend told to pack for showers and cool weather – there’d be no hell and damnation for these good leftfooters making the pilgrimage would there.

We check out, walk down the hill to the shopping centre where the car is parked and get lost in the shopping centre. We hope the rest of the day is going to look better than this bit, ironically, the directionally challenged co traveller, she shall remain nameless, works out where the car is. Whoda thought!

To make up for it I manage to get out of Galway without problems and we head south towards The Cliffs of Mohr. It’s a pretty drive along the coast.

The Cliffs of Moher are a seething mass of people, buses and cars, it’s like everyone in Ireland is here. We check the Cliffs out, as the deputy navigator says ” you’ve seen one cliff you’ve seen them all” , and that’s it, we’re outta there. I’m not convinced she is motivated to do a lot of site seeing, but I do notice that she is a lot more excited when we approach what constitutes shops, I’m sayin no more, for I feel I might be copping a bit of a backlash now.

We cross the Shannon on the ferry, €18 it cost for us and the car for a crossing that takes about 20 minutes, we were lucky, just arriving on time after Tom had taken across country through the backlanes of Kerry.

The Villages of wild Atlantic coast are quaint, and the slow drive through them is very enjoyable, I reckon they would be a hoot at night.

Tom, our trust gps, decides to take a track through the scrub, a one lane goat track over hills and dales, I’m tense, leaning over the wheel watching for tractors, dogs, cows, cyclists, if a cyclist is coming the other way they’d have to dismount, it was scary, meanwhile the co-driver and navigator are laughing. If Tom does this again, I’ll pelt his feckin plastic and computer chipped gps self out the feckin window never to be seen again- the scheming bastard it is.

We stop at Listowel, a village heading towards Dingle for a bite to eat and a tea. Scones are great, tea is strong and lots of flavour, the bill is handed to us hand written, old style. This looks like an interesting town, maybe a bit more than a village?

We reach Dingle about 4.30pm, straight to the shops, some stuff bought, some to think about. The streets are busy, but we find out later most are probably day trippers and by evening they are gone. Our B&b is Dunlavin House, on the start of the Dingle peninsular, a beautiful place looking over the water. We then head out to the Beehive huts, Stone huts built and used by free farmers in the early Christian period but they would have been lived in from ancient times till about 1200AD.

back to Dingle for dinner at a pub, some more shopping and then back to the B&B. A long day, so I sit, I write, I sip my whiskey and try and recap the day. You’d think there would be better things to do wouldn’t you!

Ciao from Dingle

Breakfast, clean up and we get ready to leave our beautiful residence of the last few days. Riverview Fishing Lodge is a spacious well equipped 3 bedroom cottage with fantastic views over the river. We check our hosts Boom trike out, 2 litre fuel injected Peugeot motor, all sparkly chrome, very comfortable to sit in, a funny gear change but apparently you get used to it.

The day is grey grey grey, drizzling rain, a quick fill up with fuel from old mate at the servo, personal service, Genelle has him organised, then drop a scarf at the B&B for Jane, just after Mark misses a bear change turning a sharp corner and nearly has a opportunity to collect part of his inheritance early. I did see a blue car coming at me with pace and I had no where to go except pray he found the gear and accelerated.

We drive west to the pottery place / village called Belleek, renowned for its pottery. I hear Genelle say”I could have spent a fortune in there” , when in fact she only spent a small fortune. Such restraint!

We drive on south down the Irish west coast, through beautiful Sligo and the mountains, the rain still just drizzling. We stop for lunch at the Yeats County Inn at Curry. The food is great. It the meals enormous, we leave bulging. Onwards to Galway and we get into the correct car park, Google Maps makes us walk a whole block to the Skeffington Arms Hotel, we do find a shorter way, we check in and then it’s shopping time for Genelle and Mark. Galway is the home of Cladgh rings, so him and Genelle check out Dillons, “the place ” for claddagh rings. I’m free to roam, and I roam back to the bar at the pub.

The Guinness is good and feel good as well after a few. Genelle and Mark find me and we have dinner T the bar, food is excellent.a short walk and then bed, ready for another day on the road.

Probably sounds like a boring day?

Cheers

Paul