Week 32 - England - Stoney Stanton to Brazil - Rio de Janeiro

On Monday morning, we got ready to go out for a walk. Talbert and Linda had chosen the three halls walk which was 6 miles (or 9½ kms) long and started in the village of Hungarton. After a half hour drive from Stoney Stanton, Talbert parked the car at The Black Boy Pub where we planned to have lunch and we set off on the walk.

We walked up a small lane next to a 14^th century church through some gates and up a long winding driveway where we had a view of the beautiful frontage of Quenby Hall – a 17^th century Jacobean country house on the top of a hill with views of the surrounding fields. The next hall that we saw was Lowesby Hall – a Georgian red brick manor house next to the former village of Lowesby with its own cricket pitch. Lowesby had been razed during the plague years. After scrambling over some stiles and walking over cattle grids, through fields and parklands we came across Baggrave Hall – a Georgian red brick and granite building set amidst some impressive parklands. We saw many pheasants, sheep, pigs, cattle including long horned cattle, and beautiful horses including one which ate a mint offered by Talbert. We walked back along an avenue lined with horse chestnuts and wild blackberries to The Black Boy Pub for a well earned shandy and lunch.

After breakfast on Tuesday, we packed up the car and set off for Oxford. At Oxford, we parked the car and spent the next couple of hours walking around town. The university colleges, chapels and gardens seemed to be scattered randomly through town. We walked past golden stone buildings, the Bodleian Theatre, the Old Bodleian Library, the University Church of Saint Mary and Lincoln College. We walked along High Street and took a quick detour through the Covered Market which contained permanent stalls and shops. Most of them were food retailers. We walked past the Town Hall and Christ Church College, peeking through the Tom Gate at the quadrangle with the magnificent cathedral in the background. We were sorry when it was time to return to our car before the parking meter expired.

We rescued the car and drove to Avebury. On the way we drove past Silbury Hill – a large manmade grass covered chalk mound. The site at Avebury consisted of a large henge (large circular ridge and ditch), several stone circles and a large barrow. The village of Avebury extended into the heart of the largest stone circle. We spent an hour walking around the village and the stone circles trying to find the "Devil's Seat" and the "Diamond" stones. After that we drove towards Salisbury across the scenic Salisbury Plain, taking a short detour to go and see Stonehenge. The site was closed when we arrived, but we were able to park the car in a nearby lane and view Stonehenge from the road. In the setting sun the stones looked really atmospheric.

It was quite late when we arrived in Salisbury and there were no double rooms available at the hostel. However, we managed to find a room at the nearby Citylodge.

We got off to a late start on Wednesday morning, watching TV and dawdling over a cup of tea in our room. We had a delicious breakfast at Reeve the Baker and then strolled round to the Tourist Office where we found a city walking tour that was just about to leave. We quickly bought tickets and joined the tour.

Helena (the guide) took us along the Fish Row into Cotswold (an outdoor shop). Inside the shop on the second floor were large wooden beams and archways showing traces of woodworm. Our next stop was the vine covered 13^th century Red Lion Hotel. It was once a "coach inn" and so had a very high entry into the courtyard. The drive had deep carriage ruts worn into it. Inside the inn was an amazing skeleton organ clock (carved by prisoners from the Spanish Armada), a wooden fireplace with a last supper frieze and some clocks with extremely large faces (Act of Parliament Clocks). We paid a quick visit to the 1220 bar before moving on to the Odeon Cinema. The cinema was closed but we could still admire its half timbered medieval entrance and original stained glass windows from the outside. We were able to walk down the side of the building where we could see that the walls had been constructed with a mix of brick, stone and flint. The flint had been used to extend the stone – stone being scarce in the Salisbury Plains because the area is chalk. We walked along Butcher Row, stopping to admire the 15^th century stone Poultry Cross which marked the site of the old poultry market. Then we went to St Thomas' Church which was also constructed from flint and stone (ashlar). Above the altar was a spectacular "Doom Painting" – a fresco depicting judgement day. The ceiling was a Somerset Angel roof – it was made of timber beams with little cherubs on each corner. Finally we walked with Helena behind the church along the trout-filled River Avon and then along High Street into the Cathedral Close – a large enclosure surrounded by walls made from stone harvested from the site of OId Sarum. As well as the cathedral, the close contained a number of residential buildings and museums.

After Helena left us, we walked back into town to Tesco where we bought lunch. We brought this back to the Cathedral Close and had a picnic on a bench opposite the great spire which at 123 metres, is Britain's tallest spire. After lunch we spent a couple of hours wandering around the cathedral. The cathedral was built in English Gothic style and had 68 statues on its west front. Inside we saw a beautiful cloister, a medieval clock, decorative tombs, ornate quire stalls, a stone frieze of scenes from the Old Testament and an original Magna Carta manuscript. We walked back into town to Reeve the Baker for afternoon tea. Then we walked along the river and then on the Town Path to Salisbury's water-meadows to the Mill. Keith was disappointed because we didn't see any water voles but we saw plenty of trout, ducks, swans and even a large hawk that was tethered in a garden adjoining the river.

We walked back into town and as it was still light, we decided to walk to Old Sarum – the site of the original town which was abandoned due to a shortage of water and space. We walked for ages along the river and then across some fields before we arrived at the massive Iron Age hill fort. At the top of the hill, we were rewarded with a view of the surrounding countryside and the stone ruins of a castle and cathedral.

We went to the Coach and Horses Inn for a lovely dinner and then returned to the hotel. It was the end of a fabulous final day in England.

We woke to our alarm at 7.00 am on Thursday and it took us an hour to shower and pack. It was pouring rain as we drove out of Salisbury towards London and Heathrow airport. Luckily the traffic was ok and we found Avis at Heathrow and returned the car. We checked our baggage in and went through security to the BA lounge where we had breakfast. We boarded via a bus which delivered us to the wrong plane! Then there were delays as they had to change the nose wheel! We only ended up taking off at 3.15 pm when the flight was scheduled to leave at 1.15 pm!

We landed in Rio a little after 10.00 pm - only one hour late, which is not bad considering we left London two hours behind schedule. We met Allie from Bristol on the plane and it turned out that she was also staying at the Rio Hostel so we agreed to share a taxi. After we got through customs we found Flavio in "Arrivals" carrying a Rio Hostel sign with the name John Lyons. Flavio agreed to take us to the Rio Hostel as well and while we were waiting for John Lyons to turn up we went to the ATM to take out some Brazilian Reais. John Lyons didn't turn up so Flavio gave up and took us to the hostel. The Rio Hostel was perched on the top of a large hill overlooking Rio and to get to reception we had to climb up a couple of steep flights of stairs. We had a big room with a super view over Rio city centre. John Lyons turned up at reception just after us – he had been detained by customs because he declared his malaria tablets! He was completely cool about us taking his lift because he said he was so long he knew the driver wouldn't be there by the time he got out.

On Friday, we woke up at 7.30 am and lay in bed for a while before a cold shower got us going. We had a continental breakfast which included chocolate cake and some really good coffee. Keith saw a tiny Sagui monkey with a banded tail in the trees next to the hostel. Then we raced off into town on foot to meet Sarah Laird whom we had previously met in India. We got to the Confeitaria Colombo right on time. It was an amazing building on two levels with giant size ornate mirrors all around the walls and marble tables giving the impression it was even grander with all the reflections. It was a belle époque 19^th century style cafe with a huge stained glass design in the ceiling and enormous displays of every confection under the sun. We had a great chat and met her husband Julian (a Scot). They invited us to a BBQ on Sunday afternoon. They suggested that we walk around the area of Candelaria church with lots of old architecture and good restaurants. There were many modern buildings in Centro with restored and unrestored old buildings dotted in between. The streets were dirty and lively and the humidity similar to a Brisbane summer. We walked and walked and walked and ended up taking a lot of photos although we did not see other tourists with cameras as we had in other cities on the trip. There is definitely an undercurrent of poverty and a feeling that something could happen to you if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time but overall we liked it. We stopped at a per kilo restaurant in Candelaria for lunch at a very reasonable price. It was just the healthy meal we needed after the flight here and we felt recharged afterwards. We continued walking and enjoying the many plazas, markets and sculptures until we ran out of steam and the sun started to go down at 4.00 pm. We found our way back to Santa Teresa by retracing our steps and using the Arcos de Lapa (a large concrete aqueduct) as a landmark. It was Friday afternoon and many people were around in the bars and on the street. We bumped into Allie at the door to the hostel and compared notes on our day. We did our diary and had dinner and a couple of beers and refreshing Caipirinhas at the hostel with Allie, John and Tiago.

On Saturday, we caught a taxi to Rodoviaria Novo Rio, the Rio long haul bus terminal where we purchased an overnight first class bus ticket for Ouro Preto for Monday night. As we had seen a lot of cloud we decided to change our plan to go to the Corcovador mountain and instead jumped on a bus for Leblon beach. We went through a tunnel carved through a mountain and went past Pao De Acucar mountain on our way down the Copacabana and Ipanema beaches to Leblon beach. We got off and walked for miles up the beach watching the beach sports being played all along the esplanade which was paved in the Portuguese style with small cobbles in off-white and black stone forming a wave like pattern. There was beach volleyball with most games not using hands but feet, chest, knees and head instead which improves the soccer skills. There was also a game of hitting a ball very hard and fast between two players with solid bats shaped like short tennis rackets and with nets running behind each row of players. There were also games of soccer in progress with organised teams playing in bare feet. There were kiosks selling mainly green coconuts to drink and large concrete stands called Postos with their numbers which delineated the beach areas informally – some were for families, some for gays, and some for the beautiful people apparently. A steady stream of joggers, cyclists, skateboarders and roller bladers passed us in both directions in their own special lane. Above us there were flocks of buzzards and Gaviotas (frigate birds) wheeling continuously. The Gaviotas had a very large wingspan and there was something eerie in their pterodactyl silhouette against the sky and their silent circling. Eventually we had lunch at a per kilo restaurant at the headland between Ipanema and Copacabana. The food was beautiful with real beef, pork and fish with numerous vegetable options both cold and warm. After lunch we kept walking up Copacabana beach until we reached the end and then had to walk back a little in order to catch the 511 bus to Pao De Acucar (Sugarloaf Mountain) where we caught the cable car up to the first station half way up. The views were totally awesome and for the first time we could appreciate how huge Rio really was with favelas (shanty towns) spilling down the mountain sides, acres of high rise in the valleys and bays full of boats stretching around to the 13 kilometre Rio-Niteroi bridge connecting Rio de Janeiro to Niteroi. When we went up the last stage to the top there was a cloud over the peak which blocked the view but it did give a surreal effect as the cloud swirled around you and the distant sights below loomed and receded with the clouded visibility. We waited until it got dark but left without any clear views. Luckily when we descended to the first station we were below the cloud again and the carpet of lights was extremely beautiful. After a few photos we descended to the bottom and caught a taxi back to the hostel for a welcome cup of tea and to catch up with John and Allie from the UK.

Later in the evening, we walked to the Lapa neighbourhood next to Santa Teresa famous for its nightlife, colourful restaurants and Samba Clubs. We walked through the busy streets to the Rio Scenarium Samba Club only to find a 100 metre long queue at the front door and a cover charge of R$30. We decided to walk around and find somewhere else. We chose a restaurant with a black musician on the mezzanine floor and R$5 cover charge so that Allie could have some dinner and we could have a drink. We spent a good couple of hours chatting over our drinks and people watching. There were several couples who had no inhibitions about public displays of passion – we didn't know where to look! At about midnight, we decided to walk back to the hostel. The streets were still full of people and if anything busier than before.

After breakfast on Sunday, we walked down through Santa Teresa and saw some more tiny Sagui monkeys on the way to the Arcos de Lapa. At the Arcos de Lapa, we took some photos of the stairs which had been covered in tiles from all over the world by an eccentric Chilean artist. Lapa looked pretty dirty in the morning light and there were lots of people sleeping in the street. Some were still out from the night before looking the worse for wear. We took out some money from an ATM and walked back to the hostel to stash some of it. Then we walked up Rua Joaquim Martinho past Largo Curvelo to Largo Guimaraes. We enjoyed the views over Rio and admired the restored and decaying villas along the way. We got onto an ancient tram and had a great ride down the hill and over the Arcos de Lapa into the city centre. We found a metro station at the terminus and caught the metro to General Osorio station at Ipanema where we cruised around the Hippie Market which was full of interesting Brazilian clothes, gemstones, wood carvings, jewellery, and stalls selling acaraje, a dish of yellow lentil, sticky okra stew, a fried bun, and prawns. This was pretty good and we shared a cob of corn as well as a chicken empanada before dessert of tapioca flan with chunks of coconut and covered in delicious burnt sugar syrup. We bought a couple of bottles of red wine and a box of chocolates and caught the bus to Barra in the rain. We enjoyed the drive down the coast from Leblon with jungle and mountains on one side and the sea on the other. At Barra a huge canal appeared beside the highway for some time. We got off at Ponte Lucio Costa and walked to Julian and Sarah's apartment in a secure condominium. We had a fantastic churrasqueira (BBQ) outside with roast beef, salad and baked potato. We met Julian's colleague Alfie and the children, Oscar and Mica. After dessert, we went upstairs into their apartment for a cup of tea and a chocolate before catching a taxi back to Santa Teresa. A couple of young Germans had had their uncle's car stolen from the front of the hostel which was a bit sobering.

Week 31 - Ireland - Bantry to England - Stoney Stanton

It was raining when we woke on Monday but it had stopped by the time we left for the day. We drove out on the Mizen Head peninsula to Crookhaven with a famous harbour and stopped at O' Sullivans Bar for lunch. It was blustery and cold outside which made it so cosy inside even the Old English sheepdog came inside. We felt like we were at the end of the world. Then we drove to Schull which was another fishing village. We walked around the harbour and the main street where we stopped at Newman's Photography to look at the photos of the Fastnet Lighthouse, a perfect construction of interlocking Cornish granite blocks which has withstood the Atlantic storms for over 100 years. Then we drove to inland Skibbereen on the Ilen River which was founded after coastal Baltimore was sacked by Algerian pirates in 1631! It had a statue to Irish rebels and a nearby Abbey with mass graves of thousands from the Famine of the 1840s. We walked around town enjoying the scenery of colourful shops, hotels and restaurants. Then we drove on to Cobh (pronounced Cove), the port for Cork, on Great Island. It was linked to the mainland by a causeway and faces Haulbowline Island, once the base for the Irish naval service, and Spike Island which houses a prison. After checking into a room at Ard na Laoi B&B, we walked around the harbour and had dinner. Then we went into the plush Commodore Hotel for an Irish coffee which entitled us to use their Wifi to book accommodation in Dublin, and the ferry to Holyhead in Wales.

After a full Irish breakfast on Tuesday morning, we checked out of the B&B. We walked up some steep narrow streets past brightly coloured terrace houses to St Colman's Cathedral which was perched on a hillside terrace overlooking Cobh. The cathedral was in French Gothic style with crenellated spires, flying buttresses, gargoyles and statues and contains the largest Carillon in Ireland with 47 bells. The largest bell was 3.6 tonnes! Inside the cathedral were mosaic floors, beautiful stained glass windows and marble columns. We walked back into town and paid a quick visit to the Cobh Heritage Centre, housed in the old train station which had a lot of information on the massive emigration out of Ireland.

Then we set off for Barryscourt Castle – the 16^th century seat of the Barry Family. First we visited the beautifully sculptured herb gardens and apple orchards (with 58 varieties of apples). Then a staff member gave us a guided tour of the renovated castle. It was built in typical Irish style – with a main tower house building with smaller adjacent buildings arranged around a courtyard and surrounded by a protective outer wall. The staff member guided us through the main rooms and halls in the castle and pointed out the defensive features of the castle before leaving us to browse through an exhibition on the ground floor.

After a quick stop for lunch at Midleton we drove towards Cashel. On the way we stopped at Lismore for a five minute walk across the bridge over the river and to admire the Lismore Castle and gardens in some precious sunshine. At Cashel, we parked the car and walked to The Rock of Cashel – an archaeological site on the top of a limestone hill surrounded by a sturdy wall. At first we joined a guided tour which concentrated on the main buildings – the round tower, roofless abbey, 12^th century Romanesque chapel and Gothic cathedral. Unfortunately much of Cormac's Chapel was inaccessible because it was covered in scaffolding and undergoing restoration. Then we wandered around the site ourselves. It was scattered with monuments, Celtic crosses, ornate tombs and had sweeping views of the surrounding countryside. We visited the Hall of the Vicar's Choral where we watched an audiovisual presentation (in Italian), and visited a small exhibition of Bronze Age axes and blades, stone carvings, silverware and St Patrick's Cross.

We drove to Kilkenny where we were checked into the Kilkenny Tourist Hostel.

On Wednesday morning we walked through town to Kilkenny Castle. The castle was set amidst stately gardens and parklands on the banks of the River Nore. The castle had three remaining corner towers with connecting walls which gave it a unique horseshoe shape. The fourth tower and enclosing wall was damaged by Cromwellian forces during the siege of Kilkenny. It had an impressive entrance gate with the Butler coat of arms leading into the central courtyard. The interior of the three wings were lavishly furnished including 22 carat gold leaf on the ceiling, hand painted Chinese wallpaper and the piece de resistance, the Long Gallery with partial glass roof to let in light, hammerbeam wooden ceiling painted with Celtic designs supported by intricately carved stone corbels. The room was hung with huge oil paintings and furnished with velvet covered antique benches down the centre to sit and enjoy the paintings. There was an enormous white marble fireplace carved with various significant scenes from the family history including the purchase of the castle, acting as butler to the Irish king, the exile after defeat of Royalist forces by Cromwell and triumphant return on restoration of Charles II. There was also a beautiful Moorish staircase with double columns and arches in red and white. After our visit we picked up our luggage from the hostel and left Kilkenny feeling a little sad that we hadn't had more time to enjoy it fully. We drove on a super highway to Dublin, arriving a couple of hours later at the Castle Hotel. This was a lovely small Georgian hotel on the edge of the city centre and a step up from most of the hostel type accommodation we had been staying, thanks to a Wotif voucher present from our friends Andy and Holly. It was filled with old prints and paintings from Irish literature. We walked around the city centre including O'Connell Street, Trinity College university, Parliament House, St Stephen's Green and Grafton Street – where saw the statue of a rather voluptuous Molly Malone wheeling her cart. After having dinner in an Indian restaurant, we walked home via the pub area of Temple Bar and over a fairy tale bridge over the river Liffey. We slept like babies in our luxurious bed.

On Thursday, we headed out to the nearby Parnell Square with a mosaic lined pool in the shape of a cross and sculpture of Irish suffering and swans flying upwards. We walked over the Half Penny Bridge (same one as last night) where we saw a statue of two women sitting on a bench engaged in conversation with their shopping bags at their feet. We spent the morning wandering around, getting lost and enjoying all the architecture and atmosphere of which Dublin has plenty. After lunch we made our way towards the Guinness factory but subsequently discovered we were lost for the third time in the day. We finally made it to the Guinness tour which turned out be an incredibly slick marketing machine. It was a self guided tour through a refurbished industrial building on seven levels. It explained the brewing process, cooperage, history of the site and the marketing of Guinness. The tour culminated in a lesson on how to pour of a pint of Guinness and then we consumed this on the seventh floor Gravity Bar with 360 degree views over the city. Then we walked to Kilmainham Gaol which is one of the biggest disused prisons in Europe and is now a museum. Unfortunately, it was closed by the time we got there. Kilmainham Gaol has played an important part in Irish history as many famous people involved in the struggle for Irish independence have been imprisoned there. It was a long walk back to the hotel and we had just enough time to update our diary and have a cup of tea before it was time to go and meet our firends Colm and Niamh at the Odessa Restaurant at Temple Bar. We had a delicious meal and had a great time catching up with Colm and Niamh and then walked back to the hotel. We packed up as much as we could and it was almost midnight before we collapsed into bed exhausted from our day of walking.

Our alarm went off at 6.00 am on Friday morning followed by the wake-up call from the hotel. We got ready and packed up the rest of our things quickly before heading down to the dining room for a continental breakfast. After breakfast we drove to the Dublin Port. The streets were empty and the Dublin Port was well signposted so we found it easily. This ferry was enormous compared to the ferry we took from Cairnryan to Larne. Next to the ferry terminal we could see piles of containers and container loading cranes. After driving onto the ferry, we went to one of the restaurant areas where we spent the 3½ hour journey reading and catching up with our emails (free Wifi on board).

We arrived at Holyhead at around midday and we got caught in a bit of a traffic jam driving off the ferry before we could get onto the A55 towards Chester. After that the drive was really easy and we arrived in Chester at 2.30 pm. We parked the car in a 30 minute parking zone while we had a late lunch. Then we moved the car to the Forum Shopping Centre car park in the city centre and got a map from the Tourist Information Centre. We spent a pleasant afternoon wandering around town in the sunshine. This was Keith's first visit to Chester and he really loved the well-preserved Tudor buildings with intricate carvings, the Rows shopping galleries and the Eastgate Clock. After walking around a bit we went to collect our car. We parked our car outside the Chester Backpackers Hostel, checked into our twin room which turned out to have double bunk beds. After a rest and a cup of tea, it was time to drive to the Bengal Dynasty at Shotton to meet Suzie's friend Gwen from Hahn and her husband Ed for dinner. We had a lovely dinner and it was lots of fun catching up with Gwen and Ed. We didn't get home till nearly midnight and we fell into bed tired after our early start and long day.

We woke up early on Saturday because of the traffic noise but we stayed in bed for a while before getting up and having our breakfast of porridge with mixed raisins and tea in the kitchen. Then we loaded our bags into the car and walked into town. We climbed up a set of stone steps next to the Eastgate Clock spent a couple of hours walking around the Chester City Walls reading the information plaques at each gate. From the walls we enjoyed views of the River Dee, the Roman Amphitheatre and the Chester racecourse which was once the site of a massive Roman harbour. We climbed off the walls at the Eastgate Clock and walked to the Chester Market where we had lunch and wandered around looking at the cheeses and smallgoods. We bought a selection of cheeses, salami and hams to take to Talbert and Linda's (Suzie's aunt and uncle) house. After going to Tesco to buy wine, chocolates and crackers, we walked back to the car in the rain to drive to Stoney Stanton. We got a little bit lost because we took a wrong exit, but other than that we found Talbert and Linda's house quite easily with the help of directions from Google Maps. We arrived at Tal & Linda's at a little after 5.10 pm. We spent a lovely evening chatting and had our dinner with red wine from Australia, Italy, Spain and Argentina sitting in front of the fire.

We had a really restful Sunday, spending most of the day in Talbert and Linda's conservatory reading the South America Lonely Planet and the Sunday newspaper and watching the birds in the garden.

Week 30 - Ireland - Enniskillen to Bantry

On Monday morning we woke to the sound of the wind and rain lashing against the window of our hostel room. After breakfast, we checked out of the hostel and drove south along Upper Lough Erne. First we drove to Castle Coole on the outskirts of Enniskillen only to find it closed. We continued along the Lough past Crom Estate where we saw the marshes and islands that are home to many waterbirds. At the bottom of the Lough we turned north up the western side and into County Sligo in Eire. We stopped at Sligo town with its picturesque stone bridges across the River Garavogue. The river was full of ducks, swans and seagulls feasting on the waterweeds. We had a walk around town. Then we got back in our car and drove to Connemara peninsula in County Galway. The rain cleared and the sun made a brief appearance and we enjoyed the beautiful scenery in Connemara. We decided to stay at Clifden, Connemara's "capital" for the next couple of nights. After looking at a few options we checked into a room at The Arch B&B. Then we walked through town checking out our dining options. We had dinner at the lively J Conneely's Bar which had foot tapping live Irish traditional music.

We started Tuesday with a full Irish breakfast before heading out for the day. It was still cloudy and rainy. We decided to make the best of the day by taking the scenic drive around the craggy Connemara Peninsula. We started out with the Sky Road route which took us up through the hills overlooking Clifden Bay and its offshore islands, Inishturk and Turbot. Then we drove along the Cleggan loop before turning inland stopping to take a photo of the stunning Kylemore Abbey. We drove past the Twelve Bens and the Maumturk mountains and on to the tiny village of Recess for lunch. After lunch we drove down to the coast again and out to Lettermullan via bridges linking the islands to the coast. We saw beautiful horses, donkeys and sheep in little paddocks enclosed by dry stone walls and a couple of badgers run over on the road. For most of the day we were driving along single track country lanes surrounded by stone walls, fuchsia hedges, golden heather, and wild blackberry bushes. Whenever we stopped we picked some berries as they were generally flavoursome if more seedy than the commercial varieties. We turned back for Clifden via Carna and Roundstone with its famous little harbour. We saw fishermen harvesting seaweed and local men with terrible teeth. It kept raining and raining!

We headed for Galway on Wednesday morning. We drove through another showery day with spectacular views over mountains and loughs until we stopped briefly at the pretty village of Oughterard. Galway was back on the coast and seemed to be even bigger than Londonderry. Luckily the rain stopped and we found a room at a B&B just over Wolf Tone Bridge from the city centre. After dropping off our bags, we walked back into town. We walked around the famous Church of St Nicholas where Christopher Columbus was supposed to have worshipped and saw Lynch's window marking the gallows where a father hung his son who had killed a Spanish visitor. We wandered around the pedestrian walkways enjoying the happy crowds and Lynch's Castle town house (now a bank) with stone carvings of coats of arms, an ape holding a baby and gargoyles. We walked to Eyre Square and then to the Galway Cathedral via the Salmon Weir Bridge. We saw some young trout in the water and walked along Eglinton Canal towards the sea. We saw a lock where the water level dropped and a tiny leprechaun-sized bridge over a creek and then people feeding hungry swans. There was a beautiful small black duck as well. On the seafront the wind was blowing and many tiny terns were picking small fish out of the water. We took in the storms and sunlight over Galway Bay before we got caught in a small rain squall. Then we walked around town checking out our dining options and settled on Monroe's Tavern for dinner with a couple of pints of Hookers (the local brew) and a Jameson's Irish whiskey chaser.

We drove out of Galway in heavy peak hour traffic on Thursday morning. As one of Europe's fastest growing cities it had serious traffic congestion. We drove through more beautiful country towards Clonmacnoise, Ireland's premier monastic site. We stopped at Shannonbridge for a tea break and the views of the bridge over the Shannon River. At Clonmacnoise we were entertained by an excellent guide with his history of the site on the intersection of the east west highway and north south Shannon River. The east west highway utilised a raised geological feature formed by the collapse of the walls of ice age underground tunnels of water. These formed raised lines of stone rubble which drained well and sat slightly higher than the surrounding bogs. St Ciaran founded the site in AD 548 but died of the yellow plague shortly thereafter. The monastery and settlement survived regular Irish and Viking attacks for 1,000 years until the final sacking by English troops in 1552. The building of a bridge over the Shannon at nearby Athlone and the resulting diversion of trade routes had caused the commercial decline of Clonmacnoise far earlier. The site was incredibly beautiful with views over the river and marshes and an ancient tower with a door built at 13 feet to afford additional protection from attackers and its top section destroyed by lightning. There were several high crosses with detailed stonework telling various Biblical and historical stories. There were several ruined buildings surrounded by gravestones and Celtic crosses. There was a great audiovisual presentation and a small museum dedicated to the site. We left to drive back to the coast to stay in an area known as the Burren. Unfortunately it started raining again as we drove to Kilfenora where we checked into a room at Mary Murphy's B&B. We headed down to Vaughan's Pub for the roast of the day before taking in some Irish set dancing at the barn next door. At 9.15 pm we went to the renovated barn next door to the pub where we ordered a Paddy's Irish whiskey and an Irish Mist whiskey liqueur. The musicians and locals (dancers) were just arriving. There was a fiddle, a flute, a push button accordion and a keyboard. The musicians took a while to set up and tune their instruments and once they were ready, the locals formed three groups of four couples and then started to dance. The most basic dances were The Caledonian and The Siege of Ennis. There was a cross section of age groups there with young ones dancing with oldies and the group of school kids from the hostel danced The Siege of Ennis. The music was really lively and we watched the dancing for an hour and a half before we decided to call it a night. We had to run back in the rain to our B&B.

On Friday we drove towards the Cliffs of Moher stopping at the small village of Ennistymon on the way. We walked up and down Ennistymon's main street admiring the facades of some of the old buildings and a beautifully painted pub. We followed a brown sign leading under a stone arch to the Cascades and came face-to-face with the foaming brown stepped waterfalls of the River Inagh. It had rained heavily over the last couple of days so the water was roaring and surging and we were surrounded by a fine mist of water droplets. We continued on to Cliffs of Moher and after paying our entry fee, we parked the car and walked up to the Cliff edge. We climbed over a stone barrier and then walked south along a sometimes muddy cliff side track towards a ruined tower on Hag's Head. We didn't quite reach the ruin because it turned out to be much further than it looked but on the way we enjoyed panoramic views of the sheer upright cliffs towering above the icy aquamarine-coloured sea. We saw sea birds nesting in the cliff walls, caves at sea level, the Aran Islands, and O'Brien's Tower on the north stretch of the Cliffs. Occasionally we would hear a crack as a piece of stone broke off the cliff and then crashed down onto the stony beaches far below. The views of the surrounding countryside were also magnificent with miles of patchwork green fields bordered by stone walls. After turning back, we walked to the north stretch of the Cliffs where we had a view of the ruined tower at Hag's Head. We spent 2½ hours walking along the cliffs and we felt lucky because it started to rain as we walked back to the car.

We continued along the coast to Doolin, where we stopped briefly at O'Connor's pub for a light lunch. After that we saw the port where the ferry left for the nearby Aran Islands. Then we drove north along some narrow country lanes passing green fields, crystal clear streams, ruined towers and castles with the bare limestone hills providing a dramatic backdrop. We stopped at the Burren Smokehouse where we ate some delicious oak-smoked Irish salmon. We drove past Ballyvaughan to Linnalla Ice Cream Parlour at New Quay, which was basically a dairy farm with delicious farm-produced ice cream. We drove along Flaggy Beach and stopped at Linnalla Harbour where we spotted a small shop selling fresh seafood. The main area of the shop had a couple of tanks containing live lobsters and spider crabs. Out the back they also had a tank containing Galway Bay oysters. The shopkeeper was only too happy to open the oysters for us so we bought half a dozen and ate them in the shop as she opened them. They were lovely and fresh if salty.

We drove to Lisdoonvarna after that. The annual matchmaking festival was on and as we walked around town looking for somewhere to eat, we spotted a couple of likely lasses and hordes of likely lads who were aged from 18 to 65. We had our dinner with a glass of red wine at the Roadside Tavern. The Roadside Tavern had Wifi so we spent some time catching up with our emails before driving back to Kilfenora.

We were happy to see that the sun was shining and the sky was blue when we woke up on Saturday. We had our breakfast and then checked out of the B&B. First we walked around the corner to the ruined 12^th century cathedral. Unfortunately the cathedral was locked but by peering through some doorways and windows we managed to see the stone head of a bishop above a window arch and the heads of three clerics in a capital above the east window. Right next to the cathedral was the 800 year old carved Doorty Cross. Then we walked to a field 100 metres away to see a 12^th century high cross. From there we drove to the Poulnabrone Dolmen – one of Ireland's most photographed ancient monuments. It started raining heavily again when we arrived but we sat in the car and the rain cleared after five minutes or so. The dolmen consisted of a large five tonne capstone perched on stone uprights and was located in the middle of an uneven limestone pavement. After that we got in our car and drove to the tiny village of Carron. We paid a visit to the Burren Perfumery & Floral Centre. The centre uses the wildflowers of the Burren to produce its scents and product and we spent some time browsing in the shop and we watched their excellent audiovisual presentation on the flora of the Burren. To our surprise it wasn't an infomercial – it was more like a documentary and we really enjoyed it.

Next we decided to head towards County Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula. We got a little lost driving through the narrow country lanes but we really enjoyed our last look at the limestone and shale shelves and the stone ruins and ring forts of the Burren. In between rain showers, the sun came out and all the dark grey and blue grey green paddocks were immediately transformed into vivid shining warm yellow green paddocks. It was really beautiful.

We drove on a dual carriageway motorway to Limerick where we stopped and bought a salad from Tesco for lunch. When we got back on the motorway to drive to Tralee, we had to pay a toll! At Tralee we stopped briefly to get a map from the Tourist Information Office and we walked around the nearby park which had a beautiful flower garden full of roses in full bloom.

From Tralee, we drove past the Blennerville Windmill and then took the scenic route over the Connor Pass to the Dingle Peninsula. At 456 metres, the Connor Pass is the highest in Ireland and we had spectacular views of Dingle Bay and Mount Brandon. The road twisted and turned around the mountain and it was very narrow and very steep - with large signs telling buses, trucks and caravans to turn back! From the summit we looked across a valley scattered with rocks and the remains of stone walls and huts with Lough An Duin and a couple of other smaller loughs at the base. At Dingle we checked into the Hideout Hostel and walked around town and then down to the harbour.

We started off our Sunday with the Slea Head drive. This took us along a coastal road which hugged the tip of the peninsula. Although it was a cloudy day, the views were still jaw-dropping and our drive was punctuated with camera stops as photo opportunities presented themselves at every turn. The landscape was strewn with rocks and the remains of rock forts and beehive huts. At Slea Head the very tip of the peninsula, we had a view of the deserted Blasket Islands and we drove onto a tiny pristine beach which was also deserted! We paid a visit to the Gallarus Oratory, a 7^th or 8^th century dry-stone early church shaped like an upturned boat. It was beautifully constructed with downwards sloping stones to keep the water out – and after some 1200 years it was still waterproof. We turned inland and back to Dingle after that, driving along the Mount Brandon range in the rain. We took the main road down to Cork but turned off after a while towards Kilgorlin where we stopped for lunch at Jack's Bakery. We ate our fresh sandwiches, cupcake, and apple tart, and then we took a walk around the town and the bridge over the Laune River to see a sculpture of a goat – King Puck. We drove on towards Bantry through the Killarney National Park with thick forest, mountains, Lough Leane (the lake of learning), Muckross Lake, Upper Lake and ruins. We drove up into the mountains along a narrow winding road and then we passed through four tunnels in quick succession before the descent back to the coast. When we reached Bantry we took a room at the newly renovated Harbour View B&B.

Week 29 - Scotland - Isle of Skye to Ireland - Enniskillen

Our first stop on Monday morning, was the Eilean Donan Castle next to the picturesque village of Dornie. The castle is on an island situated at the point where Loch Long, Loch Alsh and Loch Duich meet, and linked to the mainland by a stone bridge with three arches. It was a really beautiful and romantic setting and it was easy to see why the Eilean Donan Castle is Scotland's most photographed castle. After taking a few photos we drove towards Loch Ness. We stopped to take some photos of the ruined Urquhart Castle on the shores of Loch Ness, then we drove on into Drumnadrochit where we parked next to the village green and had lunch at The Courtyard Restaurant.

After lunch we drove to Glen Affric which the Lonely Planet called one of the most scenic glens in Scotland. We drove past shimmering lochs, mountains and unlike the other glens we had seen, it was heavily forested with the native Scots Pine and birch. The single track road ended after about ten miles or so and we had to retrace our steps and drive back to the village of Cannich where we were able to get back onto the main road again. After this we drove towards the Argyll Coast crossing over Loch Linnke on the impressive Spean Bridge, passing Fort William at the base of Ben Nevis, crossing over the Connel Bridge and passing Castle Stalker perched on a tiny offshore island near Appin. We arrived in the waterfront town of Oban at around 6.00 pm and checked into a double room at Corran House with bay windows and a view of the harbour and waterfront. As it was still sunny and warm we walked along the esplanade past the pier around the harbour and the town.

We woke up to another beautiful cloudless day on Tuesday. After breakfast, we walked into the centre of town to the end of Argyll Street where we climbed up Jacob's Ladder - a flight of stairs leading to McCaig's Tower, a Victorian folly built by a local philanthropist for the sole purpose of providing work for the town's unemployed stonemasons. The tower looked very similar to the Colosseum and there were sweeping views of the surrounding bay and town from the top. We strolled back into town to the Oban Distillery where we tried the Oban 14 year old Scotch which had a slight smoky and salty aftertaste. The man at the distillery was really knowledgeable and also gave us some Oban Cask Edition (55% alcohol) and Lagavulin 16 year old Scotch which was extremely smoky. We walked back to the car after our tasting and drove towards Stirling. On the way we stopped in the village of Doune to visit Doune Castle (which featured in Monty Python and the Holy Grail). It's one of Scotland's best preserved 14^th century castles. We had lunch in Doune village before driving to Stirling. At Stirling we drove straight to Stirling Castle located at the narrowest point of Britain. We walked around the ramparts for a while enjoying the views from the castle walls and then we joined a guided tour around the castle. We walked around the gatehouse, courtyard, Great Hall with its impressive wooden hammerbeam roof (very similar to the hull of a ship) and Chapel Royal (which had four beautiful tapestries from the Hunt of the Unicorn series on display) with the guide while he explained the historical significance of the castle. After the guide left us, we paid a visit to the Great Kitchens which gave us a taste of life in the medieval kitchens, and then paid a visit to the Tapestry Studio where a weaver was working on another tapestry from the Hunt of the Unicorn series. We headed back to the castle entrance where we joined a guided tour of Argyll's Lodging – a restored 17^th century townhouse that was the home of the Earls of Argyll, located near the entrance to the castle complex.

It was a short drive into Edinburgh along the M9 but once we were in Edinburgh we had to find somewhere to stay. This was not so easy because we had to find somewhere where they had parking facilities. After spending a couple of hours driving through the city centre and around, we found a room at the Travelodge West End, with parking and ensuite and the added bonus of being only a fifteen minute walk into town.

We got up late on Wednesday morning and then strolled into town. We walked through the Princes Street gardens and up Castle Hill to Edinburgh Castle. We spent a little bit of time walking along the ramparts where we saw the One o'clock Gun, Mons Meg (a giant 15^th century siege gun built in Mons), Dog Cemetery (for regimental mascots and officers' dogs) and enjoyed panoramic views of New Town. After that we joined a free guided tour. The guide spent half an hour giving us a potted history of the castle and pointing out the main features of interest, and then he left us to our own devices. We went to the Royal Palace to see the heavily guarded Scottish Crown Jewels (a glittering crown, sword and sceptre) and the Stone of Destiny (an incongruous looking block of sandstone with rusted iron hoops at each end). Then we went to the neighbouring Royal Apartments where we saw the room in which Mary, Queens of Scots gave birth to James VI of Scotland (James I of England). We walked around the complex for hours visiting the impressive Scottish National War Memorial, the Great Hall with its hammerbeam roof and display of weapons, the tiny St Margaret's Chapel (the oldest building in Edinburgh), the Military Prison, the Prisons of War Exhibition and the Royal Scots Regimental Museum. While we were visiting the Great Hall, a couple of staff members dressed as Oliver Cromwell's roundheads showed us how the muskets and halberds were used. At one o'clock we watched the master gunner fire the One o'clock Gun and then we walked into the Old Town to visit St Giles' Cathedral with its striking crown spire. One of the most interesting parts of the cathedral was the Thistle Chapel which is the place of worship for the Knights of the Thistle. The chapel was decorated with intricate stone carvings and there were elaborately carved wooden stalls for each of the 16 members – coats of arms, animals and angels playing various instruments (including the bagpipes). Outside on one side of the cathedral was the Mercat Cross – a replica of the original where merchants and traders used to transact business and royal proclamations were read. On the other side was a cobblestone Heart of Midlothian set into the pavement marking the site of the Tolbooth. Passers-by traditionally spit on the Heart for good luck and we could see where a couple of passers-by had left their mark!

We walked to the National Gallery of Scotland to try and see the rest of the collection before the gallery closed at 5.00 pm. On our previous visit we had only managed to see the ground floor and basement galleries so this time we went straight to the upstairs galleries where we saw some European Renaissance and Impressionist art including works by Da Vinci, Gainsborough, Botticelli, Van Gogh, Degas, Monet, Gauguin and Cezanne. One of the most memorable paintings was a portrait of Lady Agnew of Lochnaw by John Singer Sargent.

We sat in the neighbouring Princes Street Gardens for a while, then had some dinner before we started the long walk back to the Travelodge.

On Thursday morning we checked out of the Travelodge and started the drive south to Cairnryan. It was a beautiful day and we drove through the lowlands and border areas with rolling hills dotted with fat sheep and cattle. There were no lochs or heather anymore. We even saw some fields of corn! At Ayr, we hit the coast again and then drove along the coast road with views past seabirds on rocky outcrops to offshore islands like the tiny Ailsa Craig. Just outside the village of Maybole we stopped to visit Crossraguel Abbey. All that remained of the 13^th century abbey were the walls of the church, cloister, chapter house and domestic premises. However in the garden was a fairly intact dovecote, complete with individual niches for the doves. At Cairnryan, we stopped at the local pub for a late lunch. After rushing through lunch, we drove down to the P&O ferry port where we were able to purchase a ticket for the 3.00 pm fast ferry to Larne.

We arrived at Larne at 4.15 pm and drove off the ferry. We drove north along the A2 coast road to Ballycastle. After we drove through Cushendall, the road turned into a single track lined with deep pink flowering fuschia hedges and large trees. We started getting concerned as we weren't sure if we were going the right way so we were very relieved when we arrived at Cushendun and the track turned back into a two lane road. We arrived in Ballycastle and drove down to the waterfront where we checked into a small room at the Ballycastle Backpackers Hostel.

After breakfast on Friday, we packed up, checked out of the hostel and drove along the coast road. We left the main road and drove along a winding track to the scenic Ballintoy Harbour which had white limestone and black basalt cliffs and rock pools with a rocky island offshore. Then we drove back to the coast road and drove past Whitepark Bay – a white sand half moon shaped beach. Later we stopped to take a photo of the fragmentary tower remaining of Dunseverick Castle perched on a high crag. Then it was the Giant's Causeway with a good walk along the cliffs above before descending down a path and climbing amongst the columns of solidified lava. We had a well earned cream tea back at the visitor centre disappointed we hadn't seen the eider sea duck from which the eiderdown filling used in quilts comes. We drove on to Bushmill's Distillery where we tasted the original blended whiskey and a 12 year old single malt Irish whiskey. Then we drove to Portrush stopping on the way to photograph the evocative ruins of Dunluce Castle built on top of a sheer basalt cliff. At Portrush, we had lunch before walking around the headland of town and past the harbour back to our car. We set off for Londonderry and checked into a room at the Derry City Independent hostel. We liked the hostel and decided to take the room for another night to have a rest and recover from our head colds.

It was raining when we woke up on Saturday morning. After breakfast, we started the Lonely Planet walking tour around the city walls of Derry stopping at each gate where there were sets of stairs that we could get on and off the wall. There was a long history of conflict between English/Protestant and Irish/Catholic continuing up to the present. Murals had been painted to commemorate key events in the "Troubles" on the gable ends of houses in the Bogside Catholic area, and these were visible below one section of the wall. There was a statue of George Walker, a Protestant hero which had been blown up by the IRA. It seemed peaceful enough now and we walked outside the wall into a small market with beautiful home-baked goodies. We continued right around the wall taking a couple of detours to see the Columba Cathedral and the Chapel of St Augustine. After lunch we went for a walk around the Diamond – the area within the walls. Then we walked around the Bogside area admiring the murals before walking back to the hostel.

Like Saturday, Sunday was a pretty average day with rain and clouds. After breakfast we checked out of the hostel. We drove past rock-strewn, green, heather-topped hills bordered by streams which reminded us of Scotland. Except that here the landscape was scarred by ditches from which peat had been dug and the smell of burning peat from the chimneys was in the air. We drove into County Donegal (in Eire) through the small waterfront town of Dunfanaghy which was a highlight in the Lonely Planet. Because the weather was so bad, we couldn't do any of the suggested walks. We drove on through Donegal County through the Glen Gesh Pass with its pine topped mountains and lush green valleys, until we reached the attractive Donegal Town on the River Eske. We decided that we would stop there for a Sunday carvery lunch – but first we had to take some Euros out of the ATM! We had lunch at the Abbey Hotel where we had a choice of three different types of potato! After lunch we walked to the harbour where a large Napoleonic anchor was on display and then around a bend in the river to the ruined Donegal Castle. We took a few photos of the castle in its picturesque setting and then walked back through town to our car. We drove back into Northern Ireland into County Fermanagh along Lower Lough (pronounced Loch) Erne to Enniskillen where we checked into a room at the Bridges Youth Hostel.