notes from my trip to Ireland and the UK

Monday evening in Toronto
Jeff and I sat in the back of the truck, watching the planes come in at Pearson International Airport in Toronto. Sat beside a really sweet old lady who was afraid of going up in a plane. Held her hand as we went up. The flight director dude was very cute.

Tuesday morning in Dublin
The immigration guy asks me how long I plan to be in Ireland, I say "A week" and he stamps my visa for 3 months. Elizabeth meets me at the airport in Ireland, my name is up in lights because we don't know what each other looks like. Elizabeth and I are singing "Nora's in Ireland, Nora's in Ireland". Garda. Elizabeth said that they must have heard that I was coming. They're everywhere! Elizabeth drives like a mad woman and we're laughing and talking, lotsa great trees (sorta like palm trees). Elizabeth shows me her garden- AMAZING!!!!!... It was 11 degrees C when I landed in Dublin. Elizabeth made me sausages and just a rash of bacon and the most divine cup of tea. Beddy Byes.

Tuesday after a nap
Horizontal rain. Bunting. Martello tower. Killainey. Elizabeth's garden... cordyline, freemontodendron. cerinthe major, verbascum, Texas bluebonnet, alstromeria. E. and I went to the Playwrite Bar. I had Guiness Shandy, Smithick's, Rickard's red, E. had pop. Crazy lady (E.) talks to cats...

Wednesday
Sitting in the sun at Blackrock Shopping center to see if my pics are developing okay. Something wrong with my camera? E. says she's weak and lazy. Baile Atha Cliath. Balla Oha Clea. Dun Laoghaire. E. and I go to a lovely garden center where we have lunch and get in on a garden tour. Beautiful gardens!!! E. takes me to visit with her friend, Sunniva and her teenaged son, Simon in County Wicklow. Simon plays some beautiful piano for us. He's very good! I invite him to Canada. E., Sunniva and I drive over to the beach at the Irish Sea. Mountains on one side of us and sea on the other. Breathtaking! I smuggle some stones from the beach into my pocket to bring home... Back to E.'s for a yummy sultana stir fry.

Thursday
Slept until 9 and E. got me up with a nice cup of tea. E. took me to the Dart where we sorrowfully parted. Ticket taker at the Dart... "Who let you out?" Good bye, dear Elizabeth. I sat with a group of 10 kids who had Down's Syndrome. They all sang and laughed and one teen said that he was drop dead gorgeous. Got into Connolly Station and bought a train ticket to Belfast. Stowed my stuff at the station and took a walk up Talbot Street, looking for a map of Dublin. Walked up to O'Connell St. Bridge to see if I could find the real time internet camera. Waved to where I imagined it was. Looked out over the Liffey(sp) for a while. Asked a street vendor where I might be able to catch a tour bus. Tour bus driver is Jimmy Doyle. Jimmy sings "Molly Malone". A single yellow line is no parking atall. A double yellow line is no parking atall, atall. Tour bus emptied out at Guiness Hop Store. Jimmy tells a joke, Paddy's dead, Toyota for sale... The train to Belfast Dundalk Mountain. Stoney mountain sides with mature, new forest. Smallish cows, rock faced walls. Take a cab from the train station in Belfast to downtown. Go to hotel that cabbie recommends, full up. Walk a half a block to the Europa hotel and check in. 150 pounds a night! Across the road is the 2 most famous bars in Belfast; Robinson's and The Crown Bar. It's dark out so I stay in my room and watch the traffic, everybody makes u-turns like crazy. See armoured trucks and take pics (they didn't turn out).

Friday
Called Chamber of Commerce and found a bus tour. Went to Ballygally, Eden (Andrew Jackson's ancestral home), Carrickfergus, tourists went for lunch at Dobbin's Inn Hotel and I went to the castle. Small doors 'cos people were much shorter then. Saw wildflower gardens at Ballygally, got lost and found an ancient rowhouse and an ice house. Back on the bus and saw the River Lagan. Moved to the Holiday Inn (much cheaper) and had supper, prawns and chips. Walked over to Botanic Gardens, passed The Queen's University, gorgeous rhodies and azaleas, some roses, beautiful trees, young guys threw a pine cone at me, I got rattled and left. Walked up to net cafe, it was busy so back to Holiday Inn and got on-line there!

Saturday
Raining, walked down to coin laundry, cost 12 pounds! Met a nice lady and her Canadian husband. I gave them both a Canada pin. Asked about pasty, booked a room for 2 nights in Edinburgh at Holiday Inn. Catching the ferry at noonish. Met a nice couple on the ferry, Davey and Frances Larkin, they asked if I had any Scottish ancestors and I told them that one of my family names was MacLean. He told me that any MacLean was always welcome at his house and even told me what the MacLean coat of arms says.."Virtue Mine Honour". Davey said I should check out the Isle of Coll and Tobermorie. I'm in Stranraer, Scotland!!! The land looks similar to Ireland but fields are bigger, fog rolling in. Going to Glasgow, park my stuff and walk around a bit. Central Train Station in Glasgow. Architecture overhead glass, dark walnut panelling, stained glass lamps. Had to find Queen St. Station to catch train to Edinburgh. Checked my bags at Central Sta. and walked around in circles for a while. Douglas Monument. Wellington Monument. Art gallery mirrors and stained glass in its peaks. Walked back to Central Station, had a smoke and a cuppa and got my bags. Took a taxi to Queen St. Station. Cabby stayed in Port Hope for a month. He was nice. On the train to Edinburgh, I think I was booked into the wrong hotel, we shall see. 6:50, should be in Edinburgh by 7:30. Becks's sux! Holiday Inn, Edinburgh. Get my jammies on and order a pizza. They put chicken on it.

Sunday
Walked to city center. Busking bagpipers. Waverly shopping center is one storey, town won't let them build up because they don't want to obscure the view of Edinburgh Castle. Walked up to Royal Mile. Tried to get into Edinburgh castle but line ups too long. Stopped a guy and asked him if he ever got used to looking at the scenery. He said he takes it for granted. Edinburgh city tour. Beautiful day. Greyfriar's dog. Wild foxglove everywhere. Brodies's Close; one step 1" higher than the rest. Left the tour at Waverly shopping center and bought a Waterboy's cd. Walked to Botanical Gardens and saw a group of Indonesian buskers playing pan flutes and drums, whistles. Listened for a while and started for Botanical Center again. Walking, walking, walking, finally found it. 45 minutes from downtown Edinburgh. By the time I got here I was really pooped. Went through the glass house (arboretum), unreal, saw some really neat rock gardens, pond with lillies and grasses. A bazillion people here. Wanted to leave after 1 1/2 hour but didn't want to give up. Beautiful sunshiney day. Thankfully the wind picked up and blew in a storm. The crowds thinned out and I got my second wind. Walked back to the hotel, stopped at a grocery store on the way and got some milk, tea, coffee and something to make sandwiches out of. To bed.

Monday, June 8
Called Dundee to get the train times to Kyles of Lochalsh in the highlands. Leaving Edinburgh at 13:40, getting to Inverness at 17:07. leaving Inverness at 18:00, arriving at Kyles at 20:27. Booked a room at Lochalsh hotel from Edinburgh. She wanted 95 pounds a night, I told her I'd book for one night and then find a B&B in the Kyles. Her price came down to 60 pounds!!! I called "The Barn" in Birmingham and cancelled my Thursday night reservation and then called Chris. I'd rather spend an extra day in the highlands than at a chcolate factory in Birmingham. She sounded disappointed but it can't be helped. I called to find out if I could leave my stuff at the Edinburgh Station so I could have one last look around Edinburgh. I wanted to see the graveyard beside the station. Time to pack all my junk up and have a shower. Remember to mail postcards and get more money. Call Lochalsh and see if there's a bank machine up there. Call bank and see if I've exceeded my credit limit yet. I didn't realize it at the time but the Holiday Inn only charged me 79 pounds instead of the 180 I expected! BONUS!!! I walked around Edinburgh for a while and then found Cyberia Cafe on Hanover St. Got on-line and had Scotch pie and chips for lunch. 5 pounds for a whole hour of internet!!! On the train, bound for Inverness. Crossed the Firth of Forth. Saw lots of great scenery. Got to Inverness, had to wait an hour for the Kyle connection, locked my stuff up and went for a walk. Found a bank machine and an old man was in the line ahead of me. He left 20 pounds in the machine by mistake, I called him and he came and got it. He looked pretty happy about it. Bought a book on the Highland Clearances at the Inverness train station. Got on train to kyle and passed more glorious scenery. Plocton and Kyle of Lochalsh are where "Hamish MacBeth" was filmed. Got to Lochalsh and walked over to hotel (5 min). Checked in and went to bed.

Tuesday
Rained all day. Went out at 7 looking for a coffee because the hotel restaurant doesn't open until 8. Everything in town was closed, too. Came back to hotel for breakfast and went back out for tea, sugar, milk and instant coffee. Rained all day Tuesday so I got back in my jammies and stayed in bed all day.

Wednesday
Nobody seems to know about tourist attractions around here. Allison (waitress at the hotel) said she'd find me a # to call for a tour and called but they said they were all booked???? Nothing the next day, either. Went to the train station to buy a ticket to Plocton. Talked to the ferry guys about a seal tour. While I was there, Allison came running out of the hotel with a bus schedule and told me how to get the bus to Eileen Donan Castle. So, I got on the bus and went to the castle. Still raining so not many tourists. The castle was rebuilt in 1900's after being in ruins since 1719. Restored and a family lived upstairs until the 1940's. Called a taxi to take me back to the hotel. Cabby is Kenny MacLeod from Glasgow. Kenny took me on a tour for 20 pounds in his taxi. We went to Glenelg to see the brochs at Dun Telve and Dun Trodden. Brochs were stone fortifications built 3000 years ago when climate changed and people had to protect themselves from marauding bandits. Circular stone tower, up to 80' tall with a cavity wall and stone rooms, stairs in the wall. Saw the 5 Sister of Kintail. (mountain range) Legend is 7 sisters, 2 got married and the grooms promised to send their 5 brothers back to marry the other sisters. Men failed to keep their promise but sisters waited and eventually asked a wizard to change them into mountains so they could keep their good looks. Went back to the hotel and then went out shopping for a sweater. Back to the hotel to wait for Jeff to call. I called him instead because I missed him and couldn't wait any longer. We had a nice, big rave. He misses me too.

Thursday
Mailed a bunch more post cards. Cement walls in the water, an ancient way of fishing, called crofting. Runrigs, ancient way of farming in strips of land. Went back to the hotel for breakfast and to wait for the seal tour guys to show up. No seal tour until 4 this afternoon. Called Kenny and hired him to drive me around at 12 pounds an hour. We went to "Hamish's" house in Plocton, saw the palm trees on the main street, cows grazing in the playground. Drove up a steep hill to a lookout so I could take some pics. WOW!! Went to Balacamara and saw the bar from "Hamish" and ehn to Lochalsh Garden... more wow! Big leafed thing that looked like gunnera. Lots of rhodies, columbine, lovage. Back to the hotel for lunch. Going to try once more for the seal tour at 4 p.m. Went for a mini-seal tour for the ferry price; one pound. It was wonderful!!! Saw about 50 seals basking on the rocks, ruins of Castle Moil. Beautiful. Tipped the ferry guys 5 pounds each for the great personal tour, went back to hotel and sat on the bench in the sunshine and read the local paper. Rechecked train times... good thing! Think it's very fitting that the movie on t.v. tonight is Braveheart.

Friday
Woke at 5:15 after a restless night. My last night in the highlands. On the train again. 3 arrogant kids backpacking. Droning on pretentiously. BORING!! The Scottish highlands are such a place of solitude, they should have come alone. I will miss this country. Got back to Inverness and checked my bags and went for a walk. Got some more money out of the bank, wouldn't let me have 100 pounds but got 50 out okay... Back on train, lotsa gorse, broom. Find out about mountains at Aviemore. Had a nice trip from Inverness back to Edinburgh. Got on a SMOKING COACH to Birmingham!!!! Talked with woman who is considering a career in horticulture. Bought her a beer and me a tea. Met a nice guy from Glasgow who's bringing up his family in Liverpool. He was in Newfoundland for a while, loved Screech and Brador beer. An hour and 20 minutes to Birmingham. I'm beat! Train manager sounds like BBC announcer. Got to New St. Station in Birmingham and got a taxi to go to "The Barn" where Chris had booked our rooms. The driver was a Sikh and I asked him if he knew where it was and he said yes and then got out a street map. We drove around and around in what seemed like circles and finally got there. Chris and Denise were there, waiting for me in the lounge. I dropped off my stuff in my room and off we went to the pub. Walked up and back. Most people were standing up at the pub but there were lots of tables. I thought it was odd but Chris said that's how they do things here. Back to the Barn after supper and a few drinks.

Saturday
Had breakfast with the girls and took a cab to the flower show. Fushias, bought some sweet pea seeds, geraniums, rain, no umbrella, walked and looked and walked. Took a break on carpet and then walked some more. Denise got separated from us so we headed back to the meeting place. Denise found Elizabeth and Jackie and Judith. We got a table and then Fran (Poohbag) found us. Tea and muffins and E. gave me a bottle of Paddy, an original oil painting and a packet of Barry's loose leaf tea. Took lotsa pics. Fran and Judith had to get back to their families so E. and Jackie and Denise and Chris and I made plans to meet for dinner at Bacco's Restaurant. Roberto. "Food's not very good but there's plenty of it." Pics with Roberto. After a wonderful dinner, ran across the road in the pouring rain to a pub. Roberto told us to come back to the restaurant if we didn't like the pub. After a good soaking we went right back to the restaurant, the pub looked dangerous. Had some beers with the girls. Solved a few of the world's problems. Bullseye glass windows Listened while Jackie and E. made plans for themselves for the next day. (Fly home at 7) Roberto called 2 taxi's for us. E. and jackie left in first one (much hugging ensued) and E. tries to take our pic while she was leaving in taxi. (Musta blinded poor cabby!!) We went back to the Barn and I made tea in my room. Blew smoke out of the window (no smoking establishment). Went to sleep.

Sunday
Woke up at 6:15, drank coffee, showered, packed, met the girls for breakfast at 8:30. Checked out and had another look at the gardens at the Barn. Very nice pond. Drove to Basingstoke via London. Got lost and stopped for tea. Restaurants don't have to have washroom facilities, waitress let us use the staff washroom. *ICK!* Denise says that she knows where we are now. We left the Barn at 10 this morning and it's now 1:45. Not bad for a 2 hour drive. hahahahaha!!!!! Stopped at 2 garden centers for a pressie for Emma who's 8. Got to Chris' house and she made me a nice cup of pyramid tea and then she gave the box. Yuuuuummmmmmm. Mack cooked a big bbq dinner, lamb, burgers, chicken and spare ribs. After a delicious dinner, Denise, Chris and I went to the local pub. Met Tom and Bob, Chris' ISP techie. Had lots beer and good conversation and then left when the pub closed at 10. We walked over to Chris' allotment. It looked very tidy in pitch dark. Went back to Chris' and said good bye to Denise. Chris made me a nice cup of tea and then we went into the 'zebo for a while. E. emailed Chris, asking why we hadn't posted yet so posted a hello and then went to bed. It was a long day and we were both knackered.

Monday
Woke up at 6, packed and got ready to leave England. Made a pot of coffee and got Emma and Martin up. Played patacake with Emma; "The ladies in Spain wash their knickers in champagne..." Tried to book a cab for 8:45 to the Basingstoke Train Station, earliest was at 9. Still no cab at 9:10 and my train left at 9:18!! The cab came and Chris and I said our hurried good byes. Made it to Clapham Station on time to get to Gatwick at 10. Bought some souvenirs for the kids at Gatwick and went looking for gate 31. Panic set in as I realized that I had to take another train to get to the gate! Made it in time and had a great flight home. I sat beside Adele who got off at Halifax. Sitting in Halifax now, waiting to go to Toronto. Waiting, waiting. Finally, Toronto and home.

the end

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page