Contiki Great Britain and Ireland - London, United Kingdom
London, United Kingdom
It has been over two weeks since I last saw my computer, and therefore two weeks since I have been able to update my blog! My computer was having a little holiday of its own in storage in London, while I went on a 16 day adventure: Contiki Great Britain and Ireland!
And so we come to days 100 - 115! (Over a hundred days away from home - crazy!)
We left London bright and early on a Tuesday morning. We had to have our bags weighed due to Contiki's strict 20kg luggage limit, and were advised of some seemingly dumb rules, like no hot food, drinks or dairy product on the bus. Apparently 18 - 35 year old people are children who cannot be trusted to not make a mess. With the bus packed and ready to go, we headed to our first destination, Liverpool. Along the way, we got to enjoy the fun practice of speed dating, where we all tried to break the ice and get to know our new Contiki buddies. We also found out that the 16 day tour was broken up in 5 different parts, so we would be losing people and gaining people along the way, just to make things even more confusing!
We arrived in Liverpool around 2pm, and headed off on a driving tour of the city with a local guide, who demonstrated the unique Liverpudlian accent to great effect. We got to see the largest cathedral in the UK, visit Penny Lane, and learn lots of other stuff about the home town of the Beatles. The weather then descended on us in true English style as we raced across the road from our hotel to head to the Beatles Experience, a museum of all things Fab Four related. It was very interesting, going right back to the beginnings, and contained many interesting pieces of memorabilia, including a beautiful white grand piano that I wouldn't mind owning myself! After dinner it was off to the Cavern Club, the original venue that the Beatles had a residency at in Liverpool. After a few drinks there, we headed to a cool club called Revolutions, where way too many shots were consumed, before it was time to help one of my more inebriated new Contiki friends back to the hotel!
The next morning we got a tour rarity...a sleep in! It was well needed though, as there were many sore heads the next morning! After a hot breakfast (standard fare in the UK) we jumped on the bus at 11.30 for a short drive to York, the most haunted town in the world, and home to the stunning York Minster Cathedral. After a quick walking tour, we decided to try and develop diabetes in one afternoon by getting customized milkshakes (After Eight peppermint for me!) followed by doing the York Chocolate Experience, a tour and museum about the history of chocolate making in York, including tastings, a chocolate making demonstration, and the opportunity to make our own chocolates. By the end of it I felt so sick! A little later, after dinner, we partook in a ghost tour of York, learning all about its grisly past. The stories certainly made some hairs stand up on end, but no sightings were had. I am sure some people may have had nightmares when we headed back to the hotel for sleep that night though!
We were greeted by foul weather the next day, which was unfortunate because we had were headed for the Lake District. It rained relentlessly all day, but we didn't let it stop us from taking a cruise on Lake Windermere, immersing ourselves in whimsy at the Beatrix Potter museum, and pretending we were Katniss Everdeen by practicing our archery skills at Keswick. The latter was something I had always wanted to try, and it was great fun! At the adventure center where the archery took place, I also got to partake in something I personally found quite hilarious: a coin operated soup machine! For 50 pence you got a small cup of mediocre hot soup. Really weird. After all the fun and games were over, we headed into Carlisle, where we were staying the night. We all had a hankering for Thai food, so we headed to the only Thai restaurant in town, only to discover that nearly our whole Contiki group had got there before us. The poor restauranteurs were short staffed as it was a Sunday in a small town, and were absolutely run off their feet trying to feed around 30 people plus all their other customers. Two hours later, we were finally sufficiently fed and watered, and we headed to the Walkabout Bar, an Aussie themed bar for a nightcap before bed.
Day 103 brought us back into one of my favourite countries: Scotland! Our first stop of the day was Gretna Green, the small town that was famous for runaway marriages throughout history. To this day, thousands of people make the pilgrimage every year to this small town to get married. To mark the occasion, a couple on our tour performed in a mock wedding ceremony at the Blacksmith's Cottage. After the celebrations subsided, we headed along the border to Housesteads, a section of Hadrian's Wall where a substantial ruin of a fort with barracks and other lodgings used by Roman soldiers can still be seen. Typically, it was cold, wet and windy, but it was great to see the wall after hearing so much about it, despite the terrible weather! It was then into Edinburgh, to get ready for our Scottish dinner and show. After a delectable meal including haggis (which many of the spoilsports on my tour wouldn't try!), we were treated to a little comedic show with Andy the irreverent bagpiper. It was an entertaining couple of hours of bagpipe music and jokes. We then headed out for the night, going to a couple of pubs in Edinburgh, including one in Grassmarket, and the ever popular Whistlebinkies. At the stroke of midnight I was bear tackle by one of my Contiki pals and wished a loud 25th birthday. Many drinks were had before we retired back to the hotel to bask in a rare tour luxury...a double bed!
A free day and another much needed sleep in! As I had been in Edinburgh for a fortnight previously to this tour, I decided I would take it easy on my birthday. So that it just what I did! After a sleep in and luxuriously long shower, I took the bus from the hotel into Edinburgh central, and had a leisurely lunch at an Italian restaurant I had gone to several times when I was in Edinburgh last. I then headed into the National Gallery, to check out all the beautiful paintings and sculptures. I also took advantage of a rare bit of sunshine and sat in Princes Park, watching the comings and goings. It was then time for a decadent birthday dinner with my current travel buddy. Mussels, garlic bread, olives, steak, toffee pudding and local cider made me barely capable of rolling into a taxi to head back tot he hotel! It was worth every bite though, and I retired to bed that night a very happy birthday girl!
Up into the highlands we go! Feeling super refreshed from two lovely sleeps in a double bed (first double bed since leaving home in June!), it was time to head north, with a stop at St. Andrew's, the home of golf, on the way. Having little to no interest in golf, I decided a hot tea was more in order, before we jumped back on the bus and headed to Loch Ness, to try and catch a glimpse of the mythical beast itself! As always seems to happen when I have to get on a boat on this trip, it rained while we cruised around on Loch Ness, and we didn't see a glimpse of her. It was then off to a cute little family run hotel on the shores of the Loch, where some people were brave enough to go and have a swim despite the cold weather. I for one decided that curling up in front of the fire was far more sensible! After dinner we had a trivia night, and our team somehow managed to win by 0.5 points! When we discovered that our victory entitled us to 100% of nothing, we took ourselves to bed.
We said goodbye to Nessie and headed down into the West Highlands, with a long driving day taking us to the beautiful Isle of Skye with its breathtakingly desolate scenery. We stopped for an early lunch of homemade sausage rolls at the small town of Pitlochery before taking in the views from and around Eilean Donan Castle and the Commando Monument. I bought a hairy highland cow named Heather, who everyone wanted to cuddle. We then stopped for the night in a cute little fishing town called Oban, where after dinner we were escorted from the hotel to a local venue by a bagpiper. We were then in for a show of bagpiping and traditional highland dancing. Audience participation was called for, but I kept my two left feet firmly away from the dance floor!
Our last night in Scotland! We had a thankfully short bus ride to Glasgow, the up and coming industrial working class center of Scotland. On the way, we stopped to feed some real life highland cows, although no one managed to convince Hamish, the star attraction, to get up and join the fun. His two girlfriends lapped up the attention instead. There was not a lot to see or do in Glasgow, so we poked around the shops before getting ready to go out after our second Thai dinner of the trip, where I nearly died of chili overload. The waitresses certainly found my red face amusing! It was then out to a local bar where we discovered the wondrous substance that the Stoli raspberry vodka! After a few of these delicious drinks it was off to bed to be prepared for crossing the Irish Sea!
And day 108 brings me back to Ireland! I seem to be revisiting places on this trip! We caught the ferry across from Scotland to Northern Ireland, and then drove down the Eastern coast to Dublin to pick up some new starters who were joining us for the Irish leg of the journey! It was great to be off the bus several hours later and into the worlds largest hotel room: we had somehow been booked into a disabled suite! After a few hours relaxation, followed by dinner, it was time for a big night out, washing two live traditional acts in a traditional Irish pub, with lots of drinking, dancing and general merriment. Back in the hotel room several hours later it was my drunken job to pick some glass out of my roommates foot: never walk home bare footed in Dublin! Ironically, we lost the piece of glass, and when I woke up the next morning it was stuck in my foot!
After finally evicting the glass once and for all, we headed straight back the way we came, to Northern Ireland, and to the city of Belfast. We had an included driving tour of the city, including the infamous Peace Wall, and learned a lot about 'the Troubles' between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. After writing our own messages of peace and reconciliation on the wall we checked out the Titanic Museum before lunch. It was then off to see a more natural wonder, the Giant's Causeway, amazing volcanic rock columns formed on the coast of Northern Ireland. The legend has it that an Irish giant was trying to build a landbridge of Ireland to Scotland, but when he got to Scotland he was scared off by a Scottish giant dressed as a baby so he turned back and destroyed the landbridge as he went, only leaving the columns on the Irish shore. Giant's or volcanoes, either way, it is a stunning part of Ireland, and it was a great opportunity to take a little walk along the coast and get some exercise for change! After all the fresh air, it was time to head back into a city, to our destination for the evening, Derry, or Londonderry, depending on whether you are Catholic or Protestant. And because we apparently needed more exercise, we went on a walking tour of Derry with one of the most amazing local guides I have ever had the privilege of meeting. We were treated to a insightful, sensitive and information tour of Derry and the troubles it has faced due to the religious divide of Northern Ireland. It was a fantastic tour that brought some of the more emotional of us to the brink of tears. Feeling suitably physically and emotionally exhausted, we headed back to the hotel for dinner and some rest and relaxation after a long day.
A thankfully short drive the next day brought us to the small town of Galway, with a stop in the town of Sligo for lunch along the way, including one of the best slices of apple pie I have ever tasted! We had a free afternoon in Galway, so we spent the time jewelery shopping, and had another of those awesome customized milkshakes! After checking into the hotel in the next town over, we headed back into Galway for a pub meal, followed by a pub crawl, replete with the requisite terrible shots, bad music, and ridiculously drunken people. A few of us flew the coop before we got dragged into what in hindsight sounded like a terrible club, and enjoyed a good nights sleep instead!
Which was just as well as the next day we had a early start for an all day trip to the Aran Islands. After getting the ferry across from Galway, we jumped on a shuttle tour that took us on the main sights of these small islands. I have no idea what the old guys name was, but we could barely understand a word he was saying in English...and he kept reverting to Gaelic with an Irish couple who were also on the tour. We did catch some fascinating tidbits about the history of churches on the islands, how some sheep sank a ship, and something or other about the highest point on the island. As you can see, we didn't catch much at all! We did see the ruins of some churches, before heading up to the main attraction of the Aran Islands: the Dun Aengus cliffs. These cliffs, over 100 meters tall above the very unhappy looking Atlantic Ocean. Our tour leader had shown us pictures of people who hang their heads over the edge of the cliffs to take photos that look like your disembodied head is floating in mid air. We tried to recreate this effect. It was dizzily high, and recklessly dangerous, but we tried our best, and failed miserably. We did get some hilarious shots of us all in terror trying to do it, as well as some cool shots that looks like we are all hanging off a ledge. There was one scary moment where one of the guys tripped and grabbed me by instinct. We were no more than a meter away from a 100 meter drop to certain death. Not the best kind of adrenalin! After getting our fill of dangerous snaps we headed back down to continue our tour, taking in a view of a few seals basking on some rocks, some white goats, and a scared little calf who ran away when our bus stopped near his field. We then headed back into the main town on the island for a drink in the afternoon sun, taking in a view of the harbour. It was there we got to inspect the first major wound of the Contiki trip. One of the girls on tour had taken a spectacular flying leap over the front of the push bike she had hired, cutting the underneath of her chin significantly enough to need stitches. With no hospital on the island, she was patched up in a basic fashion, and after catching the ferry back across to Galway we dropped her at the hospital on the way back to the hotel. It was then dinner time, after which it was time for an early night after all the drama of the last two days!
Another busy day in the Irish countryside! We headed off to a couple of Ireland's most famous landmarks, the Cliffs of Moher and Blarney Castle. The Cliffs of Moher, featured in the Princess Bride, where they were called the Cliffs of Insanity. Hundreds of meters high, there are barricades preventing you from walking on the perilously crumbly edges. The hazy weather increased the mystique of the cliffs, which stretched on seemingly forever in both directions. After getting our photographic fill, we jumped back on the coach for our next destination, the Blarney Castle and Stone. Legend has it if you kiss the Blarney Stone you will blessed with the gift of eloquent speech. So we all headed up the tower and gave the unhygeinic old rock a pucker, before being enticed to buy photos of the silly spectacle. Then it was time to hit up the world's largest Irish giftstore, because we hadn't already bought more than enough Irish stuff! We then headed into Cork, checked in at the hotel before a local pub meal, after which we checked out some local traditional talent. A fun night of dancing and singing, culminating in one of my first late night maccas runs of the trip, before tumbling into bed.
With only a few days left of the tour, we headed to the famous little town of Kilkenny. Along the way, we stopped at Cobh (Cove), the last port of the Titanic before its fatal maiden voyage. We checked out the Blue Star Line Shipping Museum, learning some interesting facts about the Titanic and other such cruise liners. It was then off to the Jameson's Distillery in Midleton, to learn how the famous whiskey is made, and to have a wee tipple! We then had a quick toilet stop, at the famous Rock of Cashall, an ancient caslte atop a hill, which was unfortnately covered in scaffolding when we visited. After what already seemed like an interminably busy day, we finally checked into our hotel in Kilkenny, before being dragged back out again for a walking tour of the town. I answered a question correctly at the end of the tour and was awarded a pint of the local brew, Smithwicks! After dinner we spent a little bit of time watching a local guy play traditional Irish songs on the electric guitar, before heading next door to an bar built in an old church, followed by karaoke! I also made the fatal mistake of mixing my liquor all night: no less than 7 or 8 different spirits and beers in one night! I was very lucky I didn't wake up with a massive hangover the next day!
And then it was back to Dublin for the final night! We had a Guinness breakfast at the Guinness Storehouse and Brewery, learning how the famous black beer is brewed, and sampling some of what is reputadely the best Guinness in the world in the Gravity Bar overlooking the brewery and Dublin. After doing a little bit of damage in the gift store, a few of us headed to the Leprechaun Museum, to learn about the history of Irish folklore. What followed was a hilarious few hours with a very comedic guide, climbing on giant furniture, walking through rainbows, and drawing leprechauns! The whole group then went out for dinner at the Merry Ploughboy's Hotel, a pub where this once famous band performs every night. It was good fun, and afterwards we headed to a bar for a few more nightcaps before saying goodbye!
Now I am back in London after a ridiculously early start to get to the port for a 3 1/2 hour ferry from Dublin to Holyhead in Wales. Then followed a 6 hour drive across the Welsh and English countryside to London, where we had a few more farewell drinks at the London Pub before the tour was well and truly over! A fantastic fortnight was had by all, and now it is time to spend a few days in London before the next adventure: Oktoberfest!