Catch up Singapore 2013

Another catch up and another quick one.  After I came back from my 40th birthday trip I went back to Jabiru and continued working there.  During that time my long time penfriend and I (about 10 years) decided to finally meet.  We first met on a penfriend website many years ago.  She is originally from India but has been living and working in the UAE for the last few years.  Anyway the date we finally decided on to meet in Singapore was actually my birthday week, which was great.  We were only in Singapore for a week but we had a great time and will eventually meet up again somewhere else.

We did a lot of walking around (which I like) and visited, amongst other places, Jurong Bird Park, Little India, Little Arab Street and China town.  One of the other places we went was Santosa Island (very touristy).  I have to say my favourite thing on Santosa was the mechanical light show.  They were two huge mechanical birds, on a pontoon, that moved.  There bodies were large screens that sometimes were images of the birds torsos but at other times patterns and shapes etc.  There was also fountains and jets of water from around the pontoon and the birds themselves and changing coloured lights.  It was pretty cool and something different, and free.

Harsha at Jurong Bird Park

A mechanical light show at Sentosa Island

View from Marina Bay Sands

Me on top of Marina Bay Sands

View of Marina Bay Sands and the Merlion

Another place we went was the observatory deck on top of Marina Bay Sands (the big building that looks like it has a boat sitting on top).  Nice view but you definately want to stay up there for a while for $20.  There is a bar and restaurant, but not cheap.

Catch up Morocco 2011

Well being slack like I am I didn't really write anything when I was in Morocco.  I was there two weeks and then I was back in Australia again.  I stayed in Marrakech for most of the time but did a day trip to Essaouira and a three day tour through the Atlas Mountains and to the Sahara.  I had a great time and will go back again.  I didn't take the photos that I wanted in Marrakech, especially in the Medina area where I was staying.  In the little alleyways there is so much to take photos of but with so many people you can't avoid taking photos of the them, and of course they don't want you to (which I can understand).  So to avoid confict I didn't take the photos. 

One of the gateways to the old medina in Marrakech

What can I say, goats in a tree

 I stayed in a hotel and then a couple of riads in the Medina in Marrakech.  That was great.  Being in the Medina you were close to the people, architecture, culture, El Fna Square (where everything happens, especially at night), the noise, vibrancy, it's just where you have to stay.  And if you can stay in a riad, even better.  I only paid $30 night and the room was great.

Essaouira

Atlas Mountains

Ait-Benhaddou

Me on a camel in the Sahara

One of the riads where I stayed

The goats were on the way to Essaouira, which is on the coast.  The photo is of the Medina area where I had lunch and wandered around.  Love the Medinas.




















On the three day tour (small bus with approximately 10 people) we went throught the Atlas Mountains to the Sahara.  We were meant to go camel riding to our traditional tent in the sand dunes but that didn't work out.  Instead we stayed at the hotel, on the edge of the dunes, where we were meant to leave from because our driver 'got lost' and we arrived too late.  We were then meant to go for a camel ride in the morning and watch the sun come up over the Sahara, which didn't happen.  The staff decided to have a sleep in and so we missed the sunrise.  At least I did ride on a camel in the Sahara in Morocco.  Not many people can say that, and it does sound so much better than riding a camel in Australia at one of the tourist spots.  Sorry Aussies.

Ait-Benhaddou was one of our stops on the tour.  Another disappointment to a certain extent.  Incredible, fantastic place, but rushed and actually spent very little time there.  Two things that I definately wanted to do in Morocco was go to Ait-Benhaddou, ride a camel in the Sahara, and stay in a bedouin tent in the Sahara.  That was why I chose that tour.  Don't get me wrong, I had a fantastic time, hung out with a couple of other people travelling by themselves, great night at the hotel in the Sahara where they played traditional music and danced, rode the camel, walked the sand dunes at night (that is silence for you) etc, but I couldn't really tick the bucket list with satisfaction.

Dancing and singing at the hotel

Catch up Portugal 2011

Ok, I'm going to try again with writing regularly.  It is now Wednesday and I travelled by train to Braga today.  However, backing up a little, I arrived in Porto, Portugal, at approximately 11.15pm Sunday night.  Due to the time I was arriving I had already decided to get a taxi from the airport instead of the bus.  The accommodation was in an excellent location.  Only a couple of blocks from

One of the main squares in Porto

the main area of Porto, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage area, half a block from the main shopping/eating street, and 100m from a supermarket.  Checking in and out of the accommodation was interesting, as no English was spoken (and no Portuguese), but we eventually got through.  One thing I like doing when spending a few days in one place is find a cafe and get to know the staff a little.  I chose one on the main square by finding one that an English translation on the menu board outside.  I figured if they had English on the board then there should be some basic English spoken by staff.  Yes it's cheating, but it makes it so much easier when you are starving or hanging for a coffee.  I actually noticed that most of the cafes in Porto don't sell cappuccinos, which is what I drink.  Also, I have only seen one type of ATM called multibanco (multibank obviously).  So all banks most just use those, and they automatically gave 20s and 10s, YAY!  But has a maximum withdrawal of 200 euro, which isn't good when you are travelling and have to pay all the extra bank costs of being overseas each time you take out money.  Anyway, just a little tit-bit for you.

Along the river in Porto

Porto.  It doesn't have the same extreme workmanship in its building (or the gold) as Belgium, or the number of them, however, down by the river makes up for it.  The city comes down to the river on a steep slope, and the layering of the buildings looks incredible along the river with the boats (many of them traditional) and the large expanse of the steel bridge that carries trams and pedestrians.  That will be one of the photos I attach, but it will do nothing for the actual sight of it when you are there.  I like Porto as although it’s Portugal’s 2nd biggest city it is easy to walk around the main tourist sites, as well as the areas for shopping and eating.  I must say after the crazy weather in Belgium (hot one day then mad winds and rain the next and then drizzle for the next three, by the way I now have a cold from that) Portugal's weather is great being sunny and sitting around 30 give or take.  Unfortunately, it is too hot for most of the clothes and shoes I have so I have had to buy a couple of things and send some stuff home.  Oh, before I forget about dogs in Belgium.  They are everywhere.  They are generally allowed in shops, cafes, trains etc.  It’s strange sitting in a restaurant and there is a dog sitting on the seat next to some lady, or some huge dog’s head pops up over the top of the table (they don’t have many big dogs).  I have also seen cats but not so often.  And I think I told you about Ryanair not having set seats.  Well, the reason they are so cheap (on the flights I’ve been on they have been at least 60% cheaper than other airlines, but they are also the crappiest hours) is that they sell everything including fragrances, scratchies and even smokeless cigarettes so people can smoke on the plane and other non-smoking places.  There are also other things like you can have a 10kg carry-on bag (with the normal dimensions), but you pay 20 euro for a check-in bag.  They also try and sell you priority

Buildings in Porto

seating, insurance etc.  Also, you have to check in online and print out your boarding pass.  If you don’t have that when you arrive you are charged about 45 euro for them to print out another.  But hey, if you don’t get caught out with checking all the little boxes and printing things out and being overweight (luggage not you), and don’t mind some of the late or early flights, then it’s cheap and so far I have arrived (one time early) at my destination.  Ok, that’s enough raving and tit-bitting for now.

The Santuario do Bom Jesus do Monte

Stairs to The Santuario do Bom Jesus do Monte

Sunday 18th.  Well, I was in Braga for 3 nights.  My location was great, just off the main square, the room was fine, the (share) bathroom was not, and checking in was long and difficulty (no English is fine, but she had absolutely no skills in charades).  Braga was ok.  It was a nice town with a pretty square with fountains and gardens etc with plenty of cafes, but it just didn’t have that atmosphere.  The Santuario do Bom Jesus do Monte (the Sanctuary of the Good

Inside The Santuario do Bom Jesus do Monte

Jesus of the Mount, the main reason I went to Braga as I had seen photos) is on the outskirts of Braga, 5km from the centre.  This is definitely worth seeing, with zig-zagging stairs and fountains at each level (it’s on a hill).  Inside the church at the top is amazing.  I took photos inside but ended up leaving, as although there is no sign saying not to take photos, there is one saying silence.  Unfortunately my camera has to beep and whirr and carry on every time it’s turned on or off or whatever.  I started getting dirty looks, but I think it was from the more religious people (that’s not very Christian of them).  It is a regularly used church.

The town inside the citadel at Braganca

I was meant to go to Chaves next by bus.  To make a long story short I didn’t go due to mix-ups and stuff-ups and language barriers and the bus office being closed on Saturday when I went to buy the ticket.  I decided to take the train back to Porto and see if I could catch the bus from there, but by the time I found the Tourist Office to find out bus times etc  I had missed one and was left with catching the 7.30pm bus which arrived at 11pm.  Considering I didn’t know how to get to the hotel from the bus, and it was past check in, and I didn’t know what taxis etc were available, I decided not to go.  I did phone the hotel, but they only spoke Portuguese and the waiter (at my end) that I got to translate didn’t help me get anywhere as the hotel reception said they were busy and had to go.  Anyway, I have stayed in Porto the last couple of days (which I like Porto anyway and I’m right on the main square).  Tomorrow I go to Braganca for three nights (three hours on the bus).  I have already checked bus times (that arrive during the day thank goodness) and where I am meant to catch it (there are several bus companies at different locations) and how to get to my hotel, so hopefully there will be no problems.
Hi all.  It is Thursday 23rd and I am now in Amarante.  Braganca wasn’t bad.  The citadel incuding a keep was interesting and in good condition.  People were living within the citadel walls (not the actual walls, so no smart comments) generally in townhouse type dwellings (those that have been there for a few hundred years or whatever) but some had little yards with chooks and so forth. There was also an old church, some old Roman building (I think to do with council meetings or something, but don’t quote me), a café/restaurant and a couple of museums.  I think it would be a pretty cool place to live, kind of like your own special little community.

OK, before I forget here are some tit-bits (you are going to be so sick of my tit-bits, but it’s something I do, I can’t help it.  So if you are too busy to read everything, as my emails can get a bit long with my tit-bits and raving, just skim.  Anyway, short version.  Escalators in Portugal go extremely slow until you step on them then they go faster.  The ones at the Belgium train stations don’t go at all until you get on them.  Different toilet flushes.  On this journey there has been the push down lever in Ireland (which I think we use to have in Australia years ago, when I was very young so I’m not sure), Belgium I can’t remember now, and Portugal there has been turn the knob (like a fancy door handle) and pull up the boring old silver knob.  Sorry to those who already know all this.

Amarante.  I managed to get to Amarante, by bus, with no hiccups, but I can tell you I nearly threw up.  I get really bad motion sickness, and I forgot to take tablets until we were on our way, and then I didn’t have any water to take them.  The trip was approx. three hours on really windy road, with a crazy driver who like to go fast along the really windy road.  I finally remembered two hours in when I was already really, really not feeling well, that I think the directions for the tablets said you can chew them also.  So I did, and by the time they started working, I had 20 minutes of not feeling too bad.  Lucky me (sarcasm there), and lucky bus driver and passengers (no sarcasm, they were lucky). 

Anyway, I’m in Amarante for a couple of days.  The hotel is across the road from the bus and ten minutes walk from the old town centre.  I can see a couple of the churches from my balcony.  I can see mainly modern buildings from my balcony. Sorry tit-bit while I remember.  Portugal is building full on.  There are cranes everwhere building new buildings and there is a huge amount of road works.  From Villa Real to Braganca it is non-stop road works, building a new highway(s) with huge bridges and a number of roundabouts.  That was about two hours driving time on the bus (I took out the stops).  The road we were on was already mostly a large highway, but the extensions etc were

Street in Amarante

incredible.  Oh, yes, Amarante.  Looking from my balcony you can see that the town is set in a tight valley, and spreads up the hillsides (with more cranes).  Driving from Porto out this way, the whole area is rolling hills, one after the other, with narrow valleys.  The further west you go, the rockier (granite) and dryer it becomes, with the hills spreading further apart.  Out west reminds me of the New England area where I grew up.  To continue, I went walk-about today, up and down the hills along the narrow cobbled streets, dodging horn blowing cars, scampering kitty-cats and puppy-dogs, and women tourists in high heels postcards, and had coffee next to the beautiful old church.  Great location, not so great coffee, so I don’t think it will become my regular for the next couple of days.

Carved timber panels in the ceiling at the church

(someone’s going to break an ankle).  Anyway, went into the main church near the river (the one I can see from my room), and it is incredible.  It has a large amount of painted wood carvings of religious (of course) figures and designs.  It’s hard to describe and I tried to take photos but people were praying and not looking happy with the tourists, and like I’ve mentioned before my camera continually makes beeping etc noises when taking photos.  Next camera I get will be a stealth camera, set into my glasses perhaps.  So anyway, I did the photo thing, bought postcards, and had coffee next to the beautiful old church.  Great location, not so great coffee, so I don’t think it will become my regular for the next couple of days. 

It’s the next day and I just had to mention an incident at Porto train station when I was waiting to go to Braga.  While I was waiting on the platform, suddenly out of nowhere, three teenagers (a girl and two boys) dressed in black suit type outfits and black capes appeared.  I actually thought it was some kids playing dress up as Harry Potter, Hermoine and the other one whose name I can’t think of.  I then saw another one in Amarante, and thought that was a bit strange and that there must be a school with that as their uniform (Amarante is only about 45 minutes away from Porto).  I then remembered hearing or reading since being in Portugal that the author (forgot her name too) was living in Porto when she wrote the first Harry Potter novel, so she must have seen this uniform and used it in her book, because they did seriously look like they belonged with Harry and co.  PS  I found out that the students in black are from the local university.
I like the everyday things; Sitting at a café people watching, going on the local bus, shopping at the minimarket, speaking of minimarkets.  I went to the shop to get a couple of things and while I was standing in line the two people ahead of me were talking to the shop assistant on the checkout.  I don’t know what they were talking about but it must have been interesting as the smiled at me and winked regarding something that was said, and she gave a demonstration of (and this is a bit of a guess) someone pushing her head against the bench or flushing in the toilet or something.  But that is what I like, the little things that give you a laugh or a connection.  I don’t know if she knew I didn’t speak English, but she was very friendly when she served me without going any further than obrigado (thank you) and ciao (goodbye), which is all I would of understood.

Well, I’m back in Porto, and I did have more tit-bits but decided to delete as it was getting a bit long.  I still like Porto.  With how often I have been here now (3 times) it feels like a 2nd home.  Overall, I was a bit disappointed with my trip to Portugal.  Not that it was Portugal’s fault.  I think Portugal could be great, but you need a car.  All those special types of places that I wanted to see (the small villages, the centuries old deserted towns and fortresses) you are not able to get to by bus, and I was not able to find tours that catered for that type of thing.  But it has still been good and I have seen some beautiful buildings and have had a few laughs with the locals. I fly out on Tuesday night to Morocco.

One thing that I loved in Portugal was the different tiles on the buildings, the railings, and the window and door frames, so I'm going to put a few photos in for you.

 

Porto train station

 

Catch up Belgium 2011

Well, it's Saturday the 6th Sept and I'm here in Belgium.  I arrived on Thursday after getting up at 4.30am to catch a cheap flight with Ryanair.  I will have to reconsider if it's getting a flight a bit cheaper when I have to get up at that time.  I'm not a morning person.  Anyway, there was a Aussie girl working at the hostel and warned me that Ryanair is like Tiger, unreliable, but there were no

One of the old canal gates to enter Brugge

problems.  Here is something.  Ryanair does not allocate seats.  You just get on and pick one, unless you have reserved seats during online check-in (which you have to check-in on line, no choice).  So, caught a plane, then shuttle bus, then train (which decided to make a couple of middle oof nowhere stops and arrived an hour late) to Brugge.  I love Brugge.  It's like a fairytale or something.  Canals, beautiful building, lots of restaurants and cafes.  I could live here for awhile.  Anyway, finally got to Brugge, checked in to the hostel.  Oh, my, goodness.  I had to laugh when I walked in to my room.  Ok, the hostel is set in the old quarter so is an old building.  Firstly, getting up the stairs.  My room (private with shared bathroom, as that was all I could get) is on the 3rd floor, and I had to walk up a narrow, steep, winding staircase that would give most people vertigo coming down.  Oh, and the bannister is below hip height on me, so I stick to the wall side always. 

To the end and turn left to my hostel

Anyway, that was freaky enough, and then I got to the top, opened my door, and laughed as it was so worn out, run down, falling to pieces, I just couldn't believe it.  Seriously, lino old, worn, cracked and lifting.  Wallpaper, peeling off, torn, plastered over I don't know what type of wall, but it is uneven and rough, and the wallpaper seems to be even plaster over pipes that half come out of the wall.  Oh, the ceiling had a leak at some time so there is an area that has partly collapsed (I wish I had taken a photo of my room).  The only reason I have stayed is that I was talking to one of the guys who run the place, and they have only just bought it.  It must be very recent as they have started working on the place since I've been here and need money

Canal in Brugge

coming in to fix it.  At least they are trying to do something, and it's not their fault it has become so run down (two of the showers are currently closed as they are being fixed due to leaking into the room underneath).  The toilets are rooms that have kind of just had a wall put across somewhere and made a box, where you barely have enough room to stand in (good luck guys and anyone bigger than me).  Anyway, you have some idea of what it is like.  It is in a good position though, but the guys who own it need all the luck they can get to fix it (and lots of money).  Yesterday I went for a 20km bike ride.  Yes, unlike me, but I only did it because the country is flat and I had a chance of it not killing me.  The actual ride didn't but the seat nearly did.  Rock hard and I am still feeling it today.  Very sore.  I went riding out along one of the canals (yes very romantic) to a town called Damme (actually I went further than that but stopped at Damme on the way back)  It's an old port apparently, along with Brugge, but the connection with the seas eventually was blocked by sand in about 1500.  Anyway, great day apart from the sore bits. 

Along my canal bike ride

Went to Gent today, but the area the train arrives in looks like an ordinary town and has none of the pretty buildings etc.  The was no tourist info apart form a map board outside the station, which of course was in Flemish.  That is something about this place, so many people speak English but there are no signs or info in English.  Even the tourist info centre in Brugge has hardly any English pamphlets and when you try to use the computers in English it says 'this page is unavailable' or something like that as I can't read Flemish.  Anyway, so I wandered around a bit hoping to find some pretty buildings but they were hiding, so I eventually came back to Brugge.  I was also dying of heat exhaustion as I was unfortunately wearing long sleeves.  I have gone from wearing a singlet, thermal top, light jumper and jacket in Ireland to a t-shirt in Belgium.  I didn't expect the temperature to be so different so quickly, so if this continues in the next country I may have to toss or send clothes home andbuy summer stuff sooner than expected.
Ok, that will do for now.  I'm trying to be good and write as I go.  I was slack with Ireland so my email was a bit vague, but I'm trying to put a bit more detail this time.  Don't worry, that doesn't mean you have more to read as I will only be here for a couple of weeks and then I can send it.  Enough raving, I'm going.  Back soon.
PS  I have my carton ice coffee milks again, yay.  Ireland doesn’t have flavoured milks in a carton.  They don’t even have cold milk or milkshakes etc.  The milk sits out on the tables (the thought grosses me out) all day so you can put it in your tea/coffee.  But even if you ask for a milkshake (mistake) it’s not cold (kinda like warm beer in the UK).  They don’t have many juices in the fridge either.  Missed my juice and flavoured milk.  And the icecream tastes different eg Magnum icecreams are smaller and have a different flavour (due to be made in a different country, using different water and products I would assume), and soft serves taste different (yuk) and repeats on you.

12th September – Well, me being good didn’t last long.  A week later and I finally write something again, but I am now in Portugal.  So, to finish off Belgium if I can remember.  While still in Brugge I decided to do a day tour, as it is so much easier to see things sometimes.  The tour went around to a number of sites in the Flanders (outside of Brugge as I can see that myself) region.  To be honest I now can’t remember the names of places (I will have to look them up to name photos) but we say some great buildings like Loppem Chateau (yes I just looked that up).  It has the largest private collection of Belgian paintings, plus some great sculptures etc.  It is very interesting and worth

Inside Loppem Chateau

Sculpture where we had waffles

seeing.  I also had a Belgian waffles the tradition way (icing sugar and cream).  I thought it would be a bit bland done that way, but that is all the waffle needs, yum.  Of course there was chocolate tasting, yuk.  No seriously.  I was looking forward to the chocolate, but out of the three I tried (we were just given a tray of them to sample, so we didn’t know what they were) I only liked one which was a praline.  The other was marzipan which I don’t like, and the 3rd had sickly green goop inside (it was actually a white frog so I had to take that one).  The other sampling we had was of course beer.  Now I don’t like beer, but I thought I may as well try them anyway (George will be proud.  Hi George).  It was 4 different styles of beer.  Of course I didn’t like them, but some were better than others.  The last one we tried was a fruit beer that didn’t even slightly taste like beer.  It was a cherry flavour, and for those who can remember having the cherry flavoured cough syrup when you were a kid, well that’s what it tasted like.  So of course I didn’t like that either.  Overall, Brugge was beautiful and great to visit.

Inside Namur Citadel

Next was Namur with it’s citadel.  Unfortunately, due to lack of accommodation I was only there one night.  You need at least 2 so you don’t have to lug around your backpack when you are visiting the citadel.  But it was good.  I would have liked more time at the citadel to do one of the tours (one was a history of the place and the tunnels that ran underneath.)  Next was Dinant.  Again only one night because of accommodation issues, but you could actually do it in a day trip from Namur (less than an hour by train).  But if you want to spend time in that area, there is plenty in the south to see.  Dinant was gobsmacking.  Seriously, your jaw drops as you round the corner from the train station. It has a huge cathedral and then is backdropped by cliffs and Namur’s citadel.  I will add a photo of that one.

Cathedral and Citadel of Dinant

Finally I went to Brussels.  I only saw about half as it is a typically city and takes a while to walk around.  It is too big and noisy for me.  Too much traffic and traffic lights and wide roads etc.  But it has some great buildings (like all of Belgium), and the Great-Place is definitely great.  I also went to the Museum of Musical Instruments.  Definitely worth going.  You are given head phones and as you walk around you plug them in to different areas and listen to some of the instruments.  Pretty cool.  Definitely makes a museum more interesting that just looking at things.  Although, some of the instruments were very interesting, or beautiful, to look at.

Okey dokey.  That is all from Belgium.  Like I said I am now in Portugal, or Porto to be exact.  Until next time…

Palace in Brussels

Building in Grand Place

Building in Grand Place

Catch up Ireland 2011

40^th Birthday World Trip July 2011 – Jan 2012.

Departure date 21^st July 2011 – first stop Ireland.

Well, this is a bit of a catch up as it is now 9^th August and I have been in Ireland for almost two weeks. 

21^st July – The flight.

The plane flight was long.  I had been worried about my hiking pole (it's classed as a weapon due to the sharp tip they normally have, which mine doesn't, but all stick like objects are questionable) getting through all of the security gates at each airport, but there were no problems.  I wasn't even questioned.  The first leg to Singapore I watched the animated movie 'Rango' with the Chameleon who comes to save the day in a small desert town.  It was good.  The Singapore stop was to refuel and clean the plane.  It lasted about 40 minutes but we had to take all our things off the plane and go through security and then back through security to get back on.  Bit of a pain.  I tried to sleep for the leg to Abu Dhabi, which I succeeded to some extent.  We then had a 3 hour stopover there from approximately 11.30pm to 2.40am.  It was a 15 minute walk from the gate we arrived at to the one we were departing from.  Toilets are not abundant I might add.  I napped a bit on a not so comfy seat and was luckily woken by a young guy and his mother, thank goodness, asking if I was going to Dublin.  The departure gate had been changed, and guess where the plane was now leaving.  Yes, the gate we arrived at.  I finally arrived in Dublin at about 7.30am on Friday the 22^nd July.  By the way, I flew Etihad, which a had assumed would be quite a good airline being from United Arab Emirates and knowing that Emirates was a comfortable airline.  Well, Etihad is the older and poorer cousin of Emirates.  Small seats, not much leg room, older looking aircraft etc.

Ireland

22^nd July – Swords

Another thing a had been a bit concerned about was the fact I only had a one way ticket.  When checking out Visa requirements etc (which there is no visa for Ireland for less than 3 months) it states you must have proof of having enough money to support yourself while you are in Ireland (a copy of your bank account) and proof of ongoing travel (departure ticket and proof of accommodation in another country (hotel receipt etc).  Well, I gave immigration my passport and asked if they needed anything else (I did have a copy of my bank account) and she asked how long I was staying.  I said 5 to 6 weeks and she stamped my passport and sent me on my way (without a smile I might add).  I was intending to walk the Wicklow Way so thought I should do some walking before then, so I had a coffee and then walked approximately 4km to my accommodation in Swords, just north of the airport/Dublin.  I wanted to stay in a B&B for a couple of nights to make sure a could get some sleep after the flight, thank goodness, but I had booked out at Swords because it was cheaper and I didn't want to stay in Dublin for very long.  Good plan except Swords was pretty boring.  It had a castle, but you couldn't get in and there wasn't much else.  It was smaller than I thought.

The next day I walked to Malahide (5km) and back as more practice, and it was meant to be a nice traditional looking seaside village.  Again, not much there except for a castle.  I had one of the worse coffees I have ever had (Starbucks) and went to visit the “castle”.  I sat and looked at that for a while as it was closed and then went looking for the ladies, which wasn't easy as they were doing maintenance and had half the place closed off.  I finally found one at the playground and then toddled 5km back to Swords.

24^th July – Dublin

St Patricks Cathedral Dublin

Along the Wicklow Way

Hi all.  Yes I know I have been slack.  It's difficult to get in the mood, and time, and internet access sometimes, to sit down and type emails etc when you are galavanting around the countryside or world.  But I'm here now and at the end of my first leg.  I fly out of Ireland tomorrow, and into Belgium.  I will only be there for a couple of weeks, while it has been 6 here in Ireland.  I have enjoyed it and would have to say it has been nice.  Yes, a bit of a strange word to use maybe when you are free and travelling the world.  But I think because it has been so similar to Australia that there haven't been any surprises or excitement so to speak.  I wanted someplace to wet my feet and be comfortable and Ireland has been a great place for that.  Now it is time to head deeper into unknown territory, slowly.
Anyway, flight over was long and if I ever have a choice I will not only take my time going back to Australia next time (yes there will be a next time), but also heading away from home.  It took a week for my body clock to adjust.  That I didn't expect.  I won't talk about the plane trip but I flew Etihad and will say I will try and avoid flying again with them.  Just on the basis of room to move, age of plane (well it looked old) type things.  If the person in front put there seat back and you are watching a movie, the screen is so close it is very difficult to watch as you are actually looking down on the screen and it doesn't swivel up enough to look straight on.  Ok, enough of that.
I stayed in Dublin for about five days (due to accommodation availability for the Wicklow Way Walk), then started on the walk.  It started in a park in the far south of Dublin, and I was lost before I even got through the park.  Yes, ha ha and all the rest of it.  But it is like 26 acres or something and very poorly signposted.  An old guy showed me the way through and told me Australia won Tour de France, yay, and was the oldest guy ever (whats-his-name that won, not the Irish guy).  Anyway, yes I was a bit concerned that I may get lost on the walk (I wasn't worried previous to that) as I didn't have a map as I thought it would be well signposted.  Ok, gate was locked so I had so I had to wait a while for that, nearly died on the first hill it was so steep (pack didn't help), blah blah blah.  First day was 21km, plus an extra 3 maybe because I got lost near the end of that leg (bad signposting again, or more like no sign for the hostel at the village,  I had to phone them).  Walk would have been ok but of course I didn't take into account carrying a pack and the effect it would have on my dodgy feet and knees.  Myself and a couple of others, from the hostel, took a bus for the next leg (about 17 km, no way I could have done it), and then I walked with two other groups (German and Israeli) on the following leg of 12 km.  That was Glendalough set in a gorgeous glen with a couple of lakes and ruins of an old monastry and church etc.  I was planning to stay an extra days there and stayed an extra 2.  That was the end of the walk for me.  I was having too many problems with my feet and knees and didn't want risk any damage.  I took 4 buses over 7.5 hours to Cork (I had planned to stay in the SE for a couple of days but was having difficulty finding accommodation at a reasonable price, being peak season and school holidays) and stayed for about 4 days.  I didn't do much there (just the usual rounds in town taking photos) as by the time I got there I could hardly walk.  I tried to rest my knee a bit there but it ended up taking 3 weeks before I could walk properly again.

Me

The lakes at Glendalough

Ruins of monastery and cemetary at Glendalough

Lake at Glendalough

Hore Abbey in Cashel

Me on my birthday at Hore Abbey

I decided to go to Cashel (north of Cork) for a couple of days for my birthday.  There is the ruins of a cathedral on top of a hill, very dramatic, and a couple of abbeys.  That was nice, especially being in a B&B and not in a dorm.  In Glendalough it was a 10 bed dorm with one toilet and shower.  I've been staying in female only dorms except for once which wasn't available for my first night in Galway.  But that was ok because the guys in the mixed dorm were Aussies anyway.  First Aussies I had met, but more on that later.  I have mainly met Germans, then French, then a splattering of others.  Oh, and I stay in B&bs and private rooms sometimes, to have a break, as I am going nuts with staying in dorms with a bunch of inconsiderate young people (not all are inconsiderate, but 99% are teenage and early 20s).
I went to Limerick next (stopped in Cahir to see the castle, one of my favourites) and stayed at a B&B for about 4 days.  I stayed there as there wasn't much available and the room (shared bathroom) was only 30 euro a night which wasn't too bad.  Oh, Cork was ok.  Definitely not my favourite city.  I was meant to go to the Bear Pensinulas after Cork for a 5 day walk (much shorter days than Wicklow) but I was still hobbling and there were storms on the coast so there was any point even going for a couple of days and staying at a village.  So unfortunate as it is meant to be beautiful over there.  Limerick I quite liked.  I think it was the Georgian buildings up the main street.  While I was there I went on a day trip to Bunratty Folk Village and Castle, and then stayed on for a medieval dinner at the castle.  The company was great (2 groups from the US, one was enjoying giving me shit, in the nicest way), the meal was very nice, although it could have been one from home, the difference was because it was medieval we had to drink our soup from the bowl, the meat and veg we had a steak knife (dagger) but no fork so it was fingers only, and then stragely enough a spoon appeared for desserts, although there were none for soup.  Didn't quite get that but the food was meant to be recipes from back when.  There was also mead (which I could not drink as it was very strong) and music and song etc with people dressed in all the old garb.  It was a nice night out.

Singers at Bunratty Castle Medieval Dinner

At that point I was going nuts trying to do internet/email etc on my iPod, so I bought a cheap netbook $330 Aust.  and I will appologise for any errors in this as the computer seems to do strange things when I'm typing and I can't find spell check (it's not word but the other free download thing like word), and not only is the keyboard slightly different but the computer made me choose which keyboard setout I want (it gave me a huge list) and I didn't know which one I was meant to choose and I chose the wrong one so some things don't type like they are on the keyboard.  Just trying to explain why my typing and grammar etc is crap, apart from me doing this quickly, on a pillow and being too lazy to be grammatically correct etc.  Don't complain, at least I've done it.
I wasn't able to get accommodation at Doolin (where I really wanted to go), a major traditional music hotspot.  Not much there but 3 pubs all playing trad music every night over the summer period.  A lot of well know musicians came from there or played there.  So I went to Ennis for a couple of days where I met two retired ladies from Armidale NSW (near where I grew up for those who don't know).  They were on a 6 month world trip and had been to Nepal and Ireland and were going to France, working their way across to Greece then Egypt, Morroco, Peru and Canada (I may have missed a couple).  Nepal, Egypt, Morroco and Peru were all with Intrepid travel, the rest by themselves.  It was nice to see someone over 30.  I actually got excited when I saw the walking stick next to the bed (one lady had hurt her foot and bought it cheap in Dublin).

Cliffs of Moher

Kylemore Abbey

From there it was Galway and I decided to do a couple of day tours, one south and one north/west.  It was cheaper for me to go on a tour to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burrin etc than buy a return bus ticket to the Cliffs.  The cliffs are very dramatic at a couple of hundred metres high, worth seeing, if you can get the good weather.  By the way if I can add any photos I will, but I have to get them off my camera first.  I also went on a tour to the connemara area and saw loughs, mountains, abbeys etc.  We went to Kylemore with it's walled gardens.  Very nice.  I British doctor and his wife built it a hundred years ago or something.  The wife actually died only a few years later.  It then became a home for Belgium nuns after their place in Belgium burned down.  They made a school for girls, and then it closed in the last couple of years.  It opened for tourism, but the nuns still live there, although there aren't as many now.

Doolin

I managed to get into Doolin for a few days.  Loved the place.  Listened to music (if you could manage to get in), went for walks along the cliffs and down to the pier, had lots of coffee, hot chocolate and cake.  My favourite city would be either Galway or Limerick, and smaller place Doolin, although Enniskillen in Northern Ireland did become a favourite as well, but that is a different country.  Sligo was next and a disappointment.  I went on a tour and it was a rip off in comparison to the 2 done from Galway.  The 2 in Galway were 20 euro for about 8 hours and Sligo was 30 euros for about five.  And what were saw wasn't all that great (one was the grave of Yeats the poet)  I only went on the tour because it was apparently the only way I could get to the lough.  There were no buses and too far and difficult to walk.  Then it was Enniskillen which was nice.  I was only there for a couple of days but it is situated on the river joining 2 loughs.  It would be a nice place to visit if you had a car.  It was a bit difficult to get around otherwise.
Now I'm back in Dublin organising Belgium, last minute shopping etc.  So that's it.  Not very exciting, but that is all you are going to get, and at least you finally got it, or something anyway.  Well, I've still got things to do before the early flight tomorrow so I will sign off and see if I can attach a couple of photos or something.  If not, maybe another time.
I hope everyone is well.  Be good.
Deb