City Breaks 06
Contents :
A road trip to Prague, to help Chris L move over there. Going via Dunkirk, Brussels, Aachen, Köln, Frankfurt, Wurzburg, Plzen and Prague.
Cheesy goodbye to the White Cliffs of Dover from the ferry.
The river Rhine in Germany.
It had to be done! The ton, completely legally, on a German autobahn. The car (or Chris's nerves) couldn't keep it up for long though!
The German - Czech border, near Cheb.
The building which houses V's flat.
A BBQ on the balcony. In April.
Little street in Prague, Letenská, with a tram line going under a building.
Traditional picture of Prague castle.
A Prague street scene.
A weekend in Cork.
My birthday present for Tam, Ireland being one of the two countries she can visit without a visa on her SA passport. Was a lovely weekend, with some noteable amusing moments!
To start with, on the flight out, Tam first noticed that a passenger remarked that a steward was "glaring" at her. Then, just before landing, the pilot asked passengers to remain seated as a passenger was causing a disturbance, and would be escorted from the plane by the police! It was bound to be the earlier passenger, she said, and the chap in the row in front agreed. Apparently she was a minor celebrity, having been on Eastenders at some point. I've no idea who she was though.
The hotel was lovely, and included a jacuzzi bath. In her infinite wisdom, Tam decided to put some bubble bath into it. Only about 1/4 of a bottle. Needless to say that the bathroom was flooded with bubbles! And we couldn't tell when the bubbles stopped and the water began! The next morning, Tam wanted another jacuzzi, and once again put in bubble bath - though she says not nearly as much. Still, same result, bathroom hidden under bubbles!
Finally, on returning to the bus station to get the bus to the airport, we see a bus with "Airport" in the front window. The driver, though, directs us to the bus behind, heading to Kinsale, anoth town, but it would stop at the airport en route. It would leave earlier , he said. However, the driver of the second bus says to get the first, as there might not be enough space for the passengers wanting to go to Kinsale. So we head back and forth between the two busses. Then another driver comes up and says that the airport bus is in a different part of the bus station! So we and the other passengers get on this third bus, which then leaves. However, not 200 yards outside the bus station, it pulls up at some traffic lights and the engine dies. The driver starts restarting it, but no response - the starter is turning, but the engine is not catching. The driver gets off, just as another bus pulls alongside, and chats to the driver for a bit, before coming back and saying, "what a bit of luck, this bus is going to the airport as well!" Obviously it's the Kinsale bus. Our driver then makes a comment that it's not run out of fuel, someone must have suggested that! Everyone gets on the Kinsale bus, and as we get on the driver says to Tam, "so you ended up on here anyway then!"
The actual visit was lovely, we stayed in a guesthouse out on Western Rd. The weather was forecast to be good, it did rain a bit on Friday evening but had cleared up by Saturday morning. We took a visit out to Blarney, to visit the castle, and as is tradition I kissed the stone. Tam has the gift of the gab anyway, so didn't need to! On returning to Cork we had a look around the city, before going to a pub for a stout in the evening. On Sunday we took the train out to Cobh, a lovely harbour town outside the city. It's where the Titanic left from on its fateful voyage. After returning from there, we went round some shops looking for shoes (Tam is female after all!) before taking the bus back to the airport. All in all, a wonderful trip!
Tam in front of the famous Blarney Castle.
View over the Irish countryside from the top of Blarney Castle.
The river in Cork city.
The overflow of bubbles from the jacuzzi! They had subsided by this time, and we'd transferred some to the sink.
View of Cobh cathedral.
Cobh harbour and fishing boats.
One of the main shopping streets in Cork city centre. So many of the shops are the same as in the UK.
A weekend in Dublin in July. Tam spent the week at a conference in Trinity College, I flew out on the Saturday until the Sunday. She then spent a couple of days in Northern Ireland looking for where her ancestors came from.
Tam in front of the famous Trinity College.
The Millenium Monument of Light, on O'Connell St. Also known as "The Stiletto in the Ghetto".
Another view of the Stiletto, from up close.
Statue of Molly Malone, also known as "The Tart with the Cart".
The River Liffey that flows through Dublin.
Marina House Hostel, where we stayed in Dun Laoghaire, the port suburb of Dublin.
Dun Laoghaire harbour, looking out over Dublin Bay, with the Howth Peninsular behind. The main ferry terminal is just to the right..
From the top floor bar in the Guinnes Storehouse Museum.