Friday,May 31. Day 6

What a SPECTACULAR day. We left Manchester and headed North toward Scotland.  We passed through the west edge of the wonderful Lake District of the UK and saw several lakes along with hill, valleys and plains.

(I only have 30 minutes free on this system so I will put down a few thoughts and maybe one photo and try to make it up later when I have more time.  We have 2 nights at this hotel so it might be a couple of days.)

The weather was warm with a breeze of 15 to 30 mph from the west so it made our visit to Hadrian's Wall a great excursion.  From the bus drop off it was over a half mile hike up the hill to get to the last remaining fort on the wall.  In Hadrian's time, there was a fort with a garrison of about 800 soldiers every mile. Everyone made the trek.

Part of the fort at Hadrian's Wall

Trying on a "plot" for size.

Room for a few friends.

Having a ghost party??

After Hadrian's Wall we headed further North and in about an hour crossed into Scotland.  We were greeted by a piper and took a group photo.

At the rest stop upon entering Scotland

We drove on into Edinburgh to the Jolly Ristorante, and Italian pizza and pasta joint close to the city center where we had dinner, then headed to our hotel-Premier Inn, outside Edinburgh.

More later..

Friday, May 31. Day 6

We get a break from the early wake-ups!!  It's not until 7:30am this morning. We will have breakfast and get on the road to Hadrian's Wall and Scotland....(It's 6am local now).  Will add more later.

Thursday.. May 30, Day 5

Wake up call at 0530, luggage packed on bus by 0615, and departed with our sack breakfasts
at 0630 for the Dublin docks.  We boarded one of the huge Irish Ferries ferrys, departed Ireland at 8:05. 
The seas were running 1 - 2 feet so the passage was very smooth. That didn't keep a few people
from having motion sickness issues even after dosing with some Dramamine. Many slept for most of the voyage. No internet so the blog had to wait until the evening to be updated.

Since the UK is located at such a high latitude, it gets light very early and stays light later than in the US currently.  Daylight starts about 4:15am and the day doesn't get dark until after 9:30pm.  It's making it difficult for some travelers to get their sleep rhythm back.

Landed at Holyhead in Wales about 11:30am.  Left the boat, grabbed our luggage, and boarded a new bus with a new driver - Lauchan...

Welcoming Terminal at Holyhead, Wales

Traveled a short bit in Wales to the city with the longest name in the world - see the city below.  We toured the gift shop and had a quick lunch.

The Welsh city with the longest name in the world!

A quick bus ride North to the Beaumaris Castle, (meaning beautiful marsh) one of the finest examples of castle building.  It was the last castle in the defense ring created by Edward I, keeping the Welsh out of England.  While visiting the wonderful place, one of the girls got bird-bombed by a seagull - really nasty.  Also, one of the boys bought a sword and shield to defend the honor of all the girls. 

Inside Beaumaris Castle

After a couple more hours on the road, we arrived at our hotel - the Britannia Country House in Manchester, GB - a huge place and VERY busy and noisy.  We had a wonderful buffet dinner.  On the way, we stopped at a fantastic valley in the Snowdonia National Park, with rock outcroppings created by the last ice age glaciers in the area.  It's famous for rock-climbing and instructor training.  The 1953 Everest mountain team trained in this area.  It would be cool to one day go back with the girls and do an orienteering class for a week, or three.

Snowdonia National Park in Wales

Comment:  I've seem more cows, goats, sheep, and _________ in the last 4 days than I've seen in my life.

The level of Maria's unrequited need for chocolate is increasing every day...

One of the girls left her retainer on the dinner table this evening.  An hour or so after dinner she realized it.  She had better thank her mom who, with one of the chefs, dug through 5 bags of trash to find the retainer.

Maria is off to do her room checks,,,,

Today we left the ROI - Republic of Ireland.  It is the only country in our travels that uses the Euro.  The remainder use the Great Britain Pound.  The ferry had a currency exchange so many folks used that to convert their leftover Euros into Pounds.  Many have also pulled Pounds from the ATM here in the hotel lobby.

Wednesday, May 29, Day 4

Wednesday - started with a much better breakfast.  In addition to the normal continental items, they had the scrambled eggs but also had bangers (the UK word for sausage) but no mash (UK for mashed potatoes).  They had lots of fruit and roasted tomatoes that tasted great.

The weather was cool but nary a cloud in the sky.  Turned out to a dry day and probably the warmest day in Dublin yet this year.

We had a short bus ride into the city center where we picked up our local guide - Renee - who was a hoot.  She was very knowledgeable about every facet of Dublin and the Irish, and even led us in an Irish rendition of Danny Boy.  She conducted a guided bus tour of many of the main city attractions.  We de-bused,  if that's a word, and took a nice tour of St Patrick's (the patron saint of Ireland) Cathedral.

Our Hotel

St Patrick's in Dublin

The internet is extremely slow tonight.  It's now midnight and we are up at 5:30am to pack, head to the port, and jump on the ferry to Wales.  I'll try to catch up later tomorrow.

Lunch on our own.  Went to O'Neil's Pub and had Fish and Chips.  Very good.  Others scattered around the city for different fare.

After lunch went to the Guiness Storehouse - the main brewing plant for Guiness.  They have a nice self-guided tour starting on the Ground floor and walking you thru the history of Guiness and how it's produced, all the way up to the 7th floor.  Where the tour is conducted used to be part of the old brewing plant.  They did a nice job of converting.  On the 7th floor is a 360 degree bar where your entry fee entitles you to a free pint of Guiness (or a soda for those under 18 years old, which is the legal drinking age in the UK).  They also have the Guiness Academy on the 5th floor where we received lessons in how to do the perfect Guiness pour.  After mastering the technique you receive a nice certificate stating you are a "pourmaster".

We had dinner at a downtown restaurant - chicken fried chicken with gravy, mash (mashed potatoes), and vegetables, with ice cream for dessert.

After that we went to a dance studio where the girls had one hour of instruction in Irish dancing.  Many of them picked it up fairly quickly - ask them to show you when they get back home!

We attribute all the good weather to one of our travelers who sends a daily e-mail to God asking for beautiful weather!  It sure seems to be working.  We are scheduled to be in Scotland in a couple days where they are having very dry and warm weather.

Got back to the hotel about 9:30pm.  Many were tired and since we have to get up really early to depart the next morning,packed and headed to bed.

Tuesday, May 28, Day 3

Tuesday, another wonderful day on the Emerald Isle. Breakfast was your usual continental breakfast - cereal, juice, milk, toast, etc, until they brought out the scrambled eggs and the excellent tea and coffee.

Weather started cool and rainy, and rained almost ever time we got on the bus.  The good news - it seemed to stop as we got to each new location.  We have a lucky person traveling with us who prays for these weather breaks so we can enjoy the trip.  Seems to be working.

We left Killarney about 7:30 am and headed toward Blarney Castle and Waterford, driving over many small, tree-lined highways and seemingly just barely missing colliding with other buses or trucks.  Our driver Dani is superb!.

Blarney was beautiful.  Many people climbed to the top of the tower to kiss the Blarney Stone.

Blarney Castle

The grounds were very nice, even the Poison Garden. Much shopping in the Blarney Store was done.  We picked up some sandwiches to eat while we were traveling over lunch time to Waterford.

The history of Waterford Crystal Company is very interesting.  They got purchased by a conglomerate in 2010 which is trying to continue the level of production previously enjoyed by Waterford.  The town itself is nice and historic. We had a nice tour of the factory where we observed the artisans creating their products.  The have to be very skilled in working with glass/crystal to produce their remarkable pieces.  Here are a couple of examples in their showroom...

This bear, although standing 3 ft high, lists for 30,000 Euros (26,000 about if shipped to US and the tax removed...)  But this one is something else..

This Cinderella pumpkin carriage and horses lists for 40,000 Euros - that's about $52,000 !!!  Wow.

During the tour, our tour guide introduced our 2 Scout leaders to the head of the Girl Guides for the Waterford area, Caroline.  She invited us back to camp with them.

We had a 2 hour drive headed to Dublin.  Noticed lots of school children in the towns, all dressed in their school uniforms.  All the primary schools in Ireland have uniforms.  Saw lots of cattle and sheep in the fields.  All the sheep still had all their wool.  Great hills and valleys.

We made it into Dublin this evening, had a good dinner and watched some Irish dancing and listened to some Irish singing.  Most headed to the hotel (where it's late and storming outside, again.) and a few stayed for an Irish show.   The Irish show after dinner was really cool.  One of our adults actually got to help sing and one of  the boys was taken up onto the dance floor to dance.  Was a very enjoyable evening.

Monday, May 27, 2013, Day 2, and we have arrived in the Emerald Isle.

Before we proceed, we wish to acknowledge all those people who have contributed so much to keep our nation free.  Thanks to all those who have served on this Memorial Day...  

So we arrived at Shannon Airport about 8:30am Ireland time.  And since Ireland is famous for all its green because of all the rain, we arrived in a small rain shower.  But that didn't dampen our spirits!  Only one bag did not arrive with us, but it is supposed to catch up with us tomorrow.  We went through passport control (and everyone still had theirs - none left on the plane) then picked up our bags and went through customs control.  A breeze.  Our tour guide Ali was waiting for us, with our big white bus we will have while we are in Ireland.

Our welcome to the Shannon airport

Ali, our fantastic tour director.

Our "coach".

The majority of the group headed to the Cliffs of Moher while a smaller group went to BunRatty Castle.

Cliffs of Moher.

Ad monument by the visitor center at the Cliffs.

We are at our small hotel, resting and recuperating, preparing to maybe get a carriage ride, explore the city of Killarney, then have dinner about 6:30pm...

Sunday, May 26, 2013 - Day 1

We are at JFK in New York!!!!

Had good flights - Omaha to Detroit and Detroit to JFK  Flights were on time, even arriving early in both places.  We have 2.5 hours to wait until we board the flight to Shannon Airport in Ireland!  EVERYONE is excited.  We picked up our final 3 travelers at JFK so we are up to our full contingent of 29 people.

Final instructions.

The Omaha contingent.

Keeping occupied waiting for the plane.

On the first flight.

Meeting up with our group from Maine.

Great appreciative comments from the crews and gate workers after we presented them their Girl Scout cookies!

And we are off from JFK about 9:30pm, IRELAND bound!!

Be sure to check out the web page dedicated to the trip - 

https://sites.google.com/site/troop5483/europe-2013-trip

The final meeting and suitcase check before departure in ONE week!!!