Dentist, Washing & A Boat Trip

Unfortunately for me, a couple of days earlier I started to develop a tooth abscess. Painkillers and some Potcheen supplied by Paul weren't working (I am not sure that it was full-strength moonshine...) so I decided to take myself off to find a dentist. I found a very nice man in Headford who prescribed some antibiotics. While I was out and about trying to cure myself, Anita stayed with Paul, doing the washing and no doubt discussing old times, families and the way of the world generally. 

After lunch, Paul hitched up his boat and we all went off to Luimnagh East on Lough Corrib to launch it. The Corrib is a huge expanse of water that gives its name to the area. Luimnagh East is towards the bottom end of the Lough and is the main area where Paul goes fishing. Cruising around the islands in the Lough, it was easy to understand his love of the place. We cruised down as far as the Annaghdown Tower before making our way back along the channel through the narrows and the ramp where we launched the boat. 

 Launching the boat

 Out on the Corrib

 Lough Corrib with the Connemara in the distance

Pike fishermen with the Annaghdown Tower on the shoreline

That night, we went into Headford for a nice dinner at Anglers Rest Hotel.

To the Other Side of Ireland

Today we left Dublin for the other side of Ireland to visit Anita's cousin Paul who lives in County Galway. After our breakfast we walked down the road to Budget to pick-up our hire car. This time we got a 2008 registered black Astra that had dome a mere 114,843 km - that is correct, over 100,000 km. The pre-departure damage check took quite a while because, as you can imagine, it had had a rather hard life - it looked a bit like it had been dragged through a hedge backwards...

Once we were away from Budget, we went back to the B&B, collected our bags, checked out and set off. As we weren't planning to be driving for long in Ireland, we hadn't bought any road maps and were just depending on the basic map provided by Budget. It was OK but with very little detail given for Dublin itself, it was a bit of trial and error before we were heading off where we wanted to. We avoided the Motorway (no scenery) and took the quieter roads to Trim and Trim Castle. Like most old towns, Trim was walled town. What makes it different is that the vast majority of the walls still exist today, at times dividing the modern town itself.

It was in Trim that we were first really struck with a big difference between Ireland and the UK - Ireland is colourful! All the houses are painted in bright colours, usually quite different to the one beside it and the architectural details are picked out in a contrasting colour. Trim Castle dates from the 11th Century and, although a ruin, is a fascinating place to visit. A lot of work has been done to restore the Keep so that guided tours can be conducted. The guided tour was fantastic and well worth the extra 1 Euro they charged...

The main street of Trim - coulourful and tidy

The Keep of Trim Castle with some of the other ruins in the foreground

The main entry gate to Trim Castle - uphill to make it that much harder for raiders

 Sheep Gate - still in original condition

The South Wall and the Barbican Gate

It was getting on in the afternoon when we left Trim with Athlone as Paul had suggested that we visit the monastery in nearby Clonmacnoise on our way over. Being used to using the small scale road maps we had in England, we had misjudged the distances on the larger scale map we had. Ireland is in fact reasonably large, especially when you are traveling on the slower rural roads. We dropped on to the Motorway to get to Athlone quickly and discovered we still had over 150 km to go to Galway. The monastery would have to wait as we didn't want to get to Paul's place too late.

By the time we got to Ballinastoe, we were bored with the Motorway and decided we had enough time for some more scenery. We headed off on the rural roads again, driving through Mount Bellew and Horseleap to Tuam. We were now in the vicinity of Paul's place but the only problem was that his directions assumed we would be coming up from Galway, not coming the other way. Still, we only made one false start before we found our way to his house in Carrownaherick West.

Paul's Castle in Carrownaherick West

After a wonderful home-cooked dinner, Paul took us out to Campbell's Tavern, his favourite pub. It was Irish Music night at the pub and the place was packed at 10 o'clock. Most of the entertainment was provided by a 3-piece band of fiddle, flute and guitar and this was supplemented by, even now and then, one of the locals singing a song. It was absolutely wonderful and easy to see why Paul loves living where he does.

When Irish Eyes are Smiling...

Today it was time to say farewell to England, even if only temporarily. We were off to Ireland to visit Anita's cousin Paul who lives near Galway. For now though, our destination is Dublin. Although flying there is commonplace, we decided to take up the opportunity of a bargain fare and go by train and ferry. So after an early breakfast, we checked out and dragged our bags across the road to Euston Station. We had arrived with plenty of time so we joined the "waiting game" - standing in the forecourt waiting for the platform number of your train to come up.

The Waiting Game at Euston

Ours came up as Platform 3 with plenty of time available to stroll over and board (sometimes it seems that you get less than 5 minutes). It was a brilliantly fast run with stops only at Milton Keynes Central, Crewe and Chester before we crossed the border into Wales where we stopped at Rhyl, Llandudno Junction and Bangor before arriving at Holyhead less than 4 hours after leaving London. There is no way you could do that trip in anything like that time in a car.
 

 A line up of Virgin trains at Euston - ours is on the left

Arrival at Holyhead

Holyhead marked the change from train to ferry and it was here that we saw the fabled English passion for queuing at its best. We had to check-in for the ferry so after walking around from the train, nearly everyone lined up at the check-in desk. Having taken our time to get there, we would have been at the back off the queue so we went off to buy something to eat. When we returned, the queue hadn't progressed so I went to have a look. The reason why was simple - there was no one on the desk! We sat down and ate lunch while we waited for the queue to start moving...

After checking in for the ferry and going through the security check, we all got a bus to be taken out to the ferry. In the "good old days", the ferries docked beside the railway station but these days the ferries are much bigger and are much further away. We left port on time and headed out into the Irish Sea. About a third of the way over, a RAF Rescue helicopter caught up to us and circled for a while. All passengers were cleared from the outside deck and the helicopter dropped onto the helipad a couple of times. Nothing was said as to why and they were thar quick, it may have only been a practice. Anyway, it was a little bit of unexpected entertainment.
 

 The Ulysses - our ferry

 Leaving Holyhead

The RAF pays us a visit en route

We docked in Ireland and disembarked. Passing through Immigration was almost perfunctory, customs even more so. The EU has certainly simplified internal travel within Europe. Once on Irish soil, we jumped in a taxi and went to our B&B, Tinode House, in Drumcondra. For dinner, we wandered down to Fagans, an Irish pub opposite Budget where we will get our car tomorrow.

 Land Ho! - it's Ireland

Tinode House - our B&B

One really shouldn't laugh at the Irish but ...

London's Melting

The day had finally come for the centrepiece of the trip for Anita and her cousins Jenny and Linda - High Tea at The Ritz with Diane to celebrate her 60th Birthday. And what a day it was...London melted! After quite a warm day yesterday, the temperature was expected to go over 30 C. Although not particularly hot in Melbourne terms, it is for Londoners.
 

Before it got too hot, we went out and did some shopping and changed some Traveller's Cheques. By the time they had finished mucking around in the bank writing details on them all and then photocopying them, it took over 20 minutes. These things are now out-dated and we won't be using them again - the pre-loaded debit cards have worked fine and are far less trouble.

 Selfridges in Oxford Street

 A line-up of London buses

A Victoria line train arriving at Green Park

After dressing for the occasion, Anita and I set off for The Ritz. Travelling on the Tube was really hot and sweaty. You go so far underground for some lines and stations that you could be excused for thinking that heat was coming from the earth's molten core but I think the real cause is just the heat from the train's electric motors building up in the tunnels and not escaping. We stepped out at Green Park right next door to The Ritz and met Jenny, Linda and Diane outside. Me, I was only invited to take some photos before they all went inside. Job done, I wandered around for a little while before going back to the hotel where the air-conditioning was working. Anita eventually returned after having a wonderful afternoon with her cousins and later on, we went downstairs yet again for a light dinner.

  Ready for High Tea at The Ritz

Off to the South Coast Again

Today we went off to the South Coast again but this time our destination was Arundel. For most people heading there, their ultimate destination is Arundel Castle not us. We went to visit Anita's friend Marion from her schoolgirl days in England. Just as we did when we went to Eastbourne, we went by train to Arundel. Using trains to get places in England is brilliant - lots of them, generally on time, clean, not crowded too often and cheap if you book ahead (if you don't book ahead the prices can be horrendous). 

To get to Arundel, we took a Bognor Regis train from Victoria Station. With the engineering works still in full swing, getting to Victoria required two Tubes, one to Embankment and then a change to the Circle Line. We got there in plenty of time and settled into our train once the platform number came up on the screen. One thing to keep in mind if you are using trains over here is that you need to keep on the ball. When the time comes for the train to leave, it just leaves - no announcements, no Guard's whistles, no train whistles, the doors are locked and it goes...
 

 The ticket queue at Victoria - booking on-line saves time as well as money...

The Bognor Regis train - our train to Arundel

Our route was the same as that for Eastbourne as far as Three Bridges. Here we headed off in a south westerly direction through Horsham, Billingshurst and Pulborough until we arrived at Arundel. Marion was there, with her daughter Eleanor, at the station to meet us. We jumped in their car and went around to Marion's house to meet up with her husband Terry and dog, Bonnie. We hadn't seen Marion and Terry since we were England last, 35 years ago, so it was really great to catch up with them. It was glorious afternoon so after lunch Terry and I spent most of the afternoon sitting in the sun "solving the problems of the world". Anita and Marion no doubt did the same in between catching up on old times. Eleanor had the good sense to go off down the local pool with her friends and make the most of the sun. Mind you, while sitting in the sun turning slightly pink, it was hard to comprehend that in winter there is snow on the ground.

Marion, Anita, Terry and Eleanor

Bonnie

It was really great catching up with Marion and Terry after all this time but the day did have to come to an end. Marion gave us a quick tour around Arundel as she drove us back to the station to catch the 7:08 train back to London. Like Eastbourne, Arundel is another place that we need to visit the next time we are in England. When we made it back to our hotel, we went downstairs for dinner.

Shopping in London

We decided that today would be a shopping day and not a sightseeing day in London. With no particular urgency for the day, we got up late and so didn't get out until l1. The objective was Oxford Street and, with the Victoria Tube closed for the weekend, we decided to take a bus. Not having checked out the bus routes first, this was a bit of a gamble. We were generally heading in the right direction but then suddenly the bus turned left and we went over the Thames.

The quiet before the storm - the business district of London

We jumped off the bus at the first opportunity and started back on foot. So with a little impromptu sightseeing, we made our way past the Savoy Hotel and through Covent Garden until we made Oxford Street. We then headed west towards Marble Arch visiting the House of Fraser, Selfridges and M&S (Marks & Spencer re-badged) to name a few. It seemed that half of London had decided to go shopping on Oxford Street today. The crowds inside the shops and on the street were bedlam. By the time we reached Marble Arch we were a little tired so we caught a couple of tubes back to Russell Square. This was a near as we could conveniently get to our hotel with the Victoria Tube closed.

 Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

 The Savoy Hotel

 Covent Garden

Marble Arch

Later in the afternoon, we ventured out shopping again. This time we headed for Knightsbridge and Harrods. If half of London was in Oxford Street, the other half was inside Harrods itself. It was Sale time and you couldn't move at times for people hunting a bargain. Still, it was worth the effort of looking around, the place is amazing. The Egyptian Escalators are unlike anything I have ever seen in a shop of any type. After a while we fought our way out and went wandering down Sloane Street, the home of just about every upmarket shop that every existed. 

 Harrods of Knightsbridge

Harrod's Egyptian Escalator

From there we wandered through Belgrave Square and the Embassy corner of London until we got to Victoria Station. This was a very different corner of London as characterised by the cars. Ferraris were that common it was a bit boring. If you wanted something special it needed to be a Lamborghini or a Maserati of which there were a few...

We took the Tube back to Euston via Embankment and went into the Royal George for dinner. We went there for old times sake, it being the pub that Anita's Aunty Muriel and Uncle Jim were running when we were in England 35 years ago.

 The Royal George in Euston

Off to the South Coast for the day

Today we went visiting Anita's Aunty Audrey, Cousin Jamie and Aunty Josie who all live in Eastbourne on the South Coast. From our hotel in Euston we went across London by Tube to Victoria Station where we boarded a Southern Railways train for Eastbourne. We settled into the front carriage of our 8-car train as the train was, in typical fashion for trains in England, dividing in two part way on our journey. For our particular train, it divided at Haywards Heath with the rear portion going to Littlehampton and our portion going to Eastboune and on to Hastings and then Ore.

 Victoria Station concourse - the big wait for the platform number to be displayed

Victoria Station - our train to Eastbourne is on the right

Jamie met us at Eastbourne Station and took us to Aunty Audrey's place after first driving down the beside the seaside. Eastbourne Pier was a magnificent sight. It was a pity that we didn't have time to go and explore it however today was about visiting family so it will just have to wait until the next time we are in England...

We last saw Aunty Audrey about 13 years ago when she last visited Australia and we hadn't seen Jamie since we were last in England 35 years ago so it was really great catching up with them. Aunty Josie lives nearby so we all went around to The Rodmill, their local hotel, for lunch. After lunch we all went back to Aunty Audrey's place and continued talking about family and old times. Eventually it was time for us to return to London so Jamie dropped us back at Eastbourne station in time to catch 5:57 PM train. We arrived back quite late and had dinner downstairs in our hotel again.

 Aunty Audrey, Aunty Josie, Anita, Jamie (l-r)

 A fond farewell

Our train to London arriving at Eastbourne

A Quiet Day in London

Today Anita decided to join Linda and Jenny on a tourist bus around London so left me free to have a quiet day in London. I spent the morning taking care of a few chores such as the laundry (serviced washes are good value...), cashing some travelers cheques and some shopping in Oxford Street. In the afternoon, I went and did the tourist thing myself.

First I took the Tube to Charing Cross so I could go visit Trafalgar Square. Here I saw something that isn't very common anymore, an old half-cab double-decker still in public service. A limited number have been brought back into service on a couple of "tourist routes", one being route 15. From here I walked down Whitehall to see the Household Cavalry and got there in time to see the Guard Inspection at the end of the day.

 A traditional London Bus still in public service

Nelson's Column at Trafalgar Square

 The Blues and Royals on guard duty

Guard Inspection at the end of the day

From there I wandered down to the Thames and caught a Tube from Embankment to make my way around the the vicinity of St Paul's Cathedral. The cathedral is in the commercial east of London and the area is not of much interest otherwise for tourists. Looking for a Tube back to Euston, I found myself at Farringdon station in an area that reminded me of West Melbourne in the vicinity of the Victoria Markets. Anita and I were both rather tired from our outings so we eat downstairs again tonight.

 A District line train leaving Mansion House station for Upminster

 St Paul's Cathedral with a modern bus in the foreground

St Paul's Cathedral