My Newest Adventures in Western Europe and the UK in 2016 - by Anne Shier

Overview of my Travels to Western Europe and the UK

This narrative is about my opinions and observations of the differences and similarities between my life in Canada compared with my travels in Western Europe and the UK in September and October 2016.

First of all, I couldn’t help but notice that we, in Canada, take living space very much for granted.  Everything, like houses and buildings, are built much closer together and the houses are smaller.  The streets are much narrower.  The rooms in our hotels were usually smaller, though not always.  In my hotel rooms, I noticed that, in many cases, the tub in the bathroom was narrower, making it somewhat awkward to take a bath.  Sometimes a shower stall was provided, but many times it was not.  And, a few times, the toilet was in a separate room beside the room with the sink and the tub.  That was strange to me.

 

Sometimes, particularly if the bedroom portion of the hotel room was small, there was a single bed.  That was fine for a single traveller like me, but I wondered what happened when there two single travellers.  Did they have two single beds?  Was their room big enough for two people?  If a married couple had a small bedroom, was their bed big enough for the two of them?  I couldn’t help but wonder what that situation was like.  When I asked one of the single travellers who had a single travel companion about this, she said that it was very uncomfortable for both since one of them had to sleep on a fold-out couch, which usually is uncomfortable at the best of times, even at home in Canada.  I assumed that they took turns sleeping on a fold-out couch whenever there was one.

Another thing that was different was the toilets.  Did you know that there are dozens of ways to flush a toilet?  There was the button on the top of the toilet tank or on the wall; there was the chain in the ceiling; there was the button or bubble on the floor; there was the usual handle on the left or right on the toilet tank; there was even hand-waving in front of a wall sensor!  It was amazing to me that there were so many ways to flush!  The best example of something different regarding the toilet was something I saw in Germany at a public rest stop where we saw a toilet that used “new toilet technology”!  You’d have to see it to believe it!  It was amusing to watch it operate.  The toilet seat rotated around and around after being sprinkled with water and/or disinfectant (I’m not sure what that liquid was) and then you had to wave your hand in front of a wall sensor to get it to flush!  Very funny!

The other thing that was different about public toilets was that there was sometimes a charge for using them.  It was usually only about 50 pence (in the UK) or 70 cents (on the continent), but still, there was a charge.  God knows what would happen if you really had to go, but you didn’t have any change!

The bus was different in the UK.  As you may already know, drivers drive on the left side of the road.  That means that the side the driver sits on is the right front side.  The left front side is where the front door is.  There is a side door for mounting or dismounting and that is on the right side in the middle of the bus.  In Europe, however, drivers drive on the right side of the road.  The buses there are similar to the ones I am used to using in Canada.  The right front side is where the front door is.  The side door, though, is still on the right side in the middle of the bus.

This tour was different this time round in Western Europe and the UK compared to my European tour in June 1981.  That time, there were people from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Canada, and the USA on the tour.  This time, there were people only from Canada, the USA, and Australia.  There were no Asians or Africans on this tour.  And, this tour was not exactly a budget tour either like my previous one had been.  The hotels were of a better quality.  We had hotel porters to help with the baggage; we didn’t have to share our shower and bathroom facilities with the rest of the floor in our hotels.  The hotel rooms, in general, were a lot nicer and more comfy.  And, the food, in general, was of a better quality no matter where we were eating our meals.

Something else that was definitely different is computer technology.  Everyone has a cell phone and uses it regularly.  Road signs were computerized at times; advertising signs were computerized at times; hotel signs were computerized at times.  In fact, computer knowledge is just as great as in Canada and the USA.  In June 1981, computers were still rarely used.  In 1981, we had to bring travellers’ cheques and some cash with us on vacations overseas; in 2016, we could use ATM machines in foreign countries to withdraw cash from our bank accounts or credit cards in whatever currency we needed at the time, so we weren’t so limited in the cash we brought.  The only real security restriction is that, today, any amount over $10,000 in Canadian, US, or Euro-dollars, or 10,000 pounds Sterling would have been questioned by border police.  The security restriction was probably instituted so that people couldn’t bring drug money into or out of a country for whatever reason.  Or, the reason may have had more to do with discouraging the financing of terrorist activities with drug money.

Finally, the television programming that I saw overseas, especially in the UK, was excellent!  BBC News programming covers world issues thoroughly so that people like me understand them better.  BBC game shows were a hoot to watch!  Even BBC television programs were intriguing to me, especially since I rarely watch television programs, and never news programs, at home.  Of all of these types of programming, I liked BBC News the best.  Given the chance to watch BBC programs of any kind on the continent as well as in the UK, I chose BBC every time.  The nearest rival at home in Canada would be CTV News, which also does a pretty good job of covering world issues.  Perhaps in the near future, I will watch CTV News more often, if only to stay up to date.  Another good alternative is CP24 News, which I’ve been watching at my hotel, Homewood Suites, in Ajax, Ontario on a regular basis.

All in all, travel overseas no matter where you choose to go is an education of sorts.  You get to see how people in other parts of the world live, how their lives are similar to ours and how they’re different.  So, I can’t wait for my next overseas vacation to Scandinavia so that I can learn more about my own family’s heritage (Finnish) and about how people in Finland and other Scandinavian countries live.

copyright 2016 - Anne Shier

My Adventures in the UK - DAY 1 to 3 - by Anne Shier

(this narrative began when I left Toronto, Ontario, Canada on September 2, 2016 and landed in London, England on September 3, 2016.  My first tour - Britain and Ireland in Depth - was to start on September 5, 2016.  It began in London, England, went southwest all the way to Land's End in England, then northeast to Wales, across the Irish Sea to Ireland and N. Ireland, then back to England and south back to London)
Thursday September 1, 2016:

Today, Linda Cicchetti at Sears Travel finalized my travel plans - all flights and train rides - the Globus tour operator looks after the bus, hotels and food on both tours.  The first tour is called "Britain and Ireland in Depth" and will last for 25 days.  The second tour is called "Continental Introduction" and will last for 14 days.  Of the 44 days (Sept. 2nd to Oct. 16th) that I'll be overseas, only 5 days will be spent on my own; 39 of these days will be on tour.

Friday September 2 and Saturday September 3, 2016:

The Air Canada flight (AC 856) that I was scheduled to board at 6:35 pm (Toronto time) almost went awry.  I was heading towards the plane after going through security, and some guy who was selling CIBC Visa cards at an airport kiosk, waylaid me and delayed my progress by five minutes or so.  Anyway, I was delayed just enough to arrive right at 6:35 pm when the airline was making its last call for passengers to board.  Fortunately, they were looking for me since my suitcase was on board already and I was able to show my boarding pass and check in just under the wire!  I will never let that happen again.  It was too close for comfort!

The flight itself was interesting because each passenger had his/her own TV screen, which faced him/her.  It was built into the seat of the passenger directly in front and was a touch-screen monitor that each passenger could use to play their chosen games, watch any TV shows and movies they wanted, and monitor the progress of the flight.  I thought it was neat.  There was certainly nothing like this available on the last jumbo jet we flew to the UK thirty-five years ago.  Technology has certainly taken leaps and bounds regarding air travel across the ocean. The key difference between first-class and coach, which is where I was, is the size of each seat and the size of the monitor facing each passenger.  First-class passengers have a lot more leg room and comfort.  I found that sitting in coach made me feel cramped for this six-and-a-half hour flight.  Oh well, minor inconvenience!

I played several games of Trivial Pursuit with the computer, passing levels one and two.  Level three turned out to be a challenge, however.  But, I finally passed level three, at least once.  Then, I watched a couple of movies – I can’t remember their names though – because the TV shows weren’t that interesting to me.  There was dinner service on the plane and I chose a pasta dinner that had a small coleslaw-like salad and brownie for dessert and a small bottle of water.  That dinner, though not large, was enough to satisfy my appetite for the duration of the flight.  I think there was also supposed to be a continental-type breakfast, but it didn’t look interesting enough to eat, so I passed on it.  Generally, the flight went smoothly and we arrived at London’s Heathrow airport at 6:34 am, pretty much on time.  I was tired, but was holding my own at this point.  Would you believe that we’d just flown over 5,900 km from Toronto in six and a half hours?

Then, of course, we had to go through secure document check-in where an airport official looked at my passport and asked me what I am doing in the UK and for how long.  That conversation took maybe five minutes and I was then cleared to go to baggage re-claim.  Unfortunately, I had to leave behind my big tube of toothpaste and a similarly sized tube of lotion during the scan of my backpack.  The airlines do not want you to put biggish containers with liquids and creams in them in your carry-on bag.  But, after this is when things really started to go wrong.  I was under some mistaken assumption (through Linda at Sears Travel, possibly?) that my suitcase – the huge suitcase that I’d checked in at Pearson airport in Toronto – was to be transferred to my hotel – the London Hilton Metropole – without my help, but I was wrong!  I took a taxi to my hotel, but found out shortly after arriving there and being taken to the Globus Tours office in the hotel, that my luggage was missing!  This lady there told me she would look into it and I would have to wait.  Well, I waited and waited and waited until she finally told me that I would have to go the airport myself again and retrieve my missing suitcase!

By this time, I was getting very hot and exhausted – due to not getting any sleep on the plane and my baggage fiasco – that I sure wasn’t in any kind of mood to be trekking back to that huge airport building to look for my bag, yet I had to.  No one else was going to be able to do it for me.  Fortunately, the very nice lady in the Globus Tours office told me how I could get to Heathrow airport very quickly and relatively cheaply, on my own!  I had some grave doubts about doing this, but she pointed me in the right direction, told me to proceed for about seven minutes on foot on Praed Street – right in front of the hotel - to Paddington train station and buy a round trip ticket to Heathrow airport aboard the Heathrow Express (the name of that particular train service).  I somehow managed to get to Paddington train station, buy a round trip ticket with very little assistance (thank God, I’d bought some pounds Sterling in Toronto already), and boarded the Heathrow Express train on my own.  So far, so good!

It only took about fifteen minutes to get back to Heathrow airport on the Heathrow Express and then I had to somehow locate a baggage inquiry phone and tell an airport official my problem.  Yes, I was exhausted, but at least I was now at the airport and I just had to find out where my suitcase was and retrieve it.  To do that, I had to go through security again and show my passport, but I only had my purse with me (due to having checked in at the hotel) and my Globus file folder with my tour papers in it.  After I went through security with no problem, this very kind gentleman, an airport official, took me over to the baggage department and helped me locate my missing bag.  Then, I just had to fill out a simple form and sign it and I could then leave the airport building and go back to my hotel.  I did not have to go back through security anymore.

So, after walking back to the Heathrow Express, I got on and rode it back to my hotel.  Finally in my room, I was able to take an extended hot shower after getting out of my damp clothing that I’d been wearing since yesterday morning.  It felt so good to be clean and dry again!  I somehow rustled up the energy to go out and find something to eat – I’d had a sandwich earlier at the hotel – and I found this nice little deli right across the street from my hotel called “Pret a Manger”.  I bought some breakfast compote that looked appetizing, two cups of fresh fruit, and a can of apple juice.  I figured that would be enough to fill my craving for a light dinner.  I really didn’t have the energy to get any other kind of food or to eat anything heavy.  I went back to my hotel and ate dinner while watching my first pay-per-view movie called “Everest”.  It was a good movie, but I sort of fell asleep while watching it.

 

When I got up later, it was getting dark.  It’s now early evening in London.  I was feeling more energetic by now, so I wrung out the damp clothes that had been sitting on the floor of my wet shower where I’d rinsed them, and started writing in my daily journal.  Day One was written yesterday afternoon at Pearson airport in longhand, so I still have to type up my notes, and Day Two is being written today directly on my notebook computer at my hotel this evening.  In another day or two, I will be joining my first tour of the British Isles at this hotel and I’m looking forward to this tour experience very much.  I’ve never seen the British Isles except for London and a tiny bit of southern England.  It should be very interesting.

copyright 2016 - Anne Shier 

My Adventures in the UK - DAY 4 - by Anne Shier

(this narrative began from when I first landed in London on September 3, 2016)

Sunday September 4, 2016:

It’s 1:35 am right now and I’ve watched two more pay-per-view movies:  “Bridget Jones’s Diary” and “Stanford Prison Experiment”.  For totally different reasons, they were both good movies that I enjoyed and actually stayed awake while watching.  I haven’t gone back to sleep yet.  The sleep I had yesterday happened in the late afternoon to early evening.  I guess my biological clock is totally screwed up now.  Why?  There is a five-hour time-zone difference between Toronto and London nor did I sleep at all on the plane while travelling to London.  I was tired and I wanted to sleep earlier in the day, but it was impossible due to the baggage issues I was experiencing and had to solve in a hurry.  By the time I got back from Heathrow International Airport the second time and, after walking around in that huge airport building for what seemed like kilometres, all I wanted was a hot shower, to brush my teeth, and then relax with a movie.  The movie I chose yesterday afternoon was “Everest” and I’m pretty sure I didn’t see the whole thing due to fatigue, but what I did see of it was good.

Yesterday, during my second time at the airport, I purchased a much-needed SIM card for my new cell phone.  It was set up by the girl who works for SIM Local, the vendor, and will be ready for use as soon as it’s installed.  I’m not sure how I’m going to do that, but I could try to install it by myself.  And, I would have to buy some “top-up” time for data roaming in order to make calls or send texts and emails.  That means it would then be good for use in the UK and later, in Europe.  I will also have to buy myself a watch so that I always know what time it is.  Cell phones will also give you the time, but they’re sometimes unreliable because they can run out of juice and need to be re-charged.  I also changed the time-zone (and indirectly the time) on my notebook computer and then inserted the icon for my clock and calendar on the desktop.  I think I’ll need to buy a new pair of sunglasses as well because the ones I had at home were too uncomfortable.  I’m sure I’ll have to buy something else too, but I’m not sure what yet.  I just want to make sure I’m ready for touring tomorrow morning.

On Monday September 5^th, we are doing a tour of London only.  On Tuesday September 6^th, the tour will leave London and head north and, at that point, I will start seeing some places that I’ve never seen before.  I’m not sure about this, but I think I will be spending Monday night in this hotel too, as part of the tour.  Cool!  Twenty-five days of touring the UK should be terrific – I’m looking forward to it.

I watched two more pay-per-view movies – “The Holiday” and “Sisters” through the night – finally falling asleep again, but I’m not sure when – and woke up today around 10:30 am.  After getting ready, I decided that I was going to tour London on one of those hop on/hop off bus tours that are offered to tourists.  I just had to find out where to buy my ticket, which I later found out, was at my hotel.  The concierge pointed me in the direction of Hyde Park and told me that’s where to pick up the tour bus.  So, with a little bit of trepidation, I set out on foot and eventually arrived at what I thought was Hyde Park (it wasn’t, but I was very close).  I caught the correct tour bus after asking a tour guide there and stayed on it for maybe a couple of hours.  Finally, while on this bus, I saw a London pub called “The Sherlock Holmes” and decided I had to stop and have a bite for lunch.  After that, I hopped back on the tour bus, but started to realize I was getting too tired.  So, shortly after hopping back on, I hopped off again for good.  It was now time to run the errands that I needed to get done today.

 

So, I got my SIM card installed with some help from a nice cell phone vendor guy and I bought a nice, basic wrist watch for myself.  While I was doing these things, I met this lovely Lebanese man and thought, why can’t I meet men like this more often? Then, I looked for some sunglasses and inquired at a pharmacy about their availability.  The very nice lady there told me I didn’t have to worry about having sunglasses anymore – the London weather was going to be cloudy from now on!  I asked her, “Are you sure?” and she checked on her cell phone for the weather forecast over the next few days and she was right!  However, it’s supposed to get sunny again by next Thursday…..we’ll see.  If I really need to buy some sunglasses while we’re touring Great Britain, I will find a vendor from which to buy them.

Now that I’m back at my hotel, updating my journal on my computer, I’m starting to feel really tired and just want to veg out and watch some TV.  Early tomorrow morning (8:05 am), we are meeting as a tour group and touring London for the day.  But, I don’t care if I tour London again – there are dozens of ways to see London.  I would love it if we took a river cruise on the Thames, for example.  There is also a walking tour of the places where Jack the Ripper, London’s most famous serial killer of the 19^th century roamed the streets killing young woman at random.  And, I’m sure I only saw a small fraction of the places there are to see here, so far.

 

Would you believe that I actually chose a pay-per-view porn movie this afternoon?  As a matter of fact, I didn’t believe it myself until I chose one.  I was so bored for something new to watch, I decided to choose this kind of movie – something I wouldn’t ordinarily do.   As it turns out, it wasn’t a movie I particularly enjoyed, but it was educational…..I didn’t know people did sexual things like that to each other.  What do I know about such things anyway?  I honestly can’t remember the last time I got laid.  It must have been maybe ten years or more ago.  The point is that I must have been desperate to do such a thing.  But, at least I learned something, so I guess it was a good thing overall.

This afternoon, while watching yet another pay-per-view movie, “Crimson Peak”, I spent a little time filling out the required Emergency Contact papers – one for each tour.  I don’t suppose it’s a big deal unless something bad happens to me and then Globus Tours will have to get in touch with my designated emergency contact, which in my case is a family friend.  Why?  Because Dave (Burton) is much easier to get in touch with at any given time than my son Brent is.  All I have left to do before the beginning of my first tour tomorrow is to ensure that I wake up early enough to get ready, eat a bit of breakfast, and meet the tour group by 8:05 am.  Maybe a wake-up call is in order?  Or, I could try to set the alarm on my new cell phone and see if it actually works and wakes me up on time.  You know, people who travel with others don’t usually have this problem – there’s always someone who gets up early enough and wakes everyone else up.  Well, I am just going to have to be self-sufficient enough to make sure I do my own wake-up calls.  As it turns out, I was easily able to set my alarm on my new cell phone – no problem.  I just had to make sure the alarm time was correct (6:00 am) and that the sound of the alarm is loud enough to wake me up.

Tonight, instead of watching movies or, as I am doing right now, listening to BBC Radio (a free service provided by my hotel), I will pick up one of my Sidney Sheldon books shortly called “After the Darkness” and try to lull myself to sleep.  Hopefully, that will work well, which should ensure I get enough sleep tonight.  In any event, I am really looking forward to the start of my tour of Great Britain tomorrow!

There’s one more thing I have to learn how to do – place an international call to Brent and Dave in Canada.  I won’t be calling anyone else on my new cell phone though.  I believe you type in “+44” followed by the complete number, including area code.  I was going to try it this afternoon, but kind of chickened out.  So, I will ask someone on the tour tomorrow exactly how to do this, then call Brent and tell him my new cell phone number.  He can then give it to Dave.  I will be calling Dave more than Brent, but I will send text messages to Brent, as, he usually prefers to communicate this way with me when I’m at home in Ajax.

copyright 2016 - Anne Shier

My Adventures in the UK - DAY 5 - by Anne Shier

(this narrative began from when I first landed in London on September 3, 2016)

Monday September 5, 2016:

Well, today I kind of screwed up – again.  For some unknown reason, I thought that today we were starting the tour.  I think I got confused when Linda at Sears Travel had told me I would be spending only two nights before the tour started, and I’ve already spent two here:  Saturday and Sunday nights.  But, today is actually the day when everyone who signed up for this tour worldwide actually arrives in London and checks into this hotel.  That is, today is Day 1 of the tour and, therefore, tomorrow is Day 2 when we will tour the city of London together.  I must add that this hotel is awesome.  I am situated on the nineteenth floor and have an incredible view of London from my window.  Plus, the common areas of the hotel are really lovely.  To tell you the truth, this hotel is a lot more upscale than I am used to, but I’ve gotten used to being here very quickly.

So, again, I have the day to myself.  I was thinking of riding the Underground from Paddington station (not the train station).  Maybe I'll buy a subway map and try and find my way around the subway system on my own, hopefully without getting lost.  I thought I’d gotten lost yesterday while coming back here after the tour bus dropped me off at, or close to, Hyde Park.  But, I guess my innate navigational skills managed to kick in and, when I asked a cab driver who was stopped on the road briefly where the Hilton London Metropole hotel was, he said that I was only two minutes away from it and he pointed me in the direction I’d been going already.  Whew!  Relief!

Right now, I am watching the first pay-per-view movie I’d ordered:  “Everest” again.  I thought it was an excellent movie the first time I saw it, but did not see it to the very end due to having fallen asleep.  This time, I’ll watch the whole thing and probably eventually buy a movie DVD for my collection.  After the movie is over, I’ll do my thing today on the Underground!

So, that is what I did today.  I bought a one-day ticket (a day pass) and rode the Underground for a good part of the afternoon.  I didn’t even need a map. The Underground is so well labeled that I had no problem finding out where I wanted to go and how to get there.  First, I rode the Bakerloo line southbound and then northbound for the length of the line.  After that, I got off at the Baker Street station and switched to the Jubilee line, which goes northwest and southeast.  I rode only on the southeast line to the end and then came back to the Baker Street station.  Finally, I switched to the Metropolitan line at Baker Street, a line which has several branches and corresponding platforms at which to board a train.  I ended up on platform One after buying some lunch on that platform and rode the train northwest all the way to Watford, then back again to Baker Street.  At this point, I was pretty tired and decided to navigate my way back to Paddington Underground station and from there, I was going to walk back to my hotel.  

But, before I walked back, I decided to go look for that lovely Lebanese man who helped me with my cell phone yesterday, but I could not locate his store while walking down Praed Street.  I think the reason is that I should have been walking toward Hyde Park instead of toward Paddington Underground station.  If I get time tomorrow, I’ll try walking down to Hyde Park again and see if I can locate his store.  He was such a lovely man, I wanted to see him again and perhaps give him my email address (assuming he’s not married or in a committed relationship – with my luck, he is).

I had one more thing left to do this afternoon – to tell the hotel guest relations guy in the lobby that I am now part of a Globus tour as of today, and that I am still a registered guest here.  I believe that the hotel thought (and so did I) that I was only paying for two nights, and it’s true – I am paying for two nights myself.  But, what I didn’t know (and neither did they) is that I needed to still be registered in order to be part of our tour, which is about to start once all the registrants show up and check in.  Tomorrow morning, I’ll be meeting some of them and I do hope that there will be fewer hassles for me from now on.  I still plan to be in the UK and then in Europe for the next five weeks or so.

copyright 2016 - Anne Shier

My Adventures in the UK - DAY 6 - by Anne Shier

(this narrative began from when I first landed in London on September 3, 2016)

Tuesday September 6, 2016:

Today, we finally met as a tour group.  I met some really nice Aussies (people from Australia):  Maree, Kitty, and Jeremiah.  They are the Hurleys.  There are many others in our group, but I met these three people almost immediately at our hotel.  We went on the group city tour organized by Globus Tours.  It involved pretty much the same thing I’d already done except that we went into some areas of London not covered by the tour I was on yesterday.  During this tour, we stopped for an hour at St. Paul’s Cathedral, a very special place to Brits because Diana Spencer was married there to Prince Charles in July 1981.  That was just one month after my first visit to London in June 1981.  Apparently, that is the only marriage that has ever taken place at St. Paul’s, but it was Prince Charles’ choice. 

Since the group city tour only lasted till 12:00 noon, we all had the afternoon and evening to ourselves.  I tried to use the hotel’s ATM machine, without success, and after asking for some help from the guest relations guy, I tried again at an external ATM and this time, I got some money out.  After that, I needed to get some lunch, so I started walking down the street towards Hyde Park again.  Not only was I looking for a place to eat lunch, I was also looking for that Lebanese man’s store.  I didn’t know what his store’s name was – all I knew was that it was black on the outside with white writing, the writing was in Arabic, and it sold electronic goods.

 

After meeting that very nice Lebanese man, I found myself deciding, for some reason, to eat at a Lebanese restaurant.  Perhaps I was subconsciously thinking of that man.  After having a very pleasant lunch, which was more like dinner (there was so much food), I continued walking down the street and finally found his store.  We introduced ourselves – his name is Alex – and his store is called iStore (strange name).  He told me that he didn’t have any suitably-sized cell phone cases, but he did recommend that I get some help from a company called Vodephone and get them to set me up with pay-per-use Internet access.  I don’t really understand why I need this service, but apparently making phone calls, sending texts, or sending emails from England to Canada still requires Internet access.  Why free Wi-Fi does not provide that capability, I don’t know.

After I saw Alex, I headed toward Hyde Park to try and buy a ticket for a river cruise.  I’ve never been on one in London and I wanted to do this today very much. After buying a ticket for a Big Bus tour from a vendor on the street, a tour that combines a city tour with a river cruise, I was ready.  It meant I had to go on one more city tour, but this one promised to be different than the ones I went on both yesterday and this morning.  And it was.  Eventually, the bus would arrive at the Thames River and I could get off then and go on the cruise.  It was supposed to last about forty minutes in total and there was a lot to see.  I took lots of pictures, some of which I’m sure I will have to delete.  But, I hope that enough of them turned out that it’s worth having them.  It was a very pleasant city tour and, I was right, it was different than the other ones I’d been on already.  But, what I really enjoyed today was the cruise.  It was definitely worth doing.

We’re leaving London tomorrow morning by 8:15 am and we won’t be back until the end of September again.  On Wednesday, we travel from London to Canterbury then to Brighton on the east coast of England.  On Thursday, we travel from Brighton to Stonehenge and then to Plymouth.  On Friday, we spend time in Plymouth and Cornwall - an excursion is available to us if we choose to participate.  And, on Saturday, we travel from Plymouth to Glastonbury to Bath, then finally to Newport, Wales, which means we will have left England.  That takes care of the first four days of touring; we have twenty-one days to go. 

copyright 2016 - Anne Shier

My Adventures in the UK - DAY 7 - by Anne Shier

(this narrative began from when I first landed in London on September 3, 2016)

Wednesday September 7, 2016:

Today, we left London at around 8:15 am and headed for Canterbury, England.  At about 10:00 am, we arrived in the tiny village of Canterbury.  It is a mixture of very old architecture, like the Canterbury Cathedral, and stores of all kinds selling everything from electronics to everyday things.  It is a tourist heaven here.  We spent about two and a half hours in Canterbury and I was on my own most of the time.  After refreshing myself in the ladies toilet, which is how the English like to refer to the bathroom or washroom, and touring through the Canterbury Cathedral, I proceeded to look for an open cell phone store. 

I’ve been trying to obtain a SIM card that will allow me to connect to any available network, but it’s been difficult, so I thought I’d ask this nice young chap in his “Phonik” electronics store if he could help me.  He sold me another SIM card for only one pound Sterling, but we still couldn’t find an available network to which my phone could connect.  As a result, I was ready to give up on my cell phone altogether.

Instead of wallowing in my misery, I decided to get some lunch since I hadn’t eaten much of a breakfast.  After a lunch of a ham and cheese sandwich, a cup of fruit, and a hot chocolate, I found yet another electronics store called “Three” that deals with cell phone problems, but the same thing happened – no connection.  I was totally and completely frustrated by now at my lack of progress.  Surely this “problem” could be solved somehow!

By this time, I had to go meet my Globus tour group beside our bus.  We were planning to leave at 12:15 pm.  We then continued on our way to Brighton, a seaside resort, passing through some really spectacular countryside.  I was very tired for some reason and dozed off for the second time that day on the bus.

Finally, we arrived in Brighton, although we should have arrived earlier due to being caught in heavy traffic, in time to see the Royal Pavilion, which used to be Queen Victoria’s summer home till about 1863.  Then, the town of Brighton purchased it and tried to re-furbish it, with mixed success.  It is a very large home, which it needed to be since she’d born nine children with her husband, Prince Albert – it is also very luxurious.  I went through it (without the audio aid, I might add) and ended up in the tearoom where I ordered a glass of cold apple juice and a slice of Victoria’s angel food cake.

When the tour group left Brighton, we drove to our Hilton hotel in Avisford Park, which was in Arundel, England.  It was a very quaint and comfy hotel and my room was very nice.  After settling in, we had a lovely dinner downstairs in the dining room; I had a hot bath, set out my clothes for tomorrow morning, and did some journal writing (longhand).  Eventually, it was time to “hit the hay”!  I was really bushed.  Tomorrow, we leave at 8:30 am for Stonehenge and then on to our Holiday Inn Express hotel in Plymouth.  We are here for a day and a half.

I signed up for eight excursions out of a possible thirteen.  I think that’s enough.  They are somewhat costly, but some of them include dinner and a couple of them even include a cruise.  However, I picked the ones I thought I’d enjoy the most.  Tonight, we are going to Dartmouth Moor and will hear some storytelling from a guide there, eat some dinner and have a drink.  This is the first of our excursions.  Tomorrow night, we are going on a cruise, but this one is not part of an excursion – it’s included with our tour package.  I have a record of the excursions I’ve signed up for and will have to pay for them tomorrow morning – it might cost me two hundred pounds Sterling, but I don’t care – I just want to have fun and see as much of British life as possible.

copyright 2016 - Anne Shier

My Adventures in the UK - DAY 8 - by Anne Shier

(this narrative began from when I first landed in London on September 3, 2016)

Thursday September 8, 2016:

We got up and had a hearty breakfast at 7:00 am in the dining room at the Hilton Avisford Park in Arundel, England.  I noticed that the dining room tables had been rearranged for breakfast as opposed to the previous evening’s dinner arrangement.  An English breakfast consists of eggs (scrambled), back bacon, sausage, baked beans, toast and jam, coffee, orange juice and fresh fruit.  It certainly filled me up, especially I don’t usually eat much breakfast, except during my holidays.

At about 8:00 am, we boarded the bus and took off for Stonehenge and arrived at about 10:00 am.  This very mysterious series of rock formations or arrangements has significance in different ways:  religious (the Druids used to worship inside their “temple”), mortuary (there are several dozen bodies buried under the site, but nobody knows who these people are or how important they were), and time (the summer and winter solstices can both be seen from certain angles of the sun shining on the rock formations).  I think of it as some kind of huge sun dial with magical qualities.  In fact, nobody knows what it does exactly or how it does it.  And, there have been many changes and stages of development over many, many years.  But, tourists flock here, marvel at it, take pictures, and listen to its history using the audio aids given to them.

At about 12:00 pm, we left Stonehenge and headed toward Plymouth, stopping only for a brief bathroom break of ten minutes or so.  Some of us also bought some snack food or sandwiches, etc. from the café there.  But, there was no mention of a lunch break, so it was probably a good thing we ate a hearty breakfast this morning.  Finally, just after 3:00 pm, we arrived at Plymouth, a beautiful town situated at the southwest tip of England and settled into our hotel, the Holiday Inn Express.

Plymouth has a beautiful harbour filled with sailboats.  While our driver, Joe, was driving us in, I noticed how hilly this town is and that just makes it more charming.  Tonight, we are going to see an old church and nearby prison in Darkmoor, England a.k.a. Darkmoor National Park.  After that, we are invited for an evening of storytelling and dinner at a pub in Darkmoor (I don’t remember the pub’s name).  The pub fare is excellent and includes a couple of drinks and dessert – our choice.  I’m having a glass of white wine and a rye and ginger ale drink.  That means I won’t be feeling any pain by the time we leave.  At about 9:00 pm, we’ll be back at our hotel.

Tomorrow morning at 7:00 am, we’ll have breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express’ penthouse restaurant and then take off for a cruise around the Plymouth Sound and enjoy our brief time in Plymouth.  Alternatively, if people on the tour don’t want to go, they can stay back and wander around the village streets on their own.  However, I think I’ll be going because a cruise appeals to me very much.

I’d been wondering what direction we’d been travelling in because the English Channel was always on our left, so we must have been travelling along the southern coast going westbound.  Somehow, I’d had the initial impression we were travelling eastbound up the east coast.  But, to check this out, I am going to buy a map of Great Britain tomorrow and chart our course myself.  Nobody else on our tour has mentioned this anomaly to me, so I guess I’m the only one who thought we were travelling eastbound at first.  They probably already knew that we weren’t and I was the one who was in the dark.  Oh well!

I’m busy writing postcards to my family and some friends, including the staff of Albert Campbell C.I.  In fact, I hope my ex-colleagues are as jealous as hell that I am vacationing overseas while they’re hard at work!  I also want to assure Brent, James and Dave that I’m fine and not to worry about me if they don’t hear from me on the phone.  No news is good news in my mind.  I hope they see it the same way. My cell phone was driving me crazy; I can’t use it to communicate here with anyone so, I’m just going to use it for picture-taking, and in that respect, it does the job I need it to do.

copyright 2016 - Anne Shier

My Adventures in the UK - DAY 9 - by Anne Shier

(this narrative began from when I first landed in London on September 3, 2016)

Friday September 9, 2016:

Today, a full day of travel and sightseeing was planned.  It was not an excursion, but people had a chance to stay back if they wanted since we were still going to be at the same hotel for another night.  However, everyone on our tour came today.

The first thing we did was to drive from our hotel in Plymouth westbound to Cornwall.  After a couple of hours, we stopped for a free Cornish “pastie” (pastry), a big doughy sandwich containing potato, onion, meat, and veggies.  I was told it would be like eating stew located inside a pie crust.  I couldn’t eat mine yet though so I just took it with me to eat later.  We’d stopped at a place called Land’s End, which is a high rocky coast facing the Atlantic Ocean at the very western end of England.  It was quite cool and windy up there, very raw and beautiful.  The ocean crashes against dangerous cliffs relentlessly.  You have to be careful that you don’t get too close to the edge.

After we left Land’s End, we drove another hour and a half to a popular seaside resort called St. Ives.  This place looks like it was built on the sides of very steep hills.  The town has a harbour and lovely beaches and faces the ocean, but not directly.  The ocean’s waves are quieter and smaller as they hit the shore.  While being very scenic, the town was a difficult place to enter.  First, we were told we would have to descend by foot into the town on our own – charter coaches are just too big to negotiate the streets.  It takes maybe fifteen minutes to walk down steep paths and stairways to get to the town proper – very hard on the knees, I must say.  Fortunately, there were smaller buses in town that were used for taking people back up to the coaches.  They cost two pounds per adult and one pound per child.

At this point, I decided to eat my Cornish pastie since we had to buy our own lunches today anyway.  While I was eating it, I saw an ice cream stand close by and went over afterward to buy an ice cream cone – honeycomb flavour with caramel swirl in a waffle cone.  I swear I have never enjoyed an ice cream cone so much!  I sat at the harbour for a while eating my cone, then went to look for a washroom, which I found finally,  But then, I started walking in a direction I thought would lead back to where there were those elusive buses that would take us back up to the coach.  About ten minutes into this walk, I decided that I was actually headed in the opposite direction from what I needed to take.  So, I turned around and headed back to town, away from the shoreline.  Suddenly, I saw a couple of landmarks in town that I recognized – the Queen’s Pub, and the St. Ives Holidays office.  That’s when I knew I was where I’d originally landed when I first walked into the town.  Just a little further on, I caught up with one of the buses our tour director, John Hood, had told us about and I paid my two pounds to get on and it took us back up the hill.  I was really thankful for that bus because there is no way I ever would have made it back up there on my own.

The final thing we did today is to drive back to Plymouth and went down to the waterfront where we boarded a boat that would take us on a cruise around Plymouth Sound.  It was a forty minute round trip.  I’d say it was bearable, temperature-wise, for the first leg of the trip, but it turned really cold once we turned around and headed into the wind.  That’s because I was only wearing a light sweater, but you really needed a jacket to keep warm.  That was okay though.  I’d met Midge on the upper deck of the boat.  She was a nice American and later I also met Maxine and Russ, a Canadian couple, when I went down to the lower deck to take shelter from the cold.

When we got back to the hotel, it was just past 6:00 pm.  It had been a long day of sightseeing and we were all tired.  We were to have dinner in the penthouse of the hotel at 7:00 pm, including one drink.  I’ve got to admit, the food was good.  Dinner was part of our package and so was the drink.  I ended up sitting with two other American women, Tania and Allene.  We talked mostly about cruising and the different trips we’d been on and how we felt about this trip.  Tania didn’t seem impressed with the quality of this trip, but Allene seemed to be enjoying it.  These two women like to travel together regularly, but I’m not sure if there is any other relationship between them – not that it matters to me anyway.

After dinner, I went back to my room and took a warm shower, laid out my clothes for tomorrow morning, and got into my pajamas.  Like last night, I watched the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, marvelling at how agile these disabled athletes are.  I’d done up some postcards for family and friends just before dinner and put some stamps on them so that I could mail them tomorrow.  After dinner, I did some writing of my journal on my computer and then I’m going to bed.  I hope that I fall asleep in a timely manner tonight.  Last night, I did not fall asleep until about 1:00 am!  That explains why I felt so tired during our drive this morning and this afternoon and slept a good part of the time while we were driving toward Cornwall and when we drove back.

copyright 2016 - Anne Shier

My Adventures in the UK - DAY 10 - by Anne Shier

(this narrative began from when I first landed in London on September 3, 2016)

Saturday September 10, 2016:

This morning, we left our hotel in Plymouth and drove to Glastonbury, England.  It’s just a tiny village, very quaint like most.  I tried taking a few pictures, but it was somewhat dark and rainy out, so my pics didn’t turn out, but it also could’ve been a memory “problem” with my cell phone.  What else is new?  I went to a tearoom in Glastonbury and ordered an Earl Grey tea and scones, but since I wasn’t very hungry, I only ate one of the two scones.

 

Then, after an hour or so there, we took for Bath, England.  That’s where the Roman Baths are located; they are ancient ruins that tourists visit.  The baths are actually hot mineral springs, rare to Britain, used by kings, travellers, women, and children in Roman times.  The ruins are about eight hundred years old.  What you need to know is that England was once part of the Roman Empire four centuries ago.

After spending two and a half hours in Bath, which included buying our own lunches, we took off for Newport, Wales, leaving England.  Our hotel in Wales was called the Coldra Cedars Hotel (Cedars Manors in the owner of this hotel chain).  It was a very nice, comfy hotel.  I did have a few “problems” with light switches and the TV remote, but I wasn’t the only one on our tour who experienced this.  It was just a little frustrating!

Tonight was a Welsh Evening planned at Fonmon Castle, which included dinner, wine, music (played by a harpist), and singing – just lovely!  This was excursion #2.  The only thing we didn’t like is that it was almost an hour’s drive to get to this castle and then another hour back to the hotel.  By that time, it was 10:30 pm.   I was so bushed, all I had the energy to do is get ready for bed and fall asleep.

copyright 2016 - Anne Shier

My Adventures in the UK - DAY 11 - by Anne Shier

(this narrative began from when I first landed in London on September 3, 2016)

Sunday September 11, 2016:

Today, we’re off to Carmarthen, Wales.  We’re taking a ferry boat from Newport, Wales to Rosslare, Ireland this afternoon.  This cruise takes three and a half hours.  It’s sunny out right now, but it may be a bit cool on the boat, if we go up on the open deck.

We stopped briefly at a village called Landavy (not spelt this way) for a bathroom break.  It costs twenty pence to enter a single, public, unisex toilet stall and when I got in, after waiting in a queue, and did my “thing” there, I couldn’t find the toilet flusher handle anywhere!  Weird!

A little later, we arrived at Carmarthen.  We were to be there for one and a half hours.  If we wanted to get lunch now we could, but food would also be available on the boat.  It is Sunday so most places are closed.  We found a coffee shop though that was open.

Wales is an amazingly beautiful place!  As in England, it’s lush and green, with rolling hills of farmland.  The roads in Wales are a bit more unusual though – simpler, single lane in each direction, winding, up and down hills, with forks in the road, and meandering through villages mostly.  There aren’t many cities in Wales.  This is a more countrified place.  There are sheep farms here for the most part, with some cattle farms.  It’s charming.

We’re still an hour away from the ferry boat launch.  We leave Carmarthen at 12:30 pm so we’ll get to the ferry boat launch by 1:30 pm.  The boat leaves by 2:30 pm.  The port authority in Newport, Wales requires that buses board the ferry at least three quarters of an hour before the boat leaves the dock.

Even though I feel tired a good part of the time while travelling, I am so glad I’m on this tour of Great Britain!  Who would’ve thought it was so beautiful?  We’re just finishing week #1 of the tour and we still have two and a half more weeks to go.

I have to go take some more pics now.  My cell phone should have more than enough room now that I’ve uploaded the three hundred and seventy pics in it onto my notebook computer and then erased the pics in my cell phone.  It’s a beautiful, sunny day out – it really couldn’t be better weather out there for picture taking!

The Welsh language is very strange, with double yy’s, w’s in the middle of words, and double ll’s, among other anomalies.  And, the sound of the single letters and double letters in Welsh is totally different from the way those same letters would sound in the English language.

Whenever you go from Wales or England to Ireland, you’re actually going to another country!  That means you might have to show your passport.  Ireland is not part of Great Britain and I was surprised to discover this fact.  Not only that, Ireland uses Euro-dollars, not pounds Sterling, so we will have to buy some Euros when we arrive in Ireland after the ferry boat docks in Rosslare.

copyright 2016 - Anne Shier

My Adventures in the UK - DAY 12 and 13 - by Anne Shier

(this narrative began from when I first landed in London on September 3, 2016)

Monday September 12, 2016 (PART A):

Last night, we checked into the Granville Hotel in Waterford, Ireland after having docked in Fishguard, Ireland earlier in the evening.

 

The ferry boat ride was three and a half hours long, as John Hood, our tour director, had told us.  My small purse conveniently broke just as we were boarding the ferry and I had to buy a new one in a hurry.  Fortunately, I could - on the boat.  This Stena Line boat is built to carry cars, buses, trucks, and people.  Our bus just drove right on and parked on deck three.  The boat that crosses St. George’s Channel from Wales to Ireland is eight decks high!  It is, by far, the biggest boat I’ve ever been on, so far.

In the Stena Line shop, besides a new small purse, I bought a map of Britain and Ireland (so that John could mark the path of our progress on it), a new novel called “The Girl on the Train”, and a jar of face cream.

 

I also bought a fish-and-chip lunch on board and, while eating it, I met a very cute and sexy Irishman who was maybe forty-something named Richard and we chatted for a while.  He was sitting with his two buddies next to my table.  He told me that he competes internationally in shooting events.  I thought to myself, why can’t I meet a man like him at home?  I never have any luck romantically.  Finally, he and his buddies left.  He told me he gets seasick when the ship is in motion, and the ship was just about to leave the port of Newport.  He needed to sleep in order to cope with his seasickness.

Three and a half hours later, we docked at Fishguard, Ireland and then proceeded to Waterford, Ireland where we were to spend the night.  We docked at 6:00 pm and didn’t check into our hotel until almost 8:00 pm.  Everything was fine at the hotel until a security guard at the hotel knocked discreetly at my door around midnight and asked me to turn my TV’s volume down, so of course, I did.  I’d been watching the Rio 2016 Paralympics like I had since September 7^th and I guess I assumed other people were too.  But, I could’ve been mistaken.  Actually, I was so busy writing postcards that I wasn’t paying much attention to the TV.  At about 1:00 am, I went to bed and slept like a baby through the night.

Monday September 12, 2016 (PART B):

This morning, we visited the Waterford Crystal factory and got the tour they offer.  I had no idea that so many different things could be created (blown or sculpted) from glass!

After that, we drove to Blarney, Ireland and were on our own for two hours there.  I took lots of pics of Blarney Castle and Gardens.  However, I did not climb the one hundred and twenty seven steps to the top, so I did not kiss the Kissing Stone, a stone which apparently gives you verbal courage (a gift of the gab, so to speak).  Something tells me I wouldn’t have made it up all those steps to kiss that stone!  Plus, I think I already have enough of a gift of the gab due to having been a teacher!

After we left Blarney, we headed for Killarney, Ireland where we’ll spend the next three nights!  Hurray and thank God!  We all need a break from daily travelling!  So, we’ve now checked into the Scotts Hotel in Killarney.  Tomorrow morning, excursion # 3 will happen – the Lakes of Killarney and the Muckross House adventure.  I think it involves a cruise, which is why I picked this excursion.  We will leave at 10:00 am after breakfast at 8:30 am and return to our hotel by about 3:30 pm.

This what my itinerary tells me (and everyone else on our tour) about this excursion:  “A full day to relax and join our optional excursion that includes a horse-drawn jaunting car ride through Killarney National Park to Ross Castle, and a boat ride to Innisfallen Abbey and across the lakes to Muckross House.  After lunch on your own, the excursion continues with a visit to the house and gardens, returning to your hotel mid-afternoon.  Later, walk to Scruffy’s pub for DINNER and join the locals in an evening full of live, traditional Irish music.”

Tuesday September 13, 2016:

You wouldn’t believe what this excursion was like!  There were thirty-one of us altogether.  First, we were picked up near the hotel by a series of horse and buggies (the jaunting cars) and taken for a ride to Killarney National Park.  This park is huge – some twenty-five thousand acres!  The first thing we saw was Muckross Castle – the outside of it.  Then, we were taken in a series of motorboats for a ride on the Lakes of Killarney.  Apparently, there are actually three fresh water lakes that are linked.  They are fed by springs from the mountains surrounding them.  We visited two of these lakes.  This cruise lasted maybe half an hour, but it seemed longer – what I mean is, time seemed to stand still.  The weather was perfect out today and that fact just enhanced our experience of this naturally beautiful wilderness in Ireland.  It was breathtaking.

After the cruise of the lakes, we visited Muckross House, a house that used to belong to a rich family called Herbert during the reign of Queen Victoria.  We saw the whole house from top to bottom.  The tour took maybe an hour.  It was very interesting to us that rich people lived so well and the poor working class lived so poorly in those times.  We started to appreciate just how much work the servants had to do in that house to please their master and mistress in order to keep their jobs and support their families.

Tonight, we are going for dinner and drink(s) at a nearby pub, and then we have the rest of the evening off.  Tomorrow is excursion # 4 in Killarney, but I am not participating in that one.  We are still at the Scotts Hotel for two more nights before we have to leave again.

 

One more thing – I found out that the hotel will get my laundry done if I pay them fifteen Euro-dollars for the service.  I jumped at the chance and turned in my very full bag of dirty laundry as soon as we got back from our Lakes of Killarney and Muckross House excursion.  I will get my clean laundry back tomorrow evening.

copyright 2016 - Anne Shier

My Adventures in the UK - DAY 14 - by Anne Shier

(this narrative began from when I first landed in London on September 3, 2016)

Wednesday September 14, 2016:

Today, we took off at 9:00 am after breakfast for Killorglin on Dingle Bay to join the spectacular RING OF KERRY for a 100-mile panoramic drive around Ireland’s southwestern tip.  We stop into the tiny village of Sneem, Ireland to eat a bite of lunch and, of course, continue taking pics.  This activity includes the Lakes of Killarney from Ladies View, etc. and on the way back, we’ll also see Torc Waterfall, which is the most unusual waterfall I will have ever seen;  it’s very beautiful.

The scenery during this drive can only be described as raw, natural beauty at its best.  Green, lush hills (or mountains if you wish to call them that) are covered in grass or moss, trees, and rock and, in some places, are so steep that you wonder how the residents in this environment cope with their lives.  You can see the Atlantic Ocean and feel a keen and cool breeze at the highest viewpoints while snapping pictures.  I got some incredible pics today and, when I get the chance, I will post some of them on my blog and share them with the world.

I think that choosing to tour Britain and Ireland in Depth is one of my better travel ideas, and I’ve been looking forward to each and every day in Great Britain and Ireland.  It’s still a little confusing for me that Ireland is not part of Great Britain, but a separate country with its own currency.  It is more a part of Europe than England or Wales is because it uses Euro-dollars, not pounds Sterling.  However, the people here are very nice, they love tourists, and they love to share their country with people from countries all over the world.  Many tourists visit Ireland every year, for example, and fall in love with it.

After all the driving and picture-taking, we got back to our hotel at about 3:45 pm.  Tonight, excursion # 4 will take place.  It involves an entertaining evening in Tralee with dinner and tickets for the National Folk Theatre.  I chose not to participate in this one though.  After all, we can’t all afford to go to every single excursion.  So, I will have dinner on my own at the hotel’s restaurant at around 6:30 pm, then get my clean laundry back at the hotel’s front desk, fold it, and put it back into my suitcase.  At this point, I’ll have enough clean laundry to last me another ten to twelve days.

We are leaving early tomorrow morning.  The baggage must be put out our doors by 6:45 am and breakfast follows right afterward.  Then, we will leave Killarney, Ireland and head for Adare and Limerick, both in Ireland.  We’ll continue to be in Ireland, then visit Northern Ireland, till Saturday September 17, 2016, and then return to Dublin, Ireland to spend a couple of days.

copyright 2016 - Anne Shier

My Adventures in the UK - DAY 15 - by Anne Shier

(this narrative began from when I first landed in London on September 3, 2016)

Thursday September 15, 2016:

Today, we had to get up early (6:00 am), get our baggage out the door by 6:45 am, have breakfast at 6:45 am, and leave our hotel by 8:00 am.  It was going to be a long day of driving, stopping for photo opps and lunch along the way.

We started out driving along the very picturesque Dingle Peninsula, a trip I thought we’d already done, but I was wrong.  The scenery we saw today was as breathtaking as any I’ve seen anywhere so far.  After a couple of hours, we arrived at the BLASKETT ISLANDS CENTRE to learn about the way of life of the Irish settlers on these remote islands that were eventually evacuated by its inhabitants in 1953.  That was probably due to lack of fresh food and water and electrical power of any kind.  Also, there was no medical care of any kind available.

Then, we drove for another couple of hours, first to have lunch at the village of Dingle, Ireland and then we drove on for another couple of hours to arrive at the quaint city of Adare, but we only stopped for a washroom break there.  Half an hour after that, we finally arrived at our destination for the night, the Clarion Hotel in the city of Limerick, Ireland.

Excursion # 5 happens tonight at Knappogue Castle where we’ll partake in a medieval banquet.  I am curious to see what that term “medieval” means in this case - what kind of food are we going to be served?  Obviously I chose to participate in this particular excursion.  I was tired today, so I slept on the bus.  I hope that tonight’s excursion will be fun, but that the evening will be short.

As it turns out, it was much more than a banquet.  It was certainly medieval in nature because of the courtiers and ladies dressed in medieval court wear.  The dinner was nothing unusual, but the entertainment that accompanied it was wonderful and unexpected.  Music (by a harpist), singing, dancing, and joking were the order of the day provided by the courtiers and ladies.  I enjoyed this excursion thoroughly and so, I am really glad I chose this one.

Tomorrow morning, we must be up early again (6:15 am), have our baggage out the door by 7:00 am, have breakfast at 7:00 am, and then we leave Limerick by 8:00 am.  It’s another full day of driving and sightseeing:  the Cliffs of Moher, Galway, Knock, and finally Sligo.  We are still in Ireland today, but by Saturday September 17th, we will be in Northern Ireland spending the night in Belfast.

copyright 2016 - Anne Shier