Trip Report: Wet Vegas and England

Next day we drove to Connemara, the weather didn’t improve as was forecast but it was our last day in Galway so off we went. Drove though Clifden and out to the Sky Road, view was OK, then to the National Park and the climb to the smaller lookout (the higher hill was in cloud), again OK views. My brother said this was one of the most beautiful places in the world, and I tried to see what he meant but failed. I’m going through the pics now at home and thinking, well, if we’d had better weather with the gray sky blue and the gray water blue and the gray vegetation green, and lifted the clouds off the tops of the hills, would it have been very pretty? Maybe, but it was so-so for me at that time. I will say that the rhododendrons were absolutely out of this world. I don’t live in a place where they get so big, and these were enormous hedges of red/pink/purple/white. The non-native rhodies are even self-sowing across the Connemara landscape and whole hills were in bloom, reverted to the magenta color typical of wild pollinated and self-sown plants. This one aspect of the day was stunning, and I am glad to have seen this.

Left Galway about 10 am. This was a big driving day, to the Cliffs of Moher and a nearby dolmen from neolithic times, then toward Dingle. Driving turned much more difficult, narrow lanes on highways, twisting and up and down, stone walls close to pavement edge. Not for the faint of heart. Rain now came in brief downpours, hard to see driving, and the gale that started yesterday whipped up even stouter. Arrived at the dolmen with many tourists already there. Gale was ridiculous, had to bend over to walk. Arrived at the Cliffs of Moher, a big attraction in Ireland, huge parking lot, expensive entry. Weather was poor and there was the gale, I had to hold my eyeglasses against my face to keep them from blowing off, and honestly was not so impressed with the Cliffs. Oh well. https://streamable.com/bayrhb?src=player-page-share

Long way still to go to the house we rented near the Dingle coast. Next day the rain continues, and again a better weather forecast for the second day so make that our Dingle peninsula day. We continued to wonder if it would ever stop raining.

Our Dingle day started out wet but by late morning it stopped raining. The drive out around Slea Head was quite scenic, got some nice pics in brighter cloudy weather, not sunny but patches of blue, saw a 1200 year old stone church, actually quite a good day, really my first in the country. Ate in crowded tourist town Dingle, saw the Harry Clarke stained glass windows, nice and off the tourist trail a bit, and Harry became a bit of a theme for the rest of the trip. Returned to the house satisfied with the sights of the day. Decided to get tickets for the Jameson Distillery for the next day since they were selling out. Our route to Kilkenny could be altered to pass by. Although expensive it was a good tour and I enjoyed the tastings afterward. Food in the café was reasonably priced.

Drove on to Kilkenny which turned out to be our best out-of-Dublin destination, really nice old town with a big castle, nice walks along the river, and for the first time in a week the sun came out! Great pictures and great strolling. Hotel owner recommended 2 places for live music and dinner. They turned out to be tour group type places, but I had the best fish and chips of the trip. Again nice music and bar scene, but the Irish pub experience is getting old for me.

Arrived at the rental car place at DUB just a few minutes late, AFAIK there’s always a 30 minute grace period on return times. Got a taxi right from the rental car place straight to the hotel, a British chain Point A, good location and good free breakfast if a member (membership free). Still, an expensive rate and non-refundable, which I rarely do but without the restrictions it would have been like $300/night. Only complaint was the clearance between the bed and the wall was about 10” and they hung the TV, telephone, and a shelf there, so no way to remain erect maneuvering around the bed. We learned to bounce on the bed with our hands while crouching when walking to the window and kettle.

Left luggage for the day and had a nice walk around, up to the castle (closed for renovation), along the river all the way over to Trinity College, then down Grafton to the park for a sit down. The next day was our friends’ last day, and we’d agreed to see Christ Church Cathedral and the Gaol (jail). The jail tickets sell out weeks in advance, but they release additional tickets for that day at 9:15 am, so I grabbed 4, a bargain at 6 euro. These are both great attractions, there’s good stuff to do in Dublin. The cathedral is Protestant and quite old. Nice stained glass, nice crypt, there was a copy of the Magna Carta text handwritten into a larger book (but not one of the 4 surviving originals) that was the introduction of the charter’s ideas to Ireland. It was a 30-minute walk west to the jail from our hotel. We arrived early, looked at some exhibits, then began the tour. The jail is quite the visit, creepy old building. The guide was great, really got into the history which was heavy on Irish independence and martyrdom. After the tour there’s a great museum with good history. For me this was the premier attraction in Ireland. Stopped to see 4 additional stained-glass windows by Harry Clarke in a church on the way back, nice to make that connection to Dingle.

Dinner with our friends, then off for more music and drinking! The couple we are with are just ecstatic about Ireland, their eyes aglow every evening at the thought of more Guiness and whiskey cocktails and live music-- it never got old for them. Just like they are ecstatic about their trips to Vegas: there’s always a party in either location. So now they have found Wet Vegas to complement Las Vegas.

Said goodbye to our friends the next morning. Our last day in Ireland did 3 things: Dublina, a history museum of medieval and Viking era Dublin, a bit like Jorvik in York, England. Then on to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a 15 minute walk through downpours with generous amounts of hail (!), where we had a great tour lead by an Englishman. The church was as packed as the TSA line, but somehow this guide focused our attention away from the teeming tour group hordes and onto the church elements such that we were transported away from all the bodies around us. Both cathedrals had wonderful tilework in the floors, not something I remember churches in say France having. Then on to the Book of Kells, an expensive attraction with timed tickets on the Trinity Campus. It’s kind of a must do, I did like it, sells out but tickets available in the morning for late in the day. It’s a nice presentation of the book, and includes entry to the university library room, which is a pretty sensational room. They have constructed an additional building to complement this tour, specially built to present a movie about the book of Kells in one room, then another presentation about the Library in another theater, the music swells and they pan back to reveal a re-creation of the room in projection, a bit much. I suppose it’s to give the patrons more for their money, but a person could skip it. Noted with a chuckle that this rather small campus has 3 gift shops—3 GIFT SHOPS! Never heard of even a large university having more than 1. I guess with the crush of tourists they deal with, might as well monetize it. Campus tours are fee only, never heard of a school charging for tours.

Taxi to the airport the next day and our propeller plane flight to Birmingham, UK. Usually I leave a European country with either satisfaction on accomplishing a good trip, or regret at leaving and wanting to return. Neither was the case this time, not satisfied with the trip and not a chance of ever returning. If I had to do again, I would cut the western half of the country, not pretty enough to go so far and if the weather goes south indoor stuff is limited. Of the 17 days we were gone I would move 3 of the days to England and reduce Ireland to a week, and focus on Dublin, Kilkenny, and Cork. If the weather is wet in these places there’s indoor stuff to do instead.

Our propeller plane to Birmingham had bus loading in Dublin and bus unloading in Birmingham to/from taxi stands some distance from the terminal. Bus pulled up to what appeared to be the loading dock of BHX airport where we entered a corridor that served as international arrivals, at least for propeller planes from Ireland. Immigration officials stood in the hallway shouting for passports, which we flashed, but there was no counter, no scan of passports, no need to even stop walking. I wonder if the £20 ETAs we got were really required for this situation.

With the one-way fee this car cost double what the car in Ireland did, the same size SUV and time span. In both cases we reserved a manual but got a free upgrade to automatic. Unlike in Ireland where I did not need to prove insurance, here is where I got the grilling and I really needed that letter from the credit card, the one I got specifically for Ireland, or I would have been charged for insurance. Leaving the airport we ended up getting on a motorway heading north (to what we wanted, the M6 east to the M1) but missed the exit because it said “Conventry,” and I was sure that was east but my wife who was driving wasn’t—anyway, you only get a couple seconds to decide and then it goes by, and now we are heading for the M6 North Wales “toll road” and I’m saying, “Britain doesn’t have toll roads!” Carefully studying my maps.me app I can see a way to veer away from the tolls, stay on the M42, then exit on the A5 which would get us east over to the M1. Noting that like Southern California highways in the UK take a definite article.

Arrive at my friends’ house, people I met in Australia almost 30 years ago and with whom I’ve stayed in touch. We settle in at their house, and then they take us on a tour of the nearby villages and we check out the Foxton Locks. As a transportation guy interested in historical canals this was a great stop for me. It’s raining but I didn’t care. I also enjoyed no other tourists visiting the locks. Just local people. We walk for dinner from their house to an Indian restaurant, and it was extremely good. I don’t think any village in the US would have such nice food unless it’s in wine country or some other place with tourists. We discuss my observation that rural and urban blurs in England whereas in the US urban and rural are distinct cultures.

Unfortunately today was the wettest day of the whole trip, steady rain. We headed at my request to Lincoln, to see the cathedral that I remembered from an architecture class I’d taken long ago. The cathedral was very large and impressive, lots of memorials and stained glass to study, a great chapter house and cloister, this is a fine sight and again few tourists. Discussed the English Choir/Quire element in this and other cathedrals in England (Westminster Abbey, Canterbury, York) and how it breaks up the worship space in what I see as a negative way, since worshipers cannot see the altar. Recalled that at St. Patrick’s in Dublin when the Guiness family paid for the church’s restoration they insisted the choir element be removed for this reason. Walked around the charming streets nearby, still raining, then headed to nearby Lincoln Castle to see an old prison and one of the 4 surviving Magna Cartas, a tie to Dublin from earlier in this trip. Hardly anyone in the Magna Carta room, unlike the Book of Kells room which was busy to say the least. To see a top sight like this without crowds or reservations and only charged a small fee-- it’s such a delight, the way all of Europe used to be.

My friends exhibited such hospitality, wonderful breakfast spreads, insisted on paying for everything, she even insisted on washing and drying our clothes and left them folded on the bed! Some of you may remember my ‘what gift to buy’ post, I decided on a Navajo sand painting which was well received.

Now begins solidly warm, sunny weather for the rest of the trip. Closed up the house with those funky British (and Irish) exterior doors with the interior deadbolts where the handle goes up to lock, then set off for Bletchley Park to see the WW2 codebreaking site. The guide was wonderful, lots to see in the various buildings with exhibits about codebreaking and the pioneering computer design work done there. Drove on to Reading since hotels in Windsor (and hotel parking!) are so pricy and I had IHG points so a free stay. Maps.me led us cross country, those roundabouts, spinning and flinging and then spinning and flinging again, it’s disorienting and requires a lot of brain power to drive here. I decided that the British have developed a part of their brains to handle UK driving complexity that in American brains remains undeveloped.

Next day visited Windsor Castle. Decided to park in Eton for convenient access to Windsor Castle. This was a sunny Saturday and some kind of parents’ day at Eton school, so everyone dressed in finery (fancy hats! even on men) walking along the main road to the school. Fortunately the castle parking is far enough from the school that there were still some spots. This is a spectacular walking approach to the castle, across the Thames bridge and circling up the hill to the entrance. Already had timed tickets as they had sold out, since the castle would be closed the next 4 days for an annual event.

Although we never entered inside the M25 beltway on this trip (except to access Heathrow), Windsor is basically a London site filled with the London tourist hordes so we got some exposure to the press of that humanity here. The staff does a good job directing the crowds. It’s an impressive visit, fantastic rooms, many really too ornate but that goes with the territory. The larger rooms like St George’s Hall are most impressive. St George’s Chapel was smaller than expected, but moving to see the Queen’s tomb. Not really that much of the castle and grounds is open to the public, maybe 10%. I was glad we took the time to walk around the walls to the Long Walk and see that, it’s a powerful use of the landscape.

Drove uneventfully from Windsor to Maidstone, all motorway. The way they control the traffic on the M25 is amazing, variable speed is posted in lights dynamically to keep traffic flow from driving at full speed into a congested area; cars upstream of congestion are slowed to prevent clogs from growing. Gantries of speed enforcement cameras accompany the speed changes, it’s pretty sophisticated and seems to work. Noting that the number of enforcement cameras in the UK seems to be way up in the last 12 years. Arrived at our AirBnB south of Maidstone, it was new and very nice, a garage conversion to apartment that a retired couple made to supplement their funds. Very spacious and relaxing space, outdoor patio, and a drip coffee maker. We had 4 nights here in Kent to explore gardens mostly.

First day decided to visit Canterbury Cathedral and Dover cliffs. The Cathedral was impressive but smaller than the one at Lincoln. It’s a good walk around with the stained glass, high gothic ceiling, and the Thomas Becket elements. It’s also an interesting town. Cathedral parking is not particularly straightforward and the path from the parking to the cathedral is not posted, it’s about 15 minutes around the wall and in the town gate with many turns. Then drove the short distance to the Dover Cliffs overlook, a bargain at £6 for parking, free admission, about 1/6 the price of Moher Cliffs and yet higher cliffs, less crowded. This trip was discouraged by my friends but I loved it, the white cliffs really stand out in the sun and it’s fun to see France and watch the frequent ferries come and go, load and unload, from a high vantage point.

Next day was a visit to Sissinghurst Castle, famous in gardening circles, especially for its White Garden. This was good visit and the Virginia Woolf angle was interesting. These gardens are not display gardens, but 5 or 6 English cottage style gardens, with an extremely diverse collection of plants from all over the world. Many are odd and weedy-looking and not really my thing, but it makes for an unusual and even challenging garden visit. A medieval tower set in the middle of the property made an attractive focal point. The couple who owned the property and designed and maintained the garden were certainly ahead of their time, a gay man and lesbian who had children naturally but their primary lovers were external to the marriage.

Our last day of the trip was spent on a visit to Hever Castle, a fantastic site and the highlight of the trip. The castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, was really great to visit, wonderful exhibits and audio guide, an excellent restoration. And then the gardens were splendid, wonderful display gardens, particularly the rose garden in full June glory, and many other themed gardens including one with a unique water maze which would spray a person who put a foot wrong. Loved it, and no tour buses or large groups, people were there but not crowded at all. Like France, Italy, even the US, there are so many extraordinary things to see in England a top site like this can be off the radar of most tourists. Thank Goodness.

to add to your list of TLAs (three letter acronyms) you have now experienced CTA - the Common Travel Area! Amongst various privileges UK/Irish citizens do not require passports to travel between the two countries - but customs regulations do apply. To send people through customs (where little ever happens!) they have to use an international terminal, but bypass the passport control. Hence the "loading dock". But this is where it goes wrong, but only for non CTA passengers because they DO need passports -since these will be a small proportion of those on a Birmingham -Dublin flight you get the token attempt to check. But then we come to the ETA because for many passports Republic of Ireland immigration approval on arrival also gives you permission to enter the UK but under different rules!

Clear you head and think of toll roads. England does indeed have some. In the true style of a toll road there is currently only the Toll duplication of that section the M6, the original version of the M6 still running a short distance away but plagued by congestion at urban interchanges. But in a few cities, London being far and away the biggest, there are what are basically toll zones. And a few bridges and tunnels have tolls, but often no collection booths and you have to pay online or at a local shop.

Glad you had an active, albeit soggy trip. Sorry you didn’t find Ireland to be scenic - the scenery (a hundred shades of green, plus amazing views out to sea when you’re at the coast, any coast) has been one of many highlights for me.

Thanks Toby for this honest report which illustrates the different strokes for different folks principle....your brother was in heaven while you were unimpressed. Its difficult to have a good trip in poor weather especially when it persists.We spent one night in Dublin as part of a layover and unfortunately it was a Saturday and I think every bride in Ireland was having their hen party! Glad you went to see the White Cliffs of Dover..some things mean more to one person than another. I also enjoyed Never Castle when we were there 40 (wow that long) yrs ago...they were having a festival there and it was the first time I saw Morris dancers

Well put Dianejay. My husband and I have visited Ireland twice. We adventured around much of the island over 5 weeks total---we found it a magical place. However, we did not have nonstop rain. If we make it back, we will try to see the Book of Kells.

Kilkenny was one of our favorite places in Ireland. It helped that we were able to get a last minute room into a B n B from Rick's book---Mena House. (Our daughter stayed there 5 years later, and also enjoyed both the accommodation & town).

Thank you so much for the details in your report. We have been eager to visit Lincoln, Bletchley Park and Hever. Now I also want to add Sissinghurst Castle. It sounds like the timing was good to enjoy the gardens.

Geopolitics has ensured Ireland gets way overhyped above its station. My father was Irish and I lived there for many years, but the truth is the scenery is pleasant but nothing special, and Dublin rivals Brussels for the most mediocre capital in Europe.

Gosh, Olivia, I’m relieved to hear your opinion of Dublin, I thought I was the only one who found it rather meh!

There is joy to be found in Ireland, the countryside is great as are the people.

Even Irish people quietly admit Dublin is an armpit of a city, but most of all it's the "glazing" (I think that's young people say), that causes me issue. It is now common to find people that will tell you with a straight face how awful British food and how great Irish food is - I struggle to think of two countries with more similarities in food culture.