Week in the UK
Well its Tuesday evening here and we catch a bus tomorrow to London to stay for a day before leaving to Europe.
Last update was pretty much as we were about to leave Ireland for the UK again. The Monday morning we were up pretty early and had a nice breakfast where we were staying. They had a full fruit platter and cereal, as well as bacon and eggs so the variety was nice. Wasn't totally unhealthy... just a little. We were flying out at 9pm that night so we drove down around the southern coast and around to Cork. We went to Blarney Castle and saw the rock that you are supposed to kiss. We both didn't bother with that and just enjoyed the castle itself.
As we were returning the rental car that night we were trying to run the petrol down as low as possible as we had to return it empty. Unfortuantely we pushed it probably a little far which ended in me going for a nice little walk. We were probably only had to drive another 30kms to the airport at that stage which was a bit of a bugger. Oh well..
We had a quick stop in at Kinsale before going to the airport which was a nice little town. Had a quick meal there and then dropped off the rental car and flew out of Ireland.
We returned to Liverpool at about 11pm and boarded a bus to get back to Manchester. We then caught a taxi and stayed the night in our now old house. The last night we were staying in Manchester and we were both pretty happy to begin the UK part of our trip which also means we closer to coming home.
We went to Skipton and caught up with family and friends while there and stayed the night. Next morning we went to Cardiff. We looked around that afternoon quickly and just had a look in the main city part and the outside of the castle. It all looked pretty cool. Next morning we went to the castle and looked around inside and went on a tour. It was a pretty cool castle on the inside. The rooms were very well done so it made it a bit different from some of the other castles we had seen. We walked down to the bay and spent a fair part of the afternoon down there. Near the bay was the Dr Who Experience. Im not a big Dr Who fan but i was interested to see it as all of the new seasons of Dr Who are filmed in Cardiff. They had Cyberman and Dyleks, as well as K9. Interesting to see, but probably would have meant more to both of us if we had seen more than 1 episode.
We left Cardiff the next morning for Bath. We were worried with that train as we had bought the tickets originally for the Saturday and paid £3 a ticket, but then decided we were going on the Friday. Friday tickets were £10 if paid in advance and £13 if you just bought them on the train. The tickets were checked as we went onto the platform, on the train, and as we left the station at Bath. No one noticed the date so that was handy and saved us a bit of money. We stayed at a hostel in Bath and in a Dorm. I forget how interesting dorms can be :-)
We went to the Roman Baths the first afternoon and had a fair walk, pretty much doing the full route the scenic buses go on. The next day we went to Salisbury and to Stonehenge. Stonehenge was good to see, but it wasn't quite what we both expected. Salisbury was a nice little town.
The next day we spent in Bath again. We looked around Bath some more and generally had a pretty quiet day. It was Sunday and we both felt like a Sunday Roast so we thought we would go to Wetherspoons. They have a good roast and comes with a glass of wine for £5.50. Good Deal. We walked around for ages looking for it and eventually found it, only to find they were totally out of roasts.
Next day we left for Oxford. We walked around the city and just had a quiet afternoon taking in the sights.
Next day is today. Yay. We went to Christs Church College and saw the Dining Hall that the Harry Potter hall is based on. Filming was done at the college for 5 weeks for both the first 2 Harry Potter films and the main staircase in the films we were able to walk up and down. Exciting...
I am now wasting time on an internet cafe PC as we needed to change a few of our plans for when we return from Budapest. We received a phone call this morning advising that the flight we had booked was now cancelled. Changing the flights to 4 hours later meant we now arrived in London at 5pm on a Friday night. Busy time. Now discount train tickets even when bought in advance so a trip from London to Skipton would have cost $400ish Australian. In the end we booked another nights accommodation and travelling to Skipton early on Saturday morning. An unwanted inconvience, but oh well... at least we had time to plan it all.
Tomorrow night we are going to see Mary Poppins so that should be interesting. The next day we going to Tower of London which should also be interesting. We picked up a coupon which gives us a free entry thus saving us £14.50. Yay.
The following night at 8pm we leave for Amsterdam so probably no SMS messages will be sent during this time from either of us as it is ridiculously priced outisde of the UK. This is the beginning of our European Leg and will also mean 3 weeks until we are home. 3 weeks until we have a sandwich toaster, our own cuttlery, our own bathroom, our own deep fryer, our own television. Ahhh... It will be good to be home.
Last update was pretty much as we were about to leave Ireland for the UK again. The Monday morning we were up pretty early and had a nice breakfast where we were staying. They had a full fruit platter and cereal, as well as bacon and eggs so the variety was nice. Wasn't totally unhealthy... just a little. We were flying out at 9pm that night so we drove down around the southern coast and around to Cork. We went to Blarney Castle and saw the rock that you are supposed to kiss. We both didn't bother with that and just enjoyed the castle itself.
As we were returning the rental car that night we were trying to run the petrol down as low as possible as we had to return it empty. Unfortuantely we pushed it probably a little far which ended in me going for a nice little walk. We were probably only had to drive another 30kms to the airport at that stage which was a bit of a bugger. Oh well..
We had a quick stop in at Kinsale before going to the airport which was a nice little town. Had a quick meal there and then dropped off the rental car and flew out of Ireland.
We returned to Liverpool at about 11pm and boarded a bus to get back to Manchester. We then caught a taxi and stayed the night in our now old house. The last night we were staying in Manchester and we were both pretty happy to begin the UK part of our trip which also means we closer to coming home.
We went to Skipton and caught up with family and friends while there and stayed the night. Next morning we went to Cardiff. We looked around that afternoon quickly and just had a look in the main city part and the outside of the castle. It all looked pretty cool. Next morning we went to the castle and looked around inside and went on a tour. It was a pretty cool castle on the inside. The rooms were very well done so it made it a bit different from some of the other castles we had seen. We walked down to the bay and spent a fair part of the afternoon down there. Near the bay was the Dr Who Experience. Im not a big Dr Who fan but i was interested to see it as all of the new seasons of Dr Who are filmed in Cardiff. They had Cyberman and Dyleks, as well as K9. Interesting to see, but probably would have meant more to both of us if we had seen more than 1 episode.
We left Cardiff the next morning for Bath. We were worried with that train as we had bought the tickets originally for the Saturday and paid £3 a ticket, but then decided we were going on the Friday. Friday tickets were £10 if paid in advance and £13 if you just bought them on the train. The tickets were checked as we went onto the platform, on the train, and as we left the station at Bath. No one noticed the date so that was handy and saved us a bit of money. We stayed at a hostel in Bath and in a Dorm. I forget how interesting dorms can be :-)
We went to the Roman Baths the first afternoon and had a fair walk, pretty much doing the full route the scenic buses go on. The next day we went to Salisbury and to Stonehenge. Stonehenge was good to see, but it wasn't quite what we both expected. Salisbury was a nice little town.
The next day we spent in Bath again. We looked around Bath some more and generally had a pretty quiet day. It was Sunday and we both felt like a Sunday Roast so we thought we would go to Wetherspoons. They have a good roast and comes with a glass of wine for £5.50. Good Deal. We walked around for ages looking for it and eventually found it, only to find they were totally out of roasts.
Next day we left for Oxford. We walked around the city and just had a quiet afternoon taking in the sights.
Next day is today. Yay. We went to Christs Church College and saw the Dining Hall that the Harry Potter hall is based on. Filming was done at the college for 5 weeks for both the first 2 Harry Potter films and the main staircase in the films we were able to walk up and down. Exciting...
I am now wasting time on an internet cafe PC as we needed to change a few of our plans for when we return from Budapest. We received a phone call this morning advising that the flight we had booked was now cancelled. Changing the flights to 4 hours later meant we now arrived in London at 5pm on a Friday night. Busy time. Now discount train tickets even when bought in advance so a trip from London to Skipton would have cost $400ish Australian. In the end we booked another nights accommodation and travelling to Skipton early on Saturday morning. An unwanted inconvience, but oh well... at least we had time to plan it all.
Tomorrow night we are going to see Mary Poppins so that should be interesting. The next day we going to Tower of London which should also be interesting. We picked up a coupon which gives us a free entry thus saving us £14.50. Yay.
The following night at 8pm we leave for Amsterdam so probably no SMS messages will be sent during this time from either of us as it is ridiculously priced outisde of the UK. This is the beginning of our European Leg and will also mean 3 weeks until we are home. 3 weeks until we have a sandwich toaster, our own cuttlery, our own bathroom, our own deep fryer, our own television. Ahhh... It will be good to be home.
