Wednesday - 09/28-2011 - Liverpool to Glasgow, SCOTLAND

Today was more a the new normal day.

We did not get started on the bus until 8:20 am this morning. Our formal tour of Liverpool started with a stop at the 'Beattles Story' museum. This museum consisted of a reconstructed Matthews Street as well as many displays relating to various periods of the Beattles history, from the formation to current.

We also ran into another type of situation. The England 'Labour Party' was having it's convention in Liverpool. The convention center is right across the street from the Beattles Museum so there were lime-yellow coated Bobbies all over the place. This also evidently cause some problems with our hotel in that the hotel we were at was not a hotel that Globus normally use in Liverpool. But all went well. That is, until we were leaving town - the main road out was closed for repair so the bus driver had to figure out a different route.

Our tour was taking us through the 'lakes District' in northern England. Around noon we stopped in the small village of 'Grasmere'. It is in this village that William Wordsworth did much of his writing. We did get to see his grave site behind the little church.

Mid-afternoon we crossed into SCOTLAND and stopped right inside the border in the town of Gretna Green. The history of this place is that the age of majority was lower in Scotland than in England so lots of young people who sneak off to Gretna Green where the blacksmith was able to legally marry them 'over the anvil'. Eventually the age of majority in England was lowered to match that of Scotland so the need stopped. however, it is still a big wedding location.

Eventually we arrived in Glasgow and had a somewhat speedy tour of the city center. It was just at quitting time so the traffic was slow, so it was not really speedy, but it was short - only a few blocks. In doing some family research before we left home, we were aware that one of Judy's ancestors came from the town of 'Bellshill', a suburb of Glasgow. Now that suburb is part of the current city of Glasgow, and we did locate it on a bus map.

This area of southern Scotland is also called the Lowlands. The land reminds me of maybe around Harrisburg or Lancaster - rolling hills, fields of cattle (& sheep).

The weather the last few days has been great - mostly sunny and warm.

Our hotel this evening is at a golf resort abut 20 miles north of Glasgow so we only got to see Glasgow from the bus as we drove through it. This also meant that our dinner was at the hotel as there are no restaurants nearby.

The Wayward Traveler and his tired companions.

Tuesday - 09/27/2011 - Dublin to Liverpool

Today was a long day. Since we had to catch an early ferry back to England we had to get up and get ready early as well. We were on our way by 7:20 am. the ferry was scheduled to leave at 8:15, which it did. I think I failed to mention when I posted about our ferry ride over to Ireland that the ferries are large enough to hold several buses and trucks as well as cars. As a quick guess I would say up to a combination of 12 to 15 buses and trucks, plus about 40 cars. I would say the ferries are very large. the ride from Dublin, Ireland to Holyhead, Wales took a little over 3 hours, but total time, including waiting to get on and off was about 4 hours.

I did not realize until we landed in wales that we were going back through Wales. About a half-hour after back on solid ground and on the road again we stopped at a small Welsh town with a very long name - Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgugerychwyrndrobwll Llantysilyogogogoch. The English name is 'the church of Mary in the Hollow of the White Hazel mar the fierce whirl poo and the church of Tysilio by the red cave - or something like that. I ran out of note paper.

The bus then took us through Sadonia National Park. I would say it was similar to the Great Smokey Mountains, the valleys were not quite as close, and there were not many trees, just a lot of open fields for sheep grazing.

We crossed over into England around 4:30 pm and were at our hotel in Liverpool by 5:30 pm.

Before our supper, which was on our own, we took a side trip through the company we are traveling with, on a mini-Beattles tour. The guide was an older, but very energetic woman who personally knew Ringo Starr. First, I'll give a short description of the tour, then how the guide, Marie, knew Ringo.

We were driven a few blocks to Matthew Street when the Cavern Club is still located. This is the club where the Beattles actually started. From here we walked around a few blocks seeing several other related items, such as Penny Lane, and the river Mersey (spelling?) flows through Liverpool (think about the song "Ferry across the Mersey" by a different singer).

Marie's mother helped support Ringo's mother with a place to live, etc. Marie met Ringo at his 3 year old birthday party because of this, and has known him since and has worked with him when he was a teen anger and when he was just starting out in the music industry.

Our tour lasted until 8:00 pm in the evening, then we had to find a place for our dinner.

So, as you can see, another long day. also, the hotel did not have free WIFI, and only two terminals for general use in the lobby, so they were always in use.

The Wayward Traveler and his current companions.

Monday - 09/26/2011 - Dublin, Ireland

We hope that you have as great of a day as we have. (Remember we are 5 hours ahead on the clock).

Today was as easy, but busy, day. We slept in until 7:00 a.m. At 9:30 we had a Dublin city tour. Many of us had walked up the River Liffey for several blocks before our evening supper and entertainment yesterday.

There was several of the usual sites - government buildings, etc. We also were on O'Connell Street - the main street. Here besides the statue of the revolutionary O'Connell, there is the new Millennium Spike, the Post Office still with bullet damage from the Easter Riots a few years ago when the Irish were fighting for their independence. The O'Connell statue also had bullet wounds - with some of the bronze figures on it with obvious bullet holes.

We drove by the rows of Georgian Houses, each with a differently painted bright door. On the corner of the square (formerly access only to those who owned the Georgian houses) was a statue of Oscar Wilde reclining on a boulder.

Our last stop for the bus tour was at Trinity College, founded in 1592. Here we viewed the Book of Knells - the oldest known printed copy of the Bible, hand printed and illustrated in 800 AD. The book was in the bottom floor of the library. I am sure you have seen photographs of the library - very long corridor, with shelves over two stories high - containing books of very old age.

From here we walked back downtown and around O'Connell Street, a divided street of 3 lanes each side and many statues in the middle.

We spent most of the afternoon walking around the main downtown area.

Close to 5:00 pm we took an optional tour to the Guinness Storehouse. This was their original brewery, now converted to a tour / sales store / dinner / etc. We took the walking tour of the former brewery and brewing process. We then as a group went to the top (7th floor) where there is the Gravity Bar. a brief description would be a round / circular room, about 50 feet in diameter. The walls were glass windows, 360 degrees around, with a fabulous view of Dublin. We then had dinner in one of their dinning rooms.

This is a brief summary of another interesting day of our travels.

The Wayward Traveler and his exhausted companions.

Sunday - 09/25/2011 - Belfast to Dublin

Another relaxing day today, in a manner of speaking.

We had a bus tour of Belfast. Do you remember all those painted murals on the IRA rebellion? Well, we got to see them, not just from the bus, but from the sidewalk. The only minor hitch was that we were across the street. The murals are actually painted on the ends of apartment buildings. It gave a person some thoughts as how we were able to stand in spots where only a few years ago (in the 1990's) there were riots and fighting.

From Belfast we travelled towards Dublin. We stopped in the small town of Downpartick. It's claim to fame is that the reputed grave of St. Patrick, the patron Saint of Ireland, is on a hill in town. We stopped a the visitor center, which opened today, Sunday, just for us. (Well, the sign for hours of operation had listed Sunday as closed, but we were there inside).

We arrived in Dublin around 3:30 this afternoon. Our hotel is right on the River Leiff, in downtown Dublin.

This evening we went to an Irish Cabaret for dinner and a show. Tomorrow, Monday, we go on a city bus tour in the morning then have the afternoon for our own use.

The Wayward Traveller and his companions.

Saturday - 09/24/2011 - Sligo to Belfast, Ireland

Once again we did not have free Internet Saturday night.

We started today in the town of Sligo, in northwestern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland). Our first stop was at the Belleek pottery factory in Belleek, Northern Ireland. It was right across the bridge from a former Border checkpoint. We saw demonstrations of their pottery making process. One member of our group even got to break some new pottery (it did not pass inspection so it was to be broken).

Next was an area on the northern coast named "Giant's Causeway". It is an area along the sea coast that contains many upright 6-sided columns of rock created as a result of volcanic actions. There is also a corresponding area in Scotland.

During the day today we entered / left the Replublic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, just depending upon the road. As of right now there are no 'passport' points.

We ended up in Belfast, Northern Ireland late afternoon. we had about an hour and half before our dinner in the hotel so we walked around the area between the hotel and the local river (Fast Fiver, 'Bel' means 'Mouth of', hence Belfast).

The Wayward Traveler and his companions.

Friday - 09/23/2011 - Limerick to Sligo, Ireland

Today was mostly traveling (180 miles or so) with some stops for sightseeing.

Our first side trip today was to the Dingle Peninsula. We stopped at the Cliffs of Moher where the cliffs are over 660 feet up from the sea (Atlantic). Of course there were guard railings. It was quite windy and somewhat overcast.

We have been seeing a number of '10-pound' towers. First - that is pounds as in pounds-sterling. One of the earlier kings gave 10-pounds to any local king who would build a tower to protect the local lands. also keep in mind that 10-pounds a few hundred years ago was a lot of money.

We stopped in the town of Galway right around noon and stayed for about 2 hours. Several of us took off to walk towards the local cathedral - a few blocks over and across the river. Shortly after we started we were passed (coming towards us) a police car and then an ambulance. Where we got back to the square there was investigation scene tape all around. We saw a bus with a busted windshield (windscreen as they call it here). Apparently a woman was struck by the bus (or maybe the other way around?).

Mid afternoon we stopped in the town of Knock where we went to a basilica dedicated by a pope recently (late 1900's, like around 1965 or so). 15 local people on their way to church claimed to see Mary, Joseph and a Lamb.

Finally around 5:0 pm we stopped in the town of Sligo for the evening. Sligo is in the northwest corner of Ireland. We are waiting for our suitcases to be delivered to our room so we can get ready for a 7:00 pm supper. There is a wedding in the hotel this evening so I hope we get to the correct room!

The Wayward Wanderer and his traveling companions.

Thursday - 09/22/2011 - Killerney to Limerick

Today we left Killarney and headed towards Limerick.

The first portion of the trip was around the Dingle Peninsula. Another scenic peninsula near Kilarney, and really just across the north side of Kerney peninsula.

We stopped in the fishing town of Dingle for our lunch (on our own).

In the town of Adare there were a number of thatched cottages.

We arrived in Limerick mid-afternoon. There is no history that Limerick is the town that seemed to be responsible for limericks, at least according to our tour guide.

Our hotel is right on the river Shannon.

This evening about an hour out of town we had our supper at the Knappogue Castle. It was a medieval theme.

Once again a late night back to our hotel - after 10:00 p.m.

The Wayward Traveler and his tired companions.

Wednesday - 09/21/2011 - Still in Killarney

Wednesday was a long day so I did not get a chance to post an entry.

Most of the day was a 100 mile drive called the 'Ring of Kerney'. It took over 5 hours. It was around the Kerney peninsula, very scenic.

During the evening we went to a town named Tralee. Here we had a dinner then watched a play about the fishing village on Blasket Island (off of the Kerney peninsula), it's population decline because of people leaving for a better life, and finally the government making the people come to the mainland.

We did not make it back to the hotel until after 10:50 p.m.

The Wayward Traveler and his (really) weary travelers.

Tuesday - 09/20/2011 - Muckross House in Killarney

Today was more of a leisure day. Breakfast was not until 8:00.

At 10:00 we had several horse-drawn carriages pick us up at the hotel and start us on our trip through Killarney National Park. It was a little cool, but the sun was starting to shine.

After about a half-hour ride we transferred to several open-air boats. The boats held about 12 people each. We were motored across two lakes for about an hour. we were dropped off at a mansion named Muckross House - you may have seen it on the Rick Steve's travel shows on the PBS Create channel.

The tour of the house took about 1 1/2 hours. Then back to the hotel by coach.

Right now we are taking a short break before walking around town to maybe do some shopping but definitely to find a place for our dinner.

The Wayward Traveler and his tired companions

Monday - 09/19/2011 - Waterford to Killarney, Ireland

Today was mostly a day of travel, and that is no Blarney (ha ha - read further).

We left Waterford and took a leisurely drive over to Killarney. It was overcast and we had light rain on and off. Fortunately when we were outside the bus it was not raining.

Our first stop was in the town of Younghal. The movie 'Moby Dick" was filmed here. This was really a rest stop and the town happened to be there.

Next we stopped in the town of Blarney for several hours. Yes, all four of us climbed up 100 steps to the castle tower and kissed the Blarney Stone. And we have photographs to prove it. One of us even kissed the ground (actually the stone wall because the ground was too far down) at the bottom when we got down. The steps were circular going up and down the towers and were maybe only 2 foot wide at most. On the way up the hand rail was only a rope secured at the center section.

From here is was a short ride over to Killarney where we will be for the next three nights (counting tonight).

Time to get the wash caught up and all the other miscellaneous things that get set aside.

Happy Trails to you, from

The Wayward Traveler and his tired companions.

Sunday - 09/18/2011 - Newport, Wales to Waterbury, Ireland

Another day another county (kind of).

Today was mainly a travel day. We left Newport around 8:00 and headed west to the town of Fishguard on west coast of Wales. Here the bus drove onto a ferry and the next stop was the port of Rossilee (Spelling?) Ireland and then an hour ride to Waterford, Ireland. We arrived at the hotel at 7:30 pm.

Here are a few observations on what I saw in Wales and this section of Ireland. The ground reminded me a lot of the area of south central Pennsylvania, like around Lancaster, that is east of the mountains. Rolling hills, farmland, etc. Yes, the ground did appear to be greener in Ireland than what we saw in Wales and southern England. The soil is mainly peat - thereby a lot of moisture in the ground.

The sand note for today is that the Waterford Crystal company has been closed for a few years. A company in the Checz Republic evidently purchased it and still makes crystal glass (in the Checz) and brands it Waterford. We are to be stopping at a place tomorrow that had purchase the stock so some 'original' is still available.

Well, as you can see it is 11:30 p.m. here and I need to get some other things done.

Once again:

The Weary Traveler and his worn-out companions

Saturday - 09/17/2011 - Plymouth to Newport, Wales

Our first stop today was in the town of Glastonbury - know for the base town of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

In the town of Glastonbury we toured the demolished abbey, demolished by King George VIII when he changed the religion of the country and destroyed those cathedrals and abbeys that did not convert to his choice of religion.

From here we headed north to the town of Bath, named for the Roman baths that were built here somewhere around 70AD. Stones have been found with the computed date of 73 AD which implies that the baths had to be around shortly before that. the computed date came from so many years into the reign of a specific Roman emperor.

The same day we were in Bath there was an annual Jane Austin Birthday Celebration - a lot of people were walking around in costumes of her time period -I think it was the mid 1800's.

From here we traveled north again. We passed through a small community of about 10 homes and one gas station named Pennsylvania.

We stopped for the evening in Newport, Wales. Another day an other country.

This evening most of us went on an optional tour to Cardiff Castle - obviously a castle in the Wales capital city of Cardiff. We toured the grounds and then had a Welsh dinner in a new building within the castle grounds. There was also Welsh singing entertainment. Boy, the Welsh are good singers - maybe that is where I get my capabilities from.

Your daily report from:

The Weary Traveler and his tired traveling companions.

Friday - 09/16/2011 - Plymouth and nearby area

Once again there was no free WIFI until today (Sunday) when we got to Ireland.

Today we toured the Cornwall area. this is the southwest corner of England. Our first stop was a view of an off-shore mansion - St. Michael Mount - similar to the one that most people know about in France. This one (in England) is in the same bay as that of the town of Penzance - think about the 'Pirates of Penzance'. This is near the start of the western end of the English channel.

Next on our day trip was 'Lands End' - the most south west point of land for England.

From here we went a little north to the seaside resort town of St. Ives.

I forgot to mention - the America's Cup Race - the yatch race - is being held in Plymouth this week. There are lost of tents and events in town related to it. The all-night (at least into the morning hours) bothered some of our group - not us as we were tired from our own traveling activities.

This evening we signed up for an optional tour - into the Moors. The area we went to - Princeton - is home to a medium security prison. During the war of 1812 it held a number of American prisoners. Later it was a high security prison. The Moors are a type of land that is some what of small rolly hills, small shrubs, holes in the ground (think quicksand type, or bogs), and most night lots of mist. This was followed by a supper at the local pub.

Another busy day for:

The Weary Traveler and his exhausted companions.

Thursday - 09/15/2011 - Brighton to Plymouth

Today's travel was a little longer than normal. We left the hotel in Brighton at 8:00.

Our first stop was STONEHENGE - very impressive.

Our next stop was Salisbury Cathedral. Yes, another cathedral and with some important history. One of Seven ORIGINAL copies of the Magna Charter is on display here. Again - impressive - something that we have all heard about in history, and how it changed England and hence the rest of the world.

We stopped at a small village named Widecombe in the Moore - in the general vicinity of Dartmore. You know, The Hounds of Basterville?

Our final stop was the port city of Plymouth. We saw the 'Mayflower Steps' - the loading location for the ship Mayflower. Also in the park near the bay is the Smeaton Lighthouse - may have some family significance.

The Wanderer and his Weary Companions.

Wednesday - 09/14/2011 - London to Brighton

I am posting this entry a day late because last night I did not have free Internet access. And tonight I only have 30 minutes of free Internet time - so I will keep my note concise.

Today we traveled from London somewhat eastward to Canterbury where we toured the Canterbury Cathedral. Yes, this is from the area that the Canterbury Tales are from.

From there we traveled to a seaside town named Brighton. It is pretty much south of London. Here we toured the Royal Pavilion - a seaside residence built by King George IV.

The Wayward Traveler and his Weary Companions.

Tuesday - 09/13/2011 - Still London

This morning we had a 'bus tour' of London. We stopped at St. Paul's Cathedral as well. This afternoon we had a tour through Buckingham Palace. The Queen said "Hi, you'all Yanks". As part of this tour we also went through the Horse Stables (Mews) where they keep all the royal carriages.

We are back to the hotel for a rest. We are hoping to walk back across the river (by bridge) at the parliment Building / Big Ben and look for a pub for our supper.

The Wayward Traveler and his weary companions.

Monday - 09/12/2011 - Longod -part 2

I missed mentioning that at Trafalgar Square we went into the National (Art) Gallery where we viewed many paintings from famous artists such as Monet, Degas, etc.

Monday - 09/11/2011 - London

We arrived in London, England, at 7:45 am London Time. It took us until 9:45 am to get through passport control. After we picked up our baggage it took us about 1 minute to go through customs.

Then another hour until we arrived at our hotel. We checked in and got ready for our first day in the United Kingdom.

Our hotel is right across the Thames from the Parliament buildings, so we walked pass them and up to Westminster Abbey. We took the self guided tour and saw a large number of graves, most of them in the floor. There were also coffins for many of the Kings, etc.

Next we continued our walk up the hill, stopping at the Household Calvary / Horse Guard, a few photos of 10 Downing street, then on to Trafalgar Square and Lord Nelson's column. From here we walked down Charning Cross and crossed the Thames on the Centennial Bridge and pass the new London Eye.

We are taking a break at our hotel and will head out on 'A Taste of London' tour through the tour company we are using for this trip.

The Wayward Traveler and his weary companions.

Ready, Get Set, Go soon

In the words of a famous song,

" I'm all packed, ready to go".

I, my wife and two of our friends are 'leaving on a jet plane' to tour some of our ancestory lands. I have Welsh and Scottish ancestory and my wife has Irish and Scottish ancestory.

We will be gone 26 days in total.

I hope to be able to keep this blog of our experiences updated, as I did on our Alaska trip last year. the unknown part is free WIFI access. We are hoping that this will not be a problem. In addition, our tour does some evening activities. So, if you check the blog and there are no recent updates either of these two items may be the cause.

Also a situation that we will have to deal with is our laundry. Since we do not have our own vehicle we will need to find a close laundromat within a short walking distance (who wants to walk around town with dirty clothes bags?) or use the hotel wash room if there is one. Otherwise we may be doing our laundry in the bath tub.

Stay tuned and enjoy our travels.

Signed:

The Wayward Traveler and his traveling companions.