So picking up from where we let off in Galway, we spent the following day soaking up the Galwegian atmosphere and checking out the sights, complete with a delightful lunch at what claimed to be Ireland’s best café. The wait for a table sure highlighted this title, not to mention the delicious food and cute surroundings right on the water’s edge.
Galway is very pretty and like Lonely Planet claims, ‘the people of Galway don’t walk, they glide’. We had heard by our Irish friends that Galway was the best place in Ireland and we weren’t disappointed; however its position as our favourite place in Ireland was taken over completely by our next stop…. Belfast, which blew us away completely. After the big drive from Galway to Belfast, we arrived in Northern Ireland surprisingly early and were anxious to explore. First stop was a spot of lunch at a lovely little Michelin adorned restaurant, followed by a trip to the famous Ulster museum where we studied up on Northern Irish history. Brad had read up about these Black Cab tours around Belfast’s key catholic and protestant spots teaching you all about the troubles. They came highly recommended so we decided to get involved, with Gemma opting to chill at the museum instead.
Our experience was absolutely amazing and this was definitely a highlight for us all, not just in Ireland but across our travels in general. The tour involved the three of us sitting in a black cab, being driven through Catholic and Protestant areas and learning all about the atrocities that occurs. Our guide was amazing and the company we went with showed both sides of the argument. Next time we are in Belfast (and there will be a next time), we will do a separate tour from each side as recommended by our tour guide. We saw all of the famous murals and just learned about the conflict in general. It was perplexing to see a giant wall still up in the city today, separating the two religions. The gate connecting the two was only opened very recently and even now, only ever on week days. The trouble is still not over.
Despite this, Belfast is a very beautiful city and we would easily live there. We absolutely loved it. The people are lovely, albeit a little hard to understand and each building is more beautiful than the last. We want to go back there as soon as possible.
The next morning we reluctantly headed off to catch our ferry across the Irish sea to Stanraer, Scotland. The journey passed in record time thanks to back-to-back viewing of my favourite TV show on the laptop. We were a tad nervous driving through Scotland on account of what we anticipated to be huge traffic to Edinburgh, as well as icy roads. Miraculously we were finer than fine and arrived in Edinburgh safely, even managing to secure a park right outside our accommodation. Our luck on this trip was outstanding!
Edinburgh was full of action and Gemma headed out straight away to get amongst it all with some friends of hers that were there. Brad, Mum and I opted to have a few drinks first before heading out soon after. Time flew, as it always does, and we spent a lovely few hours nattering away before the sound of fireworks brought us back to reality. We rugged up and made our way up the main drag, alongside thousands of others who were carrying fire torches to mark the start of the historic Hogmanay party. Having had a few brandies by this stage, we instead opted for a feast of chips and gravy, alongside sausages and mulled wine – delightful. We spent a grand few hours soaking it all up and exploring the streets of Edinburgh, before nestling up in a cosy pub over a fruit crumble. My idea of a perfect night!
The next day we were up early thanks to an 8 -9am breakfast time at our hotel and we lined our stomachs with a full Scottish breakfast for the busy day ahead. Gems set off to meet her friends and the rest of us made our way into the city, after climbing Carlton Hill to check out the amazing views. We spent the day wandering the streets, shopping, seeing the sights including the famous writer’s museum dedicated to Robert Louis Stevenson and just generally soaking up the epic atmosphere. Despite our large breakfast, we also managed to squeeze in a disgustingly large but oh so delicious lunch – ah well, it’s Christmas innit? We arrived back at our hotel at about 4pm for a lie-down, a bit of a chat, a few drinks and a spot of dinner (chips and gravy – what else?) before heading into the centre at 9pm. The crowd was huge of course, but we managed to bump into our Irish friends and Kiwi tag-alongs and we rang in the New year together. The fireworks were spectacular and it was impossible not to be swept away in the excitement of the impending year as the crowds cheered and fireworks exploded over Edinburgh castle.
The next part wasn’t so fun however as we had to fight our way out of a bulging crowd which was borderline stampede. Thankfully we managed to get out safely and made our way home, with Brad returning shortly after with kebab fries (don’t ask) and a large pizza for us all.
We set off the next morning after breakfast, intent on exploring a bit of Scotland before making our way to our night’s accommodation in Liverpool. We took the beaten track to Stirling, a beautiful little medieval town home of Scotland’s beloved Braveheart, stopping off in a cute wee town called Linlithgow which also housed a big castle. After a little look around we then set off for Glasgow to check out the National Piping Centre at Mum’s request. Unfortunately, or fortunately for some, it was closed so we bid Scotland goodbye and set off for Liverpool.
We arrived in Scouse territory at about 4pm, so we offloaded the bags, left Brad on the couch and hit the streets in search of food. Of course being New year’s Day and a Sunday, town was dead as anything and the only thing we managed to find for dinner, was a dirty feed of McDonald’s – not that we could make sense of the Liverpudlian accent when ordering though! We spent the evening making use of the much needed washing machine and soaking up the new year’s day television.
It was a bright and early start the next day as we had an entire city to explore, as well as squeeze in a few hours shopping. We’ve been to Liverpool before so we just followed the girls around from shop to shop, before wandering around Albert Dock, the Liverpool museum, as well as a homage to the world’s most famous Liverpudlians - The Beatles. All that exploring had ravaged our appetites and as far as I was concerned there was only one option – Jamie Oliver’s Italian restaurant. My mouth is watering now as I just type the words. Lord have mercy. The food was amazing and it was the perfect end to our perfect 11 day road trip. The drive back to London was rather slow and testing, but as we had uncanny luck throughout the entire journey we weren’t going to lose the rag over a spot of traffic.
A special mention to Brad who navigated his way across four countries ever so coolly.
Sadly, yesterday was Mum’s last day in London, but we certainly made the most of it and had left the house while it was still dark. We attended an 8am Holy Communion ceremony at Westminster, followed by a walk through Horse Guard’s Parade, down Whitehall for breakfast overlooking Trafalgar Square. By this stage the shops were open so we navigated our way through Oxford Circus picking up a few last-minute necessities, including Brad who had decided against the early rise, instead opting to meet us a few hours later. Our next stop was Harrods, followed by a squirrel feeding frenzy at Hyde Park. It was here that our luck ran out and we were soon saturated in torrential rain, without a squirrel in sight. To top off the completely iconic London experience a red bus then zoomed past drenching us with dirty puddle water. A real laugh and an absolute Bridget Jones moment for sure! We did have plans to go to Covent Garden for lunch, but a quick improvisation was called upon and instead we headed up to the Oxo Tower to soak up the amazing views of London over a much needed hot chocolate.
The dreaded goodbye was terrible of course, but with Gemma Kay still here for 10 more days we still get to play tourist guide for a wee while longer.
xx
