...So naturally we spent the day exploring the coast, including a visit to see the location of Dragonstone, as well as a bracing hike to the Giant's Causeway, a stunning basalt volcanic formation famous the world over for the stories of Finn McCool who continues to sleep beneath the rock to this day.
The drive through the countryside was lovely, and it took around an hour and a half to get to the first destination. the temple and castle ruins that served as the backdrop to the burning sequence in season one of Game of Thrones. From there, we made our way to the causeway via the coastal route, which isn't really as coastal as you'd expect, but a good drive nevertheless. The hike to see everything took around two and half hours, and by the end the weather had come in with wind gusts of over 100mph, which isn't brilliant when you're walking up a cliff. We've never felt anything like it. Right at the end, it began to rain, which is quite painful on bare skin when it's sideways at that speed.
We weren't in the ridiculous weather for that long, and we got back in the car for our journey home. After a quick trip up to our room, we realised that Tuesdays at the cinema here are ridiculously cheap (three pounds per ticket) so we walked to a local cinema to see Sisters (review is up). It was thoroughly enjoyable, and after a quick pub stop afterwards for a drink, we came back up to our room for much needed rest after a very big day.
- Jess
Day 18 - Belfast
Today we explored Belfast, and it would seem that aside from post Christmas shopping, everything here shuts down. We began by walking through the CBD to the botanic gardens and palm house and on to the Ulster Museum. The museum was deserted, so we took our time learning about 'The Troubles' in an excellent exhibition which was balanced, clear and surprisingly unbiased considering where it appears. This is a city clearly still grappling with its recent past, the graffiti we've seen alludes to the undercurrent of civil dissatisfaction that has been heightened by the fallout of the GFC here in Northern Ireland in particular. Being in an industrial city is also a change aesthetically speaking. There's an incongruity in the architecture from what we've seen elsewhere; brutalist industrial buildings abutting Victorian era pubs and homes, with new developments and 70's blocks in between. It's a fascinating city to explore.
After our wander in the museum we made our way past the university to the major shopping district, where we finally found where everyone was - sales. We shopped for a few hours, I bought a jumper, but it was mostly just a window shop. We had dinner at Five Guys, yes it's American, but it was very tasty.
Everything shuts at six, so we picked up some nibbles and went back to our hotel as the weather had turned, nothing was really open, and tomorrow is going to be a big day. Currently watching The Hogfather on tv and drinking cups of tea, and Guinness.
After our wander in the museum we made our way past the university to the major shopping district, where we finally found where everyone was - sales. We shopped for a few hours, I bought a jumper, but it was mostly just a window shop. We had dinner at Five Guys, yes it's American, but it was very tasty.
Everything shuts at six, so we picked up some nibbles and went back to our hotel as the weather had turned, nothing was really open, and tomorrow is going to be a big day. Currently watching The Hogfather on tv and drinking cups of tea, and Guinness.
26th and 27th of December - We're on a boat...
Boxing day meant a very early start, as we had a 700km trip to the Lake District to drive. We made excellent time through the countryside until we hit Cumbria, where flood waters created huge traffic jams and cut off roads. As a result, we didn't arrive at our beautiful hotel until it was evening, and we had to fjord a road or two on the way.
Because of the conditions, we thought it best to eat at the hotel rather than risk going out again, and we had a fantastic dinner, one of the nicest so far. Andrew had steak, and I was thoroughly impressed with Rudolph (venison). We went back to our room in time to watch The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, and promptly fell asleep afterwards as we were exhausted.
This morning we woke up fairly early again so that we could get some daylight hours to explore before making our way to Scotland to catch a ferry to Ireland. And what a stunningly beautiful morning it was. There was no cloud, and in the sunny but freezing outdoors we could actually see the countryside in all its picture postcard glory. We wandered through the woods down to the ruins of Furness Abbey, and it was just beautiful. The scale of what would have once been a gargantuan building was clearly visible, and the red stone looked even more spectacular in its bed of lush grass that carpets the entire ruin. It was a lovely way to spend our morning before another long drive.
After yesterday, we needed to make sure we were going to be on time for the ferry, so we allowed five hours for what google told us would be a three and a half hour drive. We needn't have worried, we arrived with plenty of time to spare, and the sunny skies meant our day of winding through the Scottish countryside was brilliant, as we could actually see the scenery!
Then it was onto a very big, surprisingly luxurious boat. There's a cinema, a number of bars and restaurants and lounge areas, so our short two and a half hour cruise was spent in comfort. That being said, I still felt a little ill (boats and I do not mix) but a few laps of the deck helped. We arrived in Belfast around six, and after a short drive to our hotel, we settled into our lovely room and then went out for a very tasty pub meal where I discovered sloe gin. So good.
Now we're back, as everything is shut after nine on a Sunday night (feels a little like Adelaide in winter really) and we'll get to bed early so we're rested for a big day of exploring.
- Jess
Because of the conditions, we thought it best to eat at the hotel rather than risk going out again, and we had a fantastic dinner, one of the nicest so far. Andrew had steak, and I was thoroughly impressed with Rudolph (venison). We went back to our room in time to watch The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, and promptly fell asleep afterwards as we were exhausted.
This morning we woke up fairly early again so that we could get some daylight hours to explore before making our way to Scotland to catch a ferry to Ireland. And what a stunningly beautiful morning it was. There was no cloud, and in the sunny but freezing outdoors we could actually see the countryside in all its picture postcard glory. We wandered through the woods down to the ruins of Furness Abbey, and it was just beautiful. The scale of what would have once been a gargantuan building was clearly visible, and the red stone looked even more spectacular in its bed of lush grass that carpets the entire ruin. It was a lovely way to spend our morning before another long drive.
After yesterday, we needed to make sure we were going to be on time for the ferry, so we allowed five hours for what google told us would be a three and a half hour drive. We needn't have worried, we arrived with plenty of time to spare, and the sunny skies meant our day of winding through the Scottish countryside was brilliant, as we could actually see the scenery!
Then it was onto a very big, surprisingly luxurious boat. There's a cinema, a number of bars and restaurants and lounge areas, so our short two and a half hour cruise was spent in comfort. That being said, I still felt a little ill (boats and I do not mix) but a few laps of the deck helped. We arrived in Belfast around six, and after a short drive to our hotel, we settled into our lovely room and then went out for a very tasty pub meal where I discovered sloe gin. So good.
Now we're back, as everything is shut after nine on a Sunday night (feels a little like Adelaide in winter really) and we'll get to bed early so we're rested for a big day of exploring.
- Jess
Day 15 - Christmas Day
Christmas Day, otherwise known as food coma day. We've had the laziest Christmas ever. We slept in late, then walked downstairs for Christmas lunch at 12.30pm. Five courses later, we were absolutely stuffed to the gills with delicious food. The hotel decorated the dining room beautifully, and we wore stupid hats, popped party poppers and enjoyed the weird tradition of flying balloons - everyone had a long balloon in their gift box that's only purpose was to blow up and then release without tying it, emitting a long fart noise whilst torpedoing around the room. And everyone in the dining room did this. It was great fun.
They lit the fires during lunch, so we spent a couple of hours just lounging in front of one with coffee and mince pies, trying not to fall asleep. Then we went back to our room and did some Christmas special streaming. We bought some 'dinner' yesterday, so around seven we cracked out the snacks and had a makeshift dinner, finishing off the Irish cream in the process. It was great to be able to watch Dr Who as it aired for a change, and we just finished the final episode of Downton Abbey as well.
Tomorrow is entirely devoted to driving 700kms up to Barrow-in-Furness, so we'll succumb to sleep to rise and shine very early in the morning. We hope everyone had a brilliant Christmas back home, we'll update again soon!
- Jess
They lit the fires during lunch, so we spent a couple of hours just lounging in front of one with coffee and mince pies, trying not to fall asleep. Then we went back to our room and did some Christmas special streaming. We bought some 'dinner' yesterday, so around seven we cracked out the snacks and had a makeshift dinner, finishing off the Irish cream in the process. It was great to be able to watch Dr Who as it aired for a change, and we just finished the final episode of Downton Abbey as well.
Tomorrow is entirely devoted to driving 700kms up to Barrow-in-Furness, so we'll succumb to sleep to rise and shine very early in the morning. We hope everyone had a brilliant Christmas back home, we'll update again soon!
- Jess
Day 14 - Christmas Eve
Firstly, Christmas lunch crisis was averted in the morning when we were informed that we could in fact have Christmas lunch here at the hotel, which is brilliant news. With that sorted, we went for brunch at a local cafe, then we made our way down the cliffs for a nice walk on the beach - once again, many people were out surfing, in spite of the freezing wind. The sun was out, so we spent a while exploring sea caves and enjoying the fresh air.
Then it was time to explore some countryside, so we drove to a famous cyder (that's how it's spelled) farm and whiled away the afternoon tasting cyder, drinking tea and eating scones with jam and cream. The Cornish countryside is beautiful, and the sunny skies made for a lovely drive along the (very, very narrow) country lanes.
On our way home we stopped off to get some Christmas dinner treats for tomorrow evening, and we finally got around to eating some Cornish pasty for dinner. Now we're hole up in our room watching Christmas specials, eating Quality Streets and imbibing Irish Cream at an alarming rate. Merry Christmas to all of our wonderful family and friends back in Adelaide, we hope you have a brilliant day, and enjoy the sun for us!
- Jess
Then it was time to explore some countryside, so we drove to a famous cyder (that's how it's spelled) farm and whiled away the afternoon tasting cyder, drinking tea and eating scones with jam and cream. The Cornish countryside is beautiful, and the sunny skies made for a lovely drive along the (very, very narrow) country lanes.
On our way home we stopped off to get some Christmas dinner treats for tomorrow evening, and we finally got around to eating some Cornish pasty for dinner. Now we're hole up in our room watching Christmas specials, eating Quality Streets and imbibing Irish Cream at an alarming rate. Merry Christmas to all of our wonderful family and friends back in Adelaide, we hope you have a brilliant day, and enjoy the sun for us!
- Jess
Day 13 – Newquay is gnarly, man…
This is such a surfer’s town, in spite of the fact that it’s
here in England. We’re overlooking beautiful Newquay beach, which had over 25
people out the back enjoying the excellent waves, I can only assume they either
don’t feel the cold, or have heated wetsuits.
We slept in this morning, meaning that there was actually
sunlight when were ventured out, so we took the opportunity to walk along the
cliffs to the headland to visit Rick Stein’s fish restaurant. It was lovely, a
fantastic view over the ocean, and I had some great fried Cod chips. Dogs are
more welcome here than in London, in pubs and restaurants they’re frequently
found lazing about with their owners, and here was no exception.
After a leisurely brunch we began the hunt for a place to
have Christmas lunch. Ah, what naïve sweet summer children we are. I had
naturally assumed that we could eat at our hotel on Christmas day, provided we
couldn’t book anywhere else, so it was only with mild disappointment that we
were told they were fully booked. Oh well, we thought, there’ll be plenty of
other places.
Wrong. So wrong. We spent our afternoon walking to every
single hotel, restaurant, takeaway and food outlet to be told one of three
things: We’re not open on Christmas day; we’re fully booked; try (insert place
here) and repeat the first or second phrase. Over twenty venues later, I
thought never mind, we can just get room service. Ha! Turns out, due to
Christmas lunch, there is no room service on Christmas day. We came back to our
room to begin calling less local places in the hope of being able to drive
somewhere. After ten phone calls, all of which were met with the same fully
booked mantra, we gave up.
We had a nice meal at a restaurant across the road for tea,
and have reconciled ourselves to having our own homemade Christmas in our room.
However, this is somewhat complicated by the fact that we have neither a fridge
nor microwave in our room (as an aside, I’ve rekindled my great hatred of long
life milk in tea) so we’re going to have to get creative. Currently drinking
Archers and lemonade in a can, ruminating on what to do next.
- Jess
- Jess
Day 11 & 12 - Goodbye London, Hello Cornwall
Wow, an epic two days! Apologies for no entry yesterday, we didn't get to sleep until about 12.30am and had to be up at 6.am. So, last day in London was a full day of food, shopping, movies, concerts and awesomeness.
We went back to Electric Diner for lunch, it was excellent, and finished up the last of the shopping in Portobello Road. The rain set in at this time, so we decided to use our vouchers to go and see The Good Dinosaur (review pending). This finished around 4.30pm, so we decided to make our way straight to Camden for our dinner before Ghost at Koko Theatre. We settled into the pub, had a couple of happy our drinks, and watched the very. very long line progress. Security was very thorough, Andrew was frisked three times, I was once and they searched bags. This meant it took quite some time to get in. - Jess
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