Day 259: Manchester: The Rest of the Tour

November 1, 2016

Today we were somehow up bright and early again to see more of the city.

Unfortunately I lost my phone last night, so if you have tried to contact me, I am not ignoring you, I am just an idiot when dancing to Beyonce.

We started off with a walk around the Northen Quarter, and ended up at Afflecks. It is a building full of smaller stores, and if I had lived in Manchester when I was 14, I would have spent all of my money there – an emo’s dream.

There was a lot of cool street art in the area too.

We spent about 5 minutes on an hour long tour of the oldest library in England, but the guide was terrible, and we were going to see the sunset from Cloud 23, a bar looking over the city. Sadly, it was booked out for a private function.

Instead, we headed to the Science Museum which would have been cool to see more of, as it had a lot of interactive exhibits.

I spent the evening trying to sort out my lost phone, but I think it is gone gone gone. Oh well! I managed to at least work out my transport tickets for the next few days.

Tomorrow, seeing an old friend xx

Day 258: Manchester: Libraries and Football

October 31, 2016

Today, after getting practically no sleep, I arrived in Manchester.

From Ireland, if you catch the bus, you spend 4 hours on a ferry, then another 3 hours on a bus. Not great if you usually sleep on the transport!!

Despite the lack of sleep though, I made it, and met up with a friend I met in Hong Kong back near the start of my trip. He wanted a shoutout on the blog, so here you go – Hi Jonjo! His mum let me stay in the spare room, so I am going to get a few good nights sleep in my own room!!

We spent all day exploring the city. He had a whole list of things for us to do, and we ticked off more than half in this first day! A few of the places we went, I don’t think any of the locals have ever even seen!

We started off in the town hall, which was surrounded in Halloween gear, where they were already putting up the Christmas display, and headed to the library. Some of the books were over a thousand years old, and they had fragments of books from 2000BC!! The building itself was really beautiful too.

From there, we went to the Cathedral. There was a lady working there who pointed out dozens of things I never would have noticed, like small carvings and where the war had destroyed parts.

We then headed to Old Trafford, home of Manchester United, and I got to see the cups and trophies they currently have, as well as just seeing one of the most famous sporting arenas in the world.

From there, we walked around the canals and ended up at Media City, where so many iconic British shows have offices. Saw a couple of Dalecs, but no Jeremy Kyle.

There was a great sunset on the walk back, through Salford Quays and everything was lit up green for Halloween! I even got to get dinner from the chippy.

Despite being a Monday night, it was Halloween, so we went out partying in Canal Street – the gay district. Met a lot of great people, but the winner was probably a couple, one who was a Scouser from Liverpool who was dressed as Regan from the Exorcist, who spoke mostly in Spice Girls movie quotes, high kicks included.

Tomorrow, more exploring x

Day 257: Ireland: Cliffs of Moher and Galway

October 30, 2016

Today was amazing. I cannot get over just how phenomenally beautiful Ireland is. Every day was been spectacular, but today really took the cake.

After a quick stop at a statue for St Bridget where you could make a wish by tying something to the trees, we hit the road again.

The Cliffs of Moher are one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen. The photos just don’t do them justice. They were so high up!!!

We had one more small stop at a place called “Leprechauns Cathedral” where if you can toss a coin with your wrong hand over your shoulder into the water you’ll get yet another wish, but my attempt could not have been worse if I tried!

The final stop was Galway. I wish I could have spent a few days here, but I did pick up a small souvenir and a gift for my sister, some Claddagh rings. I think they are just so beautiful!

We ended up back in Dublin, and I ran to this bus.

Tomorrow, Manchester xx

Day 256: Ireland: A Western Loop and Dingle

October 29, 2016

Today was another huge day in Ireland. We did a loop around the most westerly part of the country.

The wind was blowing a gale the whole time, so it was an odd beach experience, but the Burren rocky landscape later on made so much sense with all of the wind!

We got to walk out to the most westerly point of Europe (technically not quite with some islands, but you know) and had an amazing panoramic view.

We stopped in Dingle for lunch, and I had a long awaited roast dinner and a Guinness.

We are spending the night in an area that speaks more Gaelic that the rest of the country, in the Claire county, a town called and seeing a traditional band preform at the local pub that our guide knows.

Tomorrow, the Cliffs of Moher xx

Day 255: Ireland: Blarney Stone and a Night Out

October 28, 2016

Today I got up early and embarked on the Shamrocker Adventures Tour of Ireland. So far, so good!

We started off at what is apparently voted the best petrol station in Ireland. I have my doubts, but the rest of the day was much more impressive.

From there, we headed to Rock of Cashel, a castle up on a hill. Sadly, it is currently being renovated, but a castle is a castle, and I still enjoyed climbing around the hill and the view.

The highlight of the day’s trip was probably getting to kiss the Blarney Stone. Not that I need to be more chatty than I already am, but it is meant to give you the gift of the gab. Dangling over the side of the castle wall was an experience, as was the slight grope from the attendant making sure no one fell. Learnt later from the other girls that I wasn’t that special – he got us all!! Haha

The castle grounds were really beautiful too, with the autumn colours and then a huge castle.

We ended the day in Killarney, a reasonably small farming city home to 80% men by the state of the pub. We all went out and had a great dance to some rocked up Irish music (the live band was great).

Tomorrow, some seaside views xx

Day 254: Paris: Versailles and Notre Dame

October 27, 2016

Today was sadly my last in Paris, so I tried to get a full day in.

I started odd at the Notre Dame, which was really beautiful inside, but honestly, Churches are getting harder to appreciate the more I see. It was the first of the Gothic style churches apparently though which is cool.

I couldn't be bothered waiting in line for two hours to go to the top, so I just saw the inside of the actual church.

After the Notre Dame, I made a half day trip to Versailles. The palace was huge, as I was expecting, but the gardens were almost incomprehensibly huge!!

I liked the castle, but again, I've seen a lot of rooms set up in old style, so it was really the manicured gardens and the small farm area that impressed me the most.

Tomorrow, a tour of Ireland xx

Day 253: Paris: The Louvre and More Eiffel

October 26, 2016

Today was another huge day. I think I am still under-slept because I took literally over 600 photos today. How even?? It was amazing though.

I got up early and got in the line for the Louvre. Getting there early really is the only way to even get in I think. It was worth every minute of the wait. The palace/museum is beautiful.

Everyone said I would need a full day, but I ran around, and managed to even get up close and personal with the Mona Lisa! I guess the early bird gets the selfie. I spent about 5 hours straight just wondering around the displays. It was crazy seeing so many ridiculously famous things.

I probably could have stayed longer, but honestly, tourists are the worst and they really kind of ruined the experience a bit. Still blew my mind though. Amazing.

From there, I headed to the Eiffel Tower. The sun was out, so I had high hopes of a great view, but as soon as I made it to the top, the clouds rolled in.

I stayed up there for 2 hours waiting for it to clear, but it didn't look promising... On the way down, the blue skies came out!

I still cannot get over how magical the Eiffel Tower is though. It's so unbelievable to see it up close. I touched the Eiffel Tower.

After dark, the whole thing lights up, so I got to see it sparkle in the nighttime, which really just increased my love for it even more.

My hostel is on the same street as Moulin Rouge, so I stopped by to look at that. Didn't occur to me that the rest of the street would be a little bit trashy because of that though! Oops!

Tomorrow, Versailles xx

Day 252: Paris: Towers, Churches and Arcs

October 25, 2016

I have not at all mastered the French "r" sound, and people don't even understand when I say "bonjour" but that's fine, because I love Paris.

People warned me that it would be terrible and dirty, but it is honestly beautiful.

I got in on an overnight bus from Bordeaux to Paris, and got barely any sleep. Despite this, I had a very big day.

I started off with a journey down into the Catacombs. There were too many bodies in Paris, so they decided to literally pile the bones into old mining quarries in strange, intricate patterns, an homage to death.

It was grim, but amazing to see. I really loved it. Heads up, there are skulls, so if you don't like them, don't zoom in.

After the catacombs, I went to a little things you might have heard of... THE EIFFEL TOWER. It was surreal to see it in real life, and ironically, the first thing I saw was an add for Tourism Australia. Come all the way to Paris, just to be told to go home.

Literally as good as I imagined, and it was really foggy, so I'm going back tomorrow.

I walked from there to the Arc de Triomphe. Crazy to see something so famous in real life. I didn't want to pay for it though, so I just admired from afar. And it turns out the Champs-Élysées is a busy street.

I walked back along the street past Lamborghinis and Ferraris and Louis Vuitton and it was all too expensive, but it was super pretty anyway.

Finally, I went to the Sacre Coeur and Montmartre, which is a beautiful church and garden, and apparently there is a great lookout from on top, so if the weather is better tomorrow, I might climb up there and check out the panorama.

Tomorrow, the Louvre xx

Day 251: Bordeaux: Saint-Émilion Wines

October 24, 2016

Today I went on a short day trip to some prime Bordeaux wine country.

We got up super early, like 6am, only to get on the wrong train, and didn't get to Saint Emilion under after lunch! (Damn France and their timetables)

Once we got there though, we found a cool looking winery with an amazing cellar. We also got to do a wine tasting, and ended up choosing a 2008 mostly Merlot blend. Only 13euro for a bottle seemed like a complete steal, so we got 2.

The town is really cute, and the whole area is surrounded by vineyards! The changing colours of the leaves and the grapes still on some of the vines almost made the bucketing down rain seem a bit less shitty.

When we got back, we went for a quick picnic down by the river, and now I am waiting for another night bus.

Tomorrow, Paris xx

Day 250: Bordeaux: A Big Day of Exploring

October 23, 2016

Today ended up being huge. So much walking!

Once I got into Bordeaux last night, I headed to the hostel, and ended up making some friends. We ended up at a small carnival along the waters edge, and we went on just one ride. The guy ended up letting it run though three times under someone asked him to stop (I only thought it, didn't actually say it)

Today we went and checked out some of the churches around the town, as well as their main museum. It blows my mind that everywhere seems to have relics from 10thousand years ago, and not bat an eye.

We ended up having a picnic at the waterfront with a heap of people from the hostel, right near the reflecting pool thing, which was just so french. Baguettes, wine, and so so so much cheese!