London, Cork craziness, Blarney and more
The second day in London shaped up to be even more beautiful than the first, which suited our plans perfectly. We met up with Michael again, Matt, our nephew, Eryn, Matt's partner and Briony, Eryn's friend, for breakfast, followed by a walk through Kensington Gardens. The weather was so good it was hot. We saw our first grey squirrels along the way, along with white swans, Canada geese and a rich assortment of other water birds. We also came across Queen Victoria's tribute to her partner, Prince Albert.
Now the average punter, if they wanted to show their affection, might give some nice jewellery, or maybe a tie, but Vicky opted for something a little grandeur - a huge monument, complete with guilt leaf statue of Albert, surrounded by other statues of gambolling wildlife. Not bad for somebody, whose only claim to fame seemed to be getting Victoria abundantly pregnant - though maybe that is a good reason for a statue.
Kate very much wanted to see Peter Pan so we walked a full circuit and with the help of some modern technology (Matt finally used used his phone to map our way to the statue) we got to have our photo taken with the legendary boy.
We then wandered off for lunch, consuming the obligatory pint. This, combined with the walk and the warmth knocked our socks clean off and we all wandered off our separate ways in search of nana naps. After we'd recuperated we spent a lovely evening, in the balmy twilight, wandering around Covent Gardens, bellies refilled, this time with paella and sangria.
Day 3 saw us flying to Cork. The trip was short and uneventful, but I should add that I have never known a flight crew to laugh and chat more. Seems the Irish do like a good time. Amusingly, the hostess thanked us for flying with them, on behalf of all the Cork-based staff. Hmm ... Cork-based, if that's like carbon-based life forms, that must mean they were made out of cork. No wonder they were light-hearted.
The day was a stunner so we drove straight down to a highly recommended sea side village -Kinsale - and it totally lived up to the hype! Quaint old streets, wonderful shops and eateries, great views of the sea. A must-see in this part of the world.
We then headed on to Blarney Castle - or at least that was the plan. The problem was that we didn't have the SIM card we needed and the map we had was very basic -so basic that it was a bit like using a globe of the world to navigate through Sydney. This may not have been the end of the world, except that we did have to get passed Cork. Things really went pear-shaped when we opted to take a short cut, though to be fair, I suspect the wheels had already fallen off earlier. We got to see backstreets that few tourists bother to visit, which is understandably because they were pretty darn ugly. At first we laughed a lot, then not so much, followed by periods of tense silence until, after doing a total circuit of one more unpleasant part of Cork, we reached the f-bomb stage. These episodes are always good for a laugh, but never at the time, unless you want to get a good wallop from you partner.
Anyway, we did break free, and got to Blarney Castle, which was remarkably beautiful, made all the more so by perfect weather. We then booked into the Blarney Castle Hotel, which was a total hoot. The staff were wonderful, starting with the receptionist Connie, who even played a trick on me, by sneaking Kate on a shortcut (unlike the Cork shortcut this one actually worked) so that they got to the car before me. Not only had she tricked me, she'd made Kate an accomplice, and she'd only known us for about 3 minutes. She'd done all this just for a laugh.
I honestly love the Irish people. They are polite, fun-loving and seem to have a healthy dose of irreverence. Oh, speaking of which, I kissed the Blarney Stone, which probably means i'll be even more loquacious. You have been warned. And Kate made it all the way up the narrow, high winding staircase, which was pretty amazing considering she did this whilst simultaneously clenching every single orifice tighter than a duck's bottom.
The second day in London shaped up to be even more beautiful than the first, which suited our plans perfectly. We met up with Michael again, Matt, our nephew, Eryn, Matt's partner and Briony, Eryn's friend, for breakfast, followed by a walk through Kensington Gardens. The weather was so good it was hot. We saw our first grey squirrels along the way, along with white swans, Canada geese and a rich assortment of other water birds. We also came across Queen Victoria's tribute to her partner, Prince Albert.
Now the average punter, if they wanted to show their affection, might give some nice jewellery, or maybe a tie, but Vicky opted for something a little grandeur - a huge monument, complete with guilt leaf statue of Albert, surrounded by other statues of gambolling wildlife. Not bad for somebody, whose only claim to fame seemed to be getting Victoria abundantly pregnant - though maybe that is a good reason for a statue.
Kate very much wanted to see Peter Pan so we walked a full circuit and with the help of some modern technology (Matt finally used used his phone to map our way to the statue) we got to have our photo taken with the legendary boy.
We then wandered off for lunch, consuming the obligatory pint. This, combined with the walk and the warmth knocked our socks clean off and we all wandered off our separate ways in search of nana naps. After we'd recuperated we spent a lovely evening, in the balmy twilight, wandering around Covent Gardens, bellies refilled, this time with paella and sangria.
Day 3 saw us flying to Cork. The trip was short and uneventful, but I should add that I have never known a flight crew to laugh and chat more. Seems the Irish do like a good time. Amusingly, the hostess thanked us for flying with them, on behalf of all the Cork-based staff. Hmm ... Cork-based, if that's like carbon-based life forms, that must mean they were made out of cork. No wonder they were light-hearted.
The day was a stunner so we drove straight down to a highly recommended sea side village -Kinsale - and it totally lived up to the hype! Quaint old streets, wonderful shops and eateries, great views of the sea. A must-see in this part of the world.
We then headed on to Blarney Castle - or at least that was the plan. The problem was that we didn't have the SIM card we needed and the map we had was very basic -so basic that it was a bit like using a globe of the world to navigate through Sydney. This may not have been the end of the world, except that we did have to get passed Cork. Things really went pear-shaped when we opted to take a short cut, though to be fair, I suspect the wheels had already fallen off earlier. We got to see backstreets that few tourists bother to visit, which is understandably because they were pretty darn ugly. At first we laughed a lot, then not so much, followed by periods of tense silence until, after doing a total circuit of one more unpleasant part of Cork, we reached the f-bomb stage. These episodes are always good for a laugh, but never at the time, unless you want to get a good wallop from you partner.
Anyway, we did break free, and got to Blarney Castle, which was remarkably beautiful, made all the more so by perfect weather. We then booked into the Blarney Castle Hotel, which was a total hoot. The staff were wonderful, starting with the receptionist Connie, who even played a trick on me, by sneaking Kate on a shortcut (unlike the Cork shortcut this one actually worked) so that they got to the car before me. Not only had she tricked me, she'd made Kate an accomplice, and she'd only known us for about 3 minutes. She'd done all this just for a laugh.
I honestly love the Irish people. They are polite, fun-loving and seem to have a healthy dose of irreverence. Oh, speaking of which, I kissed the Blarney Stone, which probably means i'll be even more loquacious. You have been warned. And Kate made it all the way up the narrow, high winding staircase, which was pretty amazing considering she did this whilst simultaneously clenching every single orifice tighter than a duck's bottom.