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Ireland, Portugal and Spain

October - November 2018
We are travelling for six weeks, starting in Dublin and ending in Barcelona. Read more
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  • TravelerIreland, Portugal and Spain
    Day 11

    Finally we get some true Irish weather

    October 13, 2018 in Ireland ⋅ 🌫 10 °C

    It rained all day, all the way from Clifden to Swinford, via the Wild Atlantic Way. Nevertheless we saw some pretty spectacular scenery. After the rain from yesterday and last night the hills were streaming water, a somewhat different sight from what we normally see in Australia.

    The most unusual sight of the day was a group of girls we passed on a narrow, unsealed track that led to a rocky beach. As we drove past them we noticed that they had wetsuits on! Sure enough, a few hundred metres along, at the rocky beach, we saw a heap of surfboards waiting for them. Why one would want to surf in such conditions is beyond us.

    We are staying for the next two days in a little cottage in Swinford. It was impossible to find, given the directions we had, but Jimmy the owner met us and led us to what turned out to be a tidy, well renovated little place just around the corner from the Main Street. It is lovely and warm and well-appointed.

    The wifi was on but we had no internet. A text to Jimmy and he was around in about 10 minutes, not that he could help. It turned out to be a provider problem so we just had to wait. It is becoming increasingly important to have internet these days, as we now rely completely on it for bookings.    Read more

  • TravelerIreland, Portugal and Spain
    Day 12

    Irish National Parks

    October 14, 2018 in Ireland ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    Although a little hit chilly (5 degrees C early on) it was a glorious day, so we headed off to Ballycroy National Park for a bit of a walk. Given that we are walking for a week in Spain it is important that we get a few kms under our belts.

    Just out of Swinford we came across an accident on a narrow bridge. It took ages for the Guarda to organise things and let us through but eventually we were on our way. Apparently nobody was injured, and given the amount of miles we have driven on very narrow roads it was surprising that this was our first accident.

    Ballycroy National Park is in the north west of Ireland, and is unusual by Australian standards. It comprises about 5 little discrete areas, and one big area, but the Visitor Information Centre is located within one of the little ones. A friendly chap gave us lots of information, most of which we could not understand, but when we said that we wanted to go for a 2 - 3 hour walk it was hard for him to help. It seems that you either go on a short walk, or get serious and take a compass, walking boots, hiking sticks and map and go all day! What’s more you had to drive to the main park if you wanted to walk more than a half hour.

    Well, we headed out, and ended up walking for nearly two hours, almost all on a road leading to the next part of the park. With only two cars passing us this was no great worry. The scenery is just so different to our national parks. It was basically bog country, and digging peat seemed to be the main industry. At one stage we couldn’t see a single house, or tree, something we are not used to.

    After that we just headed home through the little known byways, going on roads seldom crossed except ...

    All in all, a good day, finished off with Scrabble and dinner.    Read more

  • TravelerIreland, Portugal and Spain
    Day 13

    The far north of Ireland

    October 15, 2018 in Ireland ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    It was cold but dry when we left Swinford. We headed up towards Sligo, but bypassed it and started following the Wild Atlantic Way, hereinafter called the WAW. This is a scheme whereby little, not so little and some big roads are linked so that travellers can follow the coast. It has been good for business for smaller towns that would otherwise be missed by tourists.

    Our first stop was Strandhill Beach where swimming and canoeing are banned. It allows surfing and we did see a few hardy souls, but why you would bother is beyond us.

    An interesting sign led us to walking along a path that traversed beach and dunes, and around an airport runway, taking us to the ruins of Killaspugbrone Church. It was in a beautiful spot, and Robyn joked that the graves there enjoyed an even better view than Gerringong Cemetery where Uncle Jock is buried.

    We took a few other little sojourns, but all of a sudden we found that we were running out of time. Nevertheless we made it to Malin Head just on 4pm, in time to meet Mary, our host.    Read more

  • TravelerIreland, Portugal and Spain
    Day 14

    Malin Head

    October 16, 2018 in Ireland ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    This was a morning when we didn’t have to be up early and given that the sun is up fairly late anyway, it was good to be able to have a leisurely breakfast before heading off for a walk.

    The walk up to the point was relatively easy until the wind started. By the time we had reached the top it was really strong, enough to almost blow Robyn off her feet! From the top we could see the place where there were white stones set into the grass spelling EIRE. This was done during WW2 to let pilots know that they were over Ireland, a neutral country.

    On our wind-assisted return we then walked in to the Farrens Arms for a coffee and to check our emails. There were two behind the bar and one customer, so there was plenty of time for them to chat to us. They were really quite interesting, and friendly.

    Trying to buy groceries in this part of the world has proven to be a challenge. We are self-catering and trying to eat well, walk well and drink well, but when potatoes and carrots are about all you can rely on it is slim pickings for the cook! In desperation we went in to Malin village itself, to no avail.

    The last thing for the day was to join the locals for a pint (or glass of wine) and this time there were a few more customers.

    Our walk home was just beautiful, with the sun going down and the sea just below us.    Read more

  • TravelerIreland, Portugal and Spain
    Day 15

    Belfast

    October 17, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    It was time to pack up and leave our cottage and head for Belfast. Mary, our host, turned up early because, as she explained, she had to look after breakfasts for her B&B. She read the meter, calculated the electricity cost and gave us a bill for a ridiculously small amount. Admittedly we had to stuff coins into a meter for the gas heating, but it was still peanuts for a nice cottage with a million dollar view!

    Our trip to Belfast was easy as we ended up taking more major roads than little byways. This put us in Belfast a bit early for our unit, but it is always nice to know where it is and what the parking is like. Because there were few opportunities to park on the side of the road and put the actual address into the GPS we ended up in Belfast proper first. By then, of course, we had overshot the mark, and Madam Lash took us up some fairly narrow streets to get us back on track.

    Parking around the corner from the unit was a breeze, so we headed down Antram Road towards town. As luck would have it a lady opened the (very shabby) door of our apartment block so I asked if Barry was in. The lady was the person who did all the housekeeping and was more than happy to let us in quite early. What a bonus that was. It meant that we could set ourselves up early and then spend the rest of the afternoon in town.

    We walked in to Cathedral Square, had a look round, and then decided to have some lunch. The couple beside us in the patisserie, sort of locals, strongly advised us to take one of the Red Buses on a tour of the city. What a good suggestion that was. We had an hour and a half of a guided tour that gave us a brief history of much of the town. Robyn was especially interested in The Troubles, and travelling down Falls Road and seeing the murals and memorial gardens was very sobering.

    Following that Robyn went shopping and ended up with three items of clothing, so all in all a great day.    Read more

  • TravelerIreland, Portugal and Spain
    Day 16

    Titanic again

    October 18, 2018 in Ireland ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    Given that we had plenty of time to get down to Dublin Airport and I wanted to visit the Titanic Experience, we headed off there in plenty of time for the opening at 10 am. That was a really good move, because by the time we left it was really crowded. Last year it was Ireland’s most popular tourist attraction, and with good reason.

    The Cobh Titanic museum which we saw the previous week was really good, but this was at another level entirely. We really liked the fact that it didn’t just concentrate on the sinking, but rather the whole story.

    Belfast in the late 19th century and its industries was a bustling city, bigger than Dublin at one stage. The shipbuilding industry was the world’s biggest in the early 20th century, and many other industries were on a world standard as well. The exhibits showed working life and the various industries, such as linen, tobacco, and whisky, in the city at that time. However, the decision to build three “super liners” meant that the industry had to step up and install bigger and better facilities.

    The exhibits relating to the Titanic itself, its design and its first sailing were very impressive. But reading the stories of some of those on the ship, why they were there and what happened to them, made for a very sombre experience. We would recommend it to any of our friends who visited Belfast.

    It was then time to head to Dublin Airport where we fly out in the morning. The Travelodge proved hard to find, and was a lot further from the airport than we envisaged. We eventually found it, booked in, and then went to hand the car in. That was not much of a problem and we enjoyed the 50 minute walk back to the hotel.

    The Travelodge was a rather tired old “motel” in our terms, so rather than eat there we walked into Sword and had a very pleasant dinner at The Lord Mayor’s Pub.    Read more

  • TravelerIreland, Portugal and Spain
    Day 17

    Off to Viseu via Madrid

    October 19, 2018 in Portugal

    It is always hard to sleep when you have an early flight that you just CANNOT miss, and so it proved last night. By the time we received our wake up call at 3.30 am we were well and truly up.

    We took the 4.06am bus to the airport and were surprised at just how many people were on it. Going through the rigmarole of booking in and going through security was a breeze. The check-in lady was extremely friendly, and thought that as we looked after so many Irish in Australia it was the least she could do to reciprocate!

    Our flight left on time and was early in to Madrid where it had rained earlier. Getting out of the airport was easy, but lining up and waiting for a car at the Avis counter was not much fun. Eventually, after quite some time, a young lady tried to sell us a better car, and then better insurance. We declined in each instance and were issued the relevant paperwork for a Citroen C4 Gspace, quite a large vehicle. We then had to wait for it to be brought over from another terminal. It seems that most times we interact with hire car firms, a length of time is involved.

    When it arrived we hurriedly loaded up, waited for the GPS to work out where we were and then it was off to Viseu. The first hour or two of RHS driving is always a bit stressful, but at least this time we managed to get out of town without an accident. I wish I had inspected the car carefully before we headed out because I found a significant scrape when we stopped after a few hours.

    Our first stop in Portugal was at Viseu, on our way to Porto. The GPS indicated that it was 679 kms, much more than I had anticipated. However, as that was where our booking for the night was we headed out at great speed. A few hours later, at a very basic petrol stop we saw on a map that things were not as they seemed, and that Viseu was not that far after all. We drove, and drove, avoiding toll roads and arrived in the town around 6pm. Bugger - the GPS had no idea of where we wanted to go. A phone call elicited another street name nearby, to no avail. A second phone call, much stress, and a fair bit of luck, and we found our hotel in the middle of Viseu.

    What a surprise it was! Formerly the private residence of a wealthy family, it had been converted into a 12 room hotel, owned by an antique dealer with premises underneath. He furnishes it with antiques which are for sale so apparently you never know what you will find.

    After settling in we headed out for dinner and ended up in Face Bar Cafe. What an experience that was! Owned by a sort of local we enjoyed local wine and local bread (actually toasties) while watching locals walk by. We spent quite a while chatting to the owner.    Read more

  • TravelerIreland, Portugal and Spain
    Day 18

    Porto

    October 20, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Breakfast at our hotel was sumptuous, unless you wanted a truckie’s breakfast. We had plenty of choice and the staff were very helpful.

    As we were leaving, one of the hotel staff suggested that we go to the church museum just up from the hotel, and, not wanting to appear rude, we took her advice. As we have found in the past it is awesome to be in the presence of paintings, or statues etc from many hundreds of years ago, with NO security. While there I heard the organ in the church start up so I went in, hoping to hear something really nice. The organ was nice, the acoustics were fine, and ... the organist was a young boy practising. Oh well ...

    When travelling, we try to avoid tolls and did the same today, until it became obvious that we were doing it the hard way. So we changed the GPS and headed in to Porto , ending up in the old part of town. We were really early, and I wanted to scope the place out first, but all we could see was a garage entrance in a one-way street with no parking. This made for a difficult time. Anyway, we drove around until I could park (illegally) and we texted the owners to open up the garage door. In five minutes or so we came up the street and the owner was there with the door open. Good, except that we had to stop our line of traffic. The we had to wait until the other lane was relatively clear so I could swing out and then turn left into the very narrow entrance. I think we probably upset about 100 drivers in all!

    That aside, our apartment is just wonderful - so roomy and well presented. We asked if it would be possible to stay another day, which was okay, so we can now settle in a bit and not live out of our suitcases for a little while.

    We went for a brief walk to see what the lie of the land was. Then we returned to our apartment to do some washing (very important when travelling for some time) and then went for a much longer walk, over one bridge and back on another. Back for a shower, then had a drink in a local cafe, did some shopping and returned for dinner. All in all, another good day.    Read more

  • TravelerIreland, Portugal and Spain
    Day 19

    Porto on a Sunday

    October 21, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We eased into the day slowly so it was around midday when we went shopping. We really packed for colder weather and the 25 degrees in Porto has shown up the weaknesses in both our wardrobes. So, when the going gets tough the tough get going, and Robyn is tough.

    Robyn soon found a lightweight top and two T-shirts, and even I found a nice shirt, T-shirt and jeans. Unfortunately shorts were off the menu here, as most of the stock on display was for winter.

    Then it was off for our walk for the day. Those to whom we have related our plans for these holidays will know that we are going for a 5 day walk around Segovia in Spain, averaging around 15 kms per day. That is why we have been trying to walk more each day, and today was no exception. We managed around 9 kms, which included a long walk along the river and crossing it twice, on two different bridges. They certainly know how to build bridges here.

    Earlier in the evening, on our way home from our big walk, we started looking at restaurants in our area. One that appealed to us had only 1 person in it, while the next one had people all over the sidewalk. Not a good recommendation. After showering we went back and it was still deserted until 6 people suddenly walked in while we were looking on. We ended up having a lovely meal there, more like a tapas evening, with nice wine and beer. The young lady who served us spoke lovely English, and no wonder - she had English as a subject for 12 years at school! By the time we left there were heaps of people there. The Portuguese do prefer to come out later in the evening, like the Italians and Spanish I suppose.    Read more

  • TravelerIreland, Portugal and Spain
    Day 20

    Second day in Porto

    October 22, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    After a lifetime of never using open top buses, the hop-on and hop-off type, we are now convinced they have value. We lined up for the Blue Bus circuit (which is probably the same as the Red Bus circuit and the Yellow Bus circuit) and caught it at stop 11, just around the corner from our apartment. It was quite interesting and took us to places we would not otherwise have gone, but when it reached the ocean we hopped off because we had the opportunity to walk for some kilometres along the beach, such as it was. There were a few people brave enough to go into the water, but most were just sunbaking.

    We missed the bus two stops on so had to go to the third one along, and then waited and waited while Red and Yellow buses drove past. At least we had a good walk along the Rio Douro.

    While walking around the centre of the old town, we noticed many tram tracks but no trams. Today we saw a few of them out and about, all packed to the rafters with hot passengers. We weren’t even slightly tempted to hop on. They looked more like the ones you seen in third world countries where they are piled high with people and their belongings.

    Naturally we are trying a broad range of local wines, including some “Port” left by our hosts. Mostly they have been okay, picked as they were at random because we could not understand the labels. However, this evening we opened a bottle of sparkling and had to pour it down the sink, after a heroic effort to convince ourselves it was okay! Cork bottle closures are still the standard here. We did not see one screw cap anywhere, so it was just as well there was a corkscrew in the drawer.    Read more

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