All photos for this trip can be found in our
2019 Ireland/Scotland Photo Album
Look for the "Week 8" tag for photos added this week.
2019 Ireland/Scotland Photo Album
Look for the "Week 8" tag for photos added this week.
Monday morning we checked our Visa account and saw that the Lothian bus system had charged us for two bus rides each, 3.40 quid, exactly as expected since we did not take enough rides (3) to reach the daily cap of 4 quid. So we used the same "tap the credit card" method again. Easy peasy and convenient!
We started the day with a stop at Cafe Nero (lattes with croissant for Kris and pain au chocolate for Brian) then headed over to the offices of Scotland's People to do a bit of research on our family origins in Scotland. Spent about 4 hours there with no further major revelations than we already have recorded in Ancestry, but did get some hints on what to follow up with on-line after we get home.
For a mid afternoon break we went up to the restaurant/cafe in Jenners (large high end Department store), on Prince's Street and had some tea and scones with clotted cream and jam. It sure is a good thing we don't typically have these at home, but they are so yummy we'll probably have one or two more before we head home. After a walk down to Broughton Street Kris was a bit disappointed to see Kathy's Knits was closed Monday :-) Oh, well maybe we'll come back Tuesday. Across the street from the closed shop we hopped onto a # 8 bus back up to Prince's Street. It was all of 3 stops but a good test to see if our tap fare charges get capped for this day. From there we decided it was time for a glass of wine and a beer so headed over to the Guildford Arms, an old looking pub we had spotted upon leaving the Scotland's People facility a few hours earlier. Nice! Then it was back to the B&B for a rest.
For dinner we walked around the block to The Old Bell, a pub we visited when we were here a couple of years ago. The excellent dinner of pork and onion sausages over mashed potato with a thick onion gravy paired well with wine and beer. It was pub quiz night so we had some fun trying to answer the questions and chatting with a couple of fellows at the table next to ours.
Tuesday, the first thing to check was the credit card charge from Lothian bus system. As expected, since we had taken more than 2 rides on Monday, the charge was capped at 4.00 quid. That is a nice convenient system. We got on a bus into the centre, getting off near Surgeons Hall, stopping in at Cafe Nero, followed by the huge college bookstore, Blackwell's (the Edinburgh South Bridge location) before walking along High Street doing some shopping for souvenirs. We walked over to Prince's Street to the Guildford Arms...
... for some lunch where Kris had a salmon salad and Brian tried their salmon chowder. Quite tasty. A popular little lunch spot. After lunch we grabbed a #8 bus down to Broughton Street to take another stab at visiting Kathy's Knits. She was open this time. We had a nice chat about Wool Week and chatted with some other customers who were beginning knitters and learning about how to wind wool skeins into balls. Right across the road from Kathy's we caught the #8 bus which took us back toward the B&B but we stopped at The Abbey for some last Scotland beer and wine. For dinner we decided to just stay at The Abbey for some excellent beef stroganoff and chicken curry. Then it was home to pack.
Wednesday up early to catch bus to airport. While waiting for the bus, on Minto Street, it was still somewhat dark. The traffic was fairly heavy when we heard a yell and looked up to see a bicyclist broadside a van that had pulled across the road right into his path. The cyclist hit the front left panel then catapulted over the hood of the van. There were numerous witnesses and the van driver stopped to assist the cyclist and was co-operating. It looked like the cyclist was not badly hurt but not so much his bicycle. An ambulance and police car arrived and it looked like the situation was under control so we got on the airport bus leaving the scene to the other witnesses still there. Scary!
Check in for Aer Lingus was pretty easy as was getting through security. There as a slight delay so enough time to grab a coffee and croissant before the short flight to Dublin. Of course we had to clear customs going into Ireland but it went pretty quickly and we got another stamp in our passports. There are a couple of local bus routes that would take us very close to the ABC Guest House so decided the 6 euro bus fare was a decent alternative to the 30+ euro taxi fare we paid to almost the same place when we stayed in Dublin at the start of this trip.
It was a tad frustrating getting the bus. We had to walk quite a way to where the bus stop was. Along the way we stopped and asked one of the closer bus line agents (they were the long distance express buses to other parts of Ireland) if we would just get our tickets for the local #41 bus on the bus. "Yes" she said and nothing else. Well, a ten minute walk later we arrived at the designated bus stop only to find we had to have "exact change - no bills". It would have been somewhat handy if she had mentioned the "exact change" situation when we were near a place we could get change. Anyway, Kris waited with our luggage while I, Brian, walked over to the other terminal to get change. The airport customer service counter nixed any idea of getting change from them. I found a convenience store where I asked the clerk if she could give me change for a 10 euro note because I needed 6 euro in change. She said she would only give me 5 euro in change and a 5 euro note to which I replied that I would then just give her the 5 euro note back and buy a 0.50 cent package of gum to get the necessary change. She thought about it for a minute and just gave me the 10 euro in change to start with.
Anyway, finally on the bus which stopped about a half block from the guest house. We had received an email, from the guest house owner giving us the code to the front door keypad with instructions on getting to our room. Easy, simple, nice! Well, except for the two flights of very narrow stairs with the suitcases... but we have found that not to be unusual for these old guest houses. We had a rest for a couple of hours then walked down Upper Drumcondra Road to Restaurant 104 (chicken liver pate with salad for Kris and beef bourguignon for Brian). After the meal we walked further down the street to Tesco for some needed goods, then on the way back stopped in the Cat and Cage pub for one drink then The Ivy House, a very popular place for the college crowd. Their wings were very good, bruschetta was, lets just say a bit different, but actually quite tasty although the bread was soft and a bit soggy with the olive oil (it seemed like a hot dog bun). Wine and beer were fine.
Thursday, our last day in Dublin, was a bit of a sleep in take it easy kind of morning. Late morning, we caught a bus into the city centre, stopped in Cafe Nero, on O'Connell Street, for a couple of lattes and croissants, then walked down O'Connell and across the bridge past Trinity College to Grafton Street, the main pedestrian shopping street in the centre. We spent a few hours shopping, window shopping and generally wandering about. Mid afternoon we stopped in McDaid's...
... a small traditional Irish pub with some beautiful leaded glass windows, for a light refreshment (soda with lime) before going across the street to Bruxelles for a couple of excellent shepherd's pies for a late lunch/early dinner (a repeat of the first Irish dinner we had when we arrived in Dublin to start this trip).
Then we caught a very busy city bus back to the guest house for a rest and pre-pack of our luggage. In the evening we walked down the street to a much busier Ivy House (than last night) as there were large groups of students from the nearby St Patrick's College getting an early start on the weekend festivities. A few drinks and chicken wings later we called it a night. It was a beautiful night for the walk back to the guest house. Good way to end our penultimate day in Ireland.
Up early Friday to catch the local bus back out to the airport in lots of time for our 10:00 AM flight to Vancouver. Another easy check in with our checked baggage being sent on through to Comox so no need to pick them up in Vancouver.
Pretty uneventful flight from Dublin to Vancouver. Nice to be in premium economy with the stretch, partial lay down seats and lots of room. Decent chicken dinner with a glass of wine. Watched a couple of movies, slept a bit. As we approached Vancouver along Howe Sound we were reminded just how beautiful BC really is (pics from the plane window don't do it justice)...
We had about a 10 hour layover in Vancouver and since our luggage was checked through to Comox, we cleared customs then hopped on the TransLink train into Vancouver where our friend Marian met us at the Oakridge station. We spent the afternoon at her place before having her drop us off at the King Edward station and then back to the airport for us. Taking the TransLink train that way was a lot easier than having Marian fight the traffic to the airport to pick us up then take us back out there; and cheaper than her having to pay for parking at the airport. Back in Comox, our neighbour, James, was waiting to pick us up and drop us off at home. Nice!
End of this trip!
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