Day 6 - Back to Normal

After a well earned rest this morning we woke feeling a whole lot better than we did the previous day. Our heads were not fuzzy and our tummies were much better.
Today we headed to our site seeing destination (which we postponed from yesterday) the American Museum of Natural History. We had heard that it was really good and we also wanted to go to the Planetarium. The Museum was full of screaming summer camp school kids, which we wanted to kill and grumpy men travelling with their families who all they wanted to do was go to the nearest bar. The Museum was not that great but the show in the Planetarium, narrated by Whoopi Goldberg was interesting and surprising as well. It was based on the stars and did you know that at the end of each star’s lifetime they explode and the event is known as a ‘supernova’, which is only 1% of all stars only the biggest and brightest.
We then headed into Central Park to just walk around and 10 minutes in it started raining. We headed to the boathouse for some lunch and sat there looking at the lake and many people walking around. We also went to the lake where people race their little boats and the turtle pond. We decided to head out of the park and off for some shopping, when Zana (again) gave wrong directions. I am such a bad navigator on foot. We eventually got out of the park at the other end and hailed a taxi for some shopping on 5th avenue.
Into Tiffany’s for a look and 4 purchases later we exit. Rachael shouted herself 3 gifts for her birthday and l just had to get something as well in support. On the way back to hotel we looked at a restaurant menu across the road from the hotel and thought it would be option if we couldn’t get into this Cuban restaurant we were looking to go to. Back to the room, turn on the TV and in big bold letters we see a Tornado Warning for New York. Rachael immediately wanted her valium and we started looking on Google to get more information. Seeing the warning and information on Google our dinner destination was confirmed. Across the road for some Greek food and OMG was it the best meal ever. I would say the best meal so far for me on this trip.

Day 5 - The Hangover

I awoke to the strange feeling that my pyjamas were on back to front...Clearly in no state the night before..
My head was pounding, my mouth was dry and I felt like death. I stuck my head around the corner into Zana's pod to see how she was doing and she too looked like death. We then realised it was 10.10.
We knew we had to get up and get food, but there was no will, no way.. I suddenly realised that I had some re-hydration powder and decided to add it to my water, I also took some pain killers, a antacid tablet and an Imodium (just to be on the safe side)..
Zana was not moving quickly, but then neither was I. It was lunch time by the time we managed to get clothes on and leave the room. BY some miracle a diner had opened across the street that very morning so we rushed (more like crawled) in.. Zana had a burger and for some stupid reason I go for a chicken wrap. Anyway we eat what we can and decided that sightseeing is out of the picture today, we will have to shop instead. As I had my cameras I suggest dropping then back to the room.. 2 hours and 3 phone calls from housekeeping later we finally leave the hotel. 
We headed for century 21 the discount dept store near the site of 9/11. This place is a joke. I don't think I could have shopped there properly on a non-hungover day, but with a hangover - forget about it. There is stuff everywhere, like the worlds biggest jumble sale  - only difference you might have a $4000 dress sitting next to a $20 top. Crazy.
Anyway we did buy a few things. God knows how, by this stage it was almost 6pm so we limped to little Italy for some nourishment and an early night... Never drinking again!!!!

Day 4 - My birthday.

Another hot day in NY!! We decided to head out and have a mani/pedi to help celebrate my big day! It was very relaxing, especially for me as I had a dodgy tummy the night before...Not good.
We then went shopping/browsing and generally took it easy. 
We decided on tapas and cocktails for that night...Dinner was reserved for 9.30 so we went to the very cool bar downstairs for a pre-dinner drink. 2 VERY strong cosmos and a couple of large glasses of wine later - we were running late, we ran out front to get the boys to get us a cab, and when they found out it was my birthday, they insisted on a "car" so we are directed towards a black Mercedes. I will call our driver "Manchango" well that's what I called him all night anyway. Not sure what his real name was..
The tapas was great, they serves these little carafes of wine - clearly they were not that small because before long I was smashed and Zana was spewing in the loo...I however was in fine form and even inventing new products for people with upset stomachs. I called it "arse ease" (patent pending) and is a cooling spray...for your arse. Funny stuff. But it would have been very beneficial.
As we were finishing, Manchango calls and insists on picking us up. So he wants to "go out for a drink" with us. As Zana was not well we decided to go back to the hotel bar..
Manchengo was very flirty and touchy feely, and told me that he wanted  to make my birthday veeery special and come up to the room and make the love to me, at this point Zana and  I were in hysterics (this man has two kids and a wife) and politely said no... Time to say goodnight!!!

New York - Days 1, 2 & 3

We arrived in New York (thank god) to our beautiful hotel. After checking in we walked down to Times Square and had some well earned food and drinks at the Olive Garden. We also saw the naked Cow Girl, sorry guys no photos and then retired to our hotel with the most expensive cocktails in the world, which we thought should put us to sleep..NOT. Both Rachael and I (without telling each other until the morning) did not sleep a wink all night. We both swear to god there was a ghost in the room. Someone walking around all night up and down the room. I had my eyes open and tried to talk it away while Rachael lay still. We both laughed so hard in the morning when we told each other both from fear and silliness. This moment called for a true wog remedy, which worked as the next night we slept all night. If anyone is interested in the wog remedy, email me.
Day 1
- site seeing was to the Chrysler Building and Top of the Rock for some shots of New York's skyline
- shopping was Banana Republic
- dinner was at Little Italy
Day 2
- site seeing was Ground Zero and Empire State Building. At Ground Zero we got very emotional at the preview memorial for the new site. One building is half way built and the plan is to have it all done by 11/9/11. We went to the Empire State Building to get a higher view of New York and when we were walking through the line to get to the lifts for the top we walked passed a gorilla which was meant to represent King Kong and we both thought it was really odd to have something like that placed in such an unusual area. The next minute this thing grabs a boy behind us and starts running towards us. Bloody shit ourselves and very funny. The poor kid was beside himself.
- shopping was GAP and H&M
- dinner was in Chinatown at a crap place called Joe's Ginger. We ordered Calamari with salt and pepper and it tasted so bad that even the owner spat it out when we mentioned it. She kindly took it off the bill.
Day 3
- site seeing was Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We took the ferry out to the Statue of Liberty and took some photos of her. We only stopped at Ellis Island and visited the Immigration Museum. The museum was interesting and we didn't find any Stojanovski or Poole immigrants in the database. Rachael and I did however get our photos taken which were then superimposed onto a couple of ladies arriving into Ellis Island. I was number 24 and Rachael was number 25.
- shopping was Sephora and Gift Stores
- dinner was nothing as we had a very late lunch at Hard Rock Cafe

We hope you are enjoying our updates so far. No tourist attractions tomorrow. It is Rachael's birthday and it will be a day of pampering and shopping.

Toronto - New York...Just.

Our last day in Toronto was spent for me in the mall with my new mate Lisa and Zana went to Ajax to visit her relo's. I always thought Ajax was a cleaning aid, but apparently it is a suburb also... So Lisa and I returned to her apartment after a hard afternoon of shopping and thought why not have a beer?? A six pack later Zana returned from her 3 hour round trip with a lovely Toronto key holder that weighs 2kg to take home for her olds. By then Lisa and I were pretty much trashed and we decided to go to a bar. Due to the weather we got our hangovers before even arriving, Apparently when its 40 degrees you dehydrate just that much quicker...so our last night was an earlish one..
I awoke with apprehension as A. I didn't want air canada to lose my enormous bag, and B I didn't want air Canada to crash. There was not enough Valium in the world to calm my nerves, what sort of airline flys embraers for gods sake. 
Anyway after a tearful farewell to Lisa we made it to the airport 3 hours early. Lucky. Those bastards at air canada have a strict 23kg rule and were going to charge us $75 each for our overweight bags (thank god they don't weigh the passengers)..So a quick repack was in order and we ended up carrying a ton on in hand luggage.
None of this helped my ever frazzling nerves, something wasn't right I could feel it.
Anyway we finally board our tiny plane, and yes we are seated in the very back row. Great. The 3 Valiums had no effect at this stage. So we taxi, we take off and then boom the freakin plane starts lurching around and groaning, flinging from side to side as the crappy pilot tries to get the thing air born, Zana swears she saw a cloud slap us, then the engines die out, WTF at this point I am in tears and as near to a heart attack as I have ever been. By some miracle of god we finally make it into the sky. The rest of the flight was bumpy and I was unhappy. Even Zana was alarmed, and then they attempted to land the stupid thing. I started to hyperventilate and had to use the sick bag to breathe into so I didn't pass out, and by some other miracle we landed (with a freakin big BANG)!! NEVER fly air canada again (no offence Lisa) they are now on my banned list along with my mates at British airways...


Ahh New york, new york. What a place, our hotel is so hip that its not even signed, well not anywhere you can see it and resembles a very dark bar inside (it is a dark bar) it was apparently designed by the guy who did studio 54. Very glamorous, although our room somewhat resembles the cabin of a cruise ship...They put us on the top floor - as they obviously knew who we were!!


Now we just cant wait to explore!!!!

Niagara Falls (day 2)

We woke the next morning to a very bright view of the falls, which woke us up quickly. Off to the buffet for breakfast and then down town for a walk to a place called 'Queens Street'. We thought we would fit right in and the pictures in the brochure of small streets lined with trees, cafes and galleries looked really nice.
On the way to Queens Street l wanted to walk half way across the 'Rainbow Bridge' where there is a line that indicates the Canada/USA border. Getting to the gate to walk across, Rachael stops me and says we do not have our passports and we cannot go out that door without them. I argued as to why cause all l wanted to do was walk on the bridge half way, take a photo and walk back. Was not planning on crossing the line. We saw an elderly couple go out the door and we asked them if passports were required and the guy said no but we didn't believe him. So off l go to the customs office to ask via a no-enter sign and immediately got told in a very loud voice "Do not leave unless you have proper documentation to get back in". My prompt reply was "thank you". oops, nearly got us detained.
As we commenced our walk we realised that Queens Street was some distance away, especially when we were approaching a steep hill. We hail a taxi and ask to go to Queens Town and the driver was wondering why we would go there, we said that we wanted to walk around and take a look. He drops us off in Queens Street and this place is a ghost town. Nothing and no one to be seen. The street/s looked nothing like the brochure. We promptly went into a gallery to get off the street where local artists host their paintings and pictures. I purchased a Niagara Falls picture and while waiting to pay a guy approached Rachael and I and asked if he could take our picture in the gallery. He was from the local paper doing a story and needed someone to pose in the gallery. We had caps on and didn't look to great but hey, why not. We posed looking into a Niagara Falls picture while he took our photo. We have no idea how it would turn out, as his hands were shaking so much when he was taking i. No doubt due to our beauty! We got the details from the art gallery to email the owner and see if the article does get published. The guy must have known who we were, glad someone recognised us.
Next morning we headed back to Toronto for our flight to New York.

CN Tower and Niagara Falls

Fresh from a great nights rest we got ready and headed into Toronto to go up CN Tower. As most of you would know Rachael is not that comfortable with heights and the 9 second ride to the top was thankfully over very fast. This lift was nothing compared to the Guinness factory lift and as only one side was glass it helped.
CN Tower is one of the tallest structures in the world and provides views across Toronto. Built in 1975 and opened in 1976 to the public it has a number of viewing decks both from the inside and outside. There is a section where you can stand on a glass floor and take photos which is pretty cool and most kids jumped on the glass while we stood around the edges scared that it may give way and plummet to our death.
2 hours later we were in beautiful Niagara Falls and check into our hotel (Marriott Fallsview). Upon check in we get allocated level 6 and quickly Rachael still annoyed by lack of bag asks for an upgrade, where the lady says "sure how does level 22, second from the top floor sound?". Perfect was Rachaels reply and off we go to our room and upon opening the curtains we see the falls right there in front and it was amazing. Plenty of wow's, omg's and wow's. A view we will never forget and heaps of photos to capture the moments.
That afternoon we walked down to the falls and took the 'Maid of the Mist' boat ride under the falls. I had to pop motion sickness tablets thinking it will be very rough but it was actually very smooth. When you go under the falls they provide you with fluro blue ponchos as you get very wet from the mist and water. In the heat this mist was welcomed. Being up close to the falls and hearing the water is absolutely amazing and without getting to much water on our camers we filmed some of it as well.
We spent the rest of the afteroon walking down the path along the falls, taking photos and then retired to our room where we took more photos of the falls at night and fireworks, which they put on just for us.....they knew who we were.

Toronto

Welcome to Toronto, minus 1 bag. Thank you British Airways for deciding that Rachael didn't need her bag and leaving it behind so it could travel tomorrow on the next flight. WTF! It took forever to work out what to do with the paperwork at the service desk and for where they should send the bag. As we were going to Niagara Falls the next day we asked for the bag to go there and Rachael was provided with 35pounds as compensation for the delay. Poor Lisa (my friend who we were staying with in Toronto) had to wait outside for ages while we got sorted and were able to exit. We leave the airport and detour off to a Walmart for some essentialls and quickly determine that 35pounds did not go far.
After another stressful moment, naturally we head off to the pub and 3 beers later and some food everything was much more relaxed.
The time difference between Ireland and Canada was a challenge so off to bed and ready for Niagara.

Dublin - Heathrow (flight)

Our flight from Ireland to Heathrow was delayed and thank god we had our bags checked all the way through cause we would not have made the flight. British Airways do not wait for connecting flights/passengers at all. We hoped that British Airways realised who we were and upgraded us to business class but nope they had no idea so off in Economy we were and Rachael landed back to reality with a big thud and was not too happy with them. We got stuck at the back of the plane in row of 3 (me in the middle) and l thought this should be ok and secretly got excited as the seat next to me was empty, to just before the front door of the plane closes and on comes a chick with a mask and her seat is.. yes you guessed it right next to mine. She takes off her mask l look around and her face is full of scabs, like chickenpox scabs and really red and dry. Naturally l freak out in the inside and promptly ask for a seat change if possible. Thank god there was a row of 2 spare and we moved to those. Flight was very bumpy across and even l got nervous in some parts. Watched many great movies to pass the time while Rachael slept.

Dublin (again)

We packed our bags and set off back for Dublin the morning and guess what....the sun was shining. When we get ready to leave there is sun.
It was great to be driving on the freeway again and getting into Dublin with 1 way streets and only a hop on hop off bus map to go by as one would expect we got lost. For over an hour we tried to find South Circular Round which apparently is one of the longest roads in Dublin but also very circular to follow and find. We sure did experience all this.
So the car is dropped off and we head to the hotel where it feels like we are arriving back home. The hotel we stayed at also hosted the Black Eyed Peas which we were very excited about and many other groups/bands for the Oxygen festival. We felt like celebrities but we didn't see any, just heaps of band equipment. That night we found a Spanish restuarant, had tapas and watch the world cup final amongst Spanish fans. Congrat's to Spain again.
Second day in Dublin we shopped and had all important relaxing massages in preparation for our British Airways flight for Toronto.

Galway (Drive Through)

After the experience of the ‘Cliffs of Moher’ we headed towards the much anticipated town of Galway. My favourite authors write about Galway and its surroundings and Galway was a must do on my list for Ireland.
Driving towards Galway the roads were exactly what l expected of Ireland which were roads divided by stone walls, with beautiful water views and plenty of sheep and cows in sight. Would you believe it that in all the driving we did, not once did we get stuck driving behind sheep or cows, instead we got stuck driving behind a tow truck for some kilometers.
We reach Galway and we hit peak hour traffic and 1 way streets again. We somehow managed to find the tourist information office and l double parked (as no parking can be found whatsoever in larger towns) and Rachael goes to seek out the much needed accommodation for us for that night. After waiting some time she comes back and says we have a slight problem. Curious l asked what that might be and much to my surprise l learn that there is NO accommodation in Galway that night. Apparently some smart event organisers had booked in multiple festivals in Galway for that weekend and all B&B and hotels were booked out. The only place available, hotel ‘G’ had rooms at 350euro for 1 night and so we decide to take matters in our own hands and start calling hotels ourselves. Surely there has to be something…Nope. We quickly learn after calling 7 places that there is nothing. Decisions….decisions. Wet, cold, tired, hungry and late we decide that we will drive around Eyre Square in Galway to at least say we have seen it and then head for a town called Ballinasloe were we managed to find a hotel for us.
In Ballinasloe we set out for the sauna, spa and steam room to warm up and de-stress our day and get an early night for us as we prepare for our return to Dublin the next day.

Cliffs of Mohr

After leaving lovely Tralee - still raining we headed for the cliffs of mohr. It was a lovely day for drive, not. The rain, winding roads with 100km limits that are wide enough for 1.5 cars and the 40 foot buses full of German tourists make it interesting to say the least.


At Tabert we hit a snag. A car Ferry, Zana was beside herself. Even though there was not a wave in sight. She stood watching the ferry come in waiting for a sign that there would be a disaster, however it was fine, I was very proud of her bravery. I only thank god there were no dogs on board!!


We then head to the cliffs, as we drive the rain gets heavier...heavier..heavier. Oh well we think, were are here now, and have parked in the car park where the thieving bastards charge 8 euro to park. So we put on our rain jackets (meant for light rain) grab our 5 euro umbrella's and head for the cliffs. Its a bit of a walk, and I knew we were in trouble about 2 minutes in. By three minutes in we were completely and utterly drenched. From head to toe. As we frantically try to shield our cameras from water log we climb and climb, blinded by the wind and the rain at this point the camera strap on my $1000 camera snaps and my Nikon plummets to the watery ground with a big thud. oops.. We finally get to the the top and voila! Nothing. A faint outline of some cliffs - or so I assume. 
By this point we were so wet we decided to go to the next lookout point. The torrential rain then became worse. I could not see a foot in front of me. My own feet however were squelching with water... The top was a DISASTER. Zana's umbrella broke into a million pieces and nearly took someones eye out (it was promptly abandoned)...

So we slowly make out way back to the car weighed down by our soaking clothes. What a sight! To make matters worse we had to completely change clothes in the car with a bunch of Germans watching. Even our undies. How embarrassment. Zana had to drive in her pj's and thongs. A good look.
Moments after leaving the weather broke and started to clear. We now know where the saying "Murphy's law" comes from - invented for Ireland!

Dingle

We had heard a lot about Dingle and seen some of it in movies so after the let down of Valentia Island we were really looking forward it. The scenery, where it was clear was absolutely amazing and we stopped where we could to take photos. When we got to Dingle the rain made everything so much harder, finding places to park, people, and traffic. It was way after lunch and we were starving, so we braved the weather and walked down the main street in town to get some nice warm food. A Cottage Pie for me and Mussels for Rachael.
After lunch we walked around the town in the rain so we could stretch our legs and stood on the pier in the rain hoping to see the famous Dingle 'Dolphin'. The Dolphin didn't show and we do not blame him, it was too wet even for him.
We then decided to continue to drive to the next town seeing that it was still early and there was not much going on in Dingle, so off we drove to Tralee. Another town full of 1 way streets and after the stress we treated ourselves to a beautiful hotel and a 4 course meal. We felt like having lamb for dinner that night and this was the deciding factor in the 4 course meal. When we woke in the morning and drove out of town we saw sheep again...no wonder we felt like lamb for dinner.

Valentia Island

What a waste of 2 hours! The views were not so great and we now know why the roads for the island were not mapped on any of the tourist maps. We decided to at least make the most of this island and go and visit a candle making place. After driving around the island and coming back to the start of the candle sign again, we head the other direction and get on the right road. We drove up and down hills, passing many cows and roads which only 1 car could drive on. We continued for ages until we reached the bottom of valley where we see a green tin shed labeled ‘Candles’, with a very dodgy looking old house as well.
I parked the car and immediately asked Rachael “Do you think there’s a dog?” and then comforted that if there was one it would have run out to the car by now. The place was dead quiet, we get out and head into the little shop where we smell the various aromatherapy candles, pick out our choices and wait for over 15 minutes for someone to come out so we can pay. Rachael did ring the bell on many occasions loudly and nothing…no one. At that point we leave the candles and exit very quickly back to the car with thoughts of ‘someone being dead in the place’, ‘asleep’ or ‘possibly in the shower’. Much to our relief as we started the car 2 other cars pull up and head into the place. Whether they got served, whether they found someone or not we have no idea. We drove out of there and off the island as quickly as possible and back onto the Ring of Kerry. It continued to rain.

Waterville

We arrived late in the afternoon to this little town which was half way around the Ring of Kerry. The rain did not stop all day and as we drive around the 2 streets of the town to find a place to stay we ended up choosing a place called ‘The Butlers Arms Hotel’. An old and very cute hotel with everything you need in the 1 place, Hotel, Bar, Pub, Restaurants, Pool Room, Lounge Room and the all important ‘Ladies Room.’ A room for only ladies with a gorgeous little powder room alongside it which also had this old fashioned small couch to relax on while you powder your nose. The hotel was full with people and also a very popular hotel with professional golfers, such as Tiger Woods. There was an amazing golf course across the road and the views of the ocean were great. A shame we could not see much cause of all the rain and fog.
Rachael and l took the time to have some dinner, relax and prepare for the next day. The tourism office in Killarney also recommended we go to Valentia Island as the views are meant to be really nice so that was the first stop in the morning and then continue around the Ring of Kerry.

Ring of Kerry...Part 1

Ahhh we awake with an almighty hangover...we head for the buffet where I stand and drink a litre of cranberry juice oblivious to the stares of other diners. Chardonay makes you thirsty. After another small nap we decide we should leave killarney before we go into another pub...


The lovely man at the tourist office gives us a lot of trip advice, to which we were in no state to argue with.. so we head off for "muckross house". Nice spot shame about the weather. This is the turning point in the trip for the weather. It did not stop from the moment we left Killarney.


From muckross we headed just down the rd to some beautiful waterfalls. Our mate at the tourist office tells us that they are just by the side of the road. My arse there by the side of the road. After a 10 minute walk up a muddy hill with our 5euro umberellas we were about to pass out with alcohol induced heart attacks. Yeah the Torc falls were nice, but so was our health. And my jeans. Bloody mud everywhere we had to wet wipe not only our shoes but our jean bottoms. Nice. 

Killarney..

Too be sure, too be sure..we were sure drunk.

The night in kilarney started out innocently enough, we checked into the killarney grand hotel expecting grand things only to be transported back to the early 80's in our red and yellow themed hotel suite. Nice.

So we headed out to watch the world cup and have a bite to eat. I unfortunatley had to drink a glass of wine that tasted like it was made from the juice of a dead cat. I did drink it though, it would have been inpolite not too..We then headed into a pub for a refreshing after dinner ale. They only had chardonay. Again we are back in the 80's...
Things then took a turn I wasnt expecting. I see a bloke approach out of the corner of my eye, he stumbles over and tells me that I may be the woman of his dreams. How wonderful, you all exclaim. No. He was fat, drunk and only had about 3 teeth. But he was persistent. Zana and I made a hasty retreat claiming we had to get to bed for an early morning departure. Even after he asked us to go to the disco.

So we head back to the hotel and on the way was we see another pub, we just stop for one more, no? No. It turns out we stop for about 20 more. Imagine my surprise some hours later when toothy (as we named him) arrives and makes a bee line for us. Lucklilly we had made friends by then and were able to fend of his advances. Dont remember much else except the band was great and when I woke up not only did I feel like death, we found photos of us with the garda (cops)..ooops.

Killkenny – Cork – Blarney – Killarney

Leaving early after a well earned rest we headed towards Cork and seeing what was on offer. Well after many hours of driving we discovered that Cork was massive and some smart person decided to make all the roads in the city centre one way. I am sure that this is so they can amuse themselves and watch tourists like us go round and round in circles not knowing which was to go. We did manage to get directions and park the car and head off for some lunch and retail therapy the streets stressed us and we needed to relax. We did bargain credit card damage with me getting swimmers for 12euro and Rachael getting some for 5euro. Bargain!
After our exciting retail bargains we decide to get out of this town and head over to Blarney and kiss that stone. Well the expected 30 minute drive to Blarney took 1.5 hours when we could not find road N20. We went round and round in circles and even followed a bus into a street which was 1 way traffic and a lane for buses only. Panic along with frustration set in and a quick reverse of the car into a street we see the all important N20 sign for Blarney and we were on the path again with laughter at the tension in the car and getting lost.
Blarney castle grounds were also very pretty and not busy at all. We walked to the castle and Rachael didn’t expect the castle to be as high as it actually was. We headed into the stairs and commenced our walk up and we didn’t expect it to be so small and have to walk up stairs which went round and round, nearly getting to the top panic set in and Rachael had to go back down and another 5 more steps she would have made it. Not sure what all the hype of it is, l walked around the top, took some photos and the scenery. Never wanted to kiss the stone so l didn’t and most people around didn’t also.
We then took off to Killarney via a road which we thought would never end. It was raining and the road was so small you could only fit 1 car at a time but the funny thing is that the speed signs remained at 100km. How on earth anyone could drive at that speed on those roads god know. Many hours later we arrive in Killarney and need a well earned drink!

Dublin – Wexford – Killkenny

We drove to Wexford from Dublin expecting to see wonderful seaside and many things to do and were surprised when this was not the case. Wexford is famous for their Strawberries but we didn’t get to have some for no reason other than we didn’t get a chance to pull over on the side of the road to buy some. We had a nice lunch at French bistro in the city centre where Rachael discovered a new love in her life….Soda Bread! She is hooked and since l think she has had one with every meal.
Leaving Wexford to drive to Killkenny we had to stop just out of the city centre for directions and the all important pit stop in a town called ‘Boggan’ where the name amused us but the key to the toilet was a cracker. The biggest sign labeled ‘Toilet’ you have ever seen, with that thing in our hands it was sure to be the dead giveaway for some 2 guys to provide directions when we didn’t know which door behind the petrol station was the toilet.
We arrived in Killkenny where the famous Killkenny castle is which was owned and occupied by the Butler Family. The castle is set on beautiful grounds and the inside had some very nice antique furniture and paintings. Killkenny was a small quiet town where we went to the castle, watched the World Cup (Uruguay lost to Netherlands) and rested for the next day’s drive.

Dublin

Top of the morning to ya!
We arrived in the centre of Dublin to our hotel jet lagged like never before expecting to have a 5 minute nap and surprisingly waking up the next morning starving (no dinner). Off we go to the most expensive breakfast you have ever seen to only learn the next morning that croissants and tea are complimentary until 10.00am every day and you can have more than one, which we did.
We headed out to the tourist office and got ourselves the all important Hop on Hop off bus tickets and toured around Dublin. Both Rachael and I didn’t expect it to be so big. Once around the circuit we headed to the Guinness factory for the tour, my first Guinness and some food. The tour was really interesting and the all important taste test of Guinness was presented to me. I did like the taste and to me it tasted like bitter beer so off we go to the Gravity Bar to have my first pint of it. We get into a glass lift with an American man and 2 ladies and as it went up you could see the steal poles from the building and then all over a sudden we saw nothing but clear grey sky. I thought it was not going to stop, closing my eyes, holding onto the bars and praying for the best we hear the American man say “Oh boy l did not sign up for this” and on the other hand Rachael says “For the love of god!”. We exit with tears of joy and laughter from thinking that the lift wouldn’t stop and we would be thrown into the sky of Dublin and possibly even star in the next Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie. The experience called for a drink and l had my first pint of Guinness.
The next morning we woke to have our free croissants and picked up the car to head off on our drive around Ireland.

London-Dublin

Upon arriving in London we were rushed through passport control as women of our standing should. We didn't have to line up with all the other plebs, we were business class after all and "they knew who we were"  , , finally. 
We did however come back to earth with a thud when we realised that our bags were only checked through to London and not Dublin. We were in terminal 3 and our Air Lingus flight was terminal 1. Everyone said you should get a bus. Anyway we get our bags and follow the signs...turns out terminal 1 is about 5km away and we had to walk with 55kg of luggage!!! 
So we make it a bit sweaty and worse for wear. Then we hit Air Lingus check in. The check in chick says she has changed our seats and we are now in 4c and 4d. We were overjoyed, they had obviously heard who we were and upgraded us!! 
This is where the real slap in the face happened. We rush to the gate (after having a refreshing ale) to discover that half of Ireland had been in London for the weekend, and they had gone to town on the shopping. My hand luggage was swiftly removed from my care and placed in the cargo. Oh well we thought a small price to pay for such good seats. We were wrong. the seats were ALL the same and I have never seen so much on board luggage in my life. I didn't think the 30 year old plane would take off. The in flight security demo should have been taped. Zana and I were in hysterics. Welcome to Ireland.

Business Class...

Well, well, well. My eyes have now been opened. How on earth can anyone fly economy? 
Did you know they give you champagne (in a glass) before takeoff - and it doesn't matter what the time is!! 6am, would you like a drink madam? bhahaha of course I would!! The food is great and you can order at any time.. But the best thing is the lie flat bed. What a way to fly. Even had a built in massager..And we got our very own pj's, which we were still were in upon arrival in Hong Kong much to our horror, we were not woken in time and had to make a decision, get changed or have breakfast. Clearly breakfast won. We did change when we landed...

The Upgrade!

No expectations what so ever l think scored us the upgrade to business class. Conversation went something like this:
RaRa: "So is the flight full tonight"
Check In Women: "YES"
RaRa: "Even in business class?"
Check In Women: "No need to ask we have already upgraded you"
RaRa: dances secretly on the inside.
We walk away hold the tickets, turn the corner and behind the wall we do a mini dance hoping no one sees us but everyone was watching. Oh Well.

Off to the business lounge for drinks to celebrate!