Lisbon in the Rain

We really enjoyed Morocco on the whole. We spent the last day of our time there at the Palace as neither of us really felt up to leaving except for a brief trip to get some fresh air.

We arrived in Lisbon, Portugal on Thursday at about 2pm. We were greeted by warm but overcast weather - which seems to have set the tone for the entire week we are here. We are forecasted for thunderstorms and rain for the whole week - so its unlikely that we will be spending any time at the beach (sorry Mil). 

Lisbon is a rather interesting city. Our first impressions as we drove in were of big beautiful building in dire need of repair, sporadically decorated in graffiti (sometimes very good and other time very not good). You sort of wonder what you have gotten yourself into but of all the places that we have been I feel like Lisbon has the most soul. 

We spent the first afternoon and evening getting sorted into our apartment (which we share with people who live here full time and two other airbnb travellers who we haven't seen yet) and getting our groceries.

Friday morning we kicked of the day doing a free walking tour. So far we have done four, one in Dublin and two in Barcelona and I must say, I think this might have been the best one yet. Our guide Rafa was a true story teller, who not only gave us an excellent and humorous insight into Portugal's history and current socioeconomic climate but also gave a wonder tour through some really interesting parts of the city that we would not have seen otherwise. He deliberately avoided the low hanging tourist fruit telling us that its easy enough to see those things in our own time while focusing on interesting places that people from Lisbon really care about. The tour included sights such as the lottery man statue, the Carmo Convent, the Pessoa Memorial, the Alfama District (where we tried some Ginjinha - Cherry Liquor) and finished and an amazing panormaic view above the Castle Hill. 

A street in Lisbon

Apartments beside the Casa dos Bicos (the House of Spikes)

The Panoramic View above the Castle Hill in one of the few moments when it isn't overcast - See the Golden Gate Bridge in the Background

We spent the rest of the day exploring around the downtown area and just soaking in the energy of Lisbon. The people who live here genuinely love their city - although perhaps not the people who run it.

Today we got up at a reasonable hour (for a Saturday) and went for a run through the downtown area to the coast. It was too early for it to be busy and despite the overcast weather it was really nice. Once we were home, showered and breakfasted we headed back out to catch the tram to Belém with the soul objective of trying some of the famous Pastéis de Belém. These truely genuis custard tarts are sold at many places in the city under the name Pasteis de nata but only this single shop in Belém renouned for having the best recipe sells them under the name Pastéis de Belém. They are a treat and we spoiled ourselves with four of them. They would have been much better except up until this afternoon we have not be able to order ourselves a flat white or a Cafe Latte, turns out Portuguese is rather unforgiving on the names for coffees. We have been given various iterations of espresso shots and even a cup of straight melted chocolate, which just don't seem to go with a custard tart as nice as we were hoping. However, we found an english speaking coffee shop and got them to write down that we are actually looking for a meia de leite - a half of milk. So we should be good from now on.

After our sweet treats (and the were very good) we headed out to explore Belém. Which included sites like Belém Tower, the Belém Monument and the Jerónimos Monastery.

The Jerónimos Monastery

We were having a great time till the heavens opened and really made it impossible for us to sight see. So we got on the tram to come back in to Lisbon. We were not two minutes off the tram when the rain really got serious. Literally everyone in downtown Lisbon evacuated into alcoves or under the covers of the patio restaurants. It came down for a good 20 minutes before it let up.

Everyone one ducked for cover except poor Rufus here

By the time we got home and dried out we had a quick late afternoon tea/lunch before having a catch up with Zab on Skype.

Tomorrow we have plans to head back to Belém to see the Berardo Museum of Modern Art which is free on Sundays. More from us later.

Camel Pains

We had an early breakfast on Sunday in the Palace before meeting up with our tour guide's Abraham  and Mohammed. After some quick introductions we were on our way out of Fez towards the south. Mohammed gave us a bit of an overview history and politics in the area (well in a rather broken English - but I think we understood). He told us that Morocco is the safest place in the world and that it is now our second country - so there you have it Canada you have apparently been usurped.

Our first stop was at this beautiful lake - which despite getting Mohammed to write the name down in English we still do not know the name of. None, the less it was really beautiful in the sunlight and was framed with large cedar trees.

The lake we don't know the name of. We shall call it Nameless Lake.

Our drive south took us through Morocco's High Atlas. This is a cool mountainous area which is locally known as the Moroccan Switzerland as in the winter it snows there and is used as a ski resort. In fact, this area is the King's favorite area to visit as he is a fan of snow sports and he has one of his largest palaces there. It really odd to think that you can have a ski resort so close to the worlds largest desert - and it really does become a desert shortly afterward. We continued through the mountains one some back roads and found some wild monkeys - they weren't very friendly so we went back to the main roads and found some who know that people = peanuts and are happy to come and sit nearby and pose for photographs (sorry Meg, I'm sure its terrible to have monkeys dependent on people for food sources). 

Sam and the monkey we named Joel

We continued south and saw some fantastic geomorphology (I don't think I've used that word since second year uni) the landscape changes so dramatically. One minute you are lush green mountains and the next minute you are in dry plains and the minute after that you are in different mountains where simply nothing grows its just rocks. What is really interesting is that nomadic people live all through all these areas in tents and caves, virtually where ever there is a water source. These people live entirely off the land and might make a little money from honey or there animals to pay for clothes. Most are completely illiterate and little knowledge of basic health care. 

A panoramic view 

We continued south ... okay we continued a long way south. I'm a bit of a fan of maps so here is the approximate route we took.

View Larger Map

We stopped off at a few different places along the way including the Valley of Ziz and at a Fossil Cooperative in Rissani and got to Merzouga at about 5pm. We didn't realize this when we planned the trip but we were booked to stay at a really nice hotel. It was made in the traditional style of the area but with all the luxuries (well many of the luxuries) of home. They boasted that they had recently had Hillary Clinton and Shakira stay. The hotel was right on the border of the Sanddunes and had fun running, playing taking photo's in all the sand. We took advantage of the pool, which I think we earned given that it was 44 degrees celsius and the car had no air conditioning. Turns out there is a limit to the heat that Kimilla can take - you just have to take her to the Sahara to do it, I think we blasted a couple of Edmonton winters out of her in just a couple of days. 

Sand Dunes in the Sahara

Mohammed and Abraham came and picked us up the next day and took us out exploring around the Merzouga region. It was kinda funny actually Mohammed (who could speak English fairly well) wasn't able to pronounce my name and preferred to call me Schmed, which I didn't correct him on - to Kimilla's delight. I got one back on her though when Abraham (who could barely speak any English) informed us that Kimilla in the local dialect literally mean's Camel. Our first stop was the local river - which was more of a dust plain than anything resembling a water body but there must have been some there cause they use it for gardening. They then took us through a small village and showed us how the local people grow food for themselves and how they water the gardens. It was fascinating, each plot is separated by small dirt mounts which form a small ditch which can be dammed at different points to flow water from the river to each of the plots. They grow fairly similar foods to what we would grow like carrots, tomato, peppers, cabbage, zucchini etc. The village is really small and everybody knew everybody so when we stopped upon a local man doing the gardening he was more than happy to give us a demonstration. His name was Mr Salm and he was delighted to inform us that he was "72 years old, with 10 children and I still do the vegetables myself". He was so happy and seemed so fit and active despite not even having shoes.

Mr Salm doing his vegetables

We continued on and one of things that became apparent was that the area really did survive on its own produce and whatever money it could get from tourism. It really did seem like the entire community was banded together to make everything work - as if there way of life depended on it. There were lots of nomads in this area and some of the children would make money by posing for photo's on the side of the road with desert foxes. 

Nomad Children with Desert Foxes.
Not everyone wanted to be in the photo.

There was also a community who were historically from Sudan who made money by performing music from there homeland for tourists. They played different types of guitars and drums and danced with little hand cymbals. It wasn't really our taste so we didn't buy the C.D. but was interesting to see.

Roots music from Sudan

Mohammed and Abraham took us to a few other scenic places before we stopped off for a traditional Berber meal. This was served to us at a nomadic house and we could see the border to Algeria from the front room.

Nomadic House where we had lunch

We were a little skeptical about the food practices but everything seemed kosher and they showed us how everything was prepared. The particular dish that they made for us is called "Berber Pizza", Berber being the ethnic group that all the people in the area identify with. The meal is a mixture of vegetables and cooked eggs baked into a loaf of bread. The trick is how they do it, rather than using an oven they make a fire on the ground and let it head the sand (which is already very hot from the sun), they then shift the embers and brush the area smooth before putting the break straight onto the ground. They then put a small lid over the break and put the embers on top so it gets cooked evenly on both sides. It was pretty tasty but might have had repercussions.

Mr Nomad making the Berber Pizza

We spent the afternoon relaxing at our hotel and taking advantage of the pool. In the evening when it had started to cool a little we started on a camel trek that would take us two hours into the sand dunes to a camp where we would watch the sunset and stay the night. However, this was called off about half an hour into the trip when I (Schmed) came down with a particularly nasty case of nausea. At first I thought it was the camels as they aren't the most comfortable creatures to ride and I'm prone to motion sickness, so I got off and tried to walk for a little - but I don't think it was the camels. I didn't even have the strength to keep up with the camel on foot. We ended up having to be evacuated by 4x4 out of the dunes and I had a rather unpleasant night expelling anything my body had consumed for the last month. I guess we had to get sick at some point during our trip and it was most likely going to happen when we were in Africa, but it was so disappointing to miss out on what was going to be one of the best parts of the trip - oh well. Not much can be done about it now. However, Kimilla did manage to get some really stunning shots of the dunes and the camels.

Camel on a Camel

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After a really rough night we then had to endure a seven hour drive back to Fez on some traditional African roads while having our ears assaulted by Moroccan dance music (think techno with middle eastern groans scales - for seven hours). I don't know what the road rules are in Morocco but in the Desert it seems to be get there as fast as possible and make sure you hit every pot hole. It was miserable but we got back without any drama. 

We are back at the Palace now and will be here all day taking it easy - while staying in close proximity to the bathroom. We leave for Lisbon early tomorrow morning but have a bit of a layover in Casablanca so wont arrive in Portugal till the afternoon.

Morocco - A step back in time

So we arrived out our Moroccan Palace at about 1 am this morning. The trip from Barcelona was okay we had a bit of a layover in Casablanca which was like any other layover, with the exception of the background music. Just so the western world knows somebody has decided to cover the Beatles songs using middle eastern instruments and musical scales - it was odd and disconcerting to say the least. We got up this morning and got our first real glimpse of our Moroccan Palace - here is the view from our room looking down to the living room. It is so beautiful everything is tiled and open. Our host (thorough Airbnb) prepared us a traditional Moroccan breakfast with eggs, jams pastries and coffee which we had on the rooftop garden with Thomas and Grace - a couple who are also staying here (in the wing opposite us). 

Thomas and Grace had been here for a couple of days already and were a little more familiar with the geography and graciously let us tag along with them for the day. Once we had finished breakfast we headed out to the Medina. The Medina is a World Heritage site which feels like going back in time to somewhere completely untouched by the Western World. It is a labyrinth of buildings, shops and stalls in the heart of the oldest part of Fez, which dates back to the 9th Century. We had a amazing time exploring the ceramics, mosques (well from the outside at least), leather shops, tanneries, cafes and restaurants. The place is crazy, you can literally get run over by a donkey if you aren't paying attention and the roads are way to narrow to accommodate cars so they are the main form of shipping for heavy goods. 

A donkey - one of many we saw

Its a vibrant and overwhelming place which could easily get to be too much especially with some of the more... primal smells. You have to be careful when you pull out your map or if you start discussing where you would like to head next, if one of the locals hears you he will only be too happy to guide you free of charge - only its not free they expect a fairly good tip and delight in taking you in and out of side streets to make you feel like they have taken you a long way - when the truth is they have merely taken you around the corner from where you were. Fortunately, Thomas and Grace were quite savvy about how to deal with them, as they can get quite aggressive.

One of the many ceramic shops

One of the more interesting smelling places we visit today (and there were a few) was the old tannery. Much of the local leather is still made there - using bird shit as a source of ammonia for removing the skin and guts off the hide (nice huh). People literally dress in huge gumboots and gloves and get in the pools with the leather to manually work the process. It smelt terrible but it was really interesting to see, they make camel, cow, goat and sheep leather here.

The oldest tannery in Fez - still used to make much of the local leather

After we enjoyed a late lunch of grilled eggplant, tomato and zuchinni we left the Medina and headed to one the nearby parks to enjoy the shade. The park was stunning and a complete contrast to the medina. Where the Medina was excitingly dirty, smelling and bustling with people the park was clean and quiet. In fact the only noise came from the water features and the occasional guard blowing whistle at someone who threatened to disturb either the cleanliness or the peace. It was a nice break although the weather in the park was much hotter we had experienced earlier in the day.

The Medina is right in the Center of the Town and stood between the park and our palace, so rather than heading home the way we had come we decided to walk around it to take in some of the city sites. It was incredible I really don't even know how to start describing it. We even ran into a rouge herd of goats that appeared out of an archway in the city walls and ran up the road - the three laned main road I might add. It was pretty fun and somewhat reinforced stereotypes about this part of the world. A little bit like New Zealand and its sheep.

Rogue goats

The old city walls, where the goats appeared from

After our walk back to the Palace we relaxed for half an hour or so before heading back into the Medina to find some dinner. We had a traditional meal with various salads and vegetables as a starter and a meat dish from a tarjine (see - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajine). It was delicious and a great way to finish the day with Thomas and Grace. 

Exploring Barcelona

So today is our last day in Barcelona - we leave for the airport mid afternoon. Its been so much fun here, mixing it up between relaxing at the beach and seeing the sites. Wednesday morning we got up and caught the subway up to Guell Park. Guell Park was originally supposed to be a housing site but only two houses sold there and it is now a municipal garden. What is interesting about the park is that it contains a significant number of works by Gaudi which fuse his fascination with nature and religion. It a huge park and is really interesting to go have a look at. We went pretty early on in the morning and it was already packed with people. One of the interesting attractions is Gaudi's famous mosaic salamander, which we saw but couldn't really get a good photo of. The park is on the hill of El Carmel and at the top we were able to get some really awesome photo's looking out over the city to the ocean.

Looking towards the entrance of Guell Park

Looking over Barcelona to the Ocean

Terrace walls - The almost look naturally formed. Lots of buskers would sit inside these in the shade while people walk past.

After the park we caught transit down to the port and had a quick loaf of bread with some salami and cheese before heading to a cafe for a coffee. After we were fed and caffeinated we went to the beach to get a bit more sunshine in our system (I think we deserve it after the last couple of winters). The weather really was stunning and we were able to sit there all afternoon without getting the slightest bit burnt. The temperature was perfect and there was a nice cool breeze which meant you could literally sit there all day without getting too hot or too cold. Despite the crowds and European swimsuits I could definitely get used to a place like this I think.

Yesterday morning, just to make sure we didn't have a day here without seeing something architected by Gaudi we went back to the Sagrada Familia, but this time we went inside. The building is massive and absolutely stunning. While we think the outside is a little more impressive the inside is something to behold. This building as I mentioned in a previous entry is not yet complete nearly 100 years later and consumed the last part of Gaudi's life. Drawing inspiration again from nature and religion literally every facet of this building is remarkable. One of the really interesting aspects of the inside was how he overcame some engineering issues by designing the central columns based on trees which allow the load to be stabilized on top of smaller branches which join to a larger trunk. We spent a couple of hours looking around at the detail and exploring the museum and displays that they have there which included Gaudi's grave - as he is buried in the building.

A view of the columns (I think there maybe 16 of them in the building? some larger some smaller)

A view of stairs and windows beside the North Eastern Tower 

After our explore of the Cathedral we sat outside an treated ourselves to coffee and croissants. Despite the fact that it was 11.30 most Spanish people are literally only just sitting down to breakfast. I don't know how they do it. They eat breakfast at our lunchtime, then eat lunch at our afternoon tea time and have dinner around 10pm when we would normally be going to bed. Must be those siestas.

My new breakfast staple - chocolate croissants. You can see the Sagrada Familia in the background.

After the Sagrada Famila we headed down to another tourist staple - La Rambla. La Rambla is a main street in downtown which has a pedestrian only area in the middle of the road where there street vendors and restaurants. Around the side and in the surrounding streets are lots of cafes and shops of every kind. While it is one of those places that you really have to watch your wallet we didn't have any issues. Off to one side of the street we found a interesting food market with literally every kind of meat, cheese or bread you can think of. The meat came in various forms from barely dead and still in a living position (minus the skin) through to fully preserved. It was fun and we spent a few hours exploring around the area before walking back to our apartment for an afternoon siesta.

A view of the Market

 After our siesta we took advantage of the late afternoon weather and went for another walk (and yes by now our feet we very sore) to La Monumental. Bull fighting was made illegal in 2010 so this is set up as a concert venue and a memorial for the events held there since it was built in the early n 1900's.

La Monumental

In the evening after dinner we went out to explore the nightlife. We ended up at the Montjuïc Magic Fountain where there was a light show played to classical music. The were literally thousands of people and we had heaps of fun in the bustle - I think New Zealand really is going to seem very quiet having been in some of these places.

Today we are getting all packed up before heading out for some paella for lunch before heading to the airport to catch a flight to our next destination - Morocco.

Beaches, Gaudi, Gothic Architecture and Octopus

We arrived in late on Sunday night. After going through what might have been the fastest border security check in history we caught a bus to the Plaça d'Espanya which is a short walk from where we are staying. Funny story about where we are staying, halfway though booking our trip we stumbled upon a website called airbnb and subsequently we are actually being hosted by a local Spanish woman in her private apartment (coincidently with another couple from London who also booked on the site). We had a few issues getting access to the apartment when we arrived due to us not having a phone, the apartment not having a buzzer and the host not speaking English when we managed to phone her from a cyber cafe at 12am... but we managed and so far it has turned out great. Our host - Veronica is lovely and we managed to have our first real conversation with her tonight as our London housemates speech Spanish. 

Monument in the middle of Plaça d'Espanya

We got up a little late on Monday morning and did our basic administration (find a grocery store, get groceries, find an information booth, get a map, plan out our itinerary and organize transit etc). The weather was stunning and once we were all set for the day we went for a medium sized walk through downtown Barcelona to Barceloneta Beach. I think being Kiwi's and not having been to the beach since Easter was really getting to us, so it was the first thing on our list. While it is not the prettiest beach in Barcelona (in fact is man made) it was certainly the most accessible and did the trick. We spent most of Monday afternoon lying at the beach and had a quiet evening at the apartment with a homemade dinner, which I think we earned given how much touristing we did in Ireland - everyone deserves a day off.

Barceloneta Beach

Today the weather was odd to say the least. It was overcast and would sporadically rain for about 3min and then stop for half an hour. It was probably a good thing that today was poor weather as we had planned to do a couple of walking tours that we found online. Both tours were based on Barcelona's unique architecture the first focusing on the work of Antoni Gaudi and the second focusing on Gothic Architecture.

The Gaudi tour was really interesting his work really is remarkable and we only saw it from the outsite. Some of his buildings reflect sheer genius while others border on the crazy side. The discussed aspects of his whole life including his devotion to his work and his faith and weaved in interesting aspects of how this related to the details in the buildings he created. The tour took us to four buildings including Palau Güell, Casa Batllo, Casa Mila and epic Sagrada Familia. Which is currently still incomplete (with an estimated 20 years left) after being started in 1882.

Casa Batllo

The Sagrada Familia - one facade at least, with ongoing construction in the background

After a quick stop for a lunch of Salami and cheese on freshly baked bread we headed off to our second tour of the day, the Gothic Tour. Our Irish tour guide (no - not joking) was actually really interesting she was an art historian who did a fantastic job of telling the history of how a small Roman City became what is currently known as Barcelona in a country known as Spain. She also introduced us to Catalonian history and some of the current politics - who know's how much longer Barcelona will be part of Spain. Sounds like a history lecture - well it was. However, it was done using the Roman, Medieval and Gothic archituture in the Barri Gòtic. I found it really interesting to see how the architects refused to remove the previous buidings and would rather add on to them creating what our tour guide called a architectural lasagna.

A sample of Gothic Architecture

The Barcelona Cathedral - Complete with 13 Geese inside (not kidding).

After our tour ended we had dinner with some people we had met during the day (from Canada nonetheless). As we are in Spain we had the local specialty Tapa's and Sangria. So this evening we have eaten octopus, potato's with mayonnaise, deep fried artichoke and some sort of omlette-ish thing with onion and sausage. It's amazing what you order when you can't read the menu. However, it was really tasty - will have to do it again a few times before we leave.

A sunny day in Ireland

So we woke up yesterday morning to a perfect sunny day. As if to make up for the dismal weather we had when we did the Ring of Kerry we had the perfect day for exploring Connemara National Park. We had a relatively early start and hit the road west of Galway for a couple of hours and managed to get a glance at some really beautiful lakes. The day was so clear (relatively speaking) and calm that the lakes had glass like reflections and were really stunningly beautiful.

We stopped for a quick morning tea in Clifden before passing through to Letterfrack (say that with Father Jacks accent). In Letterfrack we stopped and hiked/ran (we'll us girls hiked Sam and Nick ran) up Diamond Hill. It was pretty steep going and I feel a little sorry for the people that made the stone stairway but it was very worth it. The view from the top was absolutely stunning and gave us 360 degree views of the National Park and well past the coastline. I think the locals who were also walking the track with us thought the boys were pretty ridiculous to be running the track. Sam and Nick told us that at one point when they were running down again an older gentlemen literally pointed and laughed out loud at them as they ran past, while his poor wife cried out in fear as they bolted past. So at the least they were a bit of a novelty, I guess its a good thing that Nick managed to keep his pants on in the car park today - that might have taken things too far.

Rather than backtracking the way we came we followed the highway around some fjords and looped back in a ring to Galway. We also stopped off to have a quick look at Kylemore Abbey, which looked spectacular nestled in against the surrounding mountains.

Once we returned to Galway, we caught up with Bella and Rodney (who had arrived back from Cardiff). We had a well earned dinner that Bella had prepared before celebrating our last night in Ireland the way the Irish do... at the pub. 

This morning we got all packed up and headed out for a quick brunch with Bella, Rodney and the Kids before once again heading back on the road back to Dublin. After a sad goodbye to Nick and Amanda (who we may see again in London in a few weeks) we checked in at the airport for our next destination Barcelona. Ireland has been heaps of fun, a great mix of beautiful scenery, interesting history, architecture and Guinness. We would certainly recommend anyone to make the trip.

Ring of Kerry and Galway

We started early and left from our hostel in Killarney heading North West around the scenic Ring of Kerry. Actually, let me back track a little, our hostel was by far the nicest one that we have stayed in so far. It was about 15 minutes out of Killarney on the Ring of Kerry Road in an old brick building with creeper climbing down (or perhaps up) the walls.

We had an early start and left to drive the scenic ring of Kerry. With some very helpful advice from the hostel owner we made the most of our rental car by getting off the bus routes into some of the more interesting areas including Valentia Island and the Skellig Loop. On Valentia Island we drove around the island exploring the Lighthouse, the Grotto (a cave with a statue of Mary) and we went for a run around the Bray Head Loop. Given the weather was less than stellar (or perhaps the typical Irish weather) we weren't able to see the spectacular views we were promised but we were still able to make the most of it. The Bray Head loop was a 7km track which leads up to a Navy outpost built in 1907 and then peaks at the top of a 250 high sheer drop into the water below. We ran the first and last parts of the track but had to walk in between for safety reason.

After our walk we made some sandwiches in the car park. At an in opportune moment Nick gave some older ladies a bit of a thrill when he decided to change out of his running shorts (and under garments) behind the car without first checking if anyone else was around. They loved it to say the least - it made their day. We got back in the car and continued off the island onto the Skellig Loop. On a clear day this would have been a spectacular view of the coast line and the Island off shore, but it was grey so was really more memorable due to the narrow roads. After living in Canada I thought that New Zealand had narrow roads but they don't come close to this. This was literally driving on a single lane bordered by rock walls and hedges, up hills that border line on vertical with trucks and cars coming from the other direction. The saving grace was that every 100 metres or so there was a gap in the hedge that allow the cars to move out the way just enough to allow the trucks past.

In the afternoon the weather cleared a bit more and we stopped for a coffee in Kenmare before hitting the lakes on the South side of Killarney. They were stunning with a really different look to the lakes we are used to seeing in both Canada and New Zealand. We explored Muckross House and Torc Falls before returning to Killarney for a traditional meal of fish and chips (I guess it had to be done).

This morning we hit the road and made north east for Galway. We drove past (but didn't bother stopping) in Limerick and got into town at around Lunchtime. After a quick sandwich in the park we did a self guided tour through the historic points downtown including the Spanish Arch, Lynch's Castle and Galway Cathedral. It was a pretty interesting town given that there is a lot of history but it is largely a student town town. After our tour the girls couldn't help but do a quick self guided tour of the clothing shops which Nick and I did a self guided tour of the bottom of yet another Guinness glass (My liver is fine Mum, don't worry).

In Galway we are going to be staying with Kimilla's good friend Bella and her husband Rod. They are over here as Rod is playing Rugby for Connacht (actually he's just finished playing a game in Cardiff as we speak - we watched it on T.V.). Bella cooked us a delicious stuffed chicken breast dinner and we had fun playing with Zeph and Xavier their little boys in the backyard. Should be a fun couple of days here.

Churches, Castles and Small Villages

We got up early on Tuesday morning leaving our hostel heading south west. Actually our hostel is worth a mention. When we were travelling I told a few people that we were staying in hostels and for the most part they really are much better than people think. In this case I would say it was pretty on par with what many people would think. I wouldn't say it was a good one - there were at any time a hundred or so 12-21 year olds - well some of them looked like they were twelve anyway. It became pretty clear on the first night that we were in the older bracket too as Sam and Nick found themselves in a room with two men over 60 years old (at least they try and make the room age appropriate). Anyway, we have left there now and have stayed in two much better ones since.

Where was I... oh yes, we left Dublin and headed South West for about an hour and a half to Kilkenny. Our first stop there was the Kilkenny Castle, which dates back to 1195. It was a really interesting castle from the outside, with beautiful gardens to one side and a huge park to the other side. We did a quick self guided tour through and had lunch outside.

After our trip to the Castle we checked in to our hostel and went for an explore through the downtown area. The village was really cute with little knick-knack stores, tea and coffee shops complete with cobble stone streets. In fact the whole village was like it was out of a story book with a tiny population of only 25,000.

After our exploration of the little downtown we checked out several of the local churches which dated back to 500 A.D. and a still fully functional within the community today. We headed back to the hostel as it started to get dark and cooked a curry for dinner.

We were only in Kilkenny for the night and left early on this morning heading further south west. First we checked out the Rock of Cashel, which was initially built as a Palace around 500 A.D. and was later (in the 1200's) turned into a monastery until the monks decided that it was too cold to stay there in just robes in sandals. Nick and Amanda went through the Castle, while we explored the nearby village, which had several other smaller castles and abbeys. 

From there we drove to Blarney and saw the famous Blarney Castle, where you can kiss the Blarney stone to get the gift of the gab. However, we quickly got back on the road and drove to Killarney where we are going to spend the next couple of days... we we'll probably be in the national parks but for those who are looking at maps we are based in Killarney.  After a bit of an effort finding the hostel (which is a few km's out of town - more on that another day) we got settled in before driving to downtown Killarney for an explore and a well earned pint. We then got some groceries and have just finished one of Sam's red wine rice risotto's not bad for a bunch of backpackers in a hostel.