AUGUST 28 – 31 SLIGO TO GALWAY

• After a night in Sligo, we took off toward Galway. A quick stop in the town of Donegal revealed their annual food festival which was fantastic. An amazing display of food from beautiful restaurants and some Executive Chef’s showing off their secrets. With latte in hand, I was happy to sit and watch the demonstrations – which were divine!
• Arriving in Galway feels great. It’s a fantastic cultural city! The high street is filled with lovely shops and it just feels nice and welcoming.
• We spent some time at Galway Bay and met some lovely local swimmers. The water temperature was 16 degrees (and there were plenty of locals swimming including Ruby, a local dog – who needed some coaxing let me add). Apparently the daily talk amongst this hardcore set of swimmers is if the water is ‘up or down’ which is the temperature. Reports indicate last week it reached 16.7 degrees and the locals thought they were swimming in soup – too hot for them and they didn’t feel refreshed!
• There’s a large tower which plenty of crazy Irish jump off into the freezing waters. I was very happy to sit in the sun and watch.
• The Irish boys in Aqualicious can never complain about the water being cold in the Centenary again!

AUGUST 26 – 27 BELFAST TO PORTRUSH

• We stayed one night in Belfast which really involved a small walk around town and catching up on some laundry.
• After leaving Belfast, we made a conscious decision to use the costal roads leading to Portrush. It appeared to be a great decision – the coast line is some of most beautiful I’ve ever seen. The huge green hills meet the crisp blue ocean.
• A little coffee break in the town of Larne, a lunch break in Ballycastle , a great climb over the Carrick-a Rede Rope Bridge (located on the North Antrim Coast, east of Ballintoy) and a walk around The Giants Causeway (a magical area of about 40,000 interlocking hexagonal basalt columns caused by volcanic eruption) were the highlights of the day.
• I would highly recommend this drive to anyone visiting the north of Ireland.

AUGUST 23 – 25 – DUBLIN

• Catching the ferry from Holyhead to Dublin Port is a lovely way to arrive on the Emerald Isle! From arrival in customs, the people are friendly (that’s rare) and even though we’re only staying for 2 weeks, they were quick to point out we are welcome for 3 months (everything is different in Ireland)!
• Dublin is a bustling city and we checked out the Guinness Factory (an absolute must) where Arthur Guinness began marking ‘the black stuff’ by signing a 9000 year lease on the premises. Smart man!
• Enjoyed Grafton Street, Georges Street, Temple Bar and meeting lots of lovely locals.
• I had a blast being out in a bar having a drink with Marc Connolly - a lovely local nurse who made me laugh so hard, I nearly cried. Everyone seems to love a laugh and enjoy a great joke (and of course plenty of booze)!

AUGUST 19 – 22 – WALES (CYMRU)

• After crossing the Bristol Channel, there is an instant feeling you’ve arrived somewhere special and different. We spent a night in Cardiff – the people are just lovely, helpful, (generally short) friendly and rugby mad! It’s like being in an episode of Little Britain. Their ‘thick accents’ combined with the Welsh language is very funny. The length of each word in Welsh is a scream. Poor Adriana would have been exhausted if she was working the Welsh Wheel of Fortune;
• Dad’s family (a couple of generations back) were Welsh so nice to be amongst the culture;
• After a night in Cardiff, we drive to Llandudno (‘a respectable seaside village’) and stayed for 3 nights in the Sunnyside B&B. Here’s a tip – driving up the M5 on the August bank holiday weekend SUCKS!! Llandudno is just beautiful though – rolling green fields that meet the deep blue ocean – gorgeous!
• Day trips included the ‘robust’ seaside town of Rhyl (Y Rhyl in Welsh), whom my darling friend (and FWIFE – Functions Wife) was named after, Holywell ( Treffynoon in Welsh), the great Orme rail which took is to the top of the peninsula, and just checked out the promenade and the pier. All were bustling with people for the long weekend.

AUGUST 17 – 18 – BATH

• Bath is 156 km west of London and is set in the beautiful country of Somerset. Its population is about 80,000 and decreases by about 20,000 when university it out (there are 2 large universities in town);
• To walk through the Roman Baths is delightful. The main spring was treated as a shrine by the Celts and the Romans certainly put their architectural skills into use here;
• The town is just delightful. The people lovely and helpful and the little pubs and bistros in main centre of town are beautiful. The hanging baskets of flowers, the lovely gardens and the river Avon running through town turns it into a village feel;
• Mum wasn’t arrested by the ‘Bobbies’ but we did try!

AUGUST 16 – BEAUTIFUL BRIGHTON!

• Collected a car from Buckingham Palace Road, then hit the ‘frog and toad’ for Brighton. The trip out of London wasn’t too bad and we got upgraded to a Ford Galaxy (the upgrade, I think, is the size of the car). It’s a van and it’s black and I feel like Mr T meets the UK.
• Upon entering the hills of Brighton, you can smell the sea before seeing it. It reminds me of a mini San Francisco with its hills and the beautiful art deco/Victorian architecture.
• It was great to take a big walk along the rocky sea front, investigate Brighton Pier and have a nice dinner in a warm and cosy pub.
• The hotel was adorable and they served a great English breakfast – gosh I need to find a pool soon!

AUGUST 12 – 15 – MORE OF LONDON

• Big walk through Chelsea, Sloan Square, Hyde Park, Portobello Road Markets, Victoria and Albert Museum have been some of the sights we’ve seen over the last few days. The weather has been up and down with some large rain showers, then sunshine, then overcast, then windy (the weather is just as I remember - volatile);
• Driving down to Brighton tomorrow

AUGUST 8 – 11 SOME OF LONDON

• The last few days I’ve been reacquainting myself with old London Town. This is my 4th time but as my good friend Courtney pointed out on the phone, the last time was 8 years ago and a bit has changed;
• Have been around to the usual sights with Mum and Dad, coffee at Harvey Nics, browse through Harrods, Piccadilly Circus, Buck Palace, Tower Bridge, Greenwich and a cruise up the Thames have been the theme of the last few days;
• The weather has been (for the most part) great but did have some heavy rain and cool weather yesterday – welcome to London!

AUGUST 6 & 7 – AMIENS TO VILLERS-BRETONNEAUX THEN TO CALAIS

• We spent some time at Villers-Bretonneaux which houses an amazing war Memorial and grave site honouring the wonderful Aussi men who lost their lives fighting on the Western Front 1914 – 1918. It was quite an experience to walk around and see the names on the graves and their ages – most of whom were younger than I when they died.
• From here, it was a quiet night in Amiens and then a drive to Calais which is another quick spot before crossing the Chanel tomorrow. There was a wedding in town which involved a convoy of about 10 cars sitting on their horns and driving around the town.
• We’re staying in a hotel that looks like ‘grandmas’ house’.

AUGUST 6 – CHAMPERS IN CHAMPAGNE!

• The drive from Cologne to the Champagne region is beautiful. You dart through a couple of towns in Brussels which look like a fairy tale in the making. Parts of the highway are not speed limited so it’s ‘choose your own adventure.’ The roads are dead flat and straight so even in my little Citroen, 160 km per hour seems slow when some of the bigger German cars speed straight past you at, probably, 180 – 190 km per hour. God bless German engineering.
• We stayed at a gorgeous little guest house in Épernay which was a 10 minute walk to all of my favourites – Pol Roger, Moët et Chandon, Dom Pérignon and many, many others.
• We had an amazing dinner (with a bottle of Pol) at the Theatre Restaurant which was recommended by of the guest house owners. She was a lovely lady who looked like she sat down to some serious cognac and a good cigar or two every night. Her teeth (of which she had many and resembled a cartoon character) were the colour of the Brisbane River – bless.