Ireland

And so an impromptu trip to Dublin was born from a seemingly harmless messenger conversation:
Bec: Yes, we seem to be sleeping a lot and wasting heaps of time here in London
Soph: Well, you could always come to Dublin..... Rail and sail deals are cheap.
(Pause while Bec looks up Railsail deals to Dublin)
Bec: 27 QUID!!! IT'LL ONLY COST US 27 QUID TO GET TO DUBLIN?!?!!? Deal. See you on the weekend.

And so Glenn and Troy and Bec took the train from Euston Station to Holyhead port, and then the ferry from Holyhead to Dublin where we were met by Soph and Jimi, whose hospitality lived up to its legendary status as usual. At the top of the to-do list was a visit to the Guinness Brewery and the mandatory pint of black stuff, or course, high above the Dublin streetscape.

Soph and Jimi getting amongst a few Guinnesses

The next few days flew by in a haze of late nights and hot toddies. We borrowed Soph and Jimi's car, Glenn reverted to driving-on-the-left mode, and we took a road trip around Northern Ireland to check out the Giant's Causeway at Antrim and checked out the Causeway Coastal route. In spite of being positively freezing, it was still stunning. We also checked out the very interesting and very old NewGrange monument.

Giants Causeway rock formations

Some stunning Irish coastal scenery

The very old Newgrange

The Irish weather was typically rubbish, so we planned to set off for the warmer climes of Portugal........