TravelStream™ news feed for member danasv on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/danasv en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 02 Apr 2009 07:35:20 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237686060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237686060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237686060/tpod.html Thu, 02 Apr 2009 07:35:20 -0400 Dana's Big OE - South and Central America, Europe and beyond

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Castleknock, County Dublin, Ireland

We headed up north of Dublin again, this time to visit Trim castle. We'd heard that it was the best example of a Norman castle and that Braveheart had been filmed there.

Entrance was only 4 euro, and we were able to wander the grounds before our tour of the keep began. The tour guide was fantastic! He explained so much about how life had been and why the castle had been designed in such a way. I felt like I had learned so much by the time we emerged back out of the keep.

At the entrance we asked about any photos they had of the Braveheart set and were given a folder of photos to look over. It was interesting to see which parts of the crumbling walls had been used and where they'd built on to.

After dropping Nicki off at the airport, Aimee and I check into the Castleknock Travelodge. We'd decided to stay in a hotel to give us the chance to clean out the van properly.

We walked out from the hotel in search of somewhere to watch the rugby. Ireland was playing Wales in the Six Nations and if they won, it would be a Grand Slam for them. We followed the signs to Castleknock, but couldn't find the pub. We spotted some people sipping Guiness through a window and decided to have a look inside. It was the local pub and absolutely packed with locals! Perfect! Just what we were looking for.

After watching Ireland win the rugby, and lots of cheering and general happiness, we decided to get some food. The plan had been to eat lots of vegies for dinner, because we were both getting pretty sick. However the meaty entrees looked amazing and the three of them between the two of us were fantastic. Prawns, tender beef and spicy chicken nibbles. The best meal I'd had in all of Ireland.

After meeting lots of Irish people, including one called Seamus (I think that was the highlight of Aimee's trip), we decided to call it a night.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237592220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237592220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237592220/tpod.html Thu, 02 Apr 2009 07:18:39 -0400 Dana's Big OE - South and Central America, Europe and beyond

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Donard, Ireland

We travelled north to the Irish National Stud in Kildare. We intended to go in, but after sitting chatting in the camper (in the carpark) for ages, and finding out how much entry was (11 euro), we decided against it. Looking back now that was probably a stupid decision considering how fr we'd gone to get there.

We cooked up some soup in the camper instead, then dropped Allanah off at the airport. After consulting our trusty campground book, we realised the closest campsite to Dublin was back south again. It didn't look that far on the map, but getting to the tiny village of Donard involved driving all the way around Dublin. The campsite was cute though, with a view out over sheep-filled paddocks, and the campground owner was very friendly.

Unfortunately the two pubs in the village didn't serve food (they don't seem to eat in Ireland, just drink), so we had to go to the nearby town of Baltinglass for dinner.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237512900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237512900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237512900/tpod.html Thu, 02 Apr 2009 07:10:36 -0400 Dana's Big OE - South and Central America, Europe and beyond

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Ireland

We'd made the decision to do as much as possible today, as we were running out of time to get Allanah back to Dublin for her Friday night flight.

We left Killarney about 8.30am and travelled first to Blarney Castle. To kiss the Blarney stone is one of those things you have to do when in Ireland, and of course we were all hoping that we really would get the promsed gift of eloquence. Mist had settled around the castle grounds, which made it all a bit more mysterious, and it was interesting to look around the castle, but if it hadn't had the stone we probably wouldn't have paid the 10 euro to get in.

Next stop Tipperary. We really just wanted to say that we'd been there, but then realised that we should actually be getting photos with a sign 'a long way from Tipperary'. We settled with 14km being long enough.

Somewhere along the way we found a town called Mallow, so decided to get some marshmallows to eat in Mallow.

After this was Cashel, to see the Rock of Cashel. We were feeling stingy by this stage, so got some photos next to it and continued on our way.

We intended to go on a tour of the Waterford Crystal factory, but there were all these union action signs up when we arrived and everyone was giving us dirty stares. We eventually worked out it was because the factory is being shut down, so it was quite inappropriate for us to be there at all.

Our stop for the night was Kilkenny. We found a gorgeous little campsite with a farm attached (that people could pay to come to). We were offered to get up at 7am to feed the lambs. Aimee and I were keen, but not keen enough to get up at 7am.

The town was about 11km from the camp, so we drove in to find dinner. We wandered around the town looking at the various options. The one we chose did serve Kikenny beer, which was definitely a prerequisite.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237433580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237433580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237433580/tpod.html Thu, 02 Apr 2009 06:58:09 -0400 Dana's Big OE - South and Central America, Europe and beyond

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland

From Limerick we got into our thankfully undamaged camper (you never know what might happen when you park on the streets of Limerick) and travelled south towards the Dingle Peninsula.

I'd heard that the Dingle peninsula was gorgeous and peaceful. The Lonely Planet described it as a less crowded alternative to the Ring of Kerry, so we though we'd give it a go. I especially was looking forward to having less traffic, knowing how narrow the Irish roads are.
The peninsula was amazing. On one side the patchwork farmlands stretched out to the sea, and on the other the hills tumbled down into a glistening harbour. The town of Dingle was cute, but it was the isolation of the coastal road on the way back to the gorgeous beach of Inch that really impressed us. The weather was fantastic, so we stopped for a while to sit in the tussock and enjoy the open air.

The beach at Inch was covered in vechiles, although 4WD vechicles weren't allowed on the beach for some reason. The girls loved the fact that the beach had actual sand.

We continued down to the famously touristy town of Killarney.We found an expensive campsite and drove into town for a pub dinner. Aimee and I got possibly the worst Shepherd's pie ever at a pub called Murphy's. We wwere all pretty zonked after the last two crazy nights and went to bed early.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237339860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237339860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237339860/tpod.html Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:51:11 -0400 Dana's Big OE - South and Central America, Europe and beyond

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Limerick, County Limerick, Ireland

We left the Travelodge in Galway and decided to drive the campervan into the countryside a bit before finding somewhere to cook breakfast. We found a parking lot across the road from a castle, in some tiny village and put out the camping chairs to enjoy pancakes in the sunshine.

The weather was absolutely amazing as we wound our way through villages down to the Cliffs of Moher. The parking lot for the cliffs cost 8 euro, but that included the entrance fee.

The visitors centre at the Cliffs of Moher is dug into the hills like a Hobbit's house. Since it was St Patricks day there were local children doing irish dancing in the foyer.

The wind almost blew us down the hill as we walked in the sunshine to the various lookout points. The cliffs were stunningly beautiful. Large barriers and stone walls prevented people from getting too close to the edge, but quite a lot of people blatantly ignored them.

We continued down to the city of Limerick, passing through to find the campsite on the far side. We found the prices for the campsite when we got there, but not the owners, and had second thoughts about staying there for the night.

The guys we'd met at the Travelodge had also been heading to Limerick and had been in touch. Aimee asked them how much it'd cost for a room in their hotel, and next thing they were offering us their 'spare' hotel room. All we had to provide was some drinks.

This all happened while we were having dinner and delicious Baileys coffees in a cute pub in Adare.

We were given the address and weren't really sure what the hotel would be like. It happened to be the tallest hotel in Ireland, a modern building right on the riverside. The room was amazing. It was on the 14th floor and huge! The fact that the four of us had to sleep in one king size bed didn't phase us at all.
The boys came up for a drink and we ended up sitting around chatting till about 1.30am, before eventually heading to Limerick town. We were so late there wasn't many options of where to go. We went into a bar with a few different levels and I think the first level we went to was actually someone's 18th birthday party. We went down a level and danced till it closed.
We stopped in at BK on the way home and itt was absolutely filthy. There was rubbish everywhere and when we went to the bathroom there was a part of the toilet shoved into the toilet bowl. Me and Aimee both got a piggy-back half the way home from our new friend Matt.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237257000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237257000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237257000/tpod.html Thu, 26 Mar 2009 04:41:39 -0400 Dana's Big OE - South and Central America, Europe and beyond

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Galway, Western Ireland, Ireland

We woke up to a freezing morning in Dungannon and after a fry up of bacon and eggs, were off on our way to Galway. We had planned to visit Donegal, but due to roadworks and slow roads in general, we took a lot longer than expected to get anywhere.

We stopped in at a pub in Sligo, mainly to go to the bathroom. We got some drinks and I tasted my first Club Orange - my new favourite soft drink.

In Galway we had to find somewhere to stay and we soon learned that all the nearby campsites weren't open for the season yet. We didn't really want to park the camper on the street again, because we'd all worried about it while we were out in Dublin. We eventually decided to go for the cheapest accommodation we knew - the Travelodge. For 80 euros we got a room with an ensuite, which was quite a lot cheaper than a 35 each B&B.

I'd bought some Jaimeson's duty free, so we sat around the hotel room drinking Jaimesons and dry. While doing this, there was a knock on the door. It was some random kiwi guy trying to find his room. We offered for him to come back for a drink once he'd found it, so he came back later on with his two english mates. They left for town after the drink, promising to catch up later.

We found our way to town, and after popping into a few different bars, found what we were looking for in 'The Quays'. There was live irish music playing and we prentended like we knew how to irish dance. The next bar we went to, we decided to acquire some St Paddy's decorations for our van. After Allanah blatantly stole some from the front of the bar, it was time to leave. I really wanted some dinner, so we found a place called Super Macs (with more decorations to steal, and definitely a Mc Donalds rip-off).

We thought we'd try to find a nightclub. While waiting in line for the most popular night spot in Galway, we were convinced by some irish boys to go elsewhere, and ended up going to 'The Quays' nightclub. It was right beside the pub we'd been to earlier, but upstairs aand cost 10 euro to get in. We were debating whether 10 euros was too much, when the boys told us the other place would've been 14. Inside it wasn't really a nightclub, it was a bar with a dancefloor. The band was lots of fun though, playing lots of classics that we enjoyed dancing/jumping to. Our irish friends danced with us all night.

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237166760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237166760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237166760/tpod.html Thu, 26 Mar 2009 04:11:45 -0400 Dana's Big OE - South and Central America, Europe and beyond

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Dungannon, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

We woke up not too late, hoping we wouldn't get in trouble for 'free camping' on Dublin streets. I got in the driver's seat and got us out of the city, heading northwards. We found a gorgeous tearoom just off the M1 in a tiny town called Castlebellingham. There was also tons of parking so we got our little cooker going to make toast for breakfast.

We tossed up whether to travel up the coastal route, but knowing we had so much distance to travel, we continued up to Belfast on the M1. Entering Northern Ireland was quite strange. There wasn't any border, but suddenly the signs changed from euros to pounds and from kilometres to miles.

We passed through Belfast and then stopped in the town of Carrickfergus, to have a poke around the castle. We found some public toilets (we decided to not use the toilet in the van) which were the cleanest I have seen in a long time. From Carrickfergus we took the coastal route, through small seaside towns, and winding along the shore.

It was beautiful, but it did slow us down quite a bit and we didn't arrive at Giant's Causeway until 4pm. The 7.5 pounds parking fee (which we initially refused to pay) was also the entrance fee. The causeway was interesting. Upclose you can see how the pieces aren't as similar to each other as they appear from a distance. Some of them have concave tops, others convex. We were able to walk right out onto them, at the point where they disappear out into the sea.

We were trying to toss up which campsite to head to for the night and decided on one in a place called Fivemiletown. We stumbled across another one on the way in a place called Dungannon and decided to stay. Lucky we did, because they were about to close shop for the night, and the next place might've been closed by the time we got there.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237080300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237080300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1237080300/tpod.html Thu, 26 Mar 2009 03:52:57 -0400 Dana's Big OE - South and Central America, Europe and beyond

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

After a quick two days in London, spent mostly going out and recovering from going out, I headed back to Heathrow airport. When we'd booked our flights to Dublin six months earlier we'd taken the cheapest ones available, not realising that it'd be difficult to find public transport to get to the airport when check-in time was 5.30am. Luckily I was staying with my friend Allanah, and her lovely boyfriend Dave offered to drive us.

In Dublin airport we were met by the Bunk Camper representative, who took us out to meet our new friend 'Patty'. Well that's what we called her anyway - our 4 berth campervan that was to be our accommodation and transport for the next 9 days. Of the four of us driving around in her, only Allanah and I were old enough to drive, so I jumped into the drivers seat, and away we went. One thing to note - Dublin was freezing. Definitely colder than London!

We needed to find some bedding for Nicki, our Australian travelling companion, so the Bunk guy had suggested we drive towards Swords. We found Swords, but for some reason had a problem leaving it, and ending up driving around different parts of it for the next few hours. We did find a shopping centre though, and we all bought what we needed.

I was feeling decidedly seedy by this point (I think it was jet lag), so had a wee rest in the back while Allanah drove us into Dublin.Our plan was to visit the Guiness factory. We found Guiness pretty quickly but had to drive around it about 4 times before we worked out how to use the one way streets to get into the carpark.

Being the Saturday before St Paddy's the line to get into the Guiness Factory was massive, but it moved pretty quickly and soon we were wandering through the modern interior. The display inside the Guiness factory was pretty impressive with huge waterfalls, montains of barrels and lots of funny Guiness advertising.

The best part was left for last though. The top of the Guiness factory is a bar surrounded 360 degrees by glass windows, from which you can see the whole of Dublin city. We sat on the floor, drinking our free pint of Guiness, looking out over Dublin, until a security guard made us get up because we were a 'fire hazard'. What? We were's near an exit and we were sitting at the edge of the room.

Aimee and I downed our Guiness', but the others were too soft. It was good that Allanah didn't really, because one of us had to drive and a whole Guiness is pretty powerful.

We looked at our campsite options for the night, and realising the two close to Dublin were closed, we decided to take our chances and park up on a quiet Dublin street.

We wandered down into town after finding a spot, with the plan to have some dinner before meeting our friend Sarah somewhere in town. Being in Ireland, we were keen on getting a pub meal. In London a pub meal costs around 5 pounds. In Dublin, a pub meal is more like 14 euros! considering the pound and euro are almost equal, Dublin was starting to look very expensive. We chose a cheap pizza place instead, figuring the pubs in the country would be cheaper, and we'd have a pub meal later.

After catching up with Sarah and her friend Penny, we headed into the famous Temple Bar area. The first bar the girls went to order a vodka and lemonade, thinking the price was 6 euro. Turns out they charge on top for the mixer, so instead it was 8 euro. It was about this point we decided to start taking avantage of guys willingness to buy us drinks.

We visited the actual Temple Bar as tthe last pub for the night. In the whole night we didn't meet anyone from Ireland, but met people from USA, France, South Africa... It was fun, but we were definitely looking forward to getting into the 'real' Ireland.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1236721740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1236721740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1236721740/tpod.html Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:50:54 -0400 Dana's Big OE - South and Central America, Europe and beyond

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Guatemala, Western Highlands, Guatemala

The group continuing with the tour left at 4am, so most of us got up to say goodbye. The group was leaving in two separate vehicles and the second vehicle took ages to arrive so we didn't get back to bed till after 5am.
The rest of us left in Antigua had breakfast together at 10am. My camera had disappeared so I spent most of the day walking the streets of Antigua being given the wrong directions to the tourist police station. I eventually found the obscurely located building and still had time to have some lunch at Y tu pina café.
My shuttle left at 3pm for Guatemala Airport. From there I got a free ride from the owners to my hostal for the night- Guatefriends. Dinner was home cooked Country Chicken with dumplings which tasted very wholesome. The place felt like I was staying in someone's home, rather than a hostal.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1236721680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1236721680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/danasv/1/1236721680/tpod.html Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:50:15 -0400 Dana's Big OE - South and Central America, Europe and beyond

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Guatemala, Guatemala

The group continuing with the tour left at 4am, so most of us got up to say goodbye. The group was leaving in two separate vehicles and the second vehicle took ages to arrive so we didn't get back to bed till after 5am.
The rest of us left in Antigua had breakfast together at 10am. My camera had disappeared so I spent most of the day walking the streets of Antigua being given the wrong directions to the tourist police station. I eventually found the obscurely located building and still had time to have some lunch at Y tu pina café.
My shuttle left at 3pm for Guatemala Airport. From there I got a free ride from the owners to my hostal for the night- Guatefriends. Dinner was home cooked Country Chicken with dumplings which tasted very wholesome. The place felt like I was staying in someone's home, rather than a hostal.
]]>