Ireland - Dublin

We really need to think of some more creative titles for our blog posts. We were going to go with "The Emerald Isle - Dublin" but that's a bit too obvious.... then there was "40 Shades of Green and 40 billion euros of public debt - Dublin" but that's a bit too topical, so we decided to keep it simple. Anyway, as you no doubt have guessed, here's some pics from our summer visit to Éire, and in particular Dublin, where we stayed on arrival before heading off to greener and quieter climes.

Apparently it always rains in Ireland, but Keezee seems to have had a bit of luck on his previous visits (the luck of the Irish perhaps) because he's, on the main, avoided much in the way of precipitation. His good luck continued this time, and we hope you enjoy our pics from a sunny Sunday morning walk along the Liffey (plus a few more from our Saturday afternoon sail across the Irish Sea).


Not exactly Ireland, but this little green patch is Holyhead in Wales, where we ate our McDonalds after a long drive, and looked out at our ferry in the distance which would take us over the sea.


Our aforementioned ferry. Bigger than a Sydney Harbour ferry, granted.


On approach to Dublin, and the girls are still smiling in their new sailor hats.


Keezee still smiling too, with the shores of Killiney in the background.
Our mate Roger, has a good story about an American who got a taxi in Dublin and asked the driver to take him to Killarney, instead of Killiney....


Dublin's changed in recent years. We don't remember the Samuel Beckett Bridge shown here, or the nearby James Joyce Bridge, or the Sean O'Casey Bridge (where's the Dave Allen Bridge???) or any of those swanky banking buildings from our visits in the 90's.


This statue's new too, but we remember Custom's House in the background there.


As above.


New bikes as well (with the old Customs House).


Ah, O'Connell Street, we remember that.


And that's the Ha'penny Bridge in the background. We remember that one as well. The toll on this bridge was quite reasonable, from memory.



And finally we have the tiny, but fabulous, Palace Bar in the Temple Bar precinct. Keezee remembers going in here back in the 90's, for a few pints of Guinness. Strangely, he can't remember coming out again.

More Portugal

Oops.. we're back. We still have a few photos from Portugal to share before we get onto some more good stuff, which is also not in England. So without further ado...


Here's Caiti at what used to be the end of the world... Capo St Vincent on the S/W tip of Europe



The fort and the cliffs at Sagres... there's surf here and there's a beer named after this place as well - Wow!


The pool



Here we are at the waterpark


Sliders


Splashdown


Here's the girls feeling a bit hot in the town square on the hillside town of Silves, a few miles inland from the Algarve coast. It was spectacular, but a bit hot.


Luckily, you're never too far away from an air-conditioned gift shop


Big scary bloke... standing in front of a statue.


The castle walls at Silves... nice views


The Castle from down in the town


The streets of Faro


And here we are at the marina in Faro... almost ready to get on our flight and head home

Algarve Boating

As promised, we've got lots more scenic photos from Portugal to share with you - here's some from our trip out on the boat to the grotto caves off the coast of the Algarve, which is the classic postcard scene of the area. The old guys driving the boats were unbelievable - they went right into the tiny caves and out again without touching the sides. A lot better than certain boat captains we know, who shall remain nameless.


Getting ready to board our boat for the three-hour cruise.... the three-hour cruise...


... The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed. If not for the courage of the fearless crew.....


This is the very lovely Praia Dona Ana. We also had a swim there (see below).


I used to complain about all the steps down to Bronte...


We went through that hole in the boat


Happy sailors


Pop kept asking the skipper for boating tips, but unfortunately couldn't understand his accent too well.


Flying the flag


A nicely painted boat


Back on land - ah


Jo enjoyed the boat, but was still happy to make it back to land. The Marina is called Marina de Lagos in Portuguese, but now having learned a bit of the language, we know this translates to Lagos Marina in English - just in case you were wondering.


So this is Praia Dona Ana from the land-side


Caiti likes collecting rocks and shells at the beach, but this was ridiculous

Portugal - Lagos

Apologies for the break in transmission there. We're back now.....

So, our first visit to the Iberian peninsula was very enjoyable. We visited the Algarve in Portugal with Nanna & Pop. We stayed in Lagos which is a lovely town and the weather was absolutely fantastic. We also managed to get about in the hire car and saw lots of great places along the Algarve coast. The beaches were beautiful, the shopping was fun, the food was fresh and the wine was an absolute steal. Jo has decided this is her favourite holiday spot and is ready to go back next week (assuming we win the lotto, which is highly likely).

We've got lots of photos to share, so we won't try and post them all in one go. So to start with we hope you enjoy some of our pics in and around Lagos.


Lucy smiling on Praia Meia - "praia" is Portugese for "beach"
but you probably already guessed that!


Busy Caiti on Praia Meia. That's Lagos in the distance.


Postcard from Praia Meia


Praia Meia from above


Girls cruising the streets of Lagos... white paint is a big seller in Portugal it seems


This is the famous Lagos local, Henry the Navigator... he sat in the passenger seat


Checking the menus in Lagos... the restaurants were all quite nice and surprisingly inexpensive. Grilled sardines are not for everyone though!


Still looking for the best place to eat


Why do girls smile so much when they are shopping?


Town walls.... and a relatively dangerously placed station of the cross by the road there


This photo was also taken in Lagos - purely for reference purposes