Month: July 2022

Our first job is to ditch our rental car at Heathrow, then make our way to friends Niven and Marianne’s place in Muswell Hill, North London. The Picadilly line on the London Underground is perfect.
The afternoon provides an opportunity to explore the parks of North London, and Alexandra Palace.

The next day, Saturday, is the wedding of friends Shaun and Michelle’s daughter Harriet, to Ed.Unfortunately for Niven, on the Friday morning, he tested positive for Covid. Sadly, he is unable to join us. A warm London day, a spectacular inner city church, then on to the Mandarin Orient Hotel. Quite a day!

After a very late night, and a late breakfast the next morning, we decided to visit Hampstead Heath, a short car ride away.

London, and North London in particular, has lots of parks and green spaces. This is one of the best!

After lunch in central London with Shaun, Michelle and some of the Kiwi wedding contingent, we made our way to Terminal 4, Heathrow Airport. A four day stopover in Seoul, South Korea, and then, home.

With Oxford explored, the Ireland and England trails of discovery were effectively over. It was now just a leisurely drive to our Airbnb accommodation. We are to spend nine days in rural Buckland St Mary, a small village about 15 minutes north west of Chard. The accomodation is a one bedroomed apartment, in a converted attic in Buckland House. Should be ideal.

With the Old Pharts not fully recovered from Covid, this will be an opportunity to have a few meals in, go for walks in the countryside and generally chill out and enjoy the tranquility.

The weather has been very pleasant .. not too hot .. so the Pharts decide to visit the Dorset seaside town of Lyme Regis. It is also school holidays, so the area is very busy.

After a very relaxing eight days in South Somerset, the time has come to move on to London.

So its off to Oxford, a city in central southern England which revolves around its prestigious University, established in the 12th century. The architecture of its 38 colleges in the cities medieval centre led to the nickname of “City of dreaming Spires”.

Today is predicted to be the hottest in UK history, so thank heavens for air conditioning in the car, and also our Oxford hotel, The Ethos.

The plan was to go on a Bike Tour in the afternoon, but a combination of the heat and our health scuppered this idea. We went wandering instead.

We are excited to be in Liverpool, although the virus is going to restrict us somewhat. We are staying near the Albert Dock, the vibrant heart of Liverpool’s historic waterfront.

Whilst in Liverpool, the UK is hit by a two day heatwave. Temperature reaches a day time high of 36 degrees. Fortunately, our hotel is air conditioned. We were to do a bike tour of the city, but the heat and our health ruled that out. Instead, we opted for a sedate ferry ride on the Mersey, and the British Music Experience.

Liverpool is notable for its mix of massive, spectacular old buildings, and a large number of new. The old dock area has been nicely renovated, and an extensive pedestrian friendly shopping precinct is nearby.

Our final night in Liverpool, we dine ”al fresco”, as the evening temperature is very mild. The next day is threatening to be even hotter!

Halifax is a city of around 80,000, in the South Pennine area of west Yorkshire. The Travel Lodge is located in an old Mill building area, Dean Clough. Once the home of the worlds largest carpet manufacturer, Crossley Carpets, it’s now a thriving community which combines arts and culture, leisure facilities, restaurants, bars, cafes, shops, events spaces, offices and the hotel.

Whilst Sue heads off for a catchup with the Baigents, Blair has an afternoon snooze, as Covid takes hold.

The next day we are off to Liverpool. With some hot weather on the way, we are pleased our hotel, the Hilton, has air conditioning!

A classic English seaside town, with beach, harbour, pier and lots of fish and chip outlets! We are staying in a small private hotel, on the edge of town. Blair is struggling with fatigue, sore throat and cough, with Sue more headache and cough. Appetite for food and and drink had also diminished.

Whitby is popular and pleasant, but the tourists are flagging under the ravishes of Covid-19. Back to the hotel, and a plan of attack for our next stop Halifax, West Yorkshire. We were to stay with an old school friend of Sues, Richard Baigent, and his wife Sarah. However, that is now not possible, so we book a Travel Lodge in the town.

After sixteen very enjoyable days in Ireland, it was time to fly back to Blighty. The itinerary was to fly to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, then motor through North Yorkshire, and across to Liverpool. Then down to Oxford and finally, our Airbnb at Buckland St Mary, Somerset. By a miracle, our budget flight on Ryanair was on time, and the security delays at Dublin airport, not too bad!

The night before leaving Dublin, Blair started to fell a bit ”ropey”. The next day in Newcastle, he felt worse, did a Covid test and .. positive! Two days later, Sue is positive also. So this is to put a dent in the OldPharts plans for the next few days.

Despite their ailments, the struggling tourists are still able to take in a lot Newcastle, and are most impressed with the architecture, and also the Quayside area.

After a comfortable night in The Vermont Hotel (an old classic), we crossed the Tyne into Gateshead, and visited the Angel of the North.

Our destination is to be Whitby, on the North Yorkshire coast. A certain James Cook spent his formative years there, and developed his love for the sea.

However, we wanted to make a couple of stops on the way. Firstly Chester-le-Street and the Riverside Cricket Ground, home of Durham cricket. Then on to Durham itself, with its University, Castle and Cathedral.

From Belfast to Dublin, and our final three days in Ireland.

The weather has finally warmed up, and we wandered around central Dublin in a warm 27 degrees. The city is very busy, and we were unable to get into our first choice restaurant. Fortunately, ”Mama Yo” squeezed us in. Excellent Asian food!

The next morning, we embarked on another city bike tour. Once again, really enjoyable, a great guide and a lot of territory covered.

For dinner that night we spotted a Syrian restaurant opposite our hotel, ”Damascus Gate.” Excellent food and the best hummus we had ever had!

For our final day in Dublin, we booked tickets for the ”Book of Kells” and the Old Library Exhibition, at Trinity College. The Book of Kells is one of the great treasures of medieval Europe. It was created by Early Christian monks around 800AD. The main chamber of the Old Library is the Long Room, filled with over 200,000 of the Library’s oldest books.

Suitably loaded with culture, we headed north, crossed the Liffey River, destination “Epic”, the Irish Emigration Museum. This was an interactive journey about how a small island made a big impact around the world. We really enjoyed this, and would recommend a visit when in Dublin.

We have had a great 16 days in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. We are to fly to Newcastle in England, and slowly make our way back to Somerset.

Now, on to Belfast, the largest city in Northern Ireland. We took the scenic route around the coast, but unfortunately it was cool and misty, restricting our views!

Arriving in Belfast, we settled into our hotel, ”The Warren”. It was fairly close to the city, but very close to Queens University, the Museum and Botanic Gardens. We went for a wander.

The next day was to be busy. Firstly, a morning coffee with Fintan and his wife Collette. They are Belfast locals, with Sue and Fintan having been at Bath University together. Quite a few years of catching up to be done!

All the catching up made us a little late for our Belfast Bike Tour, but guide Dave was understanding. Whenever in a city for a few days, we try and do a bike tour. A great way to see plenty in a short space of time. This was an excellent tour, with Dave knowledgable and informative.

For our final morning in Belfast, we did the Titanic Quarter tour. Belfast back in the day was a major shipbuilding city, at one stage employing 60,000 workers. The Titanic was built and launched in Belfast, the jewel in their crown. This exhibition centre shows the history of the build, but also the history of Belfast. Well worth a visit.

We enjoyed our two days in Derry, and with the now familiar cool wind and grey skies, we were off. Our destination, Northern Irelands most popular tourist spot, The Giants’s Causeway. It is a short drive along the coast from Portrush, our home for the night.

A popular destination, but very well done by the National Trust. After spending a few hours there, we motored back to Portrush for a look, then check into our hotel, the ”Golf Links”.

Portrush is surrounded by very nice, sandy beaches, and has a ”holiday town” feel to it. However at 15 degrees, not really summery weather.

Opposite our hotel is the Royal Portrush Golf Club. The Open Championship was played here in 2019, with Irishman Shane Lowry winning. The 2011 Open Champion Darren Clarke is a Honorary Member.