Saturday 27th May

Day 1

Our plane didn't depart until 13:25 so we had plenty of time….or so we thought…!

The journey to Birmingham was quick and uneventful, however we had not realised that it was half term.  We had already checked in online, and as there was no automated luggage drop off like there is at Heathrow, I had to join the check in queue to do it and it took me half an hour.  Mathew joined me when I got to the counter,as we just wanted to check that we could take2 bags each. She said as it was a full flight she recommended one bag per person, so we put Mathews carry on luggage into the hold along with the suitcase.

Icelandic mountains in the distance on the approach to Keflavik

We made our way to security and stopped off to get some lunch on the way.  At this point, we looked at the departures board to see “Final Call”! So we legged it to the gate but there were plenty of people behind us. We made the flight which was fairly uneventful, and landed in Keflavik at around 3pm Icelandic time.  Mathew registered with the car hire and we collected a red Toyota Yaris, an off we went, leaving just after 4pm.  We drove along route 1 along the south coast all the way to a place called Brekkur, which took us about 2 and a half hours.

Icelandic scenery and weather greeting us on our first day

The scenery was interesting, very flat lava fields where Keflavik was, and then more erratic moss covered lava when we got out into the country. The weather was cool and drizzly on and off all afternoon. Our hotel was up a small hill and didn’t look that interesting on the outside, however, reception looked a little like a hunting lodge. We checked in and brought everything into the room before going for dinner in the restaurant. My stomach wasn't too good so I settled for a chicken salad, whilst Mathew had his first taste of Icelandic lamb.

Iceland June 2017

Hi all

In June 2017 we travelled to Iceland for 1 week (we really wanted 2 but I wasn't able to get 2 successive weeks off work this year in the summer). A new country to talk about - we didn't have the best weather, but we still made the most of it, of course!

I'm going to try posting in chronological order this time, so this means that everything will show as the latest post first which is different to how I usually post - just to see what effect it might have formy blog.


Enjoy!

Siobhan x

2017 Travels!

This year we have travelled to Iceland, Northumbria, Switzerland, and in October we are planning on visiting South Wales.  It's all happened within a (so it seems) short space of time, so by the time I've posted about everything we've already done, I'll probably be at the point of posting about South Wales..!

Anyhoo, I will be working on posting things in chronological order - Iceland and Switzerland will have more in the way of narrative content, the UK based travels less so, mainly because I have recently decided not to write a great deal when I'm holidaying in my own country, but I'll definitely provide the basics.  New countries of course will have more content because they're new to me and I like to record my experiences of new places and new cultures.

My photos have now been migrated to "Google Photos" which are linked to this blog, so feel free to navigate your way around there, once you find the link.

Enjoy!

Siobhan x

Northern Ireland 2016

Hi all

This summer we went to Northern Ireland for the first time, and it was great!  Definitely a place to go back to.  We had fantastic weather for the first week and pretty good weather for the second week, apart from a couple of foggy / hazy days.

Read on to find out what we did, here's a link to the full photo album:

https://picasaweb.google.com/105628058638963280461/6297797908593566097

Enjoy! :)

Siobhan xx

Friday 27th May

We began our holiday by going to Armathwaite to the Fox and Pheasant which we have enjoyed staying at a number of times when we travel up north, particularly to Scotland. The day was bright and sunny, the traffic was quite light and we made good time - we stopped off at Aysgarth Falls  and Brougham Castle on the way and had lunch there before continuing our route to the Inn.  Once checked in we ate in the pub restaurant and enjoyed a 'Traditional Fish Supper' which was basically a slightly swankier version of fish and chips. Very simple, but really enjoyable afteray one the road!

Saturday 28th May

Another bright and sunny morning, we left the Fox and Pheasant after breakfast (a light one for me, and a VERY full English Breakfast for Mathew!), and we made our way to Stranraer in Dumfries and Galloway making good time for the lunch time ferry crossing to Larne, just outside and north of Belfast. We decided to buy lunch on the way and as we arrived with time to spare, we ate it whilst waiting. This is the only ferry terminal where we have had an announcement to say when boarding would start, a 'have a great trip' from the guy waving the vehicles onto the boat, AND a further announcement on the boat to say that they had a fully booked ferry crossing!  I started of course with a hot chocolate from the on board Starbucks, and the crossing itself was really calm.

Once in Northern Ireland, we made our way to the Causeway Coast straight away, the weather still bright and sunny.  The scenery on the way was quite spectacular, I imagine the great weather helped!  The road took us along the edges of the Glens of Antrim and Antrim Hills so the landscape loomed above us on one side as we looked out to sea on the other.

We soon arrived at our cottage which was literally up the road from the Giant's Causeway. Here we would be staying for our first week in Northern Ireland.

Sunday 29th May

We woke up early, it was so bright outside!  Good job I brought my eyemask with me!  Outside was yet another bright and sunny day but the breeze was a cool one.  We started off by going to the Giant's Causeway, where there was so much to do and interact with in the visitors centre.  Onward we walked to the Causeway itself which is pretty impressive. Much like the Isle of Staffa, and although its a bit smaller in size than what we saw in Scotland, I felt that the rocks themselves were larger. It was bright and sunny all day so there wasn't much of a hazard of slipping on the stones, and it was fun stepping around on them because they were all different sizes.  We arrived there early in the morning - well, I say early, I mean shortly after they opened. There weren't many people walking around it at that time of the morning and we enjoyed walking right to the end of it, more or less.  By the time we decided to step away from the Causeway itself and explore the trail next to it, a pair of red shirts (wardens) had appeared, keeping people from climbing up to the very top part because the stones were loose, and another stationed towards the end, preventing people from walking to the very end.

Exploring the trail next to the Causeway, we walked around the corner past some very impressive rock formations known as "organ pipes" which is self explanitory when you see them, and further around the coast where we came upon the Giant's Boot which was fun to sit in.  The trail took us up the cliff and around to 'The Cauldron' which was basically a large cove area and here the trail ended - although we could see the remnants of the trail making its way around the cliffs about half way up. It used to go all the way along the coast just like the one along the very top of the cliff does, I imagine it would have been quite spectacular to walk along the coastline halfway down when it was doable.  We could have made our way to the very top of the cliff but as I had a cold and was struggling with my breathing we decided to continue back towards the Causeway itself (plenty of time to explore the clifftop trail later in the week) and back to the visitors centre where I discovered a few presents for people's souvenirs, birthdays and Christmas...!

We made our way to Dunluce Castle (dated to the 1500s) next, where we first stopped to eat lunch before heading in.  Mathew headed down to the beach to get a different photo of the castle while I waited up top as I was feeling quite tired at this point.

After this, we made our way back to the cottage via "The Dark Hedges" - a tree lined avenue used in a scene of Game of Thrones. The trees are incredibly old and gnarly, twisting their way around over the road,and there were quite a few people taking photos when we got there but we were able to take a few decent shots.