Spring break family trip to the UK!
As with many of our trips
this one kicked off with an incredible deal on airfare to Dublin. It took
adding a few days in London for the rest of the family to be convinced.
Things were on the way to
starting out perfectly with an early arrival at the airport. Only to find our
flight had been moved up an hour. Scrambling and in long lines we asked every
person to let us pass to make our flight. Everyone was very kind and it turned
out all to be for naught. The flight was when it was supposed to be, and the
board was just wrong. Hate burning up good will on something that wound up not
mattering. So proud of the family for packing lite. Literally small day backpacks
all around and one rolley!
Our place was a lovely 1800s brick
walkup Airbnb that was featured in the Meryl Streep movie Suffragette. It is in
the Shoreditch area which is edgy, artsy, and cool. 
Thoughts from the area
include: Dark Sugars Chocolates was something new with unusual treats such as
chocolate covered honeycomb. The best Indian food ever on Brick Lane, with one
restaurant after the other telling you why their Masala is better than all the
others. Bagels in England are so overrated and unbelievably inexpensive. The
salt beef was fun. Great vintage clothing shopping and an amazing international
food market.
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Beyond our home base there
was plenty to explore.
Borough Market could occupy
every Saturday with so much good food. We loved the cheese toastie at the
Kappacasein Dairy.
Sunday roast at BlackLock was
perfect. An English tradition in a pub and we took them up on the offer of
unlimited gravy!
Riding the tube with 4 credit
cards. Hand them out, scan in, hand back to dad and repeat to get out. It was
like watching a racing pitstop.
Saw the Musical, Heathers,
which was intense, graphic and a lot to take in.
Kensington affluence with the
wealthy kids dressed better than we ever do. Fun to eavesdrop of the doings in
London society while sipping a glass of claret.
So fun to roll around
upstairs on a double decker, could do this for hours.
A great little Chinatown area
as a break from the requisite fish and chips, bangers and mash.
The flower market in
Shoreditch made for a lovely morning and was so English.
Found Gunpowder Gin which is
a new favorite.
Stumbling onto a street
busker playing great music in one of the empty markets
The usual suspects of Big
Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Bridge, London Tower, Buckingham Palace, the
museums and Harrods were fun to tick off the list of places to see.
The Churchill War Rooms were
an opportunity for some history and perspective on WWII.
The Soames Museum is intimate
and highly recommended. He’s known as the Architect of light. Chatting with the
host was wonderful and the Egyptian sarcophagus was amazing.
Happy to have seen London.
Grateful for the perfect weather. Would love to visit again. So much more to
see in the city and beyond. More distinct cultures than we have ever seen anywhere.
Even more than NYC.
Ireland
Stops include Galway, Dingle,
Dublin, Kilkenny. We grabbed a car and moved every few days. Our stays were nice
and the Southington Arms was a raucous pub with rooms above.
Along the way we found:
Irish trad music is a great
place to run into Americans and tourists.
Pub life
On
the subject of pubs, They are everywhere filled with locals. Kids are welcome
and both of ours tried their first Guiness and are in no hurry for their second.
The food starts to blur together and all the menus start to look the same. Fish
and chips, Shepard’s pie and burgers. Surprisingly every last restuarant has lasagna.
One rule we were taught was go to a place for food or for music, but never one
place for both.
Striking
up a conversation is easy as sit there waiting for someone to speak with you or
taking the initiative. The result will be the same. Our experiences:
What do you do. I am an engineer, oh that’s a cheating
profession. Always telling people it needs to be yay thick when that’s not true
at all. How about you sir, well I am an attorney, a truly respectable
profession.
With
a guy at a bar. Buy him a drink, he buys you one. Why are you bleeding, oh cut
myself shaving can’t seem to get it to stop. There is a 20-minute conversation
on that. Then a religious discourse on Guinness. At the good places they clean
the taps all the time. The glasses it seems add their magic. You see they get
microchips in them from cleaning. This of course affects the taste and appearance
of the pour. Must throw them away to get a proper Guinness. After 2 hours of
chatting he then jumps in with the band and turns out to be a phenomenal musician.
We skipped the Guiness tour
at nearly $100 a head and self-toured a distillery instead. A beautiful
facility and re-purposed from an old power station.
Sheep dogs were fun to watch
do their thing. Literally a side of the road demonstration on the way to Dingle
in some guy’s field. The views from his sloped fields were gorgeous of the
water and a good sales pitch for the life of a Shepard. A bit sad of a reality to
hear about how the lifestyle is not perpetuating. He also shared sobering stories
on the impact and severity of the potato famine.
The Temple Bar was picture perfect
and overflowing with patrons. Our style was two spots down on the right at a
table on the street for a glass of wine and people watching. We did step in
front of the TB webcam for a moment of fame.
The jail was a great tour
since we always like to see the jails.
In trip preplanning we had
thoughts of surfing. Unfortunately, was cold, wet and unbelievably windy.
With our second Sunday we did
another round of Sunday roast of course! How can you not love a plate of meat,
potatoes, some veg and gravy!
Driving was manageable and
not as hair raising as other places. It’s narrow and folks move quickly. At the
same time, we were never fearful for our lives.
We stumbled upon a lovely
castle where they were kind enough to take us on a tour. It seems you can’t go
20 miles without running into a castle. Some truly amazing properties and a number
of them provide lodging. Some are very lavish and provide a night or two of
living like a Lord.
The cliffs of Moher were fun
for a hike and the rain stopped just long enough for us to enjoy. It was mind
boggling windy which whipped the sea into a froth to go along with the rugged
land scape. So we windy in fact we worried we would be blown over the edge.
Great to check Ireland off
the list. For lovers of the pub and impromptu conversations with a local it is a
mecca. The landscape is beautifully green, green, and more green. A lovely
place to tuck in and slow down!
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