Ireland tour

We hired a car went on a 1 week tour of Ireland. We drove to Ennis & stayed the night, and from there it was a short drive in the morning to the Cliffs of Moher. We drove through the Burren, which is an area composed of limestone pavements. Within this region lies the Poulnabrone Portal tomb and the Paulawack Cairn. Next up was Galway, we went on a walking tour and saw the city´s historical sights.
The next day we thought about climbing Craigh Patrick, where St. Patrick drove the snakes from Ireland, however we settled for eating our lunch in front of it instead. We then drove to Achill Island which has beautiful beaches and a deserted village. We stayed at an interesting hostel that night called gyreum, the design was based on the shape of a cairn.
We went on a walking tour of Sligo next, went horseriding on the beach, swam at Glencolumbkille and visited the Killybegs Cottages. These were typical cottages showing how people lived between 1750 an 1950. We stayed at Letterkenny that night, and crossed over into Northern Ireland the next morning. We went for a black cab tour in Derry, our guide was a real character with some very interesting stories. That afternoon we visited Downhill house & Carrick-a-rede ropebridge before heading to Ballycastle for the night.
We went to the Giant´s Causeway which has amazing basalt columns. We also saw Antrim Round Tower, and went to a tropical butterfly house. The following day we went to Monasterboice, then to Knowth and Newgrange. Knowth and Newgrange were amazing sites with megalithic passage tombs and artwork. We walked around the Hills of Tara where the ancient High Kings of Ireland ruled for a thousand years.
The next day we went on a quick day trip to Youghal, and Nicola headed home the next day.

Opel 3 day test drive

Took advantage of the Opel 3 day test drive to do a bit of sightseing around Ireland. Nicola had arrived a couple of days before to stay with us for 2 weeks.
The first day we drove the Sheep's Head Peninsula, stopping along the way to see the many castles, and other attractions. The weather on the peninsula was really foggy so we didn't get to see much on Sheep's Head.
The second day we went to the Rock of Cashel, first a fortress dating back to 370AD. The ruins of a round tower, Cormac's chapel and a rectangular castle remain. Nearby are the remains of Hore Abbey. We went a long way to Tipperary next. On the way back we found Ballyhooly where Darren's grandfather was born. A nice small town, we looked at the castle, graveyards and church ruins. We had a pint at Grindles where a framed newspaper article hung about Mick Mackey, a hurling umpire.
On the third day of our test drive we did the ring of Kerry. Went to Ross Castle this time round and took a boat over to Innisfallen Island. On the island are the remains of a monastery and church, and it's where the annals of Innisfallen were compiled. We also stopped at Ladies view, the Stague Fort, Loher Stone Fort, Ballincarberry Castle (1398) , and Cahergall Stone Fort.
Unfortunately, although the Opel Vectra went well, we decided against buying one.

London

Another long weekend trip... popped over to London as Duff hasn't been before. Caught up with Sandy & Dave, then went for a cruise around the city and saw some of the attractions by night. Next day we did the original bus tour and saw all the sights including the Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey etc. The tour included a boat trip down the Thames, and the weather really turned out for us! We caught up with Lexie for a drink at the pub, then went to Harrods for a little browse. Jumped on the bus in the morning and were just in time to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. We went to Green Park, Hamley's (UK's largest toy store), and Hyde Park. We had a coffee with Lexie and flew home.

Amsterdam

We went for a long weekend to Amsterdam. The first day we spent looking at all the shops and cafes. We enjoyed the town square and had a look at the town hall and monument. We walked around the canals and admired all the crooked buildings. Also tried some raw herring, the national dish. We met up with Bonnie when she flew in later that day, and went walking around the red light district that night.
We visited Ann Frank House the next morning, which was very moving. Shopping for clogs was the next priority, then we took a tour of the Marijuana Museum. We went on the floating Poezenboot Cat Refuge boat and Darren spotted The Doors Coffeeshop nearby. We went to the De Gooyer Windmill that evening.
Our last day we hired a canal bike and did a lap around the city. We went to the city park, tried eel in a bun (a popular snack), and went to the sex museum. Later we went to the flower markets, and Rembrandt Square before heading home.