The days are numbered before we leave on the 18th. Make sure to pack your passport, comfortable walking shoes and a little cash. 😊

We thoroughly enjoyed our 25 wedding celebration trip. Some of the memories that will remain are:

• Our travel mates. We had such a good group to travel with. They were spirited, good natured, fun and punctual
• As we tried to get some sleep on our way home and for the short amount of time we were home before flying to Montreal for Super Seed business, certain things kept flirting through my mind

Wicked starving with a strong Boston accent. Loved it!

I really like Air Canada 330. I guess we all like something, but certain airline numbers don’t really register in my brain.

We flew premium economy on our long flights. We highly recommend that little splurge.

London. I just love it. The palaces, the dedications to Diana, the tube, “mind the gap”, Oyster cards, the parks (or gardens are they call them).

The train to Scotland. Pretty slick way to get place as it is comfortable and fast.

The crazy wind and misty rain in Scotland. Such strong gusts as we walked up to Edinburgh Castle.

The tartan factory in Edinburgh with the Harry Potter mother load of paraphernalia.

The bus ride through the Lake District. With the natural beauty present there, it was easy to understand why poet wrote so many poems about it.

The short journey through Wales to the ferry to Ireland. He ferry ride was fairly short, fun and smooth

Dublin was ok. It is just a city. The Guinness factory or storehouse was incredible. Easily the best meal we had on our trip with oysters, Irish stew and just ok chicken wings.

The ring of Kerry and staying in Killarney was so pretty. The hotel was very old and when we would walk down the long hallway, I would say in a scary voice behind Allen, REDRUM, REDRUM, REDRUM. He doesn’t always appreciate my sense of humour. 🤪

The long bus ride of the Cliff of Moher was worth it after seeing the Cliffs. From above them, they were spectacular, but seeing them from the little ferry was absolutely the best thing on the trip (ok maybe not better than all the Diana stuff I absorbed in London), but definitely really good.

The last hotel we stayed in was pretty luxurious. The wedding taking place was kinda awkward.

The wake up call at 4am was not the best thing, but arriving home 27 hours later and crawling into my own comfy bed with my little sweet jack russell at my feet was pretty good. 😊. She cried when we came home. What a little baby. Magi was pretty excited as well but didn’t cry like Sophie.

All the different types of transportation we used on our travels was interiors: car to airport, plane, chauffeur Mercedes to hotel, large bus, the tube, passenger train to Scotland, large passenger ferry, small ferry for crossing river.

Travelling with my hubby of 25 years was priceless. Thank god that I had the good sense to snag him when I did. I don’t think there is anyone more perfect for me than him. 💕

We have started the journey home. Our 4 am wake up call jarred us awake after a short night in an incredible hotel- The Woodlands. There was a wedding happening in the lobby area when we arrived. I almost signed the guest book on our way to dinner. There are pictures of famous people who have stayed here, including Tiger Woods.

Our flight out of Shannon, Ireland was quite non-eventful other than the airport being full of USA military on their way home from somewhere.

Flew into Heathrow in London on a gorgeous clear day. I had one last glimpse of the London Eye, Tower of London, London Bridge and Kensington Palace. Aaaahhhh. I love this place.

Now we wait for the flight to Toronto.

Thoughts from the bus:

• Bus etiquette is on fine display again. So much juggling and dirty looks for people to get just the “right” spot. It reminds m of watching students try to rearrange themselves right before I give them a seating plan
• Our American friends seem to struggle with Celsius. We are told to double to Celsius number and add 30 to get a rough estimate of temperature
• Today we are making limericks on the bus. We are to make them and then share them. Some are sweet and some are down right “naughty”. There was a man on our trip with his daughter. His limerick made me blush. I can’t imagine how his daughter felt hearing her dad making a poem about wanting to find an Irish lass for a rub and a tub. It brought lots of laughs on the bus anyways.
• As we bounce along with the bus, we are listening to Irish music. There is a song about Limerick being someone’s lady and true love along the Shannon river.
• We travelled to the Cliffs of Moher. We were able to walk up on top of the cliffs and they were stunning. Then because of the incredibly clear day, our guide gave us the opportunity to go on a ferry right up to the bottom of the Cliffs. The different perspective was fabulous! The famous cave from the Harry Potter movies where there was a horcrux hiding is from here. The weather, the Cliffs and the tie to Harry Potter made this excursion rank right up with Buckingham Palace! We have had a fantastic trip, but this was the best day!
• For our last night, we are staying in Adare which is just outside of Limerick.
• One last group meal to say goodbye to new friends. Some of us have thrown around the idea of going another trip in a couple years.

We started this morning with a “jaunty carriage” horse drawn ride throughout a park. It was gorgeous scenery with lakes, trees and deer. It was a good time, but Besnard is way more beautiful 😊. The deer were plentiful, but I also chase those scoundrels out of my garden as they eat Allen’s pumpkins so I was less than impressed with those. Their larger Irish deer are very similar to our elk as they look and sound similar. It is rutting season so the males were making all sorts of noises and being very territorial.

We stopped at a jewellery tourist trap where you were showered with Irish whiskey coffee for free and then asked to pays $100s for jewellery. We enjoyed the free whisky and found much cheaper trinkets.

The bus etiquette keeps being challenged today as there are a few “challenges” on this bus. Some lady stole our seats and didn’t think she had done anything wrong because “she needed that seat”. Oh brother. My charming Canadian persona is being challenged today. We returned to the back of the bus to hang with Ed and Carol. It is more fun back here anyway.

We continued on our journey around the Ring Of Kerry. Very picturesque scenery. Guess what we had for lunch again?? Fish and chips. This one was very good though.

We drove and stopped along the way many times for pictures and coffee and chocolate and souvenirs. We even found crepes way up high in the Irish mountains.

Today was good. We shared many laughs with our travelling buddies, especially Ed and Carol. We are having such a good trip. Tomorrow is our last fun day as we trek towards Limerick via the Moher Cliffs. It is supposed to be spectacular!

Thoughts from the bus:

• Leaving Dublin today. We are told that Ireland is not a city country. The most beautiful part of Ireland is seeing the country side
• Off to Killarney today
• Will stop at the Blarney Stone
• Part of the attraction to this tour was that we would end it in Limerick. Our guide has told us that we will stay close to Limerick but not go into it as it is a not so nice place – a scrubby city or sometimes called Stabby City. 😳. Nevertheless, this morning as we were on the highway and I saw signs showing Limerick this way, my heart jumps a little. Yea! My hometown namesake! I believe Killarney is a street name in our little Limerick town and we will stay in Killarney for two nights. I guess it is the same geek in me that like staying in Lethbridge, Alberta and landing on Canadian soil from foreign trips This sounds like the beginning of a country song. 🙈
• There are so many cows everywhere here on small dense pasture land. This morning all cows are laying down, which is indicative that the rain is coming.
• Stopped for a Baileys coffee and an Irish coffee with sticky toffee pudding this morning. A nice little snack 😊
• Cars are registered here in a interesting way. The letter means where it was purchased. The first 3 letters mean about the year purchased.
• It is neat to listen to our guide as her vocabulary is very British. Her word choice is quite elevated. Examples: people have great “fervour”, some were “reticent”, “delighted”, “scholars”,
• Blarney. Queen Elizabeth I asked for Lord Blarney to come swear allegiance. He didn’t want to but he didn’t want to offend her. To give great flattery but not to give offence. She finally cried out, “oh Blarney, Blarney, he never means anything he says!” A new word was born into our language.
• We went to Blarney Castle and Allen and I both kissed the stone. Now we will have the gift of the gab! The guide kept warning us of the strenuous walk up the narrow staircase. It was nothing compared to Macchu Picchu! There was a man there to make sure you didn’t fall off the castle. Some of the men thought he had the best job as he got to touch all the women 🙈. It was a fun experience. We walked around the grounds afterwards which showcases incredible beauty. There was a poison garden that had cannibis growing in it.
• We had a chance to shop in a shop that had gorgeous woollen items. Good thing my suitcase is almost full.
• We are so close to Limerick, but not close enough to get any items with Limerick splayed across anything yet. Fingers crossed I can find something.
• The personalities keep being revealed by our fellow travellers. We have such a good fun group. Ed and Carol from Cape Cod, Martha and Eric from Ontario, Didi and Fred from Connecticut, Jim and Kim from Ontario, Roseanne from California, Mark and his daughter Kaitlin from Michigan(?) are all frequent dinner/drinking buddies. The talk is decidedly anti-Trump and how climate change is going to be the end of all of us. The Americans are surprised that we don’t love Trudeau as “he seems like such a nice man”. We smile and keep our conservative views to ourselves.
• We have checked into a beautiful Old Victorian hotel. Very charming!
  

Today was a day to soak in Dublin. We started with a tour of St Patrick Cathedral by a fine Irish woman, Kaye Flanagan. A perfect little Irish woman with a quick wit and a sharp accent. Probably the best guide we have had. She had many funny comments as she showed us her city, such as:

Irish funnies:

• Statues “floozy in the jacuzzi” , “hags with the bags”
• Why would a girl from the south side of the river date a boy from the north? To get her purse back.
• Funny jokes all through the tour
• One couple had 21 children. The lady was a little deaf. Every night when hubby and wife would go to bed, the hubby would ask if she wanted to go to sleep or what. Every night, the deafening lady, would respond with what?? Result 21 children 😳
• Irish humour and dry wit were very much on display
• Free education in Ireland. Even university.

She showed us beautiful park where the Pope gave mass to 1 million people a few years ago. There is a giant cross on top of a hill that looks over a huge expanse of green lawn. Allen estimates a half section of land. This was pretty impressive.

The afternoon had Allen and myself touring the Guinness Storehouse. We lunch there and everything had Guinness as a part of it: Irish stew, Caesar salad, chicken wings and raw oysters. Probably the best meal we have had on the trip.

I enjoy fish and chips and have had it a few times, but after this trip, it may be a long time before having them again. They are offered everywhere!

Tomorrow we travel to Killarney and visit the Blarney Stone and the Ring of Kerry. Supposedly, this will be the best part of the trip 😊. I can’t imagine anything being better than all the Royal family information I have soaked in. We feel like part of the family as Eugenie got married when we were here and today Prince Harry and Meghan announced their baby news!

Leaving Liverpool on our way to Dublin today!

Thoughts from the journey:

• Wales. Where men are men and the sheep are scared 🙈🤪
• 10 000 000 sheep in Wales. They are everywhere and so cute. Perhaps I could convince Allen we should diversity until he told me that we would have to butcher them at some time. Sophie, Magi and Cement may need another pet friend. Sophie would be able to chase them and hopefully not “overplay” with them. 😳
• Off the bus and onto the ferry which is a big, beautiful ship. Very spacious and smooth. Our crew mainly sat together. May have got a few evil looks as we may have been having a little much fun airdropping pics to each other.
• We toured Dublin a wee bit enroute to our hotel. We went and found an Irish pub with three other couples from our tour for supper. My first pint of Guinness was pretty delicious.
• Tomorrow we tour St Patrick’s Cathedral, the rest of Dublin until lunch and then the Guinness tour.
• Our sailing today was incredibly smooth with no seasickness reported in our group. Supposedly, this is unusual as the “Irish Sea can be arrrrful sometimes”. Or so we were told.

Today saw us travelling in the rain from Edinburgh to Liverpool. We have read/watched the news of terrible storms in Great Britain with flooding and electricity being knocked out. We haven’t witnessed any of the terribleness, but our roads were flooded a bit in spots today as we drove through the Lake District – the home of William Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter. We saw some incredible waterfalls coming off the hills. It was a hard time to take photos as the camera kept focusing on the raindrops on the window rather than the scenery passed the window. We had a wet and windy day yesterday and today was very wet.

Every morning when we leave a hotel, our leader asks us to check for the 3 Ps- passport, phone, partner. Check✅

Ideas from the bus:

• Do we want to be tourists or travellers? Tourists have lists and traveller enjoy each experience.
• Interesting to watch the interactions among our travel mates. There is a mom and daughter duo. The daughter seems to get annoyed by her mom’s reaction and need to ask questions. I can’t relate to this at all (😘Justine)
• Lunch was soup today. Mushroom and courgette. I haven’t figured out what courgette is.

Upon arriving in Liverpool, half of the bus checked in and the half that wanted to tour Liverpool and visit the highlights of the Beatles – did just that. We saw Penny Lane, Strawberry Field, John Lennon’s and Paul McCartney’s childhood homes. It was a rushed little tour, but darkness took over and we were done. A quiet night tonight as we ready ourselves for the ferry to Dublin tomorrow.

Checking into our room, we discovered a surprise for our anniversary. Wrong year as it is our 25th, but still a really nice gesture.

Happy birthday to my “big brudder” Clayton!

Today was so good! We went on a city tour of Edinburgh- Old Town and New Town! We witnessed many beautiful old buildings with where JK Rowling started the Harry Potter series and where she wrote the last one at the Balmoral Hotel. Upon examining Edinburgh Castle, we saw prisons, dungeons, and Scottish Crown Jewels, which were pretty much borrowed from the Queen.

Upon leaving the windy, windy, windy castle (we were literally walking parallel to the ground sometimes into the wind), we visited the tartan making factory where many beautiful items were being created. Harry Potter items were plentiful and so nice. I was so tempted but I didn’t choose my wand today. This witch will wait until another day 🤪.

We walked down the Royal Mile and stopped for lunch for fish and chips (again) but we also tried haggis. Heart, lungs and liver mixed with oatmeal and spice served with potato and turnip. Sounds gross but was delicious! Really! Much better than the guinea pig I tried in Peru. Also, our guide said that if we ever ate a hot dog, we should try haggis. Fair enough, I guess, as we all know what is in a hot dog. 😳🙈

We continued our walk and visited Holyrood Palace where the Queen does her work when in Scotland.

We then caught a cab and went to tour Brittania, the Royal yacht that is now permanently parked in Edinburgh harbour. It was quite incredible. Lots of family pics of royal family that you don’t usually see and you got tour everything. They even had on display the Queen’s room, Prince Philip’s room and the double bed Charles had brought in for his honeymoon with Diana. Only single beds were on board before that. Even the royal geek in me thought that may have been a little too personal to know 🤪. The tour was pretty comprehensive and we enjoyed it as much as Windsor Castle. By the way, Windsor Castle hosted a wedding today of Princess Eugenie.

Over our 25 years of “wedded bliss”, Allen has convinced me to attend many things I may not have gone to on my own – CFL season tickets, NFL games, NHL games and NASCAR races. On this trip, we have visited the cathedral where Charles and Diana for married, Kensington Palace and Gardens where they lived, her dress exhibition, Buckingham Palace 2X, Windsor Castle, Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace and Brittania. I’m quite sure Allen may not have chosen all of those on his own. I think we are now even. He is such a good hubby 😊

We went to an Indian restaurant for supper with a wonderful couple from Cape Cod, Ed and Carole. Then we went to a pub to meet up with more of our travel mates and then to another one where I found a drink that came with a rubber duck!!!

We have one more week with this tour. Our group is incredibly lively! So many fun people who really just want to enjoy themselves. I look forward to what adventures we will have in the next week with them!