Ireland: 14 -18th August 2023

One of the fabulous things about being in Bingham is its closeness to East Midlands Airport, around 10 miles from the house where Will and Emma are based.

I booked super-cheap airfares to Ireland a few months ago (£15 each!) and we drove to the airport on Monday afternoon after a lovely lunch at a restaurant also not far from Bingham.

Will introduced me to the Michelin App – which lists both ‘Michelin star’ rated restaurants as well as other good finds. It listed ‘The Reindeer’ in Hoveringham and we chose it for lunch given its good review, pretty location and closeness to home.

We ordered a delicious ploughman’s platter to share to begin, and then I had a lovely take on a fish finger sandwich. Dave and Emma both enjoyed their roast and Will’s chicken sandwich was also a hit!

Apart from the flights, and the first night’s accommodation in Belfast, we had nothing preplanned for Ireland and had asked the kids to decide what we should do. I feel like we got a little glimmer into their approach to travel… researching and planning on the go and being flexible and spontaneous!

We landed in Belfast at around 7.30pm, picked up the hire car and were at our hotel in the CBD an hour or so later. Dinner was an extremely spicy pizza and garlic bread from a little spot around the corner, then a cup of tea in our quite lovely and spacious room, and into bed for the night.

A quick stop off at the Titanic Museum, then onto Crumlin Road Gaol, where we really enjoyed learning more about the life of prisoners, particularly during the “Troubles” that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. The prison has been renovated and re-opened as a museum, including a few Army trucks and a helicopter that Dave particularly liked seeing again.

I drove and Will navigated – taking us north to the Giants Causeway, famous for its interlocking hexagonal basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. Lunch was at a nearby pub, where I had a really fabulous creamy seafood chowder, plentiful with salmon and mussels and cubes of Irish potatoes!

After lunch we had a scenic drive over undulating hills with lovely views of the coastline, before arriving in Londonderry, in Northern Ireland’s northwest.

A brief stop here to see some of the murals about the Troubles, then onto a beautiful waterfall not far from Donegal. Driving the very narrow roads was a bit scary, but the waterfall was beautiful!

Will then took over driving, and I searched for somewhere to stay the night, choosing the little village of Belleek which sits on the border of Northern Ireland and Ireland, which actually doesn’t just run from east to west. We stayed in a small pub that had about a dozen rooms and enjoyed an unexpectedly good dinner at a cafe a few doors up the road. After a few rich and heavy meals, it was lovely to have something simple, in this case a freshly made ham salad.

Accommodation included breakfast, and my ‘mini’ breakfast turned out to be quite large! I enjoyed most of it, even the ‘white’ pudding, but not so much the black pudding, although I did give it a try 🙂

WEDNESDAY 16th August

Wednesday was the day the Matilda’s were due to take on England in the World Cup semi-final. Although not in England, it seemed right to watch the game while here (11am local time), and so we found a pub in Gallway which had a few large TV’s showing the game. Not the result we were hoping for, but it was fun to watch it with a couple of dozen Irish folk who were quite supportive of Australia as well 🙂

Once the Lionesses got their third goal, we got back in the car and headed towards County Clare and the Cliffs of Moher. This was the highlight of the Ireland visit for me – such spectacular scenery and all on a bright sunny day. Dave and I took the slightly shorter walk along the top of the cliffs, then enjoyed an ice-cream while we waited for Will and Emma, who took the long route!

We had thought about staying somewhere local to the Cliffs, but with a few hours of sunlight left in the long summer day, we decided to head all the way to Dublin. I like the way Will and Emma travel – it means you can change your mind easily and get the best out of the opportunities. Dublin proved to be a fabulous place to spend our last day in Ireland and getting there on the Wednesday evening meant we could have a full day exploring this vibrant, historic and interesting city.

After a tasty Vietnamese dinner, we retired to our small, but very cheap, (by Dublin’s standards) hotel room in the central Temple Bar area, ready to hit the Dublin sights on Thursday.

THURSDAY 17th AUGUST

Our first stop was the obvious choice… the Guinness Factory! Dave went to the Post Office Museum instead, but after the 2km walk, Will, Emma and I really enjoyed the Brewhouse. It was fascinating to learn about the history of Guinness and how it is made. Yes, I even tasted some… I’m not a fan of normal beer and although this was slightly better than that, I can’t say I loved it! The three of us sat at the top of the building which had a magnificent view over the city, Will and Emma enjoying their pint of Guinness, and me enjoying a soft drink!

We met up with Dave and then wandered the streets of central Dublin. For some reason I thought the city would be less clean and rougher than it was. It was actually quite lovely, although there was quite a bit of evidence of the poverty that has plagued the city for many generations, and we saw quite a few people sleeping rough.

For lunch we went to a typical Irish Pub near to Dublin’s famous shopping street (Grafton Street). Emma tried Irish stew, Dave a toastie, Will a beef pie and I had corned beef, with cabbage, mash and parsley sauce. Yum!

We also visited the well-known Trinity College, founded in 1592 by Queen ELizabeth I. Its buildings were quite spectacular, and it’s cricket ground particularly impressed me!

Will and Emma explored the city some more, but Dave and I rested a bit before meeting them for dinner. They also continued to see the sights of Dublin’s nightlife after dinner, but we had a reasonably early night, in recognition of our 4am get up to make the 7:20am flight back to East Midlands!

A whirlwind but wonderful visit to Ireland!