Ireland
Absolutely bloody incredible, beautiful, and green. If the eskimos have forty words for the colour white than the Irish... well they actually just say green but they claim they have at least forty shades of it and I think they'd be right. The past week is a wee bit of blur and jumble so I'll try and sort my thoughts out as I post the photos up. It helps that I can go back to the tour website to check some of the placenames!
The coach up to London... The first rule of transport is not to trust the transport company! The London check-in for Eurostar was useless. They refused to acknowledge the codes that Paddywagon had given the girls and only receipted them for one-way travel instead of return, they forgot to write down the ferry crossing etc... They also forgot to announce boarding!! Victoria Coach Station is incredibly busy and you have to wait for the boarding call before going out to the bus yard. About ten minutes to departure they still hadn't made an annoucement and I decided to head out and wait by the bus anyway. Suzie, god bless her, came off the bus and told me the driver would beback in a sec. With three people of thirty on board the asshole had decided to depart ten minutes early!! Suzie gave him a right earful and added that there had been no boarding call and that she'd seen me and one other girl check-in at the desk at the same time as her. So, he did wait and everyone did get on board. He was grumpy, rude and cratchety all day though and quick to explain that their small print he could drive off and leave behind anyone that was late back from a stop. He almost did too at one point except I think he felt the weight of everyone's glares at him leaving a young teen alone at a service station in the middle of nowhere.
The coach trip was fun. I made fast friends with Suzie and then with Nicole - both Aussies and teachers. By the end of the trip we'd formed a rowdy bunch at the back of the bus with some other travellers from NZ/Oz; including Sonja from down south who's been on my Ireland tour this week :)
Customs refused to stamp our passports :( They said it would take them too long to go and find where the stamp was!
The ferry from Wales to Ireland is incredible. We've nothing like it back home. It's a luxury car/people carrier with duty free shopping, restaurants, a food court etc..
So, I have now been to Birmingham (where Suzie works but they didn't tell her the coach stops there so she'd bussed down to London that morning!!), Luton, and through Wales. Admittedly we didn't get off the bus in Wales much but they do have some lovely scenery!
The coach up to London... The first rule of transport is not to trust the transport company! The London check-in for Eurostar was useless. They refused to acknowledge the codes that Paddywagon had given the girls and only receipted them for one-way travel instead of return, they forgot to write down the ferry crossing etc... They also forgot to announce boarding!! Victoria Coach Station is incredibly busy and you have to wait for the boarding call before going out to the bus yard. About ten minutes to departure they still hadn't made an annoucement and I decided to head out and wait by the bus anyway. Suzie, god bless her, came off the bus and told me the driver would beback in a sec. With three people of thirty on board the asshole had decided to depart ten minutes early!! Suzie gave him a right earful and added that there had been no boarding call and that she'd seen me and one other girl check-in at the desk at the same time as her. So, he did wait and everyone did get on board. He was grumpy, rude and cratchety all day though and quick to explain that their small print he could drive off and leave behind anyone that was late back from a stop. He almost did too at one point except I think he felt the weight of everyone's glares at him leaving a young teen alone at a service station in the middle of nowhere.
The coach trip was fun. I made fast friends with Suzie and then with Nicole - both Aussies and teachers. By the end of the trip we'd formed a rowdy bunch at the back of the bus with some other travellers from NZ/Oz; including Sonja from down south who's been on my Ireland tour this week :)
Customs refused to stamp our passports :( They said it would take them too long to go and find where the stamp was!
The ferry from Wales to Ireland is incredible. We've nothing like it back home. It's a luxury car/people carrier with duty free shopping, restaurants, a food court etc..
So, I have now been to Birmingham (where Suzie works but they didn't tell her the coach stops there so she'd bussed down to London that morning!!), Luton, and through Wales. Admittedly we didn't get off the bus in Wales much but they do have some lovely scenery!
posted by Nixie! at 6:23 am
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