Simply Sofie

It was Saturday, June 30, 2007 at 5:34 in the morning when we left Weggis for our trip to Ireland. Since travelling by land to Ireland is possible, we brought our car so as to be more mobile. We decided to take the car ferry in Calais, France going to Dover, England. We arrived in Calais just after 2:00 in the afternoon. The trip from Weggis to Calais took at least more than 8 hours but not more than 9 hours as we had several stopovers along the way.

We didn’t have any car ferry reservation but there were several shipping companies to choose from so it was not really a problem. But then, car ferries between 2:30pm and 4:30pm were fully booked, so we took the one with P&O Ferries, scheduled trip was after 4:30pm. That gave us time to have our late lunch. We boarded the car ferry after 4:25pm and the car ferry probably left after 4:35pm. The trip from Calais to Dover took at least 40-45 minutes because we took the fast ferry instead of the other one which would take 1 1/2 hours. We arrived in Dover, England at around 5:29pm and we were out of the ferry by 5:33pm.

It was bad news though, there was traffic due to an accident. It was raining too and there were a lot of road constructions along the highways in England from Dover to London to Birmingham. Worst was the traffic along the highways just around the area of London and from London to Northampton to Birmingham. We wanted to drive up to Holyhead in Isle of Anglesey, already part of Wales but decided to call it a night at it was getting dark too.

We saw the Premier Travel Inn along the highway in Norton Canes, Staffordshire in the area of Birmingham M6 Toll and decided to stay overnight there. At around 10:35pm, we were already inside the hotel room and went to bed immediately. The hotel was nice and the price was reasonable. It was adjacent to a shopping mall and food was no problem at all.

We got up early the next day, ate breakfast and left the hotel at 7:52am and continued our trip. We just didn’t take the highways, we also took the main roads from Newcastle to Crewe to Chester, then the highways in North Wales going to Isle of Anglesey then to Holyhead.

We arrived in Holyhead at around 10:22am but still had to drive a little bit going to the port. We arrived at the port and were able to buy the ticket at around 11:00am and started to board at 11:16am. The car ferry left just past 12:00nn and we arrived in Dublin just around 2:00pm. The trip was only about 2 hours as we took the fast car ferry Dublin Swift by Irish Ferries instead of the other one which would normally take at least 3 to 4 hours.

We were out of the ferry by 2:20pm, took the Tunnel and realized that we should have taken the main road as the Tunnel led us out of the city of Dublin. We arrived at my cousin’s place at past 3:00pm just in time before her birthday celebration. The reason we chose Ireland, aside from it being like a golfers’ paradise, was my first cousin Hope. I wanted to visit her and meet her husband Noel. For the rest of the day, we didn’t do anything, just ate, talked and chatted with some of her friends.

The next day, we just rested and only went out after 4:00pm. We went to the main city of Dublin, at the North of the Liffey, walked along the popular O’Connell Street, just to get familiarize with the area. Going around the city was quite very accessible as my cousin’s and her husband’s place is still part of the city. Instead of bringing the car, we just took the tram, which they call “Luas“, going to the North of the Liffey and going home too.

On the third day, we played golf. We drove around the area and decided to go to Wicklow county which somehow became our favorite destination regarding golf. It was quite near Dublin and the green fees were reasonable enough especially for the early birds, meaning playing golf before 10:00am.

We played at the Charlesland Golf Club, a parkland golf course, but for me, a few holes were like those of the links course, no trees and some bunkers were just too deep. The weather was unpredictable, it got cold and then hot, then sunny and after a few minutes encountered some rain. It was like that the whole time we played.

After the game, a golfer saw us taking some pictures and volunteered to take our picture. He asked us how did we find the weather and we just told him what it was like. He answered, “Welcome to Ireland”, and smiled. With that, we knew what he meant.

On the fourth day, we went back to the North of the Liffey and then to Southeast Dublin. We roamed around, and just enjoyed the sunny but sometimes drizzling day. We walked along the River Liffey, crossed the Ha’penny Bridge, went to the Trinity College, and then again walked along O’Connell Street, where I took pictures of the several monuments. I even tried taking the picture of the Monument of Light, a 120m (394 ft) stainless steel spire, but it was too high.

On the fifth day, we played golf at Delgany Golf Club, a parkland golf course, a lot of trees, quite challenging especially the uphill holes. We didn’t finish playing the 18 holes though as it was really raining heavily. The Junior tournament was even cancelled because of the bad weather. After the game, we went to one of the shopping malls in Blanchardstown.

On the sixth day, we went to the Stackstown Golf Club, the so-called “Home from Home” of a famous Irish golfer Padraig Harrington. We just wanted to see the place hoping to play there but was not able to do so. We didn’t play golf as it was Noel’s birthday. He brought us at the highest pub in Ireland, the ever popular Johnnie Fox’s Pub in Glencullen, for dinner. The place was great and the food was good. We really enjoyed it.

The next day, we played golf at Arklow Golf Club, a links golf course, also located in Wicklow but a little bit farther than Charlesland and Delgany. The Arklow golf course was along the sea. With that, it was quite windy and it rained too. We got used to the weather so it didn’t matter anymore.

After the game, we went for a Wicklow sightseeing tour up to the military road and finally ended up seeing the Powerscourt Waterfall as we were in the area already. It was simply great seeing the Powerscourt Waterfall, the highest waterfall in Ireland. I just love it.

We went back to my cousin’s place and then left immediately too. Hope and Noel were on duty at the hospital so we went to the main city on our own. We went to the Temple Bar area and had our dinner at the Quay’s Bar. The lamb that Erich ordered was simply great. I was so envious because I ordered a traditional Irish stew.

On the eight day, Sunday, July 8, 2007, we went at The K Club in Kildare and watched the professional golfers playing at the Smurfit Kappa European Open, and I saw Colin Montgomerie, quite a tall guy. I forgot who else I saw there. Good thing, we didn’t play golf somewhere else because the weather was really bad. The tournament was even stopped several times. We finally decided to leave and when we arrived at my cousin’s place, Noel was watching the golf tournament in TV and told us that the game was continued and Colin Montgomerie won. Nice! Erich and I wanted Colin to win that tournament after 19 months without winning any tournament at the European Tour.

The next day, we got up early, we were not on our own. Noel was with us and he brought us to Killeen Golf Club. We played at the Killeen Golf Club, a parkland golf course, although the fairways were somewhat narrow and flat, it was not an easy course as there were quite a lot of trees surrounding the area. Halfway though, it started drizzling, then rained heavily. We stopped playing at the 13th hole because of the heavy rain and strong wind but waited and finally continued the game. We finished playing the 18 holes despite the bad weather. Whewww!

On the tenth day, as Hope didn’t have a duty at the hospital, we went to the main city, at the Southwest Dublin. We walked around the area, visited the Christ Church Cathedral, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin Castle and finally had our dinner at the Temple Bar area. We ate at the Mexico to Rome restaurant. After dinner, I had some slippery nipple. Hey, hey, hey… slippery nipple was a drink, Sambucca and Baileys, somewhat similar to Kahlua. I had a shot, just wanted to try it. Anyway, going back to my cousin’s place, we didn’t take the tram or the “Luas”, rather we took the double decker bus for us to see Dublin in a different view.

The next day, we went to the Guinness Storehouse, the Home of Guinness, located in the heart of the St. James’s Gate Brewery. I don’t drink beer but Guinness is a must-see place in Dublin. The building was even designed in the shape of a giant pint of Guinness.

After our Guinness tour, we then went to Trim in Meath county at The Midlands as some friends of Hope were waiting for us for lunch. We wanted to see the Trim Castle and it just so happen that her friends’s place was just walking distance from the castle. Trim Castle was the location of Mel Gibson’s film Braveheart in 1995.

The next day, Thursday, July 12, 2007, we got up early. We needed to be early as we didn’t have any reservation at Dublin Swift of Irish Ferries. Well, it was not fully booked, and so, at just past 8:00am we were already boarding the car ferry. Dublin Swift left Dublin at around 8:45am and by 10:54am, we were already out of the ferry in Holyhead in Wales.

The trip in Wales to England was smooth but it was a different story in England. We again encountered heavy traffic in England. We even had to take a detour because some of the highways were closed. Instead of 6 1/2 hours travel time from Holyhead to Dover, the trip took almost 10 hours as we arrived in Dover port at past 8:50pm. We were able to get the ferry scheduled to leave at past 9:30pm. We arrived in Calais at past midnight already. And the rest is history.