Day 8: Next...Ireland
The journey begins in London, England. We then proceed west through Southern England before crossing into Wales. The religion of England and Wales is Protestantism and the currency is the pound sterling.
We then take a boat west to enter Ireland. Ireland is a very independent nation where the main religion is Roman Catholicism. Their currency in Ireland is the EuroDollar. We travel through Ireland, including their capital city of Dublin.
We proceed north crossing into Northern Ireland, an important part of the United Kingdom where the primary religion is Protestantism and their currency is that of the United Kingdom which is the pound sterling.
We then travel by boat east to the Island of Great Britain (which is the countries of England, Wales and Scotland) back into England before proceeding north to Scotland. The religion in Scotland is Protestantism and their currency is the pound sterling.
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Today was another fantastic journey.
Up at 6 am, the typical breakfast at 7:15 am, and our getting on our coach at 8:15 am for a short journey to take a special tour of Cardiff Castle in our current location, the capital city of Wales. What an incredibly beautiful castle…you can tell that the ruling family who built the castle had much leaning to a higher education for all, of course including themselves. They were one of the first families to have a toilet in their castle, and they also had a small pool on the top level.
There were so many fantastic photos...please check below!
You can see below a box of 47 small photos. You can also see only 47 photos, but click on the #1 to #3 to view the next 20 photos. You can click on any photo to see it enlarged OR just click on the 1st photo and wait....it will present a slide show of all 47 photos that advances every 5 seconds.
Cardiff Castle
Lunch in Penfro, Wales
On to Ireland
Today was another fantastic journey.
Up at 6 am, the typical breakfast at 7:15 am, and our getting on our coach at 8:15 am for a short journey to take a special tour of Cardiff Castle in our current location, the capital city of Wales. What an incredibly beautiful castle…you can tell that the ruling family who built the castle had much leaning to a higher education for all, of course including themselves. They were one of the first families to have a toilet in their castle, and they also had a small pool on the top level.
There were so many fantastic photos...please check below!
Different people have ruled Wales over the centuries, including the Romans, the Normans, and the Scotts. Of course, they were also ruled by the English until 1955 when they became independent, though they are still part of Great Britain and hence the United Kingdom. You might remember from yesterday that Wales is a very small country with just over 3 million people.
But they do have their own language…Welsh. See the photos of some of the traffic signs in Cardiff…everything is in English and Welsh. One example is: David in English and written as Daffyt in Welsh.
We left Cardiff and drove through Wales on our way to catch a ferry and cross over to Ireland. Along the way, we stopped in Penfro where I had some fish and chips. After an hour for lunch, we drove through the beautiful countryside to catch the 4-hour ferry in Pembroke to cross to Ireland.
Our guide, Ed, reminded us that Ireland is also independent. They are not part of Great Britain or the United Kingdom. While the currency of the U.K. is the British pound, the currency for Ireland is the EuroDollar. While the religion for most people in Great Britain is Anglican (Protestant), the great majority of people in Ireland is Roman Catholic. I used the 4-hour journey across the Irish Sea to write my blog for the day.
We landed at Rosslare Harbor in Ireland. We entered our coach and took a one-hour journey to reach our hotel in Waterford where we had a wonderful dinner. But it was a long day...we didn't reach the hotel or start dinner until 8:30 pm. And we did not finish our meal until 10 pm. It was a long, but joyful day!
A few notes I have been wanting to mention since I entered England. They are common little reminders of how the U.S. and England are different. To the left is the English word from the U.S., and to the right the word(s) used in England for the same item:
U.S. England
1st floor Ground Floor….so
2nd floor 1st floor
parking lot car park
bathroom w.c. (stands for water closet), loo
elevator lift
bus coach
use of 12-hour clock 24-hour clock…no am or pm
gas, gasoline petro
trash rubbish, garbage
vacation holiday
football rugby, AFL (Australian Football League)
soccer football
???? cricket
You can see below a box of 17 small photos. You can also see only 14 photos, but click on the #1 to view the next 20 photos. You can click on any photo to see it enlarged OR just click on the 1st photo and wait....it will present a slide show of all 17 photos that advances every 5 seconds.
Lunch in Penfro, Wales
You can see below a box of 11 small photos. You can also see only 11 photos, but click on the #1 to #1 to view the next 11 photos. You can click on any photo to see it enlarged OR just click on the 1st photo and wait....it will present a slide show of all 11 photos that advances every 5 seconds.
On to Ireland
