The Word for the Day is "Guinness"

Moving a tad slow today after a great evening of music. Kelly was up and headed to Tescos for some coffee cream and a danish while I showered up.

Coffee was excellent as I finished up the blog from the day before... yep life gets in the way sometimes. .Kelly was ready to go and we grabbed a cab over to the Guinness storehouse. We had a 10:45 time slot and didn't want to miss it!! The huge block of buildings is very impressive and the displays of the Guinness operation were incredible. A must do if you are here!

We made it!

The name says it all.

Kelly concentrates!!

Gravity bar.

The different levels of the showrooms explained in great detail, the whole operation from clean mountain water, locally grown barley & hops etc right through to the sampling of the final product in the Gravity bar.  The 360 degree views from this vantage point really impressed us.

They also showed how things had changed over the years as technology and innovation made the production easier. The coopers story was most impressive as they hand made hundreds of thousands of barrels over the years. All to be replaced in later life.

The huge gift shop proved irresistible to Kelly as she picked up a few items and I also got a nice shirt. Kelly & I grabbed a bite of lunch as the trek through the Guinness facility was wearing us out!

Next we walked over towards Trinity College to check out the park and older buildings that still provide schooling for students. We also made a stop at Dublin Castle along the way. Very convenient cover for when it rained.

Dublin Castle

Trinity College

Trinity College

A quick stop at the apartment to drop of the shopping then it was off to find Kris and the others for a pint. They were at the Brazen Head Pub (est:1198 and the oldest pub in Ireland) and we joined Kris. Chelsea, Austin and little London for a glass. They had been at the zoo today and had some nice pics to share. They headed back to their apartment while Kris, Kelly & I went looking for a light dinner... yep a fish supper again!! 

A long way from home!

 We walked around looking for a geocache while Kris headed back to change. No luck with the cache so off to the  Old Stonehouse Pub to watch some live music from the fellow we saw last night. He was very good but played to a dinner crowd so the music was lighter than we saw last night.

We pulled the pin early and headed back at 9 PM.

A little packing and blogging as we head out to the west coast tomorrow

Off to Dublin

Kelly's alarm woke us at 7 am and coffee was poured shortly after. Showers, packing and then awaited our chauffeured ride to the Birmingham airport (BXH).

Dan was early so we loaded up the car and headed off via the M6 to the airport at 09:14.. yes early!!

The M6 has the only Toll portion of highway in England and it also has variable speed control. The big LED speed signs change as required to flow traffic through. There is never any stopping so no real delays. Dan also mentioned that a speed camera is right behind these signs so best not to exceed the limit.

We arrived at the airport at 10:00 and dropped the car at the Train depot parking lot. A short ride on a small passenger train took us to the main terminal. By 10:15 the bags were checked and we headed upstairs to Frankie & Benny's for breakfast. Someone is starting vacation early with a mimosa!!

Through security and at the gate with minimal fuss. The Ryan Air B737-800 pushed a bit late @ 12:18 and we parked in Dublin at 13:37. Through Customs and we easily grabbed a cab down to Parnell street and our AirBnB.

Away we go to Ireland

English countryside

Love technology... this is us (blue dot) on final to DUB

Unfortunately it is located 3 stories up and no lift! We packed our stuff up and checked out the place. Small but tidy and clean and will do for our short time in Dublin. It took us a few minutes to sort out the electrical as everything is switched off. Using the blow dryer as a tester we had it sorted out:-)



After texting with Kris, we headed off towards the Temple Bar district which is only a 9 minute walk from our place. Quick stop at Starucks for some via's. We met up at the Auld Dublin Pub and enjoyed catching up and celebrating London's 1st Birthday!

Look a pedestrian shopping area!

Great looking little pubs dot the corners.

River Liffey

Pedestrian bridge

Pub lunch with the crew

London is the birthday girl!

After a bite of late lunch (smoked salmon to die for) we walked around the area and got a feel of the atmosphere. Did I mention that the Guinness is very good! The gals went and did some shopping so the guys popped into the Norseman Pub to enjoy the live music that was going on. This place was established in 1696!

Temple Bar

I liked the number

Tesco stop for some supplies then we went back to the loft apartment that the crew were staying. Very nice corner spot with lots of room.

After a small birthday celebration for London we headed off to find some live music for the balance of the evening. They had watched a band the previous night and wanted to find them again.. if possible. We walked past several bars and listened to tier offerings when Kelly said lets try the Merchants Arch wwich is right by the pedestrian bridge. Low and behold it was the guitar player from the previous night along with a fiddler. This was the spot to be so we found some chairs and spent the evening enjoying these musicians talents. Turns out his name is Zach and he is only 20. Amazing artist I will say!

Evening's entertainment

End of the night!

We shut the place down and headed back home to bed. A great first night in Ireland!

RAF Cosford Tour

Nice sleep in as we get ready for another tour of the area from Dan & Vicki.  This is our only full day in Stafford so we will try and make the most of it. It is so nice having locals drive you around the back roads and add info that you would never get if we were by ourselves.

After the requisite shower/prep period, we headed for breakfast in the hotel restaurant... sadly breakfast ended at 09:30 so we just decided to walk over to Dan & Vicki's place and see what we could find on the way. A quick stop at the Co-op and Kelly left with coffee in hand along with a couple danishes & yogurt.

Dan & Vicki met us coming round the corner and we headed of to RAF Cosford and the aviation museum there. It had some great displays and a Cold War theme that was very interesting. Even had a piece of the Berlin War on exhibit!

Fantastic scale model of the P-51 Mustang.

Incredible detail of the construction.

We walked around the various outdoor displays as well as through the three hangers that make up the museum. Great display of vintage, WW II and post war aircraft & other military equipment like tanks and vehicles.

Neptune

PBY

Lightning hanging from the ceiling!

Comet

Inverted F-86

Hercules (my dad flew this type for PWA)

VC-10

Brittania

Jaguar

After a great walkabout we headed back to Stafford and dropped Vicki off. She would sleep awhile before starting her night shift at 8 P.M. tonight.

Dan then took us to see the Trentham Gardens and the neat shops that make up the market area. The store itself is huge and had an incredible selection of outdoor/home equipment in it.  We had a pie lunch and then continued on our "private tour".

Next was the Aston Marina with it's canal boats. This is just one of many marinas that make up the huge canal system in the UK.  The boats look very RV like and we thought a canal trip in the future could be a possibility (after the Panama of course!)
 

Canal Boats

RV on water!

A stop at Tesco's to get some items then a nice walk downtown to have a drink. We went to Joule's and had a couple pints of his own custom brew. All very nice!

Old Chamber Of Commerce

Joule's pub

Back to Dan's place (to drive Vicki to work) and after dropping her off, we headed to the the Knot & Plough Pub.  Dinner was great and we enjoyed the semi-modern look of the place.

Nice pictures!

 Dan dropped us off at our hotel and Kelly prepped her suitcase for tomorrows flight to DUB (Dublin) while I blogged the day's events.

Beyond starts now.

Up at 7 am for coffee & showers. Packing is well underway with just a few bits left for me and Kelly doing her jigsaw puzzle. She is s little lighter now that her uniform is packed away in Chelsea's drum. She will keep her pipes with her though.

08:30 was our planned departure time giving us plenty to catch our 09:40 Virgin Train to Stafford (via two trains). This gave me the opportunity to grab a geocache that was very close to our dorm. 

We said our goodbyes to our flat mates that were awake and started trekking the gear down via the elevator. I dropped the keys off at the office and we headed down the hill to Cathedral St at 08:45 sharp 😄

We stood on the corner for about a minute when a cabbie came by and grabbed us. As it was raining we quickly loaded up and headed to Central Station.

Once at the station we grabbed a Starbucks and enjoyed a bit of people watching. The train arrived and we headed down to the "G" car that would take us south. Bags loaded and seats sorted, we departed at 09:40 exactly.

Breakfast this morning was a choice of Traditional British Breakfast,  bacon bun, sausage bun, eggs Benedict, eggs Florentine and fresh fruit... did I mention that we like 1st class! 

My choice!

We enjoyed the trip down and once across the border into England the sky's parted and we saw blue sky! Next stop was Carlisle and our friend Dan joined us for the remainder of trip. He will guide us through a train change to get to Stafford.

We got off at Warrington Bank Quay and waited for the 10:00 Glasgow to London via Birmingham train. A quick ride into Crewe to change to another train.... thank heavens Dan is with us!!  Especially since "the holder of the tickets" left them on the original train! All good though.

We now will grab the 125 to Stafford. It was a tad late but we got on and enjoyed another 20 or so minutes of 1st Class.

14:05 We were in the door at The Best Western Stafford.  All checked in, Dan took us on a tour of the town showing us where they lived, where Vicki worked and then along the main parts of town. We parked at his work garage and walked over to Victoria Park. Lovely scenery with beautiful gardens and river area.

Victoria Park

Thatched roof.

Nice scenery

Lawn Bowling anyone?

Victoria Park

Very quaint little streets that gave an old school feel as you walked down them.

Narrow streets in some areas.

The Collegiate Church of St. Mary

Church Of St. Mary

Parrish Church of St. Chad

 There is a pedestrian shopping area (designed by women I suspect) with local shops and shoe stores. There was this neat old movie theater that was taken over by a food/bar chain and saved from destruction. It is very cool inside as they left the main building intact.

Old theater saved by pub chain. 

Inside the theater.

 Dan took us to the Sun Inn where we met up with Vicki. We had a glass and then walked back through the park to grab a geocache. We took another car tour of the area and ended up at Stafford Castle. It's the high point of land in the area and an obvious location for a fortification.

Stafford Castle

Stafford Castle

Stafford Castle

 Next a tour of some back country roads featuring some great vistas of heather.  The road had a few potholes in it but Vicki shouted out possible problem areas with "A dodgy one!!"

Heather everywhere! Near Cannock Chase AONB

You are probably wondering what the heck AONB stands for... it's simple... "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty"  We stopped at the Greyhound Pub for a nice dinner. Managed to have a great lamb shank with potatoes & gravy... it was delicious.

We headed back to the hotel to grab some laundry and then off to Dan & Vicki's place to visit and do said laundry. A nice evening discussing cruising ensued as well as a quick walk to the shop to grab water and other refreshments.

They dropped us at the hotel and I did my blog. Off to bed