James Pearl Thinks Blogging is Dead

[JDurk]

When we went to Ireland we flew in the Shannon and drove across to Dublin, with stops along the way. We felt spending half the trip in Dublin was a mistake. If we go back, we will most likely fly in to Shannon and go south, and possibly one day in Dublin...

We did an overnight flight arriving in Dublin around 9am, stayed 2 nights in Temple Bar area. First day toured the walking distance spots. Took a train south to seaside town Bray the next day. Definitely need more time there outside of Dublin.

 

[Norm]

When we went to Ireland we flew in the Shannon and drove across to Dublin, with stops along the way. We felt spending half the trip in Dublin was a mistake. If we go back, we will most likely fly in to Shannon and go south, and possibly one day in Dublin...

Why was it a mistake?

 

[Cole]

Why was it a mistake?

Maybe we went to see the wrong things. We Saw Trinnity, Kilmainham Gaol, and other things. I just think there was more scenic things to see in other areas. Too many days in a city for me I guess.

 

[stb222]

Highly recommend Dublin. We weren't there long enough since we were on a tour around the UK that included Edinburgh, London, Liverpool and the Lake District of Cumbria.

We've talked about going back to just tour Ireland or Scotland.

Iceland has been on our radar too.

Yes with only two people it can be relatively inexpensive.

I get the big city tour thing as it has a must see aspect. I will say that the midsize and small towns are a significantly different experience and some of the places you can get to by car only are pretty damn crazy they exist. Like this castle people still live in.

 

[Norm]

Like this castle people still live in.

The entire town of Segovia is like this. You're sitting in a town that was built 1000 or more years ago, and people still live in it. Has it been fixed up over the years? Sure. But people still live in structures that are 4-5 times older than our entire country.

The town of Segovia was still using the Roman aqueduct into the 70s.

Your general point is valid. If you go to Paris, like you can't skip the Eiffel Tower, as an example. But there are a lot of non-Paris things to do in France. We met some locals in Madrid on our last night at dinner who told us a bunch of non-touristy places to go. She showed us pictures of the town she lives in, Toro. It's really a totally different world in some of these places.

 

[JDurk]

Yes with only two people it can be relatively inexpensive.

I get the big city tour thing as it has a must see aspect. I will say that the midsize and small towns are a significantly different experience and some of the places you can get to by car only are pretty damn crazy they exist. Like this castle people still live in.
View attachment 270805

All things considered, we did pretty well booking everything ourselves. Only time we used a car was the leg from London to Liverpool to the Lake District then Manchester airport. I didn't drive at all, left that to the 3rd wheel on the trip. I hadn't driven a manual shift car in a long time, let alone driving on the right in the opposite lane. We barely made it out of London leaving the rental place when he almost had a head-on with a garbage truck.

 

[rjr44]

When we went to Ireland we flew in the Shannon and drove across to Dublin, with stops along the way. We felt spending half the trip in Dublin was a mistake. If we go back, we will most likely fly in to Shannon and go south, and possibly one day in Dublin...

Concur. Have done Ireland twice.

First time into Shannon then South, east, north into Dublin.

Second time from Shannon north, east, ultimately Belfast, then south into Dublin.

Both times 3 days in Dublin is plenty.

 

[rjr44]

The entire town of Segovia is like this. You're sitting in a town that was built 1000 or more years ago, and people still live in it. Has it been fixed up over the years? Sure. But people still live in structures that are 4-5 times older than our entire country.

The town of Segovia was still using the Roman aqueduct into the 70s.

Your general point is valid. If you go to Paris, like you can't skip the Eiffel Tower, as an example. But there are a lot of non-Paris things to do in France. We met some locals in Madrid on our last night at dinner who told us a bunch of non-touristy places to go. She showed us pictures of the town she lives in, Toro. It's really a totally different world in some of these places.

When we did Spain it was Madrid, Sevilla, Malaga. We hit some smaller villages in between and those were the highlights. Particularly Ronda and Jerez.

And funny enough, Gibraltar was cool. To go from Spain, to England, back to Spain was a neat experience, and I mean architecturally, culturally, etc. not the odd border hop. And the monkeys at the top of the rock, watch your valuables!