Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Peter Johansson
Videos: Christer Lundstedt



Wednesday 6th of July

08.14 It is morning here in Saint Austell, Cornwall. We have woken up on the second and last morning at The Duke Of Cornwall pub (https://www.thedukeofcornwallinn.co.uk). Our days on English soil are coming to an end for this time. However, we will return to English territory later in the trip. Before we check out, we will try what in the local Celtic language Cornish is called hansel, meaning breakfast.

09.32 It was a steady and varied English breakfast served in a nice little dining room. Two pub staff women fixed what we needed. Soon we will collect our belongings. The time has come to travel towards new goals. It has been nice to stay here, but we are looking forward to staying a little more central mext time.

10.16 We checked out and said goodbye to our nice breakfast hostesses. Here we are now sitting homeless on a bench in Cemetery Park near the bus station/railway station.

10.41 After philosophizing on the bench and looking at various dogs in the park, we looked at the Sundial sculpture here in the park. It will be the last we look at here in Saint Austell.

10.59 Today's short journey with the public transport vehicle bus will begin shortly. We will make our way from here in Saint Austell across the peninsula of Cornwall to the tourist town of Newquay. There are a few more waiting here at the bus stop outside the railway station.

11.16 We are on our way. Not many people will go along. Right next to the town's baptist church, South Coast Church, we have stopped to pick up some passengers. Today's bus company is Go Cornwall Bus and the route is 21.

Christer is having breakfast at The Duke of Cornwall.

Peter focuses on the first meal of the day.

Sundial, Cemetery Park.

We travel through the village of Foxhole.

The bus runs on narrow roads through Cornwall.

Visiting Costa Coffee on Bank Street in Newquay.

11.28 The distance to our next destination is short but traveling by bus in England, however, means a slow and winding journey and so also this time. We often stop and go in and out of various villages north of Saint Austell. One of these is called Foxhole. The name comes from an old mine in the area.

11.48 Just outside the village of Saint Dennis, in the middle of the English countryside, we just met a truck from Turkey. Just wondering what it was doing here?

12.37 The town we have arrived in is Newquay. A little annoying was that the bus passed outside the hotel where we were supposed to stay without us being able to get off there. We decided to go all the way to the bus station to see the town centre. We still have a lot of time left before our room is ready for check-in. Three people are currently passing our black metal bench on Bank Street. Something else that happens in this now is that a small dog barks.

12.42 There are many interesting characters who pass by where we are sitting. Many look exactly as British tourists are supposed to according to all prejudices. Newquay on the north coast of Cornwall has a population of 20,343 and is yet another of those British seaside towns that attracts tourists. There is also an airport here, which makes the city easy to get to.

13.00 Before check-in, we stop at Costa Coffee café along the Bank Street pedestrian street. It is important to keep the caffeine level in balance. We are starting to get routine on these visits and know exactly what to order and which phrases to use. First, you must tell if it is take away or if you want coffee on site. Then there's the size of the coffee and a wait for our baps to heat up.

13.47 We left Costa Coffee happily. After a long walk through Newquay we arrived at the Narrowcliff district. The hotel we booked, Marina Hotel, no longer exists, but we are referred to another one that took over our booking. Our backpacks are now there at the Beresford Hotel. The room is not ready yet. We ourselves are without packing and look out over the sea, the town and the beach. There is a magnificent view of cliffs and beaches in this part of town. Around 3pm we can check in.

Tolcarne Beach, Newquay.

Christer looks out over the sea.

A lizard emerged from the grass.

Newquay Bay, part of the Atlantic Ocean.

Memorial flowers for a family member who has passed away.

The coastline along Newquay Bay.

14.24 With the company of a lizard in the grass next to us, we sit on a bench overlooking Tolcarne Beach. The benches here are usually dedicated to various deceased people who liked this particular place or this town.

15.20 We are staying from now on in room 317 at Beresford Hotel (https://bespokehotels.com/beresford-hotel). The lift is so small that we had to ride one at a time to get up to the third floor. Here in the room, the bed will be shared. It's big so it probably shouldn't be a problem, but it's always better to have one each. Here at the hotel, the majority of guests are British pensioners.

17.01 On the TV in the room, according to tradition, the tennis from Wimbledon is being watched. Right now Taylor Fritz, USA is playing against Rafael Nadal, Spain. A family of seagulls is being watched on the roof outside the room window. It is mother, father and two gray cubs who don't seem to be ready to fly yet. So far in their lives, they have probably only seen an ugly gray roof.

17.56 The tennis continues and the seagulls are still on the roof. We also remain in the room. We are planning tonight's dinner. Soon we will walk there.

18.17 Just as Rafael Nadal equalized at 2-2 in the set, we left the hotel. Now we will take a short walk along Ulalia Road.

18.32 Now we are at The Lanherne Pub & Restaurant (http://www.lanhernepubrestaurant-newquay.foodndrink.uk), a pub we found via Google Maps. We want to drink the beer we didn't drink in Saint Austell and feel it's time for a pub visit before we leave England tomorrow. Here at the local spacious pub, we've lowered the average age and ordered an ale and a Smokey Joe burger each. It will be more precisely two Viaduct Pale Ale from the Dynamite Valley brewery located in Truro here in Cornwall.

Beresford Hotel, Newquay.

We had booked a room at the Marina Hotel. Then it closed down.

Our nearest neighbours.

The Lanherne Pub & Restaurant, Newquay.

Christer enjoys good beer and good hamburgers.

Peter pays for tonight's dinner.

19.14 An older couple at the neighbouring table seems to have received an incorrect bill when paying. It is important to keep track of what you ate and drank. It's not a real pub feel here at The Lanherne but still a really nice place. It feels more like a neighbourhood restaurant than a pub.

19.35 After the good food, we decided to take an evening walk. Nearby is Newquay Zoo, but it's closed at this time of course. Instead we stopped at the viaduct over Edgcumbe Avenue. It is called the Trenance Viaduct and is an impressive piece of construction. Up on it there are railway tracks.

20.25 Here at the hotel we have asked about breakfast tomorrow morning and then we have gone shopping at the nearby Tesco Express store. Luckily, breakfast was included in our booking so we didn't have to shop too much. The Wimbledon tennis match was won by Rafael Nadal after a super tiebreak, 10-4, in the fifth set. It was probably lucky that we didn't wait until the tennis before we left for dinner.

21.58 In front of 68,871 spectators at Old Trafford in Manchester, a new world record for spectators in women's football, England's ladies win against Austria 1-0. We can follow this via the BBC on the room's TV. The European Championship tournament Euro 2022 is played here in England but we probably won't be near any of the matches when they are played.

23.20 We have received an email from the upcoming accommodation in Dublin, Ireland. There are codes and links so we can get in tomorrow. Our biking friend Roberth at home in Sweden has today made it to Halland where he is near Varberg.

Trenance Viaduct, Newquay.

The Women's European Football Championship opens with England defeating Austria.


Thursday 7th of July

08.28 The birdlife is, to say the least, active outside our room. Pigeons and seagulls compete to be the loudest. The last English night for a while is over. Now a hotel breakfast awaits shortly.

09.20 It was a simple buffet breakfast here at the Beresford Hotel. We enjoyed coffee, juice and toast. In addition, sausage, bacon and eggs were offered. Now we're going to pack for the flight while we follow the news on TV. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces in the chaos that prevails (over 50 ministers and civil servants have resigned) that he himself will resign after the autumn elections.

09.46 The small cramped lift was avoided in favour of the wider and airier stairs when we were about to leave our room. Check out went well. Now we are waiting to go to the bus stop. We are flying to Dublin today. Where is our cycling friend Roberth going? At least we know he is somewhere in Halland.

10.07 The bus we were waiting for started at 10.00 at the bus station. A few minutes later bus 56 kindly passed outside our hotel. When Christer asked to buy a bus ticket to the airport, the female driver said, - Admit it, you don't really want to go home! Christer told him that he wasn't going home, rather traveling to Dublin. She would like to do that too.

10.16 The bus has passed the beach at Watergate Bay with lots of surfers on site. It's not far from Newquay to the airport but in typical English tradition the bus manages to find a long winding route to get there. We basically go around the entire airfield.

10.32 Much can be said about Cornwall Airport Newquay. That it is big is not one of the words you should use if you want to stick to the truth. There are only a few people here right now. At least there are some benches, some check-in counters and a cafe.

11.24 While waiting for check-in, we ordered a paper cup of coffee each from the airport's café. It wasn't cheap, but it kills some time and gives us new energy. Christer also bought a banana.

We look out over the sea that we will soon fly over.

Cornwall Airport Newquay.

The countryside outside the airport.

Banana with coffee while waiting for check-in.

At airports, the most common activity is waiting.

Time to get on board.

11.52 The usual routine of baggage drop and security checks went well at this small airport. Now we continue to wait a while longer.

13.16 The plane to Dublin was a little delayed so the wait was longer. At least now we are sitting in seats 5 D and I on Aer Lingus plane ATR72 from Newquay to Dublin.

14.20 Coffee, not Irish coffee, has been served on board. Now the approach to Dublin has begun. Through the window we have seen the coast of South West Wales.

IRELAND

15.15 We have landed at Dublin Airport and are now waiting at baggage belt 6. Boris Johnson is stepping down but remains at the helm until he is replaced. Here at the airport there is a lot of unclaimed luggage. It is both on band 6 but also in other parts of the arrivals hall. How did they get there without their owners?

15.51 Bags come and go. Our wait continues. Sometimes the luggage arrives immediately, sometimes it takes forever. Today is such a day. A guy who is going to fly to the US was not allowed to check in his luggage all the way at the check-in in Newquay and is nervously rushing around. We're not in the same rush, but it sure would be nice to get the bags soon.

15.58 Hooray, we have our luggage! Whoever waits for something good....gets his bag!

16.10 We left the airport and continued down to platform 21. There Christer bought two bus tickets with Dublin Bus and now we are on our way to Dublin. The last time we were in the city was just before New Year 2010. Then we came here on a flight from Oslo.

16.44 The bus stopped in central Dublin, specifically near O'Connell Street. The first thing we saw after disembarking was the River Liffey running through the city. Now we will reacquaint ourselves with Dublin and make our way to our home here. We would have liked to have at least a full day here but it was difficult to do without sacrificing some other unseen part of Ireland. We prioritize the places we have not been to before.

The calm waters of the Liffey.

Abbey Presbyterian Church, Dublin.

Peter rests in the room at KGT House.

The Custom House, Dublin.

Peter by the Liffey.

Ha´penny Bridge, pedestrian bridge from the 19th century.

16.56 We are far from alone here in Dublin. Irish people and tourists have filled the streets and pedestrian crossings so that it is almost difficult to get around. After passing O'Connell Bridge we saw the statue of O'Connell himself. Daniel O'Connell was Ireland's most prominent politician in the first half of the 19th century. He fought for the rights of Catholics and for the abolition of the union between Ireland and Great Britain. He is seen as the founder of a non-violent form of Irish nationalism.

17.24 We wandered along the main street, O'Connell Street, before turning onto our street, Upper Dorset Street. Now we stay in room 6 at KGT House Accomodation. The stairs up to the top floor were long and tough. It was worth all the steps because the room is amazing. Now we ourselves have a bedroom with a large bed each and the backpackers have another bedroom of their own.

18.25 After having some coffee in the room, we are now going out on a city walk. We'll see how much of Dublin we can see before it gets dark.

18.37 When we went out the door to KGT House, we met two girls of unclear origin. They were probably from Germany or the Netherlands. They wondered if there was staff on site and how we managed to book a room here. We could do nothing but refer to Booking.com. We have not seen any staff around. We received the door code and other facts via email in advance.

19.00 It is not going so well to complete our first mission. In fact, it is not at all possible to buy tomorrow's bus tickets from a machine at the Busáras bus station. We probably need to buy the tickets from the bus company's website. The bus also does not seem to leave from here the bus station which is mostly serviced by state-owned Bus Éireann. The private companies seem to stop here and there along the river.

19.13 We do not know how it works with pre-purchase. We'll have to look at that when we get back to the room. At least we know where the buses leave from. Now we are opposite The Custom House, on the River Liffey. Various authorities are found there.

19.31 Around us we now have the touristy Dublin. We are on the street and block of Temple Bar. Here, everything is adapted to foreigners and their expectations of what Ireland should be like. You won't find any charming little Irish pubs here. There are beautiful facades and a wonderful folk life, but we will probably have to look elsewhere for the most genuine places.

19.46 Now we are at an old acquaintance. However, she has moved on since the last time we were here 12 years ago. It is the Molly Malone who they sing about in a famous song. She is here with her carriage.

The Auld Dubliner, popular pub in the Temple Bar area.

Plenty of flags at the restaurant Oliver St.John Gogarty's.

Teac na Céibé, a bar with Irish music.

The Temple Bar, Dublin.

Bronze statue of Molly Malone. The song about her has become the unofficial song of Dublin,

Phil Lynott can be seen on Harry Street in Dublin.

19.54 We have seen more from the world of music. I have once again seen the statue of the rock musician Phil Lynott, main character of the group Thin Lizzy. He stands on Harry Street.

20.10 It's nice to have an Irish bench break. Benches to sit on are scarce in central Dublin, but here in the beautiful Saint Stephen's Green park we finally found one after a while. The evening sun is low and it is becoming difficult to take good photos. Soon we will have dinner before we walk home again. Dublin is the capital here in Éire, the Irish Republic. It is one of Europe's fastest growing capitals. There are 1,450,701 inhabitants here in the metropolitan area.

20.33 Even in this country and this city we have to eat food known as dinner. It will be a simple meal tonight. We prioritize seeing the city and the food must come as second priority. We are at D'Grill (https://www.dgrill.ie) on Aungier Street. Here they have, among other things, Arabic and Afghan food.

21.01 The portions were small but good. Now we are once again walking with the destination home.

21.58 The Spar supermarket on Dorset Street had an incredibly limited selection and was soon closing but sold us our small breakfast. It will probably be one of the worst of the trip.

22.20 It feels in the body after walking several kilometers in Dublin for a few hours. The final effort was to walk all the steps to our room on the top floor. Now all that remains is rest, an evening drink and searching for information about the bus tickets for tomorrow.

22.58 We keep up to date on Roberth's whereabouts. So far he has good speed on the bike. Today he has made it to Falkenberg. We were there on July 22, 2020, but we used a car to get there.

Saint Stephen's Green, Dublin.

Christer is having dinner at D'Grill.

The Spire on O'Connell Street, 120 meters high.

Parnell Monument pays tribute to Irish nationalist Charles Stewart Parnell.


Friday 8th of July

08.38 Japan's former prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is seriously injured after being shot while giving a speech at the Yamato-Saidaiji railway station in Nara. We have had a much better time here at KGT House in Dublin. Now we will try to put together what will be this morning's breakfast.

09.33 How will the time until the next bus journey be spent? How will the trip itself be? Yes, one can wonder a lot. In time, we will get answers to our questions.

09.52 When we leave KGT House, it is with sadness that we leave a large, lovely room, but with joy we leave the long staircase that must be passed to and from our room on the top floor. Now we will walk towards the center with the bags on our backs.

10.15 Mountjoy Square Park is the location for our bench break. On another bench are some conversing gentlemen. On our way into the park, we saw some small dogs chatting heatedly. Around the square are handsome houses with colorful doors. The houses are said to be built in the Georgian style. We rest our backs for a while here before continuing towards the center and the bus stop.

11.21 The park break was interrupted after a while. Then we continued along Gardiner Street down towards Busáras bus station. Now we are back on the River Liffey and opposite The Customs House. We are on our way to the bus stop.

11.32 We're out early and are now taking a bench rest by the Liffey. Soon we will walk the last stretch.

11.56 Burgh Quay is the name of the stop from which our bus will shortly depart. The bus company is called Dublin Coach and our particular bus line is line 600 with Big Green Bus. You can pre-purchase the tickets as we did or pay directly when you get on as some others do.

Mountjoy Square Park, Dublin.

The sculpture Universal Links on Human Rights in Dublin.

We are on board the Big Green Bus.

We are testing Insomnia Coffee Company, a new coffee chain for us.

Kilkenny Tourist Hostel.

Peter steps out of the room.

13.12 "What is love?" is asked in a song here inside the bus. Outside the bus, the scenery is green as it should be on the green island, Ireland. In Japan, Shinzo Abe has unfortunately died from the injuries he received in the attack on him.

13.46 When the bus passed into Kilkenny, we immediately saw that this is a town worth visiting. It's cozy streets and beautiful by the river. There is also a castle here.

13.57 The luggage with us as its bearers left the bus at Ormonde Road in Kilkenny. Now we go towards some place that offers food and drink here in town. The small breakfast has made us much hungrier than we usually are at lunchtime. Kilkenny is the capital of County Kilkenny in the province of Leinster. For those not well versed in the geography of Ireland, Kilkenny may be better known as a type of beer. The brewery is St. Francis Abbey Brewery and owned by Guinness. It was active here in town until 2013. The brewery's original beer is called Smithwicks. Then the beer Kilkenny was created for the export market to Europe because Smithwicks is difficult to pronounce for non-English speakers. There are 22,179 residents living here in Kilkenny.

14.18 Further along the pavement on the High Street there is beautiful music from drums and accordion, but we want more than that. Hunger rips big wounds in our stomachs.

14.37 In the Market Cross Shopping Center mall we found a café in the Insomnia Coffee Company chain (https://www.insomnia.ie). It's always fun with a new chain, even if the difference is marginal compared to Costa Coffee or the Swedish coffee chain Espresso House. This particular chain is Irish and was founded in 1997. Here we have bought a baguette and coffee each. It will be nice to sit down for a while.

15.41 We have made it to yet another temporary home. Room 5 at Kilkenny Tourist Hostel (https://www.kilkennyhostel.ie) offers an open window, two single beds and a bunk bed. The guy in the reception was very helpful but didn't think he needed to tell everything again as the American ahead of us in check in got a long lecture about all Kilkenny has to offer. Here we also have the feeling that one night is too short a time to stay here. Ireland is really worth much more time than the week we will be here now.

Christer eats an ice cream at St Canice's Place.

Cathedral Church of St Canice, Kilkenny.

Walk along the River Nore.

Ireland was involved in one world war, the first.

Lady Desart Footbridge with the castle in the background.

Beer signs at Matt The Millers Bar & Restaurant.

16.32 Now we need to leave the room to get out and see the town and maybe fill up with a little more energy.

16.57 We stopped in a small shop and made some purchases. We have since eaten ice-cold ice creams. Cainneach it says under a large head in the small square where we are sitting right now. Cainneach is the Irish name of the saint who gave his name to the cathedral, Saint Canice. Also called Kenny or Kenneth, he was an abbot and missionary who lived in the 6th century. Now we also know why Kilkenny is called Kilkenny. We have this saint to thank for that.

17.13 We have just seen St Canice's cathedral, one of the country's largest. It wasn't actually that big. Now we move on. Oops, a dog just jumped into the River Nore.

17.20 We have walked along the Nore and have arrived at yet another memorial from the First World War. There is a whole wall of names connected to people from the town. Unlike England, however, there are no monuments to the Second World War here. Ireland managed to stay out of that tragedy but helped the Allies in various ways despite its neutrality.

17.35 We have arrived at St John's Bridge, which is the bridge over the River Nore where most cars and people pass. Below us, some happy guys are swimming in the river. A little further ahead, the magnificent castle is visible, which we hope to see more of later.

17.38 Here at Canal Square there is a monument called Kilkenny Hurlers, a café called Blaa Blaa Blaa Café and Kitty's Candy which, among other things, sells humbugs, a hard-boiled British sweet. Kilkenny have the most prominent team in the Irish sport of hurling. The team have won the All-Ireland Championship 36 times and the provincial Leinster Championship on 73 occasions.

17.59 Greenery, birdsong and rippling water surround us on our walk east along the Nore. We walk on the Canal Walk and are between the river and the castle. In the Wimbledon tennis final on Sunday, Australian Nick Kyrgios and reigning champion Novak Djokovic from Serbia will meet.

Hurling shop in Kilkenny.

John Street, Kilkenny.

A symbol of the hurling team Kilkenny GAA (The Cats) stands on the roof.

River Nore and Kilkenny Castle.

The Kilkenny Hurlers Monument in Canal Square.

A walk in greenery along the Canal Walk.

18.20 It was a really nice walk in beautiful nature along the Canal Walk. When we had passed the entire castle area, we turned back towards the town centre.

18.38 On the other side of the street The Parade a woman walked with two balloons and a styrofoam box. We mostly sit down at the moment. Now a happy child passed by.

19.00 Now we are in the Kilkenny Castle Rose Garden in front of the castle. A carillon is heard and a fountain ripples. Kilkenny Castle dates back to the 12th century and looks more like a toy castle, not unlike the gray castle you could build with Lego pieces in the 1980s.

19.55 At first we had trouble finding an open supermarket at all. Then we found one on Google Maps, Super Valu, but once we got to Market Cross Shopping Center we didn't see an entrance from inside the mall. Once we found the entrance, it was not so easy to put together our breakfasts. Now that it's done, we're home for a while.

20.48 At the Shimla Kilkenny restaurant (https://shimlakilkenny.ie) there will be Indian food for dinner. I continue with my lamb dishes. Christer continues with his favorite dish biryani.

22.32 Indian food was, as so often, good and of reliable quality. There is no major fault with the Indian food here in the British Isles, but the Indian restaurants we ate at during the two summers in Sweden probably had better food after all. Now back at the Kilkenny Tourist Hostel, we'll sort out the matter of buying tickets for tomorrow. There will be both train and bus during tomorrow's journey.

23.31 The tickets have been fixed and Roberth's current daily video has been seen. Today he has taken his bicycle to Halmstad and suggests that he has a new plan for how to get back home. It will be exciting to see where he goes next. Soon the day here in Kilkenny will end for the two of us.

Kilkenny Castle Rose Garden.

Peter sits in front of Kilkenny Castle.

This site housed the brewery in Kilkenny until 2013.

Indian dinner at Shimla restaurant.


Saturday 9th of July

08.58 Good morning Kilkenny! It's weekend again and outside our room here at Kilkenny Tourist Hostel a pigeon is cooing at full blast. Our friend and cycling enthusiast Roberth has revealed his plan to get back home. He is on his way to Denmark by ferry. From Halmstad he continues to Grenå. Then he will cycle a bit in Denmark and then try to get to Oslo in Norway.

10.37 Now we're getting ready to leave. We have probably seen most of the most important things here in Kilkenny, but the town is nice and we would have liked to stay another day if we had the time.

11.04 We have checked out again and have walked down to the river Nore. We take a break here before walking on to the railway station. Here comes a lady in sunglasses and walks by. She is followed by a woman greeting good morning. There are nice people in this small town. It is the kind of place where the pace is calm and people have time to see each other.

11.48 Why were we so slow to get away from the bench where we were sitting? Now there was unnecessary stress and sweat. First, it was a bit further to the railway station than we had thought, and then there was a queue for the ticket machine and little track information. At least now we're on board our first ever Irish train, unless we count the local train we took from Dublin to Howth the last time we were in the country in 2010.

12.12 In the same carriage as us, some young women are sitting and talking non-stop. Also in the group is an older lady, probably the mother of the younger ones. She just got off at Thomastown. One of the young ladies keeps talking about her boyfriend, or if it's her fiance or husband. The poor man is analyzed completely. Lucky that he is not there and doesn't have to hear everything that is said.

12.30 The train stopped at Plunkett Station in Waterford and we kindly got off. Now we are ready for a new city. We have a few hours here before we have to get on a bus for further travel. First we will cross the River Suir as most of Waterford is on that side.

12.57 We and many other passengers from the train walked over the Edmund Rice Bridge and further into the city centre. At the address where we thought we would find a branch of Insomnia Coffee Company, we instead found Costa Coffee. Well, as long as it's coffee, we're happy. Has Costa possibly taken over the premises from its competitor? We sit close to John Roberts Square in Waterford city centre.

Saturday morning in our room at Kilkenny Tourist Hostel.

We are leaving Kilkenny by train.

At Plunkett Station in Waterford.

Barronstrand Street, Waterford.

John Roberts Square, Waterford.

Christer takes a break at Costa Coffee.

13.28 We couldn't sit for any length of time at Costa Coffee. We have a bus to catch and also want to see more of Waterford before we leave. Waterford got its modern name from the Old Norse name Veðrafjorðr which means windy fjord. The city was founded by Vikings in 914 and today has 49,213 inhabitants.

13.42 Liar's Corner, Seat of wisdom, Happy to chat bench, it says on the bench I just sat on. A short distance away is an old stone tower, Reginald's Tower. It is the oldest non-ecclesiastical building in an urban setting here in Ireland. Next to the tower there is a replica of a Viking ship. Adjacent to us is also a memorial to the S/S Coningbeg and S/S Formby, two ships sunk by torpedoes during the First World War.

14.20 It was a long walk along the quay here in Waterford before we arrived where we were going. Now we are standing at a bus stop at Merchants Quay waiting for our green bus to take us to Cork. We will once again go with the Big Green Bus, which is run by the company Dublin Coach (https://www.dublincoach.ie).

14.40 The bus was delayed but finally arrived. I loaded my backpack into the trunk and enthusiastically boarded. Nothing strange in itself, but it would have been better if I stood in line and that Christer got to show the tickets first. We actually have the same driver who drove us from Dublin to Kilkenny the other day.

15.37 Our bus has temporarily visited the small coastal town of Dungarvan, a beautiful town, a real gem. It feels sad that we couldn't stay there and see more of it.

15.48 Now I've tried to sleep, visit the bus toilet and take a picture of nature. The first two were somewhat more successful than the third.

16.13 In the women's Wimbledon final, Jelena Rybakina from Kazakhstan won against Ons Jabeur from Tunisia 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. Fun with new tennis countries. I think it's Kazakhstan's first victory in a Grand Slam final.

Waterford was founded by Vikings in the 9th century.

A model of a Viking ship outside Reginald's Tower.

Peter on a social bench in Waterford.

Nationalist and rebel leader Thomas Francis Meagher on The Mall.

Reginald's Tower, Waterford.

We have arrived in Cork, Ireland's second largest city.

16.32 We have arrived in Cork, Ireland's second largest city. Before check-in, we must buy something to eat. At the Spar store on MacCurtain Street, Christer is in and buys something good to drink and maybe eat on arrival. When this is done, we go towards the accommodation.

17.26 There is laughter outside room 211 at Sheila's Hostel (https://sheilashostel.ie) in Cork. We have checked in and again got a bunk bed in a small room. This hostel offers a continental breakfast for 4 euros. Maybe we accept it or even have breakfast outside in a café. The room does not feel designed to eat a self-purchased breakfast. It was steep hills to say the least to get up here where we are staying.

18.25 We have been driven almost mad by listening to some loud guests talking on the patio just outside our room. It's someone, probably a guy, who in an incredibly annoying voice is constantly trying to use as many profanities as possible in every sentence. Is he trying to sound cool or does he have some compulsive behaviour? It doesn't make matters any better that his laugh is even harder to listen to than what he says.

18.50 We have escaped from the cramped room and troublesome guests. We are instead at the bus station to check what the ticket machine wants for the bus journey tomorrow.

19.18 It was a hassle to buy the tickets online. However, it was the same price there as in the machine. Therefore the tickets (expensive) were bought there. Another thing that bothers and takes time on the green island is getting green light at pedestrian crossings. This also applied in Dublin and Kilkenny. You can't be in a hurry here.

19.40 In a small park, Bishop Lucey Park, we have found a good bench to rest for a while. It's time to find a place to eat today's dinner. It's a lovely summer evening here in Cork and lots of people on the move. Cork is located in the province of Munster and has one of the world's largest natural harbours. Cork has a population of 179,890.

19.53 We have left the park and set our sights on a well-visited street through the center. Along Oliver Plunkett Street there are plenty of people and troubadours also play here.

Sheila's Hostel, Cork.

Outside Cork City Bus Station on Parnell Place.

Colours are reflected in the water.

Christer by the River Lee.

Nano Nagle Bridge over the River Lee.

Grand Parade, Cork.

20.11 There was no shortage of restaurants along Oliver Plunkett Street. Unfortunately, those were quite expensive and packed with guests. We are looking for something cheaper and we want our food relatively quickly. Hunger has made itself known. We believe we have found a possible alternative and are on our way there.

20.17 No, that plan didn't work. The restaurant we had found on Google Maps has ceased to exist or is alternatively inside a closed shopping mall.

20.31 After more searching for food and a choice between different options we ran into Hillbilly's Family Restaurant (https://www.hillbillys.ie). That will do for us. We had intended to eat hamburgers at Son of a Bun, but it was packed. Now it will be hamburgers here instead.

21.18 We are back in the room again. It hasn't gotten any quieter out there. It's loud outside. How much does it sound out there when so much is heard in here? The guy with the voice is in top form and is heard louder than ever. At least I have first washed clothes here in Ireland.

22.22 The Swedish women's soccer team has played their first match in the European championships and drew 1-1 against the women from the Netherlands. There is positive news in this room. The loud guests have moved from the patio and now seem to be half-screaming in their own room in another part of the building. Maybe there will be sleep tonight anyway?

23.22 We are frighteningly rigid in our bodies. How did it happen? We, who are so young and vital. Good night. Tomorrow it will be more experiences in Ireland.

National Monument in Cork.

Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork.

The evening sun blinds us on MacCurtain Street, Cork.


VIDEOS


You can see 55 photos from July 6 in this photoalbum.
You can see 61 photos from July 7 in this photoalbum.
You can see 65 photos from July 8 in this photoalbum.
You can see 53 photos from July 9 in this photoalbum.


CONTINUE


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