1. Sailing. If you don’t know someone you can pay to sail, or do what we did and introduce yourself at any of the local yacht clubs. If you have skills they will put you to work! See our posts on how Darren got to sail in the biggest race of the year on the biggest boat in the race, 160′ Eleanora. Cowes and Yarmouth are the top 2 towns on the island for sailing and world renowned.
2. Thatched roof cottages everywhere. Straight out of Hansel and Grettle they are everywhere and gorgeous. so many I couldn’t pick a favorite!
3. Every town is so different and has a totally different vibe/feel. Checking them all out and seeing which one is your favorite. Yarmouth was my favorite and Cowes was Darren’s and Ventnor ran a close second for us both.
4. Needles battery. A natural rock formation off the South West Point. You can see it by land or by sea, by taking a boat ride out. Nice hiking, great views but Windy!
5. Car ferry ride to get to the island! If you’ve never loaded on to a giant freighter by driving you car into the bowels of the boat, its a fun experience. Many levels to choose from on where to sit and view the ocean and the shore as you head over to the island. While you are in Cowes, be sure to take the “chain ferry” to East Cowes. a Tiny version of the big ferry and it takes about 2 minutes. So funny and efficient. drive time is 20 minutes and you are there in 2 minutes!
6. (suppose to only be 5 but had to add another.) Enjoying sitting in the countryside of our backyard. Serenity and quiet of trees rustling and sheep baaaing, and even more, Darren outside baaaaing back at them!
1. Castles Castles Castles and more Castles. Wales has more castles than any other country I think! From fully refurbished and decorated to just the outline of what once was, they seem to be down every long road and well worth the hunt for them, we made it into a game to see how many signs we could find. Being there takes you so far back into time you can almost hear the trumpets and footfalls. The heraldry accompanied by the clang and click of metal everywhere. We were thankful that we could not smell what it was truly like but what a romantic place viewed from the future. Some of these castle under went huge battles and sieges. Pembroke Castle is a great example and well worth the visit!
2. Beaches and Gorgeous countrysides – Great beaches with the most incredible low tides ever. Miles of low tide make for great beach walking and countrysides with color that is hard to believe. The land is still mostly owned by Barons but many years ago an agreement was reached between the commoners and the lords that the lands would be open to passage and grazing so it tends to stay lovely and usable by all. Really cool idea. If it was in America it would have long since been subdivided and turned into suburbia and shopping malls!
3. St. David’s Cathedral, A beautiful drive out to the westward point in Wales but amazingly quaint town and then Holy Wow! They built this abbey down in a valley so the Vikings could not see it to plunder from the Sea, it’s that old!! Really incredible architecture and the ceilings and floors are still intact and it it still in service. Don’t forget to go to the artifact room where they have some of the original saxon staffs and a timeline that goes back to 500ad. That is only 150 or so years after the Bible was written!
4. Great old pubs with historical charm, grabbing a pint and getting to feel history. Wondering how many others have come thru the doors and sat at the same fireplace 100s of years before. History and Ale! Naught more need be said!
5. The Abbey in Wye Valley and Dylan Thomas Boathouse Regions. Both tranquil and beautiful. Really wonderful places to visit and walk.
The Glens: GlenArm, Glenariff, Carnlough, BallyGally (my favorite town name!) The Valley of the Antrim area and Glenariff Forest Park rolls down to the ocean to these cute cute harbor towns. GORGEOUS stunning hillsides dotted with sheep are exactly the ideas of Ireland you think you know and expect to see. The Cliffs of Maor are incredible and it becomes obvious why it was named the Emerald Isle! Super cute tiny towns, gorgeous water and the most stunning green hillsides. lots of cute B&Bs along the coast. Although we didn’t get to do the Park it sounded wonderful.
The Giant’s Causeway has so many myth’s attached to the area it is mind boggling, the Irish love to tell tall tales, ha ha. It is actual Basalt columns. Very cool to see.
2. Hamlets and Villages – Quaint and Lovely!
Kilkenny is a quintessential Irish Town, Very Cool
The Oldest Pub in Ireland!
Kinsale was lovely
Cong, Where the Duke of Hollywood filmed The Quiet Man with Maureen Ohara, really incredibly beautiful. Amazingly just a short walk from Ashford Castle!
3. Castles and Historic sites – Stunning, did we mention the Castles??
Its worth all the hype and would love to stay there even at $500 starting rate! stunning. you can hire a horse carriage to tour the grounds but walking is just fine and worth the entry fee. we were given free access as it had been raining all day and sun came out just as we arrived! Scored 🙂 MUST go across the bridge and see the town where Quiet Man was shot: Cong. tiny tiny and cute cute
5. Listening to Traditional music in Pubs When you can find it!
Doolin
Dublin
When we found it, it was great but Very hard to find and quite disappointing actually because they start so late. You have to be in a city after 9:30 at night if you want to catch it. No one seems to play during the day ever or even what we consider Happy Hour time frames, nothing before 8pm was the very earliest we found in one tiny town of Doolin. All major cities is never before 9:30. Many pubs play American or UK music which was quite disappointing. I love Rod Stewart of course, but in Ireland I want Irish ditties.
Beautiful as you can see, a definite Bucket List. The big cities we weren’t as happy with as we were the coast and small towns. 10 days, 6 hotels and lots of miles, we saw ALOT. Fun times had by all.
Wow, that was truly amazing! I hope to get lots of pix from the professional photographer they had on board as I was busy grinding out the tacks and helping to set and retrieve sails etc, big grin! Truly a once in a lifetime experience. I met some wonderful people including Pierre Marie, a frenchman living in San Diego and a very talented sailor, from whom I was delighted to take direction from. Also unexpectedly the owners of Stars and Stripes 11 based in San Diego Bea and Lynn Hanna were on board crewing as well. I felt right at home ha ha. Everyone was very supportive and knowledgeable. We blew out a spinnaker on the backside of the island and we all jumped too and handled it and sent another balloon aloft and hardly missed a beat. No panic at all when the sound of a sail exploding overhead went off.
This trip really renewed the peace I feel with the sea. The water really is a deep part of both Darla and I. Speaking of Darla did you see the cute outfit she met me with on the dock! Smokin’
We didn’t think we could, but all things are possible if you want it bad enough right?
Ireland was one of those things! As we leave our time on Isle of Wight, to drive to Scotland, we decided to figure out HOW to get from the southern most tip of England to Ireland and then up to Scotland.
With roads to navigate, ferries to be figured out and hotels for all in between, we are working on FINALLY getting to see Ireland and all its beauty. So excited, and so happy as Hopefully, July will be a perfect weather month and we will be on a fast one week road trip to catch as much as we can.
Stay tuned for great pics and LOVE input from everyone, where to go and what is a MUST see? Egan Family: we need your help on this one! Nigel too 🙂
C
