Saturday, July 30, 2005

Corfe Castle

Or a BBQ in the rain...

Well it looked as if the sun was going to stay out for most of the day today (which is something special given the past week), so Jules, Peter and I decided to head out to Corfe Castle. The first stop was, naturally, a pub for some lunch. Jules was not feeling too well due to her big night last night, so she was more then happy for the break and the food!

We then headed out to the castle. It is situated on the edge of a village (funnily enough called Corfe) and today there was a village fair in the castle grounds. There were three legged races, egg and spoon races, shots at goals and cheap crap for sale. It was pretty cool to see! The castle itself is basically a ruin, so there were no over decorated rooms to visit, but it was still very impressive.

We then headed over to Kingston Lacy, a big fancy house built by the same family that built Corfe Castle. It was starting to rain when we arrived and for some reason the house closed early, so there was not much to see. We consoled ourselves with a cup of tea in the shop before heading into Bournemouth.

A friend of Jules', Donna, was having a BBQ at her house in Bournemouth. There was supposed to be Croquet and sitting out in the sun, but the weather put the end to that. We had to spend the night inside, but we still got a BBQ which was good!



Corfe Castle



and again....



Me!



More castle...



Corfe Village



and again....



Kingston Lacy

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Dublin, Day Two

Or the tomb builders....

Well I guess I did drink a bit too much last night, cause I woke up with a bit of a headache. Tamsin and I went into the city centre to grab some breakfast which helped a lot! We then decided to head about an hour north of the city to a place called Newgrange where there were these funky tombs around 5000 years old.

The drive out was nice, although there was a major match on that day between Dublin and someone else, so it was busy. But we eventually made it. We decided to get tickets to look at Knowth and Newgrange, two of the tombs available to view.

So we jumped on a bus bound for Knowth. When we arrived it really did look like just a big hill. It was pretty cool. The mound was absolutely huge, about 1.5 acres in size, and had been home to various groups of people, such as the original builders (of which little is known), Celts, early Christians and Normans. It was pretty impressive. Basically there were two entrances, one on the east side and one on the west. Both these entrances led to tombs in the centre of the mound and they think there was some form of solar alignment as well. So that at certain times of day, month or year when the sun is in a particular position it will illuminate the corridors and tombs! Pretty spectacular. Unfortunately the corridors were too damaged for us to go inside, but it was impressive walking around it and seeing the megalithic art left by the builders.

We then got on the bus to head back to the visitors centre before boarding another bus bound for Newgrange. This tomb was smaller, but more impressive. When the tombs were rediscovered in the sixties, there was a heap of quartz found around both tombs. One professor thought this was used to create a courtyard, so that is how it was restored at Knowth. Another professor thought it actually formed part of the outer wall of the tomb and restored it like that at Newgrange. This made Newgrange look a lot grander and impressive.

Also, at Newgrange you could actually enter the one corridor and walk down to the tomb. Also the entrance, corridor and tombs aligns with the winter (summer in Oz) solstice so that for approximately five days each year around December 21st for fifteen minutes around 9am the tomb is illuminated by the sun! Something that would be impressive to see.

After the tour we jumped back in the car and headed back towards Dublin. My flight was due to leave around 9pm, so we decided to grab some dinner at Howth before heading out to the airport. Unfortunately the traffic was so bad we had to give it a miss and head straight to the airport and eat there. Nonetheless it was a fantastic weekend. Dublin is a great place that I am going to have to head back to.




St. Patricks Cathedral.



Temple Bar Pub in Temple Bar.



Main Tomb and Knowth.



One of the mini Knowth Tombs.



Time for a break....



Some of the Megalithic Art.



A river somewhere....



Megalithic art at Newgrange.



More art.



The impressive Newgrange entrance.



Me!

Saturday, July 16, 2005

Dublin, Day One

Or Guinness is better (read drinkable) here...

After a mad dash to Southampton Airport last night for a flight to Dublin, today was my first full day in the city. We started with Tamsin making a lovely bacon and roast tomato sandwich before jumping on a bus and heading into the centre of the city.

First stop was O'Connell Street which is where the post office is, the central site of the 1916 Easter Uprising. It is still a functioning post office, but you can see bullet holes in the wall from the conflict! Just outside is the Millennium Spire, also know as the Stiletto in the Ghetto, a bloody huge needle built for the millennium. Tamsin and I then walked up to the famine memorial, commemorating the great potato famines in the mid 1800's. We walked back towards the city and up to St Stephens Green via the Molly Malone statue. The green was a lovely place in the centre of the city and was full of people (most likely tourists) enjoying the sun.

Tamsin then tried to take me on a tour of Georgian Dublin and the state buildings. But she got a little lost. We did eventually see everything she wanted to show me, but it was a roundabout way! Now it was time for lunch and a freshly made burger at Eddie Rockets.

Following this we did a mad dash through temple bar and jumped on a bus to head to Kilmainham Gaol. The Gaol was operational for most of the time the British ran the show and was where most of the Irish revolutionaries were imprisoned (and most likely executed). It was an eerie place, needless to say being in Gaol in the 19th century would not have been much fun!

We then walked back to Tamsin's place through Phoenix Park. A huge park just outside the central city. This is where the American Embassy and the President's House is, but it also has heaps of sports ovals and deer running around.

After a quick change we headed back into the city to catch up with someone I used to work with in Wollongong. Kirsteen had been working in Ireland for the last six months, and it was good to see her. We hit a couple of the pubs in the city and had a nice dinner at a Japanese noodle house. We then headed back out to Tamsin's where we were going to go to the pub across the road from her house to watch (and most likely participate in our current state) in some di-di-di-do-ing. But the pub was closed so it was a no go!



The Liffey



The Liffey and Guinness



The Famine Memorial



Customs House



Lending a helping hand....



Molly Malone (who has the treasure chest of Ireland apparently)



Georgian Doors.



Georgian Houses



More Houses



Inside the old part of the Gaol.



The exercising yards.



The Victorian part of the prison.

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Exploring the Area

Or finally, a decent place for breakfast!

Just down the road near where Warnie lives, a new bar has just opened up. It is called Pitcher and Piano and it looks pretty cool. So we decided to go there for breakfast this morning and it was pretty nice (although they were a little slow). So finally, a decent breakfast place close by.

After that we decided to head over to Salisbury (see previous post) to look around one of the EH properties there, Old Sarum. It is basically a ruin of a Norman Castle and it was quite interesting.

Then we decided to head over to Old Wardour (another ruin), but along the way we passed Wilton House, the home of the Earl of Pembroke. It was open to the public so we headed on in for a look around. The house, like most of these places, was impressive but gaudy, but the yards were very nice.

After that we headed out to Old Wardour, a ruined house from the English Civil war. Now this was very impressive. A lot of the walls were still there and you could take an audio tour around it. It was quite impressive.

On the way home we stopped in a little town called Rockbourne to grab some dinner. The pub was fantastic. It was lovely sitting outside next to a thatched building. The food, service and ambience were all great! A good finish to the weekend.



Old Sarum



And Again....



Where the Cathedral use to be



The Walls



A posh bridge at Wilton House



Wilton House



The river in the gardens



Jules and I



Old Wardour (yes there is a New Wardour as well)



The surrounds



Stairs to nowhere....



More Old Wardour



And again...