Journeys and destinations

Today started early. We booked out of an amazing airbnb in Bansha, Tipperary. We loved the stunning views, countryside and homely feel of this place. There was a state forest nearby and we decided to go for a forest walk before starting a long day of travel. How awesome was that. Green damp, deep, dark forests so quiet and beautiful. We were instantly in our happy place. We would love to go back one day to the Tipperary area. It reminded me of the Knysna forest and George area in the Cape province South Africa

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Then on towards Portmagee stopping on the Ring of Kerry to see sights. I tried balancing these rocks and it worked- I saw a guy on facebook do it and are so pleased with my stack! Ryan also tried it and made a very pleasing tower. The beach had chocolate brown sand and loads of pink rocks. It was one of those rare sunny and hot days in Ireland.

Beautiful views!

We booked into another beautiful farmhouse in Portmagee with a little river running through it! Ernest deserved a Guinness again after some stressful driving on narrow roads. It is cold enough for a fire with peat turf.

We rented a car and left Dublin with its noise and dirtiness behind. We drove to Tipperary and slept on the most beautiful farm just outside of Tipperary. The cows and bunnies came to greet us. It is green everywhere with huge hedgerows, ferns and ivy-covered trees- tree tunnels, misty mountains..you get the idea. The type of place that makes you sigh and say you want to live here forever….

On our way there we stopped to stretch our legs at the Rock of Dunamase it is the ruins of the Dunamase castle from the late 12th century. I read about it from someone’s blog recommending it as a quick stop- we loved it, so glad we stopped. We took lots of photos and enjoyed the views.

The Big attraction for us in Tipperary was the Rock of Cashel- that was on Ryan’s list to visit. Just beautiful! “Reputedly the site of the conversion of Aenghus the King of Munster by St. Patrick in the 5th century AD. Long before the Norman invasion The Rock of Cashel was the seat of the High Kings of Munster, although there is little structural evidence of their time here. Most of the buildings on the current site date from the 12th and 13th centuries when the rock was gifted to the Church”

The next day we went to Limerick to visit Bunratty castle- a Medieval castle built in 1425, it was restored in 1954 and now contains mainly 15th and 16th century furnishings, tapestries and art. We loved it- one of those oh and ah moments. I had a few moments of vertigo as we went up the narrow staircases in the towers. Coming down was not as bad though.

At Bunratty castle they also have a village where people can see and experience the olden days, there is a cute fairy village between the trees. This is so inspiring! I love it.

After a 17h flight we arrived in Dublin exhausted. We are staying in an apartment in an area with dozens of colourful doors. They are found throughout the city.

I am very surprised at how dirty Dublin is! Not just rubbish but also the pavements are dirty, maybe it’s just all the tourists or we are staying on the wrong side of the river… The river Liffey divides dublin in a north and south of the river.

My first impression was however overridden by the wow factor of seeing some amazing things. The first attraction I wanted to see was the Book of Kells and the old Library. If you have known me for a while you will know that I love books and I could not get enough of this lovely old library!! It was a wow for me and I could have gone home. The book itself was not spectacular but very interesting information and pictures about it.

After a picnic in this beautiful park called St Stephens green we were ready to go the next place. It is the St. Patrick’s cathedral and it was beautiful.

We also loved the archeology museum and seeing firsthand some medieval and older artefacts.

So now our feet were killing us and we headed home to a nice cold Guinness for Ernest!

I love the green post boxes

Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to great places! You’re off and away. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And you are the guy who’ll decide where to go. -Dr Seuss

When we first started making this dream come true we talked of all the placed we’d like to see and things to do. I read many tour guides and blogs of what to see and do in different countries and cities. I started to make lists and more lists, later I had a paper per country for notes etc. then I started to put it into a calendar to see how it can work practically and where to go next. We bought our aeroplane tickets 8 months ago .We knew where we wanted to go and planned our route so we can incorporate Ryan’s birthday- he wanted to be in the Swiss alps for his birthday. After the aeroplane tickets we started booking Airbnb houses which we payed as we booked, so all accomodation are payed and leaves us with only food and sightseeing cost. We then started booking all the intercity and -country trains, and are so glad we did as all the cheap tickets fly of the shelves as soon as the bookings open 3 months in advance- The trains were surprisingly expensive! But MUCH cheaper doing it ourselves rather than getting a Eurail pass. Glad that’s done-now let’s not miss any of them!!

The Plan:

We will start in Dublin Ireland and do a road trip by rental car down south to Skellig Michael – this is on our bucket list as it was a filming site of Star wars. I also want to see the Puffins before they migrate. Then we will go to Wales by ferry and spend a few days there. Then off to Cologne Germany by plane. Making our way down to Stuttgart, the Black-forest and then into Switzerland and the Swiss alps for the birthday celebrations. After a few more days in Switzerland it’s on to Munich, Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber and then Prague. Only 1 day in Vienna, but then 3 in Venice Yeah! Florence and Rome next and flying then to Nice in the South of France. Renting a car to drive through Provence and hopefully see the lavender fields before harvesting. Next up is Carcassonne. Then into Spain- Barcelona, Madrid and Granada and hopefully Gibraltar before flying from Malaga to Paris. Yes 6 wonderful days in Paris. But I know it will not be enough. From there Belgium and the Netherlands. Leaving the continent behind we’ll take the Eurostar train to London and stay for 6 days. Then up to Scotland and ending in the Lakes district so we can relax after our hectic schedule! Last stop is Warwick castle before flying back from London.

This is it stay tuned for more photos coming up soon!

I have a sensitive skin and reacts easily to creams, lotions and shampoo’s etc. One culprit is coconut oil and the other sesame seed oil. These two are just about in all the healthy and sensitive skin products nowadays and greatly annoys me! So I have decided to take as much of my own products as I can fit into the little plastic bag that we are allowed to take on board. Don’t forget only use bottles of 100ml or less. I love the soft and roundedness of the travel bottles we bought at Anaconda.

We liked that these bags have a hook to hang, there is also a little detachable mesh bag that can hang in the shower. Lots of pockets! We got our wash bags at Anaconda in Perth.

A Plastic baggy with band aids, cotton tip ear cleaners, face wipes, and needle with thread in. Soap leaves and a hotel soap, shower cap

A plastic bag of 18x20cm(perimeter not to exceed 80cm) holding all liquids and gels, elastic clothes line(works brilliantly), floss, a foldable hairbrush and toothbrush.

First row: Roll on, special amazing hand cream from Neutrogena(Norwegian formula), Argan oil for hair, Chap stick for dry lips, Lipstick, roll on perfume- alas not the Repetto!

Second row: Face cream night and day (I’m using Nivea’s pure and natural range), Face wash (Sukin sensitive skin ), Alcohol spray in handbag, Small toothpaste.

Third row: Lotion, Arnica cream for sore muscles or bruises, Shampoo and conditioner, Aloe vera for bites, stings etc. I’m also taking a very small spray bottle with pure tea tree oil in for disinfecting anything.

My wash bag weighs 1 kg but is worth its weight in gold so to speak.

A while ago I felt I needed a new perfume. After about 10 years of using the same old one it was time to hit the shops and every available time I got to try new ones.(One fragrance on each wrist.) In the end, my short list was Miss Dior by Dior , Paris by Yves Saint Laurent, Bright Crystal by Versace. Then one day I walked past this lovely box with a ballerina on it. It is called Repetto and was on sale. I tried it and knew this was the one. Addictive! I could not stop smelling it and my wrist was by my nose all through the shop. It is a long lasting fragrance that draws you in, almost intoxicating but are fresh and light and sophisticated at the same time- an incredible find for me. I had the same reaction to it as another lady who wrote a fragrance review of it that I read afterwards to find out what the ingredients were- I couldn’t get enough of it. It is very different from my previous ones it has a sweeter smell. I always loved rose smells since teenage years up till now- so yea there is rose in it and cherry blossom. The main ingredients are: Top notes: Pear and Cherry blossom, Middle notes: Rose and orange blossom, Base notes: Amber wood, Vanilla pod and Pachouli.

Repetto is a ballet shop in Paris that specialises in ballet shoes and dance wear and who are also renowned for their beautiful window displays. I found them when I was looking for ballet shops in Paris for Amelia to go visit when we are there. I was surprised to find they had a perfume as well.- Got it at Meyer in Perth.

My experience finding a new fragrance reminded me of this verse in the bible: 2 Chor 2:15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. I love this line in the Dr. Seuss book “Oh the places you’ll go”

We have decided to create our own tour plan and do it as cheap as possible on our own. We will be touring through Western Europe and the United Kingdom for 3 months and we will be walking a lot!! So we will need really good walking shoes. We read on blogs and researched what brands are good for walking in Europe in different environments, like non slippery but also not too rugged so you can go into museums and churches. I then found a shoe shop in Perth Australia called Stride shoes. We went there and started fitting different brands of shoes. From the beginning I wanted to try the ECCO brand as that was one of the recommended ones. I was not disappointed and when I put the shoes, shown in the photo above, on it felt wonderful. I walked the next day up a mountain and did not feel any discomfort or the regular knee pain that I had with my sneakers. No wearing-in time just off you go! I am sold! # LOVE MY ECCOS.

Ernest wasn’t so happy with the Rockports we bought him, shown in the photo above. Although it was highly recommended his feet started to really hurt after wearing it for a while. A good thing we bought these shoes a year before on sale so we could get him others before the trip. He now has theses Sketchers and his second pair are Crocs sandals also in the photo below.

Amelia wanted a light boot and we found these ECCO brand online after she got an idea of size from the shoe shop. She is also super happy with her ECCOS. Yeah. Her second pair is also sketchers.

Ryan had to wait until a bit closer to the time as his feet are still growing, but he did start to fit and get a feel of different shoes. He needs toe protection and arch support so we got him a pair of KEEN’s from Anaconda for his daily wear and would have taken them if we didn’t discover the Merrel brand, which is just great. Here is a photo of them.

My second pair has to be a sandal and I think preferably plastic, so I can walk in the malls and on the beach or even shower in them- there are no place in the bag for flip flops too. I am truly just as happy with these Crocs; they are light, super comfy and will work for summer, malls, beach etc.

I love Merrel as much as ECCO and thanks to my dear friend Selma I am taking a third pair of super light and amazingly comfy walking shoes.

Anaconda stores has a lot of good shoes too. There is a Merrel and Sketcher shoe shop at the Watertown centre in Perth City. The best Crocs shoe shop we found was at Hillaries boat harbour and they also stock a few other good shoe brands.

Well I hope you enjoyed this walk-through of our footwear. We’ll let you know how they are keeping up with us as we go.

Count down now 18 days to go.