Sintra and the Quinta da Regaleira are worth a visit if you are in Lisbon for a few days and fancy a trip outside the city.
2 Likes
Being full of South Africans is surely a big negative overall.
Anyone ever been to Buenos Aries or Montevideo?
Would like to see a few of the South American capitals (obviously not the rough parts where I’d wake missing a kidney)
2 Likes
Athens is on my bucket list. It looks pretty spectacular setting wise. Probably not quite at Dublin’s level on that score, but shure where is.
Istanbul looks enticing too, particularly on June 10th next year, though I would have political qualms about visiting it which would probably put me off.
Saw a few vids recently of Montevideo, would love to visit there and Argentina.
1 Like
BA is great. Very like Paris in parts. Loads to see and do in it. Rio is worth a visit too.
3 Likes
You should take a weekend break in Manorhamilton. There’s an assortment of castles (Parkes and Manor) Glencar waterfall, the Arigna mining experience, Eagle’s Rock, the North Leitrim Glens and hapes of other highlights.
You can thank me later👍
3 Likes
Been to both, yes.
This is the panorama that greets you as you come into Dublin by sea. Mountains, beaches and nature reserves.
4 Likes
It’s far from Paris I was raised.
1 Like
Second cities that are better than first cities would be a grand list. Off the places I’ve been to:
Bergen > Oslo
Wellington > Auckland
Cork > Dublin
Edinburgh > Glasgow
Valparaiso > Santiago
2 Likes
Is it true that on a fine day you can see the Mourne Mountains from the Hill of Howth?
Yes it is. I’ve seen them from Howth with my own eyes.
1 Like
My trips out of Ireland as a child were always by boat and train and they would always feature London as the centrepiece. We used to get the night boat back from Holyhead to Dunleary after the train up from Euston. The boat would leave at around 2:30 or 3 am. The floors and big stairwells on those old Sealink boats were always filled with people sprawled out trying to get some kip. You’d go up on deck and see the coast of Dublin and surrounds in the distance as the dawn was breaking. It was an awesome sight, even if it signalled a return to a depressing reality in an Ireland that a late 1980s child considered drab, dreary and inferior, especially compared to the wonderland that was London. As the years passed that view came to symbolise in my mind an island and especially a city that was first as good as and then increasingly superior to its neighbour.
3 Likes
Wales is the more elusive view.
2 Likes
The route down the east coast of Ireland to Cherbourg is spectacular.
1 Like
The Poolbeg Towers are Ireland.
Under what metrics would you rank cork greater than Dublin?
Are they not costing a fortune to maintain?
Wellington as the capital is the first city no?