Cardiff-Waterford

The second day of our Trafalgar Tour started much the same as the first...

• 7am: bags outside our rooms
• breakfast at the hotel (these were always free, included in our package)
• 7:45 am: be on the coach to leave by 8am for the "Optional" activity

This was one of the rare hotels that let Darren post our daily itinerary:

Optional activities are ones that are built into the timetable of the trip, but are not included in the base price. To participate in them, we had to let Darren know (usually the day before) if we were interested. He kept track and we paid him a big lump sum at the end of the trip to cover all our optional activity fees. Booking through AAA got us a $40 credit per person towards these, and S - as a minor - got a 25% discount which was a bit of help.  Still, there was no advance notice of what these adventures cost from Trafalgar, and they ranged from about $20 to $90 per person. It was impossible to budget for this which frustrated me.

Speaking of fees I couldn't budget for, another thing our AAA travel agent didn't tell us about in advance was tips for the Trafalgar Tour Director, bus driver, and Local Guides. We found out about this 2 days before we left from our friends who also booked through Trafalgar and were offered the option to pre-pay their tips. I contacted our TA and managed to squeeze that in before we left, but it was just another expense we didn't anticipate. 

Given that one of our main reasons for taking this trip was to see castles, you can bet your patootie that we opted for the optional Cardiff Castle tour. I am so glad we did. We were given a private tour before the site opened to the public for the day, and then were allowed to explore the castle and the town for a while on our own. I think we got about 10 minutes "in the town" because we were so enthralled with exploring the castle!  

What I remember most is that at some point in history, the owner of the castle gave it to the residents of Cardiff (basically to avoid paying taxes). So, if you ever want to own a really gorgeous castle, move to Cardiff, and it's (partially) yours! 😅

There were many fascinating stories we learned about this building, which I may come back and write more about later, but I still have so much more to write about other things...so I'll leave you with a few highlight pictures, and another link to the album with the rest: https://link.shutterfly.com/KCLhQ1xuFrb

S and I bought a mug with the Welsh dragon on it, to share, because - dragons. Duh.

Leaving Wales

The next destination was the town of Pembroke, where we were given time to stretch our legs, grab a snack, do a bit of shopping, and explore for about an hour while we waited for the ferry. We count this one as our fourth castle of the trip (Windsor, Tower of London, and Cardiff being the other three) but the first one that we only got to see from the outside. 

Ferry to Ireland

The ferry ride(s) had to be all of our least favorite parts of the entire vacation. There was nothing to see, nothing to do, and N and I both felt a little green around the gills. This trip was about 4.5 hours long. We had some food, and then just napped and played on our phones and checked online with the ship's crappy wifi. 

Our transport

Leaving port

Goodbye, land!

The Third New Country - Ireland! 

Shortly after getting back on the coach and driving off the ferry, it was easy to see why Ireland is nicknamed "The Emerald Isle". I can't explain how the green is so different, but it just *is*. 

We arrived at our hotel in Waterford in the evening, and learned we were staying at the Marina Hotel whose address was "Canada Square"! 

We had dinner at the hotel (included in the package) and went to bed almost immediately afterward. We were already feeling the exhaustion of early-mornings and busy-days, and we were just getting started!

I actually slept in one of the single beds, because the mattress was nicer! LOL

Some Lessons Learned so far:

• Trafalgar, and likely other tour companies, will expect gratuities for their staff
• Extra activities will cost extra, but you likely won't find out how much until "day of"
• Food will cost more than you think, but alcoholic drinks are sometimes included in the "included" meals
• N and I are going to need some more "sea-sickness" fighting ideas when we go on our cruise later this year