Honeymoon: Euro Trip - Day 14

When we got to the area to set up shop but there wasn't much left. There were other people with really early flights who had the same idea as we did. Ben and I put together a couple chairs and made a makeshift bed out of them. Nothing was open except a couple bathrooms and a stand serving coffee and alcohol, lol. Ben was on his phone while I wrote in my journal for a little bit. I got tired and fell asleep in the makeshift bed for a couple hours - it wasn't great sleep, but it was nice to shup my eyes for a bit.

Then what felt like a few moments later, Ben told me it was time to go check in and make our way through security and to our gate. First, he had to finish the tax paperwork and get that all squared away before leaving Ireland. Basically, whatever we spent in Ireland that was taxed we get the tax back upon filling out and submitting our form. This time checking in will be a challenge because Ben bought alcohol. 

We went to several counters to get checked in. We finally got to a counter that gave us a fragile tag and Ben had to check in his bag because alcohol can't be inside of a carryon. It cost us $35 to check a bag. Ben spent some time moving some of his belongings to the other bag and securing the bottle so it wouldn't break or leak. He had to take it out of the box and throw the box away. He was sad about that, but it was the only way it would fit inside the bag. We gave the clerk our checked bag and received our boarding passes.

We moved onto security and my carryon bag was checked further for some reason. We made it to the other side and headed to our gate, just to see where it was, and walked around for a few minutes. We chilled around the gate, used the restroom before it was time to board our flight. They actually had us leave the terminal and onto the tarmac to board our plane. It was cold waiting to board the plane. Once we got on, we got situated and waited to leave. We both were so tired we slept the entire two hours to Faro, Portugal. 

We descended into Faro and you could tell it was going to be a warm day. The sun was out and I was excited to get off the plane to enjoy our day. Ben and I were running on fumes, but we were on vacation in Europe! No time for sleep! We let Brenda and Ray know we arrived and that we had to go grab our checked bag from the carousel. For some reason it took forever but we grabbed it and went outside to meet up with them. 

We put our bags in the trunk and off we went. Ray said that we were going to go to Loulé to go see the castle there. It was a short drive from the airport. We got into town and Ray told us that they were getting ready for carnival, one of Portugal's oldest and most vibrant celebrations, featuring colorful parades, political satire and a festive atmosphere. Its origins date back to 1906, and the event typically takes place over three days leading up to Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras). The festivities transform the main street into a spirited area filled with parades, music, dance and food. Ray said it was too bad we weren't going to be around for carnival.

We found a place to park, and we went to the entrance to the castle. Castle of Loulé is in the municipality of Loulé. It is classified as a national monument since June 20, 1924. Three towers remain within the cordon of walls; the remnants of the town hall located within the structure. The Romans first occupied the site, then the remnants of a local castro around the 2nd century and transformed into a defensible military fortification and politico-administrative center. In 1969, it was damaged in an earthquake. It also has a museum inside that highlights the historical timeline and events throughout the centuries.

We paid our entrance fee and went inside. We looked at various artifacts, historical pictures and prominent people throughout the castle's history. So many of the things we saw were so old! We went up to the top of the castle to get the views of the surrounding area. We got down and left the castle to go across the street into the market. There were several townspeople selling their wares, art, clothing and food. It was fun to see the fresh produce and seafood. It would have been fun to purchase some of this fresh food and make it for dinner, but we didn't have the time for something like that. Maybe the next time we come visit.

We went back to the car and headed towards their house. We stopped by the grocery store along the way to pick up some more snacks, drinks and sandwich makings. We got back to their house and ate lunch. I was hungrier than I thought I was. The last time we ate anything was the night before at Five Guys in Dublin. I scarfed my sandwich. Ben and I changed our clothes and Ray and Brenda took us down to the beach in Lagoa. We did some sightseeing and geocaching that afternoon. 

They took us to the boardwalk to do an adventure lab, and a couple geocaches they've done within the last couple months, but there was one that eluded them. We grabbed +1 [salgada] v2 (GC88EV0), Duna Fóssil da Praia Grande (GCB1DJ5), Lagoa dos Salgados - Tsunami de 1755 (GCB1DJ8) and Lagoa dos Salgados [Pêra] V3 (GC9EN4M). We finished off the boardwalk at a virtual cache, Como um pássaro fora da gaiola (GCAJJZ9) where we had to act like a bird. We laughed a lot.

We walked back to the car, and they took us to another pottery store, Casa Grade-Arte to look at the pottery there and to get pictures with the giant Galo de Barcelos - Portugal's famous rooster. It represents faith, justice and good luck.  After the pottery store, we went to the Hiper Algarve - Brenda and Ray call it the China store. We went inside. It literally has anything and everything you could ever want except food; you go to a grocery store if you want food. We spent a while looking at what you could buy at the Hiper Algarve. 

We went back to their house and Brenda started making dinner. We had spaghetti, meatballs and salad. It was delicious. We drank Portuguese cider and beer with it while we visited about our side quest to Ireland and Scotland. 

Afterwards, we got cleaned up and started packing up our stuff for the long travel day ahead of us back towards home. At one point, we had their entire living room scattered with all of our stuff. We didn't get to bed until well after midnight. As soon as I laid down, I was out. I was exhausted.

 Next Adventure: Honeymoon: Euro Trip - Day 15

Honeymoon: Euro Trip - Day 13

The alarm went off around 7-7:30, got dressed and started packing up everything. I made Ben get up and start getting his things ready to go so we could go downstairs and eat breakfast. After a few minutes, we were on the elevator going down to the breakfast nook. It was your typical continental breakfast - eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, yogurt with granola, orange juice, coffee, and beans. I was not a fan of beans for breakfast. Ben and I weren't that excited about the sausage either.

After breakfast, we left the hotel and walked several blocks in the rain (yes, we did bring our rain jackets and umbrella) to downtown Glasgow. It rained the entire time. I wanted to get at least one cache in Glasgow. We found a virtual cache just a block from where we were called CONE-Y NO DAE THAT! (GC7B81F). It was a statue of the Duke of Wellington on horseback with a bright orange traffic cone placed neatly on his head. I thought it was hilarious and I am glad we chose this iconic statue for our first cache in Scotland. We answered the questions and got a couple photos.

Now that the shop Ben wanted to go into was open, we walked across the street into the shop. Ben was looking for a specific tartan for the Clan Crawford. That first shop didn't have any, but we did get a few postcards and a couple other little things to take home with us. We thanked the lady running the store and moved on to the other one a few doors down. Ben did find what he wanted and purchased a couple things for Clan Crawford. I also got a couple of things as well to bring home. We also thanked the lady running the shop and walked back to the hotel.

We went up the elevator and finished packing up our bags. We grabbed a cart, loaded it up, Ben went to go get the car and I waited in the lobby until he rolled up. It took him a little bit, but he arrived in front of the hotel. We loaded up our bags and checked out. We thanked the clerk. We put the address into the GPS for Crawford Castle and off we went. It was going to be a little less than an hour south of Glasgow. We listened to music and drove through the countryside along M74. It rained off and on as we drove south. We saw the sign for Crawford just before 11 a.m.

We veered off the highway into the small village of Crawford. We followed the instructions to the castle ruins near the River Clyde. We parked in a wide spot in the road and walked along the fence line. The castle ruins were fenced off to keep people from vandalizing it on private property. We admired it from afar. It is an ancient and historical monument of Scotland. We took many photos at a few different vantage points. Ben posed with his tartan scarf and pin. We had a fun visit to a place Ben wanted to go to if he ever found himself in Scotland.

We found the geocache, WCML 7 - End of the Line (GC4HJNR) before we left Crawford. It was an easy grab off of one of the road signs near the castle. We walked back to the car and drove through the town of Crawford just because we could. We also got pictures of the signs before merging back onto the highway. 

From there, we drove to the ferry because it was going to be about a two-hour drive back to Cairnryan. It rained off and on. We stopped in Creetown to use the restroom and stretch. We got back on the highway and had to follow a bunch of slow semitrucks because of construction. We did get to the ferry with about 45 minutes to spare. While waiting in the ferry line, Ben got an email from the rental car company stating that we weren't supposed to take the car out of Ireland. We were assessed a €300 fee. We got mixed information from Booking.com, the rental agency and the front desk clerk who took care of us at the airport. Ben spoke to the lady in charge and because we breached our contract, we were "fired" and now responsible for the car until it's in the airport parking garage in Dublin.

We got on the ferry, grabbed the things we would need and went up to the deck. We found a comfortable place to sit, and Ben went to go grab some food from the cafeteria. He brought back a chef's salad and some crisps. We ate and enjoyed the ride back to Belfast while we played rummy and hangman. I did write some notes down in my journal as well. 

We arrived in Belfast, went back down to the car and left when it was our turn to do so. Ben and I wanted to get a tattoo in Ireland, but we arrived so late and had to get the car back to the airport as soon as we could. We wanted to at least hit a few pubs in Dublin before going to the airport, so we put an address to a pub into the GPS. It took us to the Temple Bar, the most popular one in Dublin. Off we went, it took us about two hours to get there, avoiding tolls. 

When we got into downtown Dublin, we had a heck of a time trying to find a parking spot/parking structure. We got frustrated but eventually found one. The pub we wanted to go into was super busy. Ben and I didn't think downtown would be busy on a Wednesday night after 8 p.m., we found out we were wrong. Also, the drinking age is 18, so we saw a lot of young people wandering around, drinking or drunk. We did find a pub down the street that wasn't as busy. 

We found our seats, Ben ordered a beer and we were given menus as we listened to the live Irish music in the background. The waitress did warn us that the kitchen was closing soon...like, in five minutes. We decided we were not going to inconvenience them. We continued listening to the live Irish music, watched soccer on the TV and Ben drank his beer. We really needed to find some food that he could eat.

After he was done, we used the restroom and then wandered round Dublin trying to find a place that was still open for food. Both of us were shocked that a lot of the restaurants in Dublin closed at 9 p.m. We did find a Five Guys that was still open serving food. We got in line and ordered a burger and fries to share. Ben didn't eat his bun, but I finished it off. We threw away our trash, walked around Dublin a little bit longer and then walked back to the parking garage for the car. We both decided we should just go to the airport since we didn't have anywhere else to go. We didn't get a hotel for the night because we thought it wouldn't have been worth the money since we would have been there less than five hours.

We put the airport address into the GPS, and it took us to the backside of the airport. Why? Who knows? We corrected it and got to the appropriate side and then it took us to the wrong rental drop off. We had to ask some guys for help, and they were not super helpful. There was no signage and we basically had to figure it out on our own. Luckily, we were there when it was busy so we could make mistakes and turn around. We did find the right rental drop off.

Inside the parking garage, Ben decided we were going to organize our stuff right there. It was freezing cold. To avoid having our suitcase over 50 lbs., I decided to layer up on clothes to avoid the extra fees. We finished up, checked the car one more time and walked into the airport. We found the rental car section, turned in our keys and went upstairs. 

We found a place to set up shop for the next four hours.

Next Adventure: Honeymoon: Euro Trip - Day 14