Days 29 and 30 – Trip home and tour summary

Spent most of Sunday in the air. 1st leg of about 7 hours to Dubai with a 3 hour lay-over. Then the long haul (13 hours+) to Brisbane. None of us slept much but we did see a lot of movies. So good to be back on home soil. Thanks to Emma and Karly and Archie for picking us up.

We had some time on our hands so we compiled a summary of the trip. We did this individually so the answers will be a surprise to each of us.

Best accommodation: W- Glasgow, M- Longueville, D-Lisbon (pillows and pastries), A – Killarney (bathroom and view)

Worst accommodation: all voted Galway (Donna added noisy)

Best meal: W- Guinness stew at Guinness factory in Dublin, M- paella at Burough Markets on our bike ride in London, D – Cascais lunch because we had gelato, A- Beef and Guinness pie in Belfast

Donna enjoying Cascais lunch (near Lisbon)

Worst meal: W- Arab Safari, M- Maccas at Mallow in Ireland, D- Codfish cake at Lisbon airport, A- first night in London when I didn’t get my meal (thanks for sharing your meal with me, Wayne)

Favourite city: W- Belfast, M- Lisbon, D- Lisbon, A- Lisbon

Favourite tour: W- Cork races, M- Drive through Glencoe in Scotland, D- Bike tour in London, A- Fly fishing at Longueville

Worst tour: All voted Viking tour with apologies to me from Donna as it was my idea – I seriously imagined that the ride was going to be on a Viking ship and there would be lots of Hagar the horrible (cartoon). Mark added Pena Palace (the palace we lined up for ages and didn’t get in because we had the wrong palace tickets).

Biggest regret: W – Not walking Glencoe in Scotland, M – Not fly fishing at Inverness (the host at Inverness said the boys could use his dam prior to the the booked session in Ireland), D – Not walking at Glencoe and not eating more Portuguese tarts, A- losing my favourite hat in Dublin

Best service provider: W- ‘gliding’ girl (waitress) in Dublin, M- NOT the ticket man at Lisbon station, waitress at Brazen Head Pub in Dublin, D- Raymond (owner of the apartments at Glasgow), A- Adrian, our fly fishing instructor

Favourite bar/pub: W- Brazen Head – oldest pub in Dublin, M- Graca restaurant in Lisbon, D- Brazen Head in Dublin, A- Bar/drawing room in Longueville

Favourite drink: W-chocolate milkshake at Kinross in Scotland, M- Gininya (cherry liqueur), D- strawberry daiquiri in Dublin, A- Guinness at the Guinness Factory – Donna has one too.

Worst drink: W- apple brandy at Longueville, M- apple brandy at Longueville, D- Pimms (with no Pimms in it – same place where I didn’t get my meal), A- Negroni in Edinburgh YUCK!

Favourite new friend: W- Dennis the cab driver from Cork races, M- Emmanuel the doorman at Dubai, D- the sexy Scotsman that called into visit us in Inverness, A- Adrian the fly fishing instructor

Most embarrassing incident: W- Grubby falling in the river during fly fishing, M- falling in the water, trying to unlock the wrong door in the apartments at Glasgow (it was the floor underneath ours and the owner did not look happy), D- Wayne’s purchase a Horley (what happens on tour, stays on tour), A- Grubby buying 80 Dirhams worth of dates in Dubai (he thought the guy said 18 Dirhams ). Unfortunately, no photographic evidence of any of these – you’ll have to take our word for it.

Biggest blunder of the tour: W- following Siri in the car, M- Getting tickets for another palace rather than Pena Palace & leading the team to the wrong train on the tube, D- Ok, me and the palace tickets, A – using the dryer as a washer

What we learnt about one another

About Wayne:

Mark learnt that Wayne has a hate for Siri.

Donna learnt that Wayne can become stressed and angry – particularly at Siri.

I learnt that Wayne has a huge reliance on a paper map – he can’t stand Siri. I already knew how good he is at organising a trip but he took this one to the next level. Great accommodation choices and organisation behind the scenes.

About Mark (Grubby):

Wayne learnt that Mark can speak Portuguese.

Donna learnt that Mark really, really loves Wayne and really, really loves dates.

I learnt that Mark is calm and not flustered by anything. He really, really loves dates and we can end up on the wrong train. He also walks really, really fast and can swim in waders (even though at the time, he thought he was going to drown).

About Donna:

Wayne learnt that Donna is a good fisherperson.

Mark learnt that Donna (my wife) is capable of doing anything even under challenging circumstances.

I learnt that Donna has an Eagle eye and can spot anything from a mile away. She is also incredibly well-prepared – has everything you need except scissors (turns out she did have scissors – they were the ones confiscated from Grubby’s first aid kit at the bag check in Lisbon).

About Ann:

Wayne learnt that I don’t know the difference between a dryer and a washing machine.

Mark learnt that I like trying different kinds of food and drink.

Donna learnt I have Mark (Grubby) pegged.

Final words:

Wayne: Bring on Canada!

Mark: Entertaining tour, full of laughs!

Donna: Pleasure to travel with our tour team. Haven’t laughed so much in years.

Ann: It has been the most amazing trip and our friendship has deepened. Loved travelling with Wayne, Donna and Mark. A shout out to Mark and Wayne for taking the stress of driving off of us.