nequine

The AC is a nice hotel in Belfast and looking at the pics of your room, other than the bath robes, there isn't much if anything different furniture wise from the “normal” room we had on the 6th floor! I agree that the parking for there sucks – you used to be able to park adjacent to the hotel in the bit of ‘wasteland’ but it must have stopped just before we arrived as you’d to park instead in overpriced (even with a discount from the hotel) carpark. It was obviously not long opened as there was still dust on the concrete floor! The breakfast (if you get the vouchers the night before) is good value for money – I loved the soda bread, and it really filled you up for the day, so you didn’t need much, if at all, at lunchtimes.

We really enjoyed our trip to Belfast, especially the ‘troubles’ taxi tour – I thought I knew about the troubles but after hearing stuff on the tour, and from the other things we did in Northern Ireland, turns out I only knew a wee bit!

Despite your very picturesque photos of the Ring of Kerry, I am glad we bypassed that part of Ireland. Not sure the FOMO would still make me kiss the Blarney Stone! LOL

The UK/Ireland crossing is a blink and you miss it affair (well currently, post Brexit who knows despite what Boris is saying!) and the only real differences is the speed limits going from mph to kmph (or vice versa), the change in the colour of the road signs and the paint on the side of the road going from white to yellow (or vice versa).

Cheers for the update

worldtraveller73

Giants Causeway,
Northern Ireland.

Our next coveted attraction in Northern Ireland was a visit to the Giant’s Causeway. For some reason, WT73Jr had his heart set on visiting this attraction and had researched it well before our visit. The Giant’s Causeway is Northern Irelands’ only UNESCO site. It’s a vast expanse of hexagonal rocks and shapes set out like only Giant’s could have created it.

It was located about 90 minutes out of Belfast and it was a pleasant country drive up to it.







The Giants Causeway is free to visit with a payment for the car park only. After getting organized and bypassing the visitor's centre for the way back, we joined the track and started the walk down towards the rocks. It was a very pleasant walk down to the rocks.

















We eventually got to the Rocks, which were super neat to clamber over.



The neatness of this place immediately became apparent as we arrived to the main event. These large hexagonal rocks were everywhere!











Most impressive were the looks back towards land and the open expanse pathways that these hexagonal rocks shaped…











We eventually wandered over towards a cliff climb up to Shepards’ steps. We were treated to more of a coastline view, along with a great view from the top.





















From the top, it was a short walk back to the visitor center and the car park. We had views over English ( or Northern Irish) fields.









The Giant’s Causeway was one of the more impressive attractions that we had seen during our trip to Ireland. The pictures here don’t do it justice as to the size and breath of the rocks. Thanks’ to the weather, which held out for our visit, it made it a very pleasant afternoon.



From the Giant’s Causeway, it was about 3 hours drive back to Dublin. We hit the highways on a pleasant mostly sunny day.







The international border crossing back into Ireland was equally as routine as we arrived, with only a small highway sign marking the occasion.







We arrived into Dublin. For convenience, familiarity and status night credits, we stayed back at the Aloft Dublin. We happened to receive a soft upgrade back into the same larger room that we had stayed at a week prior on our way into Ireland.

For nostalgia’s sake, and to complete the trip, after we had packed our bags for departure the next day, we walked into Temple Bar area for one last goodbye. It was Saturday night so it was quite busy in town.







We eventually made it back to the hotel. We really enjoyed our trip to Ireland. There was a lot to see in this country and it was a great trip for a fledging up and coming traveller. It’s easy to see why it’s such a popular travel destination amongst people visiting Europe.

worldtraveller73

T1 Lounge
Dublin International Airport

We were up at 6:15 AM for a 7 AM breakfast. We were out the door of the hotel at 7:15 AM for a self drive to the airport. We topped off the car with diesel and returned the car to Hertz, where no drop fee from the city location to the airport location was incurred. The Volvo had treated us well and comfortably for the week’s journey and we had logged over 995 km’s on the rental. The roving return agent was able to print off our receipt quickly and we were on the first bus to the terminal without any delay.

The Dublin Airport is an institutional place with a minimum of frills or extravagance. We found our check in rank for British Airways. We walked up to the Club Europe check in desk where the agent indicated that she was “closed” and to wait for service by the bag drop area. There wasn’t really a bag drop area as two other lines were left for the other economy passengers. I felt bad cutting in front of families with kids but BA didn’t leave us with much choice since there were no other check in agents. The agents must have felt under the gun with the people that were lining up as it was one of the faster check in’s that I had. We were directed over to the fast track queues and were through security fairly quickly after some close scrutiny of my shaving cream (laughing).











Surprisingly, our issued boarding cards to Vancouver had my AAdvantage Platinum Pro status on it, courtesy of the expired status match trial that was offered in spring 2019.



We located the Fast Track security line, which was pretty empty today.



It was chaos on the secure side with many families and passengers and some really limited space. We eventually found the T1 Lounge, which is the lounge for everyone under the sun, including Priority Pass. We were granted access thanks to the class of service on our BA Club Europe tickets. It’s not very tranquil getting to the lounge; the entry is sandwiched in between the security screening check points, resulting in a bit of crowding mayhem around the entry way.





It was a bit of a zoo in here. We were able to find some seats. The lounge offered almost everything that you could expect from a European departure lounge, even though it also serviced the international flights.







It was a bonus that they had ice cream on offer as well, which is unusual for a lounge. I think the last time I had ice cream in a lounge was when I found some Haagen Daz in the United Red Carpet Club in Hong Kong, back when it was a Red Carpet Club.

In summary, a reasonable stop for a place to sit while you wait for your flight but not a reason to leave the hotel early in order to experience it.

worldtraveller73

British Airways
BA 827 – Club Europe (U)
DUB – LHR (Dublin International Airport – London Heathrow Terminal 5)
September 1, 2019
10:45 AM – 12:15 PM (scheduled)
Booked: Airbus 320neo
Flown: Airbus 320neo

We eventually left the lounge and headed for the gate where boarding was underway fairly quickly. We had a non gate position today, so we headed outside.









Once we were on board, we settled into the usual crap fake European business seats. It was the usual economy seat with the blocked middle.



We had some interesting plane spotting opportunities departing Dublin, since everyone seems to fly though there.





As we said “good bye” to Ireland, we had nice views on climb to altitude.



A small snack plate of cold cuts was offered for the trip over. It was nothing really to write home about.



We eventually landed into London, where the plane spotting opportunities are easily among the best in the world.







We made it off at Terminal 5 and found our way to the connections desk. To keep the interest in the travel going and because we had a 5 hour layover to kill, I asked WT73Jr to locate the connecting terminal on the connections board. He chose to approach this through the “read every line” method, so that he wouldn’t miss his flight. We ended up with a 5 hour connection thanks to patchy award availability, so we were at the board for a good 7 minutes while he found the flight on the 9th monitor.



The BA Club Europe product isn't anything all too exciting to write home about. Its a little more comfortable but I doubt I would spend much hard earned cash on this if I had the choice. Thankfully, this was a free segment in an international ticket so it made sense to take advantage of the available reward space.

worldtraveller73

Cathay Pacific
Business Lounge
London Heathrow Terminal 3

We had lots of good lounge choices in London Heathrow Terminal 3. After the light continental breakfast, and a week of pub Irish / British pub food, we headed for the Cathay Lounge and some Asian fare. It was my first visit to the Business Class side, having last visited the Cathay Pacific First Class London Heathrow Terminal 3 side on our last trip on BA85 coming back from Morocco in early fall 2018. Access to the lounge was granted through One Worlds’ Business Class policy of allowing access to any One World lounge per the class of service of the BA Business Class ticket. It was pretty empty in here thanks to the time of day, which was great as we had the place almost to ourselves.

















We immediately headed for the restaurant for some har gao and other dim sum. I was able to enjoy a glass of champagne with this, and junior complimented his Asian tastes of cuisine with a coca cola. There was the usual spices available which added some wonderful kick to the plates.









We had some occasional plane spotting from the lounge.



Overall, the Cathay Lounge is a solid place to visit while in London Heathrow Terminal 3. Im' always a fan of the Cathay Lounges, since the food is always great (in terms of snacks) and the decor is always interesting.

worldtraveller73

Qantas
Business Lounge
London Heathrow Terminal 3

We had a 5 hour layover at London Heathrow so we had a little time to lounge hop in order to break up the stay. After the Cathay Lounge, we headed over to my favorite London Heathrow Terminal 3 lounge, the Qantas Lounge. Access was granted thanks to the class of service of our business class ticket.



Once inside, we headed upstairs to the top floor. The lounge is split into two levels. It’s always deserted in here whenever I take BA85, and today was no exception.















I headed downstairs to the Gin and Tonic bar downstairs for a little cocktail. The bar is catered by Sofitel and they always have interesting Gin and Tonic’s here.



We were able to pass the time away here. The Qantas Lounge is probably my favorite of the bunch. It always happens to be empty for the BA 85 Vancouver flights and as such, it’s a great respite for the time spent in terminal 3.

worldtraveller73

No1 Lounge
London Heathrow Terminal 3

For curiosity’s sake and for a little future reconnaissance, we stopped by the No 1 Lounge. Access was granted today courtesy of Priority Pass. We stopped by for 15 minutes for a little advance research for a future trip through here. It was a bit of a hole in the wall as a first impression as we were led down hallways and through fire doors in order to get access into the lounge.







It was the busiest lounge by far today, with most seats fully occupied. There must be a lot of credit card holders or cash entries in town today.













There was a separate dining area, where you could order off the menu. In addition to a buffet, there was also A La Carte ordering. The seating was both communal and separate tables. All the table service food appeared to be included without a separate charge.





There was also a spa service at the back of the lounge. These services were for payment. Although, I can’t imagine many people wanting an impromptu spa treatment in this chaotic environment while at the airport…





Of most interest to me, the No 1 Lounge had a fabulous magazine selection with GQ, Esquire, Time all available. I ended up picking of a copy of all three to satisfy my leisure readings (laughing).

In summary, this was the busiest of the three places and one of the more heavy duty places in order to get a meal. Perhaps this is of use to some, but I'd much rather prefer the Cathay or Qantas lounges if you had access to them.

worldtraveller73

Briitsh Airways
BA 85 – Club World (U)
LHR – YVR (London Heathrow Terminal 3 – Vancouver International Airport)
September 1, 2019
5:20 PM – 6:50 PM
Booked: Airbus 380-8
Flown: Airbus 380-8

It was the first time I’ve taken this particular flight in business class. Thankfully, there seems to be much more reward availability for First Class, which is much more highly priced under the BA Avios program. As a result, business class reward availability seems to be quickly consumed, leaving First Class to everyone in the North American frequent flier programs.

The gate was posted at 1620 hrs. We were assigned Gate 42, which is one of the furthest most gates in Terminal 3. We had a long walk with the moving travellators.



Almost there. . .



“Take a Seat” (laughing). Ahh. . . ok.





The boarding process was remarkably civilized. Today’s passengers actually listened to the announcements and we didn’t have a crush at the A380 gate. The first group was group 1, followed by extra time to board, followed by group 2; which was us.

There was a bit of a confusing Door A vs Door B process immediately after the boarding pass scan. This clogged up the boarding process a little bit. We ended up boarding through Door A on the jet bridge which led to the upper deck.

On board, we turned left and found ourselves immediately in 53K / 53J. These were ultimately great seats being right at the back of the cabin, with no one on one side of you. Unfortunately, they were also the seats that got served last, so we missed the first choice of appetizer when it came to meal service.











There was lots of storage space in the cabin with the curve of the fuselage. WT73Jr ended up storing his HMW music posters in this spot so that they could get back to Vancouver completely crinkle free.



The British Airways cabin is very dense with over 8 seats across the cabin. The seat itself is good, although quite narrow. It would be awkward travelling with someone else but with a partner they are alright. The tricky part is the balancing act of getting in and out and having all your dishes served over the aisle person.



Pre – departure beverage of champagne Canard – Duchene Cuvee Leonine Brut NV.



The pre-departure beverage was followed by amenity kit distribution; also recently upscaled from the smaller White Company pouches that we have under the cupboard at home. We were also offered a towel service.





We had a 50 minute delay getting over to the runway for IT issues at the ground agent computers not matching up with the in flight manifest (or so they said).

We had a departure on runway 28. It was bizarre to be flying backwards; first actual time doing so in a business class cabin. It wasn’t really noticeable after you get going.







The menus were dropped off once we were airborne.







We also had a reasonable wine list where the highlight of the day was the champagne.









I had a Cranberry Blush drink order prior to the meal service. It was served in the recently upscaled beverage glasses.



It was a very slow start to the meal service which didn’t get underway until 7:40 PM GMT (2 ¼ hours after the scheduled departure time). I was not sure whether this was intentional, a mistake or just away of stretching out the flight. I was really hungry by this point and I was glad that I had ate lots of snacks in the lounge.

In a more favourable light, BA has recently upscaled the crockery on board. It does make a nicer touch to the service. We did happen to have some of the mixed fleet crews with both junior and senior crews. I had to ask for every refill today, which was not impossible, just a bit irritating since the pours are so thimbleful tiny.

The first course was Carrot and coriander soup. The first choice of Scottish salmon was all spoken for “There’s none left”. =)





The main was seared fillet of British beef with Lyonnaise potatoes, sautéed chestnut mushrooms, shallot and rosemary sauce with Cycles Gladiator Cabernet Sauvingon 2016, Central Coast, California, USA. We had thankfully pre-ordered this in advance from the main BA website and they didn’t run out.



Warm mixed nuts and dulce de leche flan... it was okay and was to be expected for an airplane desert.



The still water offered on board is now by Harrogate “the original British spa town since 1571. ”

Strangely, there was no clearing of the plates or crockery when done. As a result, I had 2 wine glasses and 2 water glasses scattered around me at the end of the meal service.

We were well past Iceland by the time we were all done dinner or at about 9:10 PM GMT (or about 4 hours into the flight).





I ended up poking around the in flight movies, which were much more modern than their dated B747 models. I ended up with "I’m just a girl,, standing in front of a boy", courtesy of Notting Hill.





I ended up making up my own (and WT73Jr’s) bed since the staff didn’t seem to be around all that much.

I ended up sleeping for about 5 hours or right through the second service. I don't think I missed that much, the second service didn’t look all that too appealing. The cabins were quite warm; I would almost describe them as hot.

We arrived into Vancouver on runway R28, with a very short taxi to the International Terminal and the usual BA YVR gate near the British Airways Galleries Lounge.





No secondary tonight by the kind CBSA officer in the Nexus lane who didn’t wave us in for examination of any “food, plants, or animals, or derivatives from plants or animals”; the Irish chocolate passed okay. Aside from some minor A380 crowding mayhem at the baggage belt, it was a pretty non eventful arrival.







We were kindly picked up by MrsWT73 and taken home for some sorting.

Overall the A380 flight was a reasonable way to get across the pond to the West Coast. The service on today’s flight was a bit slack, and the food and beverage was just okay.

Thanks all for following along on this adventure. It was a bit weird to be back home in the Americas after 3 weeks of being away but summer vacation has to end sometime!! The trifecta of Lisbon, London and a road trip around Ireland was a trip that WT73JR will remember for quite a while thanks to his age and his interest in the countries.







Coming up:

Peggy’s Cove & Halifax, Nova Scotia and Canada’ National Remembrance Day Ceremony via Air Canada Business Class

worldtraveller73

Thanks as always nequine. I can confirm the next door parking is no more as there was active construction on the adjacent property. We did park in the new garage across the street. I parked as close as I could to the main level to avoid any damage to the car.

We didn't end up doing the both trip at Cliff's of Moher, having saved for the main event at Skelling Island.

Thank you LondonElite!! I appreciate the support.

Thanks MickV. I agree that there are probably better and more places to stay than the Aloft. These are the challenges when you want to travel with your family but don't want to bankrupt the savings account. Having said that, WT73Jr appreciated the funkiness of the place and we were able to get in more of the other attractions as somewhat guided by the book.

We will have to mark the segment that you had described for a future trip. We were on a bit of a schedule to cover off junior's attractions list in the time that we had.

nequine

Thanks for a very enjoyable TR and reminiscing of my time in the Island of Ireland last summer.

Already looking forward to your next TR!

757

Great finish to your report. Looks like a very fun trip, and the weather looked really nice in all locals that you were in. I love England, but have never been to Ireland, so enjoyed seeing your photos from there and of your time in Dublin and Belfast. Interesting photos from the Titanic museum.

Thank you for sharing. Looking forward to your next report!

worldtraveller73

Thanks again nequine. It's always great to see a trip report through someone else's eyes based on a place that you'e visited or lived.

Thanks 757. The United Kingdom and Ireland are a terrific combination of places to visit. They compliment each other quite nicely.

injian

Absolutely fantastic read and appreciate the pictures of everything you saw and did. Mrs. I has been on my back to take her to Europe and I may end up using this same itinerary next year.

worldtraveller73

Thank you injian; it's always great to get fresh travel ideas on this forum.

737Av8tor

Shame that you missed a lunch at Moran's of the Weir just outside Kilcolgan to the south of Galway: exceptional chowder !