PokerGrinder Europe 2

I figured I’d do a thread for my trip to Europe as I like to write while I travel. The plan is 3-5 months travelling in Europe mostly backpacking with two mostly free cruises mixed in. I booked a one way flight to Edinburgh through Toronto that cost me $383 CAD after using some points I had. My preflight expenses were limited to buying a new backpacking backpack for $291 CAD.

The first day of the trip didn’t go great as the flight was delayed from Winnipeg by over a hour causing me to miss my connection to Edinburgh. I then waited in line for 90 minutes to find out that I’ve been rescheduled on the next flight to Edinburgh with a seat available tomorrow at 5pm 😢. Another unfortunate part of the rescheduling is that I now connect through Amsterdam (which has been a disaster of an airport recently) and then layover there for 4 hours before heading to Edinburgh. I They put me up in the DoubleTree by the airport for the night and gave me $60 in food vouchers. Per Canadian aviation law I’m entitled to $1000 cash for my travel being delayed by more than 10 hours due to airline error. Honestly if you told me I lose one day and get 1k I’d make that deal every day! I ended up hanging with 3 people I met in the line waiting for guest services to tell us the plan to get Europe. We had drinks and A&W at the bar of the hotel until I called it a night at 1 am. They were nice, a couple from Winnipeg and a lady from South Africa who grew up and lives in Edinburgh.

I guess I should talk about the cruises a little bit. The first one was from a tier match that Carnival was doing last year. I sent them my platinum card from MGM and my Diamond from Caesars to which I was given a free cruise with a balcony room on any cruise they offer. I instantly looked for the most expensive cruise which I knew would be European and chose the London to Russia 12 day cruise. Since I booked it last September the Russia portion has been changed for obvious reasons. The current itinerary is London (Dover), Copenhagen, Berlin (Warnemunde), Tallin, Helsinki, Stockholm, Hamburg (Kiel) and Gothenburg before heading back to London (Dover). I then got a less free cruise from Caesars that had a time limit of when we had to sail by and also had a $20 per day per person admin fee so that would be the not so free part. Anyways I decided on a Greek 7 day cruise that goes to Athens (Piraeus), Kusadasi, Turkey, Rhodes, Mykonos, Argostoli, Corfu and Santorini before going back to Athens (Piraeus). Oh I forgot to mention, my friend Danelle is going on the first one with me and my friend Leor is going on the Greek one.

Not sure if I’ll write every day or a couple times a week but I’ll keep this thread updated. So check back if you’re interested or don’t, I like talking to myself lol.

I am excited to read about your travels. I have enjoyed your earlier travel posts.

Quote: PokerGrinder

I figured I’d do a thread for my trip to Europe as I like to write while I travel. The plan is 3-5 months travelling in Europe mostly backpacking with two mostly free cruises mixed in. I booked a one way flight to Edinburgh through Toronto that cost me $383 CAD after using some points I had. My preflight expenses were limited to buying a new backpacking backpack for $291 CAD.

The first day of the trip didn’t go great as the flight was delayed from Winnipeg by over a hour causing me to miss my connection to Edinburgh. I then waited in line for 90 minutes to find out that I’ve been rescheduled on the next flight to Edinburgh with a seat available tomorrow at 5pm 😢. Another unfortunate part of the rescheduling is that I now connect through Amsterdam (which has been a disaster of an airport recently) and then layover there for 4 hours before heading to Edinburgh. I They put me up in the DoubleTree by the airport for the night and gave me $60 in food vouchers. Per Canadian aviation law I’m entitled to $1000 cash for my travel being delayed by more than 10 hours due to airline error. Honestly if you told me I lose one day and get 1k I’d make that deal every day! I ended up hanging with 3 people I met in the line waiting for guest services to tell us the plan to get Europe. We had drinks and A&W at the bar of the hotel until I called it a night at 1 am. They were nice, a couple from Winnipeg and a lady from South Africa who grew up and lives in Edinburgh.

I guess I should talk about the cruises a little bit. The first one was from a tier match that Carnival was doing last year. I sent them my platinum card from MGM and my Diamond from Caesars to which I was given a free cruise with a balcony room on any cruise they offer. I instantly looked for the most expensive cruise which I knew would be European and chose the London to Russia 12 day cruise. Since I booked it last September the Russia portion has been changed for obvious reasons. The current itinerary is London (Dover), Copenhagen, Berlin (Warnemunde), Tallin, Helsinki, Stockholm, Hamburg (Kiel) and Gothenburg before heading back to London (Dover). I then got a less free cruise from Caesars that had a time limit of when we had to sail by and also had a $20 per day per person admin fee so that would be the not so free part. Anyways I decided on a Greek 7 day cruise that goes to Athens (Piraeus), Kusadasi, Turkey, Rhodes, Mykonos, Argostoli, Corfu and Santorini before going back to Athens (Piraeus). Oh I forgot to mention, my friend Danelle is going on the first one with me and my friend Leor is going on the Greek one.

Not sure if I’ll write every day or a couple times a week but I’ll keep this thread updated. So check back if you’re interested or don’t, I like talking to myself lol.
link to original post

that Caesars free cruise with a balcony room on any cruise sounds like a 7 star cruise?

i passed on that carnival offer even though i could have gotten more than 2 free cruises from them because... it's carnival. :o
let me know how they are.

so your flight delay was due to airline error and not weather?
how did they screw up?

Quote: 100xOdds

Quote: PokerGrinder

I figured I’d do a thread for my trip to Europe as I like to write while I travel. The plan is 3-5 months travelling in Europe mostly backpacking with two mostly free cruises mixed in. I booked a one way flight to Edinburgh through Toronto that cost me $383 CAD after using some points I had. My preflight expenses were limited to buying a new backpacking backpack for $291 CAD.

The first day of the trip didn’t go great as the flight was delayed from Winnipeg by over a hour causing me to miss my connection to Edinburgh. I then waited in line for 90 minutes to find out that I’ve been rescheduled on the next flight to Edinburgh with a seat available tomorrow at 5pm 😢. Another unfortunate part of the rescheduling is that I now connect through Amsterdam (which has been a disaster of an airport recently) and then layover there for 4 hours before heading to Edinburgh. I They put me up in the DoubleTree by the airport for the night and gave me $60 in food vouchers. Per Canadian aviation law I’m entitled to $1000 cash for my travel being delayed by more than 10 hours due to airline error. Honestly if you told me I lose one day and get 1k I’d make that deal every day! I ended up hanging with 3 people I met in the line waiting for guest services to tell us the plan to get Europe. We had drinks and A&W at the bar of the hotel until I called it a night at 1 am. They were nice, a couple from Winnipeg and a lady from South Africa who grew up and lives in Edinburgh.

I guess I should talk about the cruises a little bit. The first one was from a tier match that Carnival was doing last year. I sent them my platinum card from MGM and my Diamond from Caesars to which I was given a free cruise with a balcony room on any cruise they offer. I instantly looked for the most expensive cruise which I knew would be European and chose the London to Russia 12 day cruise. Since I booked it last September the Russia portion has been changed for obvious reasons. The current itinerary is London (Dover), Copenhagen, Berlin (Warnemunde), Tallin, Helsinki, Stockholm, Hamburg (Kiel) and Gothenburg before heading back to London (Dover). I then got a less free cruise from Caesars that had a time limit of when we had to sail by and also had a $20 per day per person admin fee so that would be the not so free part. Anyways I decided on a Greek 7 day cruise that goes to Athens (Piraeus), Kusadasi, Turkey, Rhodes, Mykonos, Argostoli, Corfu and Santorini before going back to Athens (Piraeus). Oh I forgot to mention, my friend Danelle is going on the first one with me and my friend Leor is going on the Greek one.

Not sure if I’ll write every day or a couple times a week but I’ll keep this thread updated. So check back if you’re interested or don’t, I like talking to myself lol.
link to original post

that Caesars free cruise with a balcony room on any cruise sounds like a 7 star cruise?

i passed on that carnival offer even though i could have gotten more than 2 free cruises from them because... it's carnival. :o
let me know how they are.

so your flight delay was due to airline error and not weather?
how did they screw up?
link to original post

The Carnival Tier Match is the balcony, I got a inner room with Caesars.

My flight delay was due to computer error on the booking side. Since it was their fault I’ll get the compensation, just will take a long time.

The Canadian rules site

https://rppa-appr.ca/eng/compensation-flight-delays-and-cancellations

Brothers trip delayed both ways not weather related ....12 hours one way 11 hours coming back . They expect their next vacation flights will be fully paid for. Was happy he still had Gold status with Westjet got to spend those long layovers in the lounge in Toronto airport

Safe and happy travels, PG! Looking forward to your updates!

As a (distant) aside, your description of the lady from South Africa reminded me of some distant relatives, except the opposite… My grandmother was born and raised in Edinburgh with her brother and sisters. When they were grown, a couple of her siblings (twins) both moved to South Africa and each raised a family there. As a kid, my stamp collection always had plenty of South African stamps! Thanks for helping me remember…

Now I know that the world is getting back to normal: PG is hitting the road again on one of his epic journeys! I look forward to tales of distant and exotic lands, suspicious street foods, and beguiling young ladies. Hopefully with plenty of pictures included.

Quote: TumblingBones

Now I know that the world is getting back to normal: PG is hitting the road again on one of his epic journeys! I look forward to tales of distant and exotic lands, suspicious street foods, and beguiling young ladies. Hopefully with plenty of pictures included.
link to original post

To be fair I actually never stopped traveling. Since the pandemic I spent 11 months around the states (30 states or so) and Panama last Christmas. But yes this is the first big trip since before the pandemic.

Quote: PokerGrinder

I guess I should talk about the cruises a little bit....

I instantly looked for the most expensive cruise which I knew would be European and chose the London to Russia 12 day cruise.

Excellent ! I just got back from a 12 Night Cruise from Venice to Rome and I did the same thing.

My local casino sent me a postcard about a free cruise last summer, and I was delighted that the certificate was valid for this itinerary.

I scrambled to get enough frequent flier miles for my wife and daughter ( we paid extra for her to come along ) and I to fly to Venice, but we paid for our flights back. We also paid extra for an upgrade to a standard balcony cabin, and when we boarded the ship they upgraded us to an even nicer cabin, which we loved.

After the cruise, Delta stranded us at JFK and even though we were pretty tired, we got a rental car from Avis and drove home that evening. That was pricey due to the general increase in rental car prices and the one-way drop off fee. Oh well. I will ask about getting a refund for the re-booked flights ( they were for the next day ) that we didn't take.

Yes, of course we had to do the Gondola ride in Venice:



Here's our ship:



Cabin with large screen TV:

Sounds amazing, I cheaped out and didn’t pay for the gondola ride in Venice. It seemed like a lot of money lol especially when I was travelling alone at the time.

Quote: JohnnyQ

[

Yes, of course we had to do the Gondola ride in Venice:

For a second I thought that was Vegas

Posting from River cruise on stop in Wurzburg. Started with 3 days in Prague. Ends with 4 days in Paris. My wife may be the youngest passenger!

So on a tour bus…. Guy in front of me is playing craps on WizardofOdds site! We get to chatting…. I’m teaching him Pai gow on the boat!

We’ve been super lucky with the weather. Not been too hot! On our walking tours been 70’s. Guide told us the week before was 100!

Quote: SOOPOO

Posting from River cruise on stop in Wurzburg. Started with 3 days in Prague. Ends with 4 days in Paris. My wife may be the youngest passenger!

So on a tour bus…. Guy in front of me is playing craps on WizardofOdds site! We get to chatting…. I’m teaching him Pai gow on the boat!

We’ve been super lucky with the weather. Not been too hot! On our walking tours been 70’s. Guide told us the week before was 100!
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Have a great time Soopoo

Second day went smoother than the first but I have to say it was travel hell due to a lack of sleep. I tossed and turned in the hotel until I finally got around 3-4 hours of sleep. I woke up for the comped breakfast which combined with the stress of travel destroyed my stomach. After breakfast I had a few hours before the shuttle back to the airport in Toronto so I tried to take a nap. I didn’t have a do not disturb sign so I told the housekeeping I had a late checkout and no sign, she wrote it down and said no worries. I managed to fall asleep for 45 minutes or so until the loud banging on the door 5 times at noon from housekeeping… good job guys. Oh well, got up showered and felt slightly human before packing up and heading down for the shuttle.

I found the Scottish lady who also missed her connection the previous day and we waited for the shuttle. Shuttle comes and the Winnipeg couple is nowhere to be found. We get to the airport and the couple hasn’t texted us back. They eventually let us know that they hadn’t gotten back from the lunch in the city in time so they would just go straight to the airport. Wendy and I got through baggage drop and security in just over a hour and the couple still hadn’t gotten to the airport. We were having a drink in the bar when Scott and Jen texted they had just arrived at 3;20 for the 5:00 flight, good luck I guess. They managed to make it but I have no idea why especially after the previous day you would ever chance missing the flight.

Our flight to Amsterdam thankfully left on time. We landed and my plan was to rent a hotel pod in the airport for 4 hours for €40 and get some much needed sleep. Sadly both of the hotels in the airport had no vacancy so there I was as stuck with nowhere to sleep. I tried to find a comfy place to take a nap to no avail. All I could find was a 3 foot long hard couch and after 20 minutes of trying to sleep I gave up. Luckily there were kids there to bang on the piano and wake everyone in the airport up at 7 am, I gave the mother a dirty look and she luckily told them to stop banging away. I spent the 6 hours walking up and down the airport playing Pokémon Go and mostly being bored out of my mind. I did take a break from my boredom to have really bad ramen that cost €25 cause well, it’s an airport. The flight to Edinburgh was delayed by almost a hour cause of course it was lol. The Winnipeg couple against everyone’s advice went into Amsterdam for two hours and did manage to make it back through security in time for the flight. Schipol airport has been a disaster for months and security has been taking 4-8 hours to get through so they were quite lucky to make it.

We landed in Edinburgh, I grabbed my bags and grabbed an Uber to the hostel. Normally I would have saved £20 and taken the train or bus in but at that point I had been awake for 48 of the previous 52 hours roughly. I got to the hostel with the very nice and chatty Uber driver and sadly had to wait 20 minutes to check into my room. That was the LONGEST 20 minutes ever. At 3 they checked me in and I went bed, plan was to sleep for only 3 hours so I didn’t screw up my schedule but ended up making it 4 hours after my first alarm. I took a shower and get some much better. To be continued…

Quote: PokerGrinder

Sounds amazing, I cheaped out and didn’t pay for the gondola ride in Venice. It seemed like a lot of money lol especially when I was travelling alone at the time.

I totally understand and I am sure I would not have done it either if I had been travelling by myself.

The three of us had a nice time on the gondola ride, and after a 20 euro tip ( I think about right for 3 people ? ? ? ), it was only 33 euro per person.

And now we can say we have done it.

Looks like it costs a little less to take a ~1/2 hour gondola ride in Venice than it does at the Venetian ? ? ?

Quote: PokerGrinder

The Winnipeg couple against everyone’s advice went into Amsterdam for two hours and did manage to make it back through security in time for the flight. Schipol airport has been a disasteer for months and security has been taking 4-8 hours to get through so they were quite lucky to make it.

YIKES. Security at the Rome airport was pretty quick and easy. We got there plenty early though by booking the transfer through the cruise ship.

Scipol is currently ranked the worst airport in the world. Last month they delayed or cancelled 52.5% of their flights. Customs and security was taking up to 8 hours as per the articles that I read.

Quote: PokerGrinder

Scipol is currently ranked the worst airport in the world. Last month they delayed or cancelled 52.5% of their flights.

That must be a hub for Spirit.

€25 for ramen?! Yikes!!

Sorry to hear about your lack of sleep. That sounds like torture. And I can only imagine trying to wake up after only 3 hours of eventual sleep!

Quote: JohnnyQ

Yes, of course we had to do the Gondola ride in Venice:

link to original post

Although the Mrs. and I were in Venice for our honeymoon, we didn't do a gondola ride because it seemed ridiculously expensive (in 2004). At the time, I was thinking "is this going to haunt me for the rest of my life?" But fortunately, I think the Mrs. also agreed that it wasn't worth it because she has never mentioned it.

And for our one-year anniversary, we did take a gondola ride in the U.S.!

Quote: smoothgrh

€25 for ramen?! Yikes!!

Sorry to hear about your lack of sleep. That sounds like torture. And I can only imagine trying to wake up after only 3 hours of eventual sleep!
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I mean most airports food is going to be overpriced. The ramen was €18 I think, water was €3 plus tax and tip. 🤷‍♂️

After waking up I didn’t have a ton of energy and planned to sleep again soonish so I figured I’d grab some food and then check out the casinos. I stopped at a a pub a couple doors down from my hostel and had the steak and ale pie with a beer. The beer was listed as a pale ale but was definitely amber which I enjoy just not what I expected. The food and beer were both really good but super heavy. Oddly they don’t accept cash at this restaurant so I guess if you don’t have card you’re SOL?



I then walked 12 minutes to the small Genting York Place Casino and found a beautiful sunset over one of the old buildings, not sure which one, possibly the train station based on google maps.



I got to the casino and when the woman looked up my account to enter she said I had a note on my account that it was suspended at Colony Club in London, no reason given. We were both confused but I had been to multiple Genting casinos since then and based on that she let me in. I won £53 playing CSM BJ and honestly only stayed longer than a few hands because the dealer and pit boss were very amusing to talk to. I grabbed an Uber to the Grosvenor Casino for £17 only to find out that as I suspected the chips that they use there are the generic Grosvenor chips. I’ve found that about half of them use those and the other half use their own and since I couldn’t confirm on the chip guide one way or the other I decided to go and check it out. Interesting note about their slot machines, they act like the Class II machines in Oklahoma in that they look like variable state machines but the things that might make them postive ev are rerolled every spin. Sadly it’s apparently expensive to get an Uber out in Mayberry so it was £33 back into town to the Genting Fountain Park Casino. I got there and found the same fake slots and a poker room! I played £2/£5 for about 90 minutes until the game broke and made a whopping £19. Apparently the game rarely runs bigger than £1/£3 there but someone insisted they play bigger and everyone obliged. Another interesting note, I was told to make sure I was cashed out in England bills not Scotland bills as certain places outside of Scotland would be finicky about non-England notes. For those who do not know, England, Scotland and Ireland all print their own pounds, Wales does not. So I visited 3 casinos, got two new chips and after Uber expenses I was up a HUGE £13.

I took my last Uber back to the hostel for £9 and called it a night as I had a Harry Potter walking tour at 9 am. I got about 5 hours of sleep before the tour which was really enjoyable. I had an American guide from NC that is going to school in Edinburgh. He was very informative about the places we visited including Greyfriars cemetery where JK got the inspiration for a bunch of the names in the books. The Cafes where she wrote the books and other general knowledge about the city and how she used it in her books. They have had problems with people stealing the headstones marked Potter, Black and Longbottom which then get sold on the blackmarket. They assume Tom Riddell’s will be stolen eventually, of course that was Voldemort’s real name minus the extra “L”.

After the tour I planned on grabbing a nap that accidentally or not so accidentally turned into a 9 hour sleep, oops. I woke up at 10 pm and headed out in search of food which is apparently not the easiest thing at that time of night here. I got to the Black Fox right on the border of Leith where I was told they had good haggis only to find the kitchen had closed at 9:30. I had a beer and left definitely feeling it due to being a lightweight and not eating. Luckily on my way back to the Royal Mile I found a shawarma place open and had really good shawarma for £8. One thing I’ve noticed while travelling is that no matter where you go shawarma places are open the latest. It was the largest shawarma I’ve had as they used two wraps to make it, it was really good. I got back to the hostel and hung out in the common room until about 3 am when I went to bed and was able to sleep for about 4 hours. I think I have my schedule back track now. Not 100% sure what my plan for today is yet (going to figure that out after I press send on this) but I think might do the hop on hop off bus.

Anyways talk to you all later!

If you find any craps games let us know!

Quote: PokerGrinder

Scipol is currently ranked the worst airport in the world. Last month they delayed or cancelled 52.5% of their flights. Customs and security was taking up to 8 hours as per the articles that I read.
link to original post

When i was in Amsterdam in May, Scipol security only took 1 1/2hrs.
i had like a 1pm flight so was at the airport at 10am.

Schiphol. Easy translation "Ships Hole. Airport former body of water.

I decided last second after looking at the stops of the hop on hop off bus that it didn't interest me as I had already done most of the sites that it takes you to. Instead I took a tour of the underground vaults which was very interesting. The guide gave us a history of the vaults creation to them being closed up for over 100 years and forgotten about. Eventually they were found again by accident in 70's and used as stores until they realized the vaults leaked and all the merchants left. They then were used by homeless people which was obviously tough since the vaults were pitch black and covered in human waste both from the homeless people and the leaking sewage from cowgate street right above them where everyone dumped their bathroom pales and of course the cows poo. The tunnels are used for ghost tours as well so they added a little bit of that to the tour. I don't personally believe in any of the supernatural stuff but a few of the people on the tour were legit scared.

The pictures in the vaults are green due to the lights they have.




After the tour I headed to Grassmarket street to see the "official Harry Potter" store. It took about 20 minutes of waiting in line to get in and it totally wasn't worth it but I am still glad I did it. It was a cute store that is worth going in but not worth the wait. I bought a magnet but the rest of the stuff was HP collectibles that didn't interest me.



Next up I stopped at the cheesemonger and got two types of cheese and oat cakes which are like soft crackers. One of the cheeses I got was a tad strong but went well with the oat cakes.



I headed back to the hostel to eat the cheese and then take a 3 hour nap. I looked up a few comedy clubs when I woke up and found one with free entry and an open mic night. 3 ladies were talking about going to the same place so I joined them, sadly we got there and it was VIP only for the night. We ended up going to a place called Paradise Palms which was a very tacky pub. We sat in the back on the couches that they said they use as a green room when they have shows. I should have taken a picture of the tacky stuff everywhere, We had a drink and it was fun to hang out with some new people. One of them had to head to the train station for her overnight train home to London and the rest of us left soon after that. I stopped and got shawarma on the way back before calling it a night.

I am headed to the train station in a few minutes to catch my train to Glasgow. Not sure what I plan on doing today once I get to Glasgow but I will figure it out once I get on the train as I have 90 minutes to kill.

Edit: I forgot to mention anything about the hostel. I paid $103 USD for 4 nights in a 4 bed mixed dorm. The hostel had a nice set up for both the kitchen and “hanging out” area. They offered group activities every night as well. My room was the 2nd smallest I’ve ever stayed in other than in Hong Kong. The bed was fine but the pillows needed replacing. There was no AC so BO was an issue and the last night a very smelly man checked in and made the whole room reek. The hostel was on the Royal Mile so as far as location it is impossible to get better than that. Overall I’d give it like a 7/10 which is perfectly fine to me.

The train to Glasgow was a short 90 minutes. Once I got to Glasgow I went and dropped off my bags at the hostel and went out to explore. I wasn’t really going anywhere in particular, more just enjoying the old buildings and the bustle of the locals. I stopped at a pub and had fish and chips for lunch. It was weird but it felt like the bartenders were bothered when people came in, they weren’t rude but they didn’t seem to want to serve people. I didn’t mind but found it interesting.

I carried on walking to nowhere until I ended up in George Square. There were a lot of people having lunch with the million birds that were hanging around. Around the corner was the Corinthian Club which used to have a casino, I figured I’d check it out just in case I was wrong but the casino was in fact closed. I stopped in at another Grosvenor Casino to again find generic chips being used. I then walked to Alea Casino and played poker for a few hours. I played PLO and lost £100 before the Holdem game opened where I won £180. I had the curry chicken sandwich off the poker menu which was good but the fries or as they say chips were too salty. From there I took an Uber for £8 to the Genting Casino where I played BJ and won £100 plus my souvenir chip. I headed back to the hostel and called it a night.

Yesterday I booked a tour of the Clydeside Distillery for £30 at 4:20 which came with a whisky and chocolate tasting. I don’t like whisky but I figured in Scotland I should try it. In the afternoon I walked 30 minutes in the rain to the Glasgow Cathedral. I’m not usually one for churches/cathedrals but I really enjoyed the architecture of the building and the glasswork of the windows. I spent about 30 minutes exploring the multiple levels of the building. I read some of the info about the cathedral but I honestly didn’t care much, I was there for the building.





I walked back to the hostel in the still misty rain to relax before I headed to my tour. I walked the 35 minutes to the distillery where the guide took us through the process of making whisky. I never knew that the process is very similar to make beer, gin, rum and vodka. After the tour of the machinery we were taken into the tasting room where we were walked through 5 whisky and chocolate pairings.







The whiskies were from different regions and were made differently which gives them their different tastes. The first 3 were more on the mild side but the last two were peat whiskies and quite harsh. The last whisky was downright nasty and burned going down. After the tasting most people bought whisky from the shop downstairs, they made a lot more money on that than the tour fee. I was chatting with a few of the Americans at the tasting and ended up going on a pub crawl with them after the tasting. We stopped at a few bars for drinks before ending up at an Indian restaurant. The food was honestly some of the best Indian food I’ve ever had and I spent 5 weeks in India. The 7 of them were Air Force being relocated from Qatar back stateside. It was 6 guys who spent two months in Qatar and Nicole who was the pilot picking them up. They had to stop for refuelling so they had 19 hours in Glasgow. In case you were wondering they all stopped drinking by 10 pm which was 12 hours before they had to fly the next morning.

This was the giant naan bread that one of the guys ordered.



I had the tandoori platter which was chicken wings, a prawn and chicken breast and thigh. The flavours were amazing. After we finished up I grabbed an Uber back to the hostel to pass out as I had had quite a few drinks.

I was very surprised when I woke up this morning not hungover. I haven’t done a whole lot today other than grab shawarma from a Syrian restaurant down the street. I’m probably going to go back to Alea and play poker tonight as there is nothing else in Glasgow that I want to do. I have a flight to Belfast, Northern Ireland at 11:25 am tomorrow.

Overall Glasgow is a much less interesting city than Edinburgh and I now understand why my sister suggested skipping it. I’m glad I came though cause yesterday at the distillery and then the pub crawl was a lot of fun.

The hostel in Glasgow didn’t have much of a scene, everyone mostly kept to themselves. The rooms don’t have AC but the room wasn’t hot because of the cold air coming in from the windows. The beds are fine but the pillows suck, they are completely flat and should be replaced.

Anyways I’m headed to the casino now so that’s all for now.

Are you trying to pay for this trip via stops at the casinos or is that just secondary? Do you carry a ton of money or do you refill at ATM’s? I’ve not stayed in a hostel for many decades but you feel you and your belongings are safe?

No not at all but I like casinos and I like collecting chips. I do carry cash but I have a money belt. So if there is a locker in the hostel I lock it up in there and if there isn’t like at this hostel i wear the money belt while I sleep. I don’t even notice it is there.

Thanks for writing this! I always like your trip reports and learn a lot from what you do.

That Indian food looks great. My wife is making some as I type this (Butter chicken).

Great report, please keep posting.

I am loving your last leg: gambling, whiskey, chocolate, fresh hot naan, delicious Indian food, socializing, walking around and seeing the sights — that's living!

I walked to Alea only to find out that their poker room that is self described as the “biggest poker room in Scotland” is not open on weekdays or Thursdays… if you want to be the biggest great but how about being then most open? Thursday should be one of the busier days of the week so I was very surprised they wouldn’t choose Monday/Tuesday to be closed. I then headed over to Grosvenor where they said poker was open at 6, I figured by the time I walked there it would be 6 and it was. Problem! The info from the casino staff was wrong and the poker room manager doesn’t even arrive until 7 lol. Game started around 7:20 short handed but filled up quick. I played for about 2.5 hours until I got sleepy. Most hands were straddled so the game was basically 2/5. I played only one big hand KK<JJ, I 4 bet pre (we were 100 bb effective), he checks a J high flop, I bet and he jams. Oh well can do much there, by the time he jams I’m only called £180 more into a pot of £820.

The crowd at the table were all nice and I could understand most of what was being said. One guy thought he was on the final table of the WSOP main event cause every hand no matter how small took him 30 seconds to make a decision. You could have given this guy blank napkins and he would have taken 30 seconds to think about what he should do with them. Guy next to me ordered fried haggis balls which smelled as good as they sound 💩 I cashed out down £535 for the night.

This morning I had a 11:25 flight to Belfast or so I thought. It started by me exploding my water bottle all over myself as I juggled my luggage at the elevators. I’m mostly dry now but in the moment it was quite cold. I took an Uber to the airport and couldn’t find my flight on the board so I waited in line to drop my bag. The guy informed me my flight was cancelled and I should have received an email on June 27 saying so. Apparently I was supposed to be on the 8:30 am flight. I bluffed him that I didn’t get the email, he apologized and happily offered me a change to the 8:30 pm flight free of charge. Not ideal but seeing as I definitely found that email in emails when I looked I’ll take not having to buy another flight. There was a 12:30 flight through a different airline but it would have cost me £125 vs waiting for the flight tonight and not paying anything more. He was super helpful even looking up flights with other airlines for me.

I’m currently on the airport shuttle back to the city where I’ll drop my bags in the bag storage at the hostel and figure out what to do to kill the afternoon. At least it’s nice out today so my shirt and hoodie will dry and I’ll go walk around town or something.

Quote: PokerGrinder

The guy informed me my flight was cancelled and I should have received an email on June 27 saying so. Apparently I was supposed to be on the 8:30 am flight. I bluffed him that I didn’t get the email, he apologized and happily offered me a change to the 8:30 pm flight free of charge. Not ideal but seeing as I definitely found that email in emails when I looked I’ll take not having to buy another flight.

Always something I guess.

On my recent cruise, I met a couple that missed the e-mail that the cruise ship departure had to be moved from Venice to Trieste. And more importantly that the cruise company was providing free transportation for the 90 minute charter bus ride from the Venice airport to Trieste.

Apparently they paid $ 600 kindof at the last minute for a taxi ride to get to the port. I think they talked to customer service on the ship about it but don't know how it worked out. I think they were in a very expensive cabin so I assume there was some sort of resolution/compromise/on-board credit.

Quote: PokerGrinder

Yesterday I booked a tour of the Clydeside Distillery for £30 at 4:20 which came with a whisky and chocolate tasting. I don’t like whisky but I figured in Scotland I should try it.

I walked back to the hostel in the still misty rain to relax before I headed to my tour. I walked the 35 minutes to the distillery where the guide took us through the process of making whisky. I never knew that the process is very similar to make beer, gin, rum and vodka. After the tour of the machinery we were taken into the tasting room where we were walked through 5 whisky and chocolate pairings.







The whiskies were from different regions and were made differently which gives them their different tastes. The first 3 were more on the mild side but the last two were peat whiskies and quite harsh. The last whisky was downright nasty and burned going down. After the tasting most people bought whisky from the shop downstairs, they made a lot more money on that than the tour fee.
link to original post

i went to the Clydeside Distillery tasting back in May.
Which tour did you go on? the public one (15 people max) or the private one (6people max) that cost $5/person more but you also get a souvenir shot glass?

I did the private one.
my tour guide was the lady that created the tasting.

I did the one for £30 pounds and we got the glass at the end but there were about 15 of us.

Great postings! I'm looking forward to the next chapter. Several questions and/or comments...

Quote: PokerGrinder

I stopped at a pub and had fish and chips for lunch. It was weird but it felt like the bartenders were bothered when people came in, they weren’t rude but they didn’t seem to want to serve people. I didn’t mind but found it interesting.

Several years ago a friend took a trip to Scotland and Ireland. She said that the Scots were pretty cold and didn't seem to welcome tourists while the Irish were always very warm and friendly. I'll be curious to hear if you come away with the same opinion.

Quote: PokerGrinder

I walked the 35 minutes to the distillery where the guide took us through the process of making whisky. I never knew that the process is very similar to make beer, gin, rum and vodka. After the tour of the machinery we were taken into the tasting room where we were walked through 5 whisky and chocolate pairings.
The whiskies were from different regions and were made differently which gives them their different tastes. The first 3 were more on the mild side but the last two were peat whiskies and quite harsh. The last whisky was downright nasty and burned going down.

I'm a big fan of single malt scotch. Any chance you recall the names?

Re the poker game in Glasgow..

Quote: PokerGrinder

The crowd at the table were all nice and I could understand most of what was being said.

I usually have to turn the subtitles on if I'm watching a show with Scottish characters. Could be worse tho. Years ago i was standing on a street corner in London waiting for the light to change when a guy with a strong Cockney accent started talking to me. I had no clue what he was saying so I just smiled and nodded until the light changed.

Quote: PokerGrinder

Guy next to me ordered fried haggis balls which smelled as good as they sound 💩

Given your past history of exploring the native cuisine, sometimes to your regret, I'm surprised you didn't try one.

After reading your posts yesterday I had Indian food and tomorrow I am going out for "English" fish and chips.

A place I haven't tried yet. https://www.petes-fish-chips.com/

Quote: DRich

After reading your posts yesterday I had Indian food and tomorrow I am going out for "English" fish and chips.

A place I haven't tried yet. https://www.petes-fish-chips.com/
link to original post

the best fish and chips i've ever had was onboard a cruise ship this past May. (Celebrity cruises)

the same cruise that bought me to glasgow for the clydesdale whiskey tasting

PG, let me know when there's something a little more interesting, like you getting arrested, or you getting Monkey Pox. I prefer both simultaneously.

Quote: TumblingBones

Great postings! I'm looking forward to the next chapter. Several questions and/or comments...

Quote: PokerGrinder

I stopped at a pub and had fish and chips for lunch. It was weird but it felt like the bartenders were bothered when people came in, they weren’t rude but they didn’t seem to want to serve people. I didn’t mind but found it interesting.

Several years ago a friend took a trip to Scotland and Ireland. She said that the Scots were pretty cold and didn't seem to welcome tourists while the Irish were always very warm and friendly. I'll be curious to hear if you come away with the same opinion.

Quote: PokerGrinder

I walked the 35 minutes to the distillery where the guide took us through the process of making whisky. I never knew that the process is very similar to make beer, gin, rum and vodka. After the tour of the machinery we were taken into the tasting room where we were walked through 5 whisky and chocolate pairings.
The whiskies were from different regions and were made differently which gives them their different tastes. The first 3 were more on the mild side but the last two were peat whiskies and quite harsh. The last whisky was downright nasty and burned going down.

I'm a big fan of single malt scotch. Any chance you recall the names?

Re the poker game in Glasgow..

Quote: PokerGrinder

The crowd at the table were all nice and I could understand most of what was being said.

I usually have to turn the subtitles on if I'm watching a show with Scottish characters. Could be worse tho. Years ago i was standing on a street corner in London waiting for the light to change when a guy with a strong Cockney accent started talking to me. I had no clue what he was saying so I just smiled and nodded until the light changed.

Quote: PokerGrinder

Guy next to me ordered fried haggis balls which smelled as good as they sound 💩

Given your past history of exploring the native cuisine, sometimes to your regret, I'm surprised you didn't try one.
link to original post

Well so far I’ve had an Uber driver and a tour operator in Ireland and they have both been very welcoming.

I don’t remember the names of the whisky sorry.

When I don’t understand an accent that’s my go to move and 99% of the time it works except one time at a poker table in Mississippi.

I decided to check out Forge Market as it’s supposed to be the largest market in Scotland. I like markets, usually some good food and random artsy stuff to look at. I walked for a hour to reach the market and found nothing like I was expecting. They were selling mostly housing items, beds, kitchen upgrades etc with a few weird things like tombstones or party balloons mixed in. I didn’t spend much time there as clearly I wasn’t interested in buying any of that stuff. I did however find an area with probably the oldest slot machines that I’ve ever seen. I also think they might have been the worst paying machines too as all the ones I looked at listed the possible payouts as £1, £2 or £5 on a one pound bet. I didn’t partake but there were a few guys donating money and not seeming to win much of anything.





When I left it was drizzling and I didn’t feel like walking the hour back to the hostel so I ordered an Uber. I spent the next few hours laying in the pub that was attached to the hostel charging my phone. Shortly after I sat down in the pub a few guys dressed as Mario showed up. Then another, and another and another until there were 12 Marios standing there chatting in the pub. One of them starting handing out paper masks with someone’s face on them. It was at this point where I asked one of them what was going on to which he responded a stag. Made perfect sense and then I said so I guess he’s Peach? Well in comes a very hairy legged Peach with beautiful blonde hair and very wide shoulders lol. They asked me to take a group photo which I did and then asked if I wanted to join them which I declined because getting smashed with 12 Marios and Peach a few hours before my flight to Belfast seemed like a terrible idea.



When it was time to head to the airport I grabbed the airport bus back and checked my bag. I found out that my bag only weighs 9.3 kg so I didn’t need to pay for 20 kg like I had but I didn’t know so I now know for future flights. My flight didn’t have a gate yet so I waited until 45 minutes before the flight where it finally said to go to gate 15 where there was no plane. I thought maybe it would show up but no, instead an announcement was made that the flight would be delayed by 2 hours. More waiting ensued and another announcement came that because our flight was delayed we could come pickup a food/refreshment voucher. I walked over, they handed me the voucher and I bursted out laughing when I read £3… wow thanks Glasgow airport.

The flight was mostly empty for the 35 minute fright to Belfast. When it landed I grabbed my bag and was able to get a pretty quick Uber to my hostel in the city. I checked in and found a bed with the flattest pillows, seriously these hostels need to step up their pillow game. The other great surprise I got was the guy on the lower bunk moved every few minutes which would move the whole bunk bed and wake me up. I got 4-5 hours of sleep before every bird in Belfast decided it was time to have a chat. Seriously the loudest birds I’ve heard in my life and they start at 5 am.

With not enough sleep I got out of bed and got ready for my tour to the Giant’s Causeway that morning. It started at 9:45 so I walked over to the meeting point but I couldn’t find any signs for Paddywagon. I looked for anybody that looked like they were waiting for a tour but didn’t find anyone. Eventually I decided to check the one bus on the side street and it turned out to the correct bus. They booked too many tours for the day and had to get a spare bus from another company to complete all the tours.

Our tour guide Tom was 72 from Edinburgh but had been living in Belfast most of his adult life. He was a great storyteller and had some of the best bad jokes I’ve ever heard. I’ve had some good tour guides over the years but Tom might have been the best of the lot. Our first stop was the Dark Hedges which is a grouping of trees that made a 13 second appearance on season 2 episode 1 of Game of Thrones. I’ve never watched the show so I didn’t overly care but the trees were nice to look at.



We were told to be back at the bus at 11:35. Tom goes to do a headcount and is missing one person. 17 minutes goes by and this Italian 20 something that doesn’t speak much English shows up. Tom confronts him pissed off and gives him a tongue lashing before we headed off. The kid walked to the back of the bus with his tail between his legs.

Our next stop was a lookout to take pictures of the Carick-a-rede rope bridge. It was a nice view but it was hard to see the bridge even if you zoomed in on the pictures. The next stop was Giant’s Causeway which was the reason that everyone was on the tour. We were given 75 minutes to explore and obviously one guy (not the same kid) was 3 minutes late and got a talking to by Tom as well. As I walked downhill to the rocks I really wasn’t sure what I was headed towards, I honestly thought I was looking at the rocks until I went father and then I knew I really was in the right place. The Giant’s Causeway is made up of about 40,000 hexagonal rocks created by volcanos. I spent about 30 minutes climbing up and down the formations trying to not fall and hurt myself. The whole thing was amazing to see, it looks man made to be honest.







I gave myself about 30 minutes to walk back as I sure wasn’t going to be late. Tom mentioned that the walk back is called cardiac hill and I understand why. It felt like the whole thing was uphill and boy were my legs burning by the end of the walk. I had enough time to go grab a water before heading back to the bus where we would be taken to Giants Cafe for lunch. Apparently all the tours go here and either they are paid to take them there or I ordered the worst thing on the menu because I had the most tasteless Irish stew. Even the meat while tender, had no taste. The bread that was served with it was good but dense and the chocolate cake also was good but was the densest cake I’ve ever had.

Our last scheduled stop was Dunluce Castle which was literally the bus illegally parking on the side of the motorway and us getting out to take pictures from far away. We then headed back to Belfast where Tom decided we should do an impromptu tour of the city. He took us around on the bus for 30+ minutes to a few different spots and told us about some of the history of the conflict. Our last stop was at peace wall which was really crazy to see as it literally is in peoples front and backyards depending on which side you live on. The gates to wall close every night at 10 pm. Tom gave us sharpies and told us we could sign the wall which I did.

The next day I had a waking tour booked about the history of the conflict. One of the most boring tours I’ve done sadly, just wasn’t my thing. I enjoy tours where you walk and listen to the guide talk as you walk. Instead we covered very little ground, and stayed in one small area of the city. We would stop somewhere and listen to him talk for 15-30 minutes before moving to another location close by and repeating. The tour was almost 3 hours and we only went to about 6-8 places. The tour guide was very knowledgeable but I felt more like I was in history class than on a learning tour. Others seemed to enjoy it so I’m the asshole lol.

I took the bus to Dublin in the early afternoon, that took around 3 hours. I checked in and met Phil a 22 year old from British Columbia, we chatted for a bit then went for Pho. The Pho was solid, I had the spicy beef Hue which was just noodles, bean sprouts, raw beef that cooks in the broth and a lot of chili oil.

We walked back to the hostel where Phil checked at the front desk for the pub crawl info. I was hesitant cause honestly I rarely drink but I agreed to go. We met at the first pub and my plan was to keep to a 1 drink per bar plan so that I wasn’t too drunk… that didn’t happen. Between the included drinks and all the drinks we bought at the 5 pubs we were all drunk by the end of the night. The group was roughly 30 people including 12 very loud and very drunk Brits from Manchester and Leeds. The guide was very vocal about how he hates dealing with the British cause they can’t control themselves which turned out to be true as about half them ended up puking through the night. All the pubs had live music and most of it was good but the 3rd pub had an amazing musician. I had a few Guinness through the night and I actually enjoyed them which is surprising since I hate dark beer and canned Guinness in Canada tastes horrible. I was told multiple times that it tastes different in Ireland so as they say “when in Rome”. I use that phrase a ton when I travel. Phil and I ended up hanging out with a small group of the crawl, a guy and girl from the USA, two Germans girls and a very shy girl from Switzerland. Very fun group of all solo travellers.





I left the pub around 130 am with Phil and Jonathan (American guy) and we walked back in search of food on the way to the hostel. We found… you guessed it, shawarma. This shawarma was at an Afghani spot that was about to close up. He said he’d be happy to serve us but we had to take it to go which was our plan anyways. Phil started chatting with him about Afghanistan and the conflict currently going on in Afghanistan which got us an invite to stay and eat while Phil and the owner talked for 30 minutes about Afghanistan.

After getting food I grabbed a bottle of water beside the hostel and immediately passed out in bed for 6 hours. I woke up feeling ok except for the headache but that’s nothing some Tylenol can’t fix. I was very surprised and impressed that my body was able to deal with the debauchery of the night before.

Phil and I grabbed breakfast at this chain bagel place. Smoked salmon and cream cheese for the win. A few of the girls we met at the pub crawl the night before texted me and said they were going to grab lunch and asked if we wanted to meet them. Phil and I had planned on going to the Guinness factory so we joined them for lunch and then 4/5 of us (one of the German girls had already gone) went to the Guinness factory. Our tickets were for 3:15 but I asked the lady who I paid for my ticket if we could go in early since we were there and she said sure so we didn’t have to wait outside for 30 minutes for our scheduled time. I was hoping the factory tour would be similar to the whisky one in Glasgow that was so enjoyable but it was self guided and basically a giant money making gimmick in my opinion. It was 6 floors of what looked like a giant advertisement. We eventually got our pint of Guinness when we got to the 7th floor of the tour in the gravity bar. I only drank half of it as I didn’t overly want alcohol after the previous night.

I got back to the hostel and was exhausted from the night before and a lack of sleep. My goal was to stay up long enough that I would sleep until I had to wake up at 5:50 am the next morning for my tour to Cork and Blarney Castle. I was laying in bed on my phone when two new roommates came in, a guy and a girl from Holland. They asked me if I wanted to play some games with them in the hostel common area so I went to grab some water from the store (trying to hydrate after drinking the night before) and then I joined them in the common area. They had a Dutch game called Regenwormen. Here is a link because I’m not going to try and explain it lol. https://www.ultraboardgames.com/pickomino/game-rules.php



In the game if you land on exactly the number on someone else’s top tile you can steal it and this is the tile that kept getting stolen back and forth between us.



We played two games of it and I won both before I told them I had to call it a night and go to sleep. I laid down at 10 and immediately fell asleep only waking up once before my alarm went off at 5:50 this morning.

I walked the 8 minutes to the meeting point stopping to grab a banana and a caprese sandwich for breakfast. When I arrived at the meeting place there were about 100 people and I was worried this was one tour but luckily over the next 20 minutes guides started to show up and call out the tours they were running until it was only 18 of us left. The last guy was Barry who came to get the rest of us, he was our driver and tour guide.

Our first stop of the day (not including the coffee/food/bathroom stop a hour in) was Cashel Rock Castle. I spent about 20 minutes checking out the castle before heading back to the bus. I assume by the time I am done this trip I will have extreme castle fatigue the same way as I had extreme temple fatigue by the 3rd month backpacking around SE Asia.



The next stop was the main attraction Blarney Castle. I started off at Blarney Castle checking out (getting lost on) one of trails, the one I accidentally ended up on was the forest trail.





I spent about 20 minutes half enjoying the nature and half trying to figure out how to escape the trail. Btw I had a map but couldn’t figure out the path to freedom. I found the wishing steps that eventually led to an open area and an exit to the maze that I found myself in.

From there I found my way to the Blarney Castle.



I was lucky to catch the line very short and I only had to wait about 20 minutes to kiss the Blarney Stone. I was in line ahead of an Australian couple from Perth and we chatted the whole way up. Now the line goes right through the castle and there are parts where we were stuck in a very small spiral staircase for quite a while. I am quite claustrophobic so this was challenging at times. When we were nearing the top of the staircase it got so thin that my shoulders touched the walls on both sides. I stood there standing in the stairwell unable to go up or down and felt myself start to panic a bit as I looked up. I made sure to look down towards the Australian couple where there was more open space and I made sure I was keeping a steady breathing pattern to calm myself. After a few minutes the line moved and I was able to get to the roof of the castle and into the open air. I was quite sweaty and very relieved to be out of the stairwell.

Every area of the castle was pretty tight.


From there it was about 5-10 more minutes until it was my turn to kiss the stone. They sanitize it after each person kisses it for all you people who might say “what about Covid”. I laid down on my back, held onto the two bars and pulled myself over the gap to the wall. A man is there to make sure you don’t fall. I leaned backwards and couldn’t get low enough to kiss it so I took a quick look around to see exactly where it was and went back on my back and kissed it. As I kissed it I could feel my back contort awkwardly as you have to get down to the very last stone on the wall. Worth it lol.

Ignore my stomach please lol


I got a man to take a picture of me in the pillory outside the castle. I wasn’t sure if my head would fit as I have a huge head but I just barely was able to fit. I wasn’t however able to fully look up at the camera due to lack of room to move. I then stopped at a pub/guesthouse in town to grab lunch. I had the roasted turkey and ham with mashed and veggies. The meats were phenomenal as was the gravy.

The bus then took us to our last stop of the day at Cahir Castle (pronounced like care). We had a guide from the castle take us around and explain all the ins and outs of the castle and each layer of security. I’m not sure what I thought a castle was for other than living in but they are fascinating buildings. The special defence and offence aspects of each part of the castle are really cool to learn about from an expert.



Original Victorian (I believe it was Victorian?!?) wood ceiling.


I am currently on the bus back to Dublin. The return journey takes about 2:20 and we are about halfway there. It’s been a long day so I don’t think I will stay up too late tonight. I have one more day in Dublin tomorrow and then I am taking the train to Galway.

Btw Ireland is pretty if you haven’t noticed yet.

As always you make the best posts. When I went to Blarney Castle with wifey we had a slightly different experience! You could see a dozen or so people in front of you get to kiss the stone. The old guy would say the same trope over and over…. ‘Sit down, bend back, hold on, kiss, next!’ Until my wife’s turn….’Ah lassie, nice to see you! Let’s put your back on the ground, I’ll help you, slide back a bit, I’ll hold you to help you. Now give that stone a kiss.’

If you have the chance, don’t miss Ashford Castle. They have a great boat ride in the attached lake. Wifey and I stayed overnight there. Might be 100 times as expensive as the nearby hostel!

I appreciate the compliment. I won’t be able to get there I’m only in Ireland for another 3 days and I’ve got plans for the whole time.

Quote: SOOPOO

As always you make the best posts. When I went to Blarney Castle with wifey we had a slightly different experience! You could see a dozen or so people in front of you get to kiss the stone. The old guy would say the same trope over and over…. ‘Sit down, bend back, hold on, kiss, next!’ Until my wife’s turn….’Ah lassie, nice to see you! Let’s put your back on the ground, I’ll help you, slide back a bit, I’ll hold you to help you. Now give that stone a kiss.’

If you have the chance, don’t miss Ashford Castle. They have a great boat ride in the attached lake. Wifey and I stayed overnight there. Might be 100 times as expensive as the nearby hostel!
link to original post

Giant's Causeway was underwhelming. I expected more because of the various tv shows/movies that use that location.

Guess special effects set my expectations high.

As for the Blarney stone, i thought it was a crock like some marketing guy thought:
- Pick a stone at random, give it a name and backstory, then charge dumb tourists (like me) $20 to kiss it

That stone doesnt look any different than any other stone in the castle

I knew nothing about Giant’s Causeway beforehand and it blew my mind. I loved my visit there.

Blarney is very gimmicky but I still enjoyed it. The nature trails are beautiful, the castle is architecturally very interesting and I had great food in the city off the beaten path so overall a very enjoyable trip for me.

Come on now. Five days and no update is unacceptable. If you don't post soon I am going to cancel my subscription.

I hope he didn't go to Russia while carrying hash oil.

Quote: DRich

Come on now. Five days and no update is unacceptable. If you don't post soon I am going to cancel my subscription.
link to original post

I didn’t receive your subscription payment yet ⏰ tick tock tick tock.

I’m going to be sitting in the airport for a while tomorrow so I plan on updating then.

Quote: PokerGrinder

I’m going to be sitting in the airport for a while tomorrow so I plan on updating then.

At Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport??? That's where I reported having collected my own Holland Casino chip that I posted in this thread. Why the big worry about maybe missing out on getting your souvenir chip, if you're just going to be sitting in the airport that has the casino?

I suppose I could be out of date. I got my chip back in May 2015 and posted it just four days later. I haven't checked recently as to whether that casino instillation is still running.