GLQ-CRR Caledonian Sleeper – Seated

Back in July I was once again up in Scotland for work, although this time I had a free day in the middle of my visit and so decided to head up to my favourite spot in the Highlands for the day, Corrour. Wanting to make the most of my time and also try out a slightly different way of getting along the West Highland Line, my day started at the unreasonable hour of 0530 as I made my way to Glasgow Queen Street to catch the Fort William portion of the Caledonian Sleeper.

ORK to LHR Aer Lingus Economy

Having had a great weekend exploring in and around Cork, it was time to head home. Unlike my last trip to Cork where I took a circuitous route home via Dublin with Iarnród Éireann and Aer Lingus Regional, this time we’d be taking a more direct route with Aer Lingus from Cork to London Heathrow. This flight would be the other ‘half’ of the roundtrip that we flew to Cork on, with the early evening departure from Cork forming the late evening return flight from England.

Cork – A Return to The Rebel City – Part 2

This is the second of two posts covering our time in and around the Irish city of Cork, so if you haven’t yet read the first part, I’d recommend doing that first. As a re-cap, after a late-night arrival into Cork, we’d spent our first morning taking part in a free walking tour, before enjoying a delicious lunch in the English Market. Now, after a nap and refresh at our hotel, it was time to head back out into the city, to meet a friend for dinner at a highly recommended restaurant.

Cork – A Return to The Rebel City – Part 1

With our arrival in Cork onboard an Aer Lingus flight from Heathrow being just before midnight, our first day in the city started with a relaxed breakfast at the hotel before we ventured out into the city. Whilst I have visited Cork before, this was Beth’s first time in the city and so rather than wander aimlessly like I had done, we decided to make sure we saw some of the real city. As such, our first destination was the Opera House on Emmett Place to join a walking tour with Yellow Umbrella Tours which would show us both the touristy highlights of Cork as well as hopefully some hidden gems!

Bonus Blog – CrossCounty’s Refurbished Class 170s

Back at the start of March, CrossCountry launched the first of its refurbished class 170s into service and, some five months later, I finally had the opportunity to take a ride on one. At the time of my journey at the start of August, only 170101, 170112 and 170113 had been refurbished and re-entered service, so hunting one of them down was a bit of a challenge. However, with the help of Real Time Trains, I managed to find 170101 on a Birmingham New Street to Stansted Airport service and so took a ride a couple of stops east to Nuneaton to try it out.

LHR to ORK Aer Lingus Advantage

Back in July we decided to have a weekend away somewhere, however with work on both the Friday and Monday, it couldn’t be somewhere too far, and we needed to make the most of our time away. With a flight time of around an hour from the London airports and late flights able to get us there the Friday night, Cork seemed like the perfect destination. Of course, to start an Irish adventure it seemed only right to fly with Aer Lingus and so Friday 11th July saw us arriving at Heathrow’s Terminal 2 ready for the short hop across the Irish Sea.