Ireland 2025 – Day 1

Posted on July 10, 2025 by jmatie22

Flew out of IBZ around 11am, and arrived at DUB at 1pm local time. Immigration was fairly fast.

We ended up renting a car, and driving west towards a town called Limerick.

At Limerick, we stopped by King John’s Castle. Learned 4 things about the castle:

-Henry II invaded Ireland and ordered the castle to be built for his son King John

-King John never actually entered it since he died 6 years after it was ordered to be built (died of dysentery)

-For some reason there was a siege/rebels (I think in the 1500s)

-lots of purses (to activate people speaking in the museum you had to lift these coin purses)

We then stopped by town to grab an early dinner. Parts of the town reminded me of the lower east side inn New York, while others were clearly more gentrified (and others looked like buildings were falling apart). Here is the restaurant we ate at, called Coqbull (and yes it is a play on what you’re thinking because the WiFi password is whipitout).

Coqbull

After we drove another 2 hours to Killarney. We passed by towns that looked similar to Aberlour, and lots of greenery.

At Killarney, first thing we did is check into our hotel, The Lake Hotel. It is actually pretty beautiful with the lake beside it (and a castle that is dilapidated).

The town of Killarney is also fairly nice, where you can definitely see people have their weddings here. We also ventured into town and checked out one Irish bar, Tinh Mary Donald’s, and got a Guiness (they also had trivia night going on). Also hopped into one other place, Kaynes Bar and Restaurant, to try Killarney whisky. It’s not bad, but also wouldn’t be my first choice.

Then ubered back to the hotel to get a complimentary night cap at the hotel bar.

Scotland 2024 – Day 1

Posted on July 7, 2024 by jmatie22

We took a flight from Ibiza to Scotland at 11am, and landed in Glasgow at 3pm. My friend and I ended up renting an Avis car, and driving for him took some time to get used to.

We ended up staying near the heart of Glasgow at The Radisson Blue near central station (note we parked at a nearby garage, but next time would pay for parking at the hotel parking).

Near the area was a Pizza Hut, Tim Hortons, KFC and McDonalds. Next time I do want to try the Tim Hortons.

We basically spent the day at the West End of Glasgow near the University of Glasgow. We ate at this place (where there was a good presence of University students) which had haggis (the national Scottish dish):

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2024/07/07/ubiquitous-chip/

After we did walk around the area for a bit, and even ended up getting ice cream.

We did go back to the room around 9pm to get ready for a night out of drinks and a club called Sub Club that is a 5 minute walk from our hotel (where Ame played the next day). However, got a bit of food poisoning that made the night a chill night. Next time will definitely try and hit up that club.

Europe 2023 Day 4 – Lisbon

Posted on July 27, 2023 by jmatie22

Woke up early to grab our last breakfast at Grand Palladium, then to catch a flight to LIS. I will say the departure area of IBZ looks nice because it is newly renovated. However the lounge was very subpar.

After arriving at LIS, the hotel, Intercontinental Lisbon, was a 20 minute Uber ride away.

After checking into the hotel, slept for 20 minutes, then booked a bus ride to Nazare. The fastest bus ride was 1.5 hours direct. It departed from the Lisboa Oriente Train / bus terminal. Fortunately the bus platforms were above ground and the buses super easy to find, since the Uber for their 4 minutes before departure. (Bus company used was flix bus)

After the bus ride, we walked alongside the beach, Praia da Nazaré, to grab lunch at Aki Del-Mar Mariscos:

Aki Del-Mar Mariscos

From there, took a tram, Nazaré Funicular, up a cliff to a lighthouse called Farol da Nazaré, where you can see 100ft waves from the beach Praia do Norte (however it is usually near the winter months). One story to note from the cliffs is that there is a story of a miracle where a knight was chasing a deer, and the deer fell of the cliff, but the knight’s horse stopped right at the edge of the cliff (and his hooves are imprinted at the edge).

Then walked back to the bus stop (8:30pm departure), but got some ice cream along the way).

FYI, this is a really good resource for Nazare: https://travellemming.com/things-to-do-in-nazare/

After getting back to the busy terminal, Ubered to the hotel, and ordered some room service (some salmon dish pictured below). (FYI, one thing I wish this hotel had was a pool or hot tub).

Europe 2023 Day 1 – Ibiza

Posted on July 23, 2023 by jmatie22

Original plan was to leave SF at 3pm on a Saturday, then arrive aim Ibiza on Sunday 4pm (in time to catch Swedish house mafia), connecting through AMS. Plan was solid until my flight leaving SF was delayed 3 hours! Within those 3 hours tried to see if there was any other reasonable solution (ie not paying thousands) to get to IBZ at the same time. Was about to take a United flight to London Heathrow instead (several direct flights to IBZ from there), but then it got cancelled! Also tried to figure out a new flight to IBZ. Unfortunately had to get a non direct flight (stopping by Barcelona). Getting me there 4.5 hrs later.

Flight went by reasonably fast (was in Exonomy Plus with no one at the middle seat, and watched Suits for most of it, then got maybe 1 hour of sleep).

Arriving at AMS, taxiing to the gate was probably a good 15 minutes. When entering the airport, the walk to passport control was around 8 minutes. Then waited in line for 35 minutes (although they were actively asking if people had flights to catch within 30 minutes of the current time). After passport control, no re-entering security. Went to the aspire lounge aka Lounge 26 (covered by priority pass). The lounge was just meh (comparing to centurion). Only hot food was soup, and alcohol was self serve (only whisky was Red label).

On the positive side, sorta learning how to adapt to unexpected travel hiccups. Hopefully this is the only one on this trip!

FYI, vueling and posting the gates on google of the worst. Had to go to the airport website to find the gate info.

The flight to BCN (stop over) was around 2 hours. Vueling doesn’t have seats that recline, but alcohol they sell is cheap. When I got to BCN, my gate we landed to was at A12. The gate I needed to reach was B43. I basically sprinted for a good 10 minutes to make my connection. Super glad I made it.

Arriving at IBZ, got a taxi, where they accept cc. Arriving at the hotel, The Grand Palladium White Island, quickly checked in, then made my way to Ushuaia for Swedish house Mafia. Only caught an our, but it was truly satisfying.

After, went to the Ushuaia rooftop. Great view, but it’s just meh unless you go during the music (aka before 11pm) (great view of the stage).

The last place we stopped by this night was Elvissa (aka Ibiza Town). We had stopped by Calle de La Virgin (the Castro street of Ibiza). Because it was a Sunday, it wasn’t super happening, but I can see how it could be busy got G area. We had a drink at Cenote, where the vibe is mainly jungle themed. Had a Mojito Pina Colad (basically a Mojito wit a hint on Pina). Was pretty good.

We also did walk around the Ibiza Marina (Avinguda Andanes). Reminded me of Split, Croatia.