Nottingham City Transport rant

Dear Sir, Madam,

I am writing to you to complain about the bus service 53 that runs along the Ring Road in Nottingham. This morning was the second time that I walked towards the bus stop (the one just after the Futurist stop) being fifteen minutes early, and the bus drove past me. As a consequence, I had to wait 45 minutes for the next one to arrive. It was the bus that was supposed to arrive around 9.35, and had already left when I arrived at the busstop, which was at 9.22 (I verified my time with a pedestrian passing by). A similar thing happened to me very recently, around the same time of day. It is already not an ideal busline (doesn't run very often and stops at 18:00 in the evening, which makes it impossible to take everyday if you work late), but it is also unreliable. On top of this you have just raised the costs of traveling to £1.40. Very welcome news after having just waited for 45 minutes in wind and rain without bus-shelter!

I am heavily disappointed in this. Since it is the only option on the ring road, many people are dependent on the line, especially the ones that have no other option. I do have another option and intend therefore not to use this bus-line anymore. Combined with the unfriendly service (not giving change, no good options for multiple-travel cards) it is one of the worst bus-services I have encountered so far.

(sent to Nottingham City Transport customer comments, 25-7-2007)

26-07-2007
I discover that the other busline, called MedLink, is FREE and leaves a ten min. walk from our house. I am converted!

31-07-2007
NCT have replied to my email. They basically say they have spanked the driver, and that they might add some additional journeys from September onwards. They nicely avoid the other comments in the letter. oh well, I've made up my mind anyway.

Fietsen in Ierland

We're back!


here's us leaving the wedding party in full regalia

Traveling by train and ferry was more comfortable than expected, though we only just got the connections. Never been so eager to find out where the elevator is on a platform! Another close one was in Dublin: we were given an hour to get from the ferry to the train (Heuston station). We never thought about this one - kind of assumed it would speak for itself. It doesn't. There are at opposite ends of the city, and there are no signs. A friendly stranger told us we had to follow the river, the train station would be at the 9th bridge on the left. Yikes! Right then the first big shower emerged from the clouds, just to add to the challenge. Welcome to Ireland! But we got it, five minutes before it was due to leave.


on the train from Dublin, after the first soaking

It's true what they say about the Irish west coast, by the way. It does rain a lot ... though the locals all said how appalling this summer's weather is. It rained almost everyday, but only for about five or ten minutes. Two days were completely sunny and warm (on Inishmore, great timing!), and two other days were truly bad, especially because the rain was combined with strong winds. Yuk. And hail sucks.


Jon's had enough

Views were very rewarding though, as well as the company of other travelers we met on our way. Ireland's countryside and cliffs are breathtaking, even when it is not very sunny.


Gap of Dunloe, Killarney Nat. Park


Cliffs of Kilkee


sitting at the edge of the cliffs at Dun Aengus, Inishmore

And with approx. 400 miles of cycling on Irish ground we feel quite satisfied frankly :). It's not that much, but more than we had planned and still very very relaxing. And it's true what they say about the Irish too, they are an extremely friendly bunch!

click on the map below for details on the route, and here for all the pictures.


ps. a preview of the wedding party pictures can be found here and here. Please let me know if you have any too!

The Honeymoon Route

We just created a map in google where you can track our honeymoon route. We haven't finished the map nor the trip yet, so stay tuned for changes.

groetjes uit een hostel ergens in een afgelegen plekje in Connemara, Ierland...

The Wedding Day

Click on the picture for our selection of the 1000 wedding day pictures! With special thanks to our photographer Frank Barnhoorn, Luke and Denis. We've narrowed them down to about 150 for you :). If you enjoy the pictures just a fraction as much as we enjoyed the day, you'll have a grand time!

Stay tuned in case we manage to get online during our honeymoon...