Also Included:
All Accommodations
All Entry Fees
All Ground Transportation
Welcome Dinner

We will arrive approx. 12:30 or so. Check in at the Hostel is not until 2:00 PM, so we will drop our bags and head for a light lunch (save room for dinner).

Then take a tour of Trinity College, oldest university
Includes the Book of Kells - Then walk a bit and discover the city. Visit Sweet Molly Malone.

In the evening we will gather for a WELCOME Dinner (included in the price of the tour).

Abbey Court Hostel
29 Bachelors Walk D1 Dublin Ireland
+353 1 878 0700

Balleaymon Barn Hostel
127 Ballyemon Rd,
Cushendall,
Ballymena BT44 0QP,
United Kingdom

SCHEDULED - Storytelling workshop w/Liz Weir

The story of Liz’s journey begins back in the 1970’s.  As Children’s Librarian for the City of Belfast, she learned about the healing power of storytelling …
Liz Weir is a storyteller and writer from Northern Ireland. She was the first winner of the International Story Bridge Award from the National Storytelling Network, USA, which cited her “exemplary work promoting the art of storytelling”.
Liz Weir has told her stories to people of all ages on five continents. She has performed in pubs and prisons and hospital rooms. She worked on stages in the mighty Vanderbilt Hall of New York’s Grand Central Station and in the Royal Albert Hall.

Liz Weir does not only work as an artist. Advertising agencies ask her for concepts and she leads corporate training sessions, as storytelling has become more and more accepted as a marketing instrument. And for those working with Alzheimer’s patients, Liz Weir’s talks demonstrate that we can revitalize people by helping them remember and tell their stories.

Lunch then...

PM - TRAIN to Belfast -

Vagabond Hostel
  9 University Road,
Belfast, BT7 1NA,
United Kingdom 

AM - Titanic Museum in Belfast

PM - Train back to Dublin

Perhaps a visit to the Guiness Beer factory

Abbey Court Hostel
29 Bachelors Walk D1 Dublin Ireland
+353 1 878 0700

First, a MUST stop at the Cornish Bakery for the BEST pan aux raisin pastry in the world. Possibly heaven on earth!

Salisbury Cathedral, it bears the tallest spire in England, and is one of the five places that hold original copies of the Magna Charta. Recently finished renovations have both strengthened and restored this building which has no actual foundation set in the ground!

For $7 extra, you can climb the tower! Wind your way up narrow spiral staircases, climbing 332 steps in easy stages, into our ancient roof spaces to the foot of our iconic spire, 68 metres above ground level.

On your tour you will enjoy spectacular sights – an uninterrupted aerial view of the inside of the Cathedral, look up into the inside of the spire and panoramic views of Salisbury and the surrounding water meadows. Our experienced guides will tell you all about the construction of this architectural masterpiece.

Possible - Escape Room

KIngs Head Inn
1 Bridge Street,
Salisbury, SP1 2ND,
United Kingdom 

We will board a bus to Stonehenge. One of the most famous, ancient structures in the world, Stonehenge is the remains of a ring of standing stones set within earthworks. It is in the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds.

Return to Salisbury

A visit to Poundland the English equivalent of the Dollar Store, will call upon your improv skills.

Saturday, May 20 -

AM - Marketplace Day in the Salisbury Town Square, you may hear the hawkers calling out, “Pound-a-bowl!” or other enticements to buy their foods or wares. Other options here include walking or bicycle tours of the town and its environs. The Brits love to “tell stories” and the locals here seem to want to talk to strangers at the drop of a hat. No qualms or hesitancy, they just begin as if they have known you for years. This is a feast for “listening”.

Shops nearby boast a variety of sweet or savory pastries. Make sure you follow me to the Cornish Bakery for the BEST "pan aux raisin" in the city!

Lunch

PM - Train to Canterbury

Drop bags at

Westgate House
30 College Road,
Canterbury, CT1 1QX,
United Kingdom 

Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, is a collection of twenty stories, presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. A similar contest will be open to all tellers on this tour – sort of a Canterbury Story Slam. The prize for the best telling during the tour will be a free dinner on the last night of the tour!

The city is steeped in both religious and literary history. There is an enjoyable "street fair" ambiance with many "busking" performers, food carts and interesting sights.

Head to the Canterbury Cathedral for a tour. There is much history in this lavish old cathedral. The massive ceilings tower over visitors and there are many displays of the riches of the church. There are many preserved artifacts, such as the armor of Edward, Prince of Wales, known as the Black Night.

A visit to Eastbidge Hospital and Franciscan Gardens. Once a hospital in the original meaning of the word - "hospitality", now a hostel or "alms house" for pensioners.

Gather for dinner and the day's review

Westgate House
30 College Road,
Canterbury, CT1 1QX,
United Kingdom  

Today we'll enjoy the flat bottom "punting" boat guided tour of the mill stream. There are some beautiful sights and we should get a bit of a short history lesson from the guides. We will assess the skills of the guide as it pertains to storytelling in interpretive settings.

Visit the Roman Museum. The Canterbury Roman Museum in Canterbury, Kent, houses a Roman pavement which is a scheduled monument, in the remains of a Roman courtyard house which itself is a grade I listed building. The pavement was discovered after World War II bombing, and has been open to the public since 1946. 

We'll also enjoy the carnival-like atmosphere of the city. There are many musicians and street performers (buskers). Anyone want to try their hand at gathering a crowd for a story - - then passing the hat?!?!

Westgate House
30 College Road,
Canterbury, CT1 1QX,
United Kingdom 

London - The last stop on our tour. We'll drop our bags & head to the London Eye, a giant ferris wheel - you feel no movement - a great way to get a bird's eye view of the city!

London Eye
Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum.
--Very Hokey but loads of fun!

Dover Castle Hotel
6A Great Dover Street,
Southwark, London,
SE1 4XW, United Kingdom 

We'll visit the Globe Theatre - famous site of many of Shakespeare’s plays. Most of his plays had both a prologue and an epilogue. Sometimes, these could stand on their own as the "bare bones" of the story of the play!

They will be performing "A Winters Tale". Some of us may opt to see a performance in the evening (not included in the tour).

Nearby are several sites: London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Tower of London

Charles Dickens Museum

Rest of the day - free

Dover Castle Hotel
6A Great Dover Street,
Southwark, London,
SE1 4XW, United Kingdom 

Some things...not sure what.3

Dover Castle Hotel
6A Great Dover Street,
Southwark, London,
SE1 4XW, United Kingdom 

A whole day free to yourselves in London. Shopping, sightseeing, taking in the culture and environment.

Big Ben

Buckingham Palace

London Bridge

Evening - Final Dinner & Stories

Dover Castle Hotel
6A Great Dover Street,
Southwark, London,
SE1 4XW, United Kingdom