Sunday, Jessie and I were pretty worn out from all our walking on Saturday. So, we took it easy and had a lazy morning. We eventually made it out the door around 11.30 in the morning, and went out to Fore Abby Ruins. Figured, since it was Sunday, we might as well try for something ecclesiastical. The ruin was lovely. I was actually surprised how much of it still had a roof. But, what was almost cooler, was the field you walked through to get up to the ruin was solid yellow irises! Really lovely. Only a few were in bloom when we were there, but you could imagine what it would look like all in bloom.
The tiny baby bunny was awfully cute!
After our Abby Walk we drove through the countryside for a while. I have this crazy enjoyment of driving down these insanely narrow winding roads. Jessie indulged my bizarre habit, and we spent a while just driving, and seeing the beautiful countryside.
Eventually we stopped at the Loghcrew Gardens (just down the street from that burial I talked about in my last post.) They were setting up for an Opera that evening, and that was kind of cool to see. Also, there was a very fun Alice in Wonderland walk, where they've got all these different scenes out of the book: the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, the Cheshire Cat, Alice talking to the Caterpillar, the White Rabbit rushing down the rabbit hole.... It's pretty fun! And, there's a fabulous zipline, which was sadly NOT open when we were there :( But, mostly it was the fabulous flowers and gardens that kept us wandering for 2 hours.
We finished off the day by doing some more driving. Just aimless wandering again. It was really beautiful, and so relaxing. We made it home WAY before the boys (they were 5 hours late!) and Jessie, bless her, decided she wouldn't be a "Proper Irish Mam" if she let me go off without some homemade soda bread. So she made some! It was DIVINE!
Monday was a Bank Holiday for Ireland, so we had another relaxing morning. Originally I'd planned on getting out of Jessie's hair that day to let them get back on schedule for the week. But, they wouldn't let me leave! They were so wonderful and kind, and we did have a fabulous day. We (all) took the boys to McDonalds for lunch before heading to a gorgeous forest. On the way, we stopped and got Jessie a new camera! (Her old one was having difficulties, which was annoying because it was brand new!)
The next morning (Tuesday) I got up and drove to the Northern Coast, up to the Giant's Causeway. This is one of the things I've always said, "I'll go there someday." Finally! I've made it! Woo hoo! It was pretty awesome. Unfortunately, it was also the only properly rainy day I had the whole trip. I hiked around, nonetheless, but did get pretty wet! I wore my mac on purpose, but didn't have an umbrella. Never mind, I really wanted my hands free to climb! After roaming the rocks for a few hours, I booked a place at a Farm B&B. It was just up the road a little. The lovely owner offered to hang my jeans on her indoor drying line, as they were SOAKED! I changed and let her do that for me, and then I went out for a drive. There was a spectacular sunset that evening, even though it was still drizzly on land. Unfortunately, because of the rain, the rope bridge which is only 5 or 7 miles down the coast from the Causeway wasn't open :( That was the only thing I wanted to do that I couldn't.
The next day (Wednesday) I drove down from the North, back to the Republic and a stopover at my other Irish Family. I was in a major accident in Ireland 7 years ago (!) and have kept in touch with the Family who rescued me, the O'Tooles (Yes! Really!) They're very dear to me, and I stayed over night with them just for the purpose of saying hi. It's been 4 years since the last time I saw them, so it was way over due. Sometime during my drive, my mom reached my house in England. She was originally supposed to come in on Friday, but since she was flying standby, and the flight didn't look promising for Friday, she tried for Wednesday, and made it (just). That meant she had 2 days on her own at my house, but that's not such a bad thing. Two days to relax and get over jetlag.
Thursday, I drove back to Dublin, returned the car and flew home! It was really nice to walk in my front door and have my mom be there.
So, that's my Irish Adventure! And.... shockingly... not a single trauma, drama or mishap!
4 comments:
Sounds like a fantastic trip. I love all of your pictures. And how awesome is that- as soon as you get home, you get to spend some time with your mom? Your life is awesome.
Some days, it sure is. :-)
I would love to go to Ireland! So glad you had a good time. Great pictures.
Thanks, Colletta :) Ireland's a fun place to visit. But then, I think that about most everywhere!
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