Then, being tired out, David drove Uncle Tony and I back to his place for the evening and we were sitting relaxing and taking when we heard a distinct Baaaaa. Now I haven’t told you that Uncle Tony has a beautifully landscaped garden which probably covers about half an acre and the last thing he wants in his garden is a loose sheep. We both jumped up and ran outside only to find a confused welsh mountain sheep looking for a way out of the yard. We chased her this way and we chased her that way but the design of the garden is such that there are paths surrounded by shrubs and there were not enough of us to make much of an impression on Baabara (that is what I called her when I was trying to reason with her to be calm and sensible). We had her sorted at one stage, or so we thought, but she leapt so high in the air she went over the top of the hedge and escaped again, not back out into the road but back into the garden. We called for reinforcements and David arrived determined to win, it took him a while but he eventually forced the old dear over the back fence. I got plenty of exercise that day. 

The next day was Ireland day, the weather was yukky and overcast when Martha arrived in good time to pick me up for the 20 minute drive to Holyhead and the Irish ferry we were booked on. She had time for a tour of the garden and some lunch and then we were off on our new adventure.

The Emerald Isle

Well begosh and begorrah, I must have hit the premium button when I booked the ferry crossing and so we got a premium loading and a ticket into the lounge which had a front row view of the journey from reclining seats with complimentary drinks and snacks. Even the lower classes had it pretty good with restaurants and cafes to choose from and a variety of places to sit out the 3.5 hour pleasant journey. The ferry was huge and so the journey was pretty smooth but in any case the weather was with us so the water was like glass. We were a bit confused when we got on the ferry whilst all those seasoned travellers headed to their favourite spots.  A nice Irish man rescued us and pointed us towards the lounge. Premium loading and unloading meant we were on the top level which was first to unload too. During the trip we chatted to two Irish blokes, one of whom had been to Wales to get a Celtic tattoo on his side (yes he flashed it and said it was painful and I must say it was impressive) they both rode motor bikes and were from country Antrim and gave us lots of advice about what to go and see. 

Journey over we got into the car and got off the ferry when the nice man waved for us to do so. Once off the ferry we realised we did not know where we were going. We had at first decided to skirt the city and find a bed and breakfast place but somehow we went into the city and I used my Lonely Planet guide and a map to find a bed and breakfast  district but we didn’t like them and there was no parking so we would have had to pay city parking rates for the whole of the next day. We headed out of the city, north it seemed, and filled up with petrol where I asked a taxi driver if she knew of a place for us to stay. Saints be praised we were directed to an establishment up the Cabra road owned by a nice lady called Imelda who had a very nice west highland white terrier which wagged it's tail at me at the door when I went to enquire thus sealing the deal for me that we would stay there the night. We got the attic room, right under the roof with a skylight so I lay in bed and watched the sky. 

Wasn’t it a loverly breakfast we were having and getting some directions from Imelda the very next day as we wanted to be looking at Dublin city before we went up north to the Giants Causeway in Country Antrim. 

And the saints must have been with us too as we caught the bus right across the road from Imelda’s leaving our car in the parking lot, for wasn’t I sitting next to a foine Irish catholic lady, for I knew her to be catholic because she crossed herself every time we passed a church, and there she was telling me that I needed the very same bus stop as her and that we would be going to the Dublin bus centre and they would be telling us how to get around the fair city of Dublin. And they did, as we decided to catch the hop on hop off city tour bus and the first time we hopped off was at Trinity College to view the Book of Kells. And didn’t we get the very best and funniest of Oirish boys to take us on our tour, we laughed and laughed at his stories and then we trouped through the library where the Book of Kells and some very foine old books were kept.

And then didn’t we hop back on that bus again and hop off again at the Cathedral and Dublinia, we had tought to do the Viking splash tour but wasn’t it not leaving until 3 o' clock and taking nearly 2 hours and so we didn’t do that, we did Dublinia instead. And weren’t we going to see the jail but by the time we tramped around Dublinia and the Cathedral we were tired and it was late and so didn’t we hop right back on that bus again and go back to O’Connell Street to look for a noice bus back to Imelda’s house and didn’t we find the very bus we needed and hopped off right outside Imelda’s foine B and B. And she did greet us and offer us the use of her facilities and then off we went again. We had no trouble with bus lotto in Dublin, the luck of the Irish prevailed and we took no turn wrong. 

So what was Dublin like? From my view it was a city like any other with respect to the fact that it was busy and had loads of vehicles and so there was the pollution that goes with them. Cities tend to drain me but I go to them because there are things to see. There are many things to see n Dublin and one or two days is not going to even scratch the surface. We found it relatively easy to drive around and relatively easy to get around by bus too. Dublinia was a tourist attraction designed to give the tourist a snapshop view of the history of Ireland and it does that but it is a little flat in content, you just walk around from room to room and interact in some cases whilst in other you just read the boards and look at some artefacts. Fortunately we have over two weeks in Ireland to see better examples but the Viking story was good. The ticket into Dublinia included a tour of Christ Church Cathedral which was quite beautiful and they had a display down in the crypt of old ecclesiastical silverware. Even without the display the crypt was well worth a look and when I went back into the Cathedral proper someone was playing the organ so it was very atmospheric. Trinity College and all the books as well as The Book of Kells are also well worth a look.

The sense of Irish humour in Dublin is everywhere and it was very pleasant to be in a place getting lots of laughs. The tour bus driver said that once the River Liffey used to be much wider and one day Seamus decided to swim across, he got half way and realised he wasn't going to make it to the other side so he swam back.

Armagh, Omagh, very confusing when you go through both on the same day. The first picture above is of a banner we saw a lot of in Northern Ireland, there are less pubs up there than in the South. All the road signs tend to be in English and they use UK pounds as currency. Dublin is in the South of Ireland so we went from using Euros to Pounds and then back again in the space of two days, I have a purse full of money and have to think which part of my purse I need to go to as it is all foreign money to me. I should count my blessing that I have some to get confused about.

Armargh is nothing to write home about but Martha had forgotten her insulin and so we had to find a doctor there because it is still under the national health in that region but not in the south of Ireland where she would have had to pay for the doctors appointment as well as the insulin. She managed an appointment at 11.30 so it was about 12.30 before we were on our way to the Giant's Causeway in County Antrim. We drove through beautiful countryside, the roads were good and everything looked neat and tidy. The people we met were helpful and friendly and they all wished us well on our travels. 

We went through Colraine and Port Rush and then on to the causeway parking area which cost E5.00 and then we walked the 20 minutes to the actual causeway. Most people have heard of the causeway and the legend and I must say that the stones were very impressive but like all really good places it was over run by people all wanting to do what we were doing, It began to rain while we were there so we opted to catch the bus back up to the top so I guess, in one way, we were lucky that people were flocking there otherwise we would have had to hoof it back up the hill in the rain. The hexagonal rocks are amazing and you could just imagine they might once have formed a causeway for the odd giant to cross over to Scotland on. Click here for the legend written on the board at the Causeway 

We did want to do the rope bridge but it was getting late so we headed south to Boyle before dark and the good old Irish rain decided to set in. We arrived in Boyle just before dark and managed to get lost but found our way to the farmhouse we would be staying at for 10 days or so. There was a man standing near the open doorway and it was almost dark. I asked is this Shirley's house and he said it is not, I said it must be, he said it is not, I said you must be Joseph and he grinned and said that I am. Joe and Irene live down the lane and they have been a great help to us since we arrived. The next day we went into Boyle in Country Roscommon to search for food and a dentist for me as I had broken my tooth in Dublin.