Cill Aodain Hotel Kiltimagh

... While John had his window down to pay our fare, he was wet by a wave that came over the side. I laughed, but he didn’t see the humor in it.

Once in Northern Ireland, we drove through the town of Portrush, which is a seaside resort town. A lot of it is nice, but there are other sections with many boarded up houses. Between Portrush and Bushmills, the ruins of 16th century Dunluce Castle stand by the sea. It was the seat of the MacDonnell family until ...

... bare feet and let me tell you it is not a smooth walk. Hundreds of people even go so far as to walk 21 miles from Ballintubber Abbey where St. Patrick baptized the people all the way to the mountain and then climb it... IN ONE DAY....crazy. One of my roommates says that she and her dad climb the mountain at least 2 times a year and she has seen old woman upwards of 80 climbing the mountain in just their bare feet...

Me and my group ...

... turlough (which is a shallow limestone lake that fills in the fall and dries up in the spring/summer) that the house overlooks and expansive lawns and gardens.

There was also a museum that showed us how the people who lived on their land would have lived and how they survived. Definately nowhere close to how the Fitzgerald lived... these are just some of the pictures that I took of the grounds....

... took the man in and kept him safe until it was his time to ascend the thrown. To repay the clergy for their kindness he vowed to build them a brand new church, but when he returned years later and asked the priests how they liked their new church he found that it had never been built. this is because the stone masons didnt have things like map quest or a tom tom, so instead of building the church where Ballintubbers Abbey is they built ...

... them....taught us all a lesson that day...castle tomorrow night. saw our first peat bog today very strange...lots of fat livestock, sheep and cows....not me and kt....saw a church where an appariton appeared 100 years ago, mary, joseph and sheep, church deemed it true, now evrone comes there to pray. we prayed someone was reading this blog and for the suitcases to arrive. saw a 200 year old farm house, hasn't changed at all everything the same as is was back then ...

... 70 and so sweet. She started to pull the first pint and Jim stopped her to ask if she took credit cards or US dollars. She said "oh no dear, we do not." When we said we had not changed money yet she said, "Just have one now and bring the money back later." Now, who in the US would say that? We of course did not take her up on the offer. We got directions to a market, purchased some supplies and stopped at a place that ...

My bag has been packed. And re-packed. And unpacked. And squished.
I've informed the hotel of my late arrival.
I've got (some) foreign cash.
My electrical batteries are charged.
My print outs are in a waterproof folder in a waterproof bag.


Agh!

... week when I can actually put up pictures, because you won’t believe how huge and beautiful this place was…it backed up to a huge lake. Legend has it was at this castle that St. Patrick was banished to the Isle of Inishfree. If you’re too impatient to wait for pictures, go to www.ashford.ie (I think that’s right). But my pictures are better. Ha!

Later on, we just curled up on a stone wall (in ...

Right, this is my last day in Ireland, last day of being 'at home' and I think I have everything pretty much done and dusted. I have my passport, ticket, a couple of visas and credit card anyway so I can't go too far wrong! I am heading over to England tomorrow and am looking forward to Rob and Sues' wedding on Friday and then my leaving bash on Saturday. Hopefully I will have worked out how to use this website properly by then so will ...

After months of planning and some last minute hitches (my overloaded backpack ripped apart hours before departure) it is finally time to say goodbye to my folks again. There is the obvious nervousness that I suppose every traveller goes through but I know this is the best thing that can be happening to me.