Ireland

Monday, 15th July
Today, we explore Belfast, and we find a very fancy shopping centre, but don't  spend to much time there, as we want to find the Hop on Hop off bus. Our first hop off drop we get of at is the Titanic Museum. Even though the Titanic is not here, this place was very very good. The building itself is made to scale of the Titanic, and it is very impressive. Loads of history and information about, not only the Titanic, but the way people lived, and conditions they worked in.
Next we get back onto the bus, and soon wish we hadn't. Our live commentary was focused so much on the past of Northern Ireland and the " troubles". Even though he did say he was giving a " balanced " commentary, it didn't take us long to work out that he was a Catholic man. Many sites were of what had happened to the Catholics, and there was seldom mention of the Prodestants, or the churches.  The tour takes us past murals depicting war and guns and loss of life. Which is no doubt a big part of their history, but how can they move on, when keeping all this stuff in your face. He did say that the Easter peace agreement was a good thing, and that " the island of Ireland " had peace as a result of this, and it was a good thing.  But you could feel the undercurrents bubbling, and know that, it wouldn't take much to stir the pot. We were driven through the peace walls, which are walls, 40 ft high, to keep Prodestant  and Catholic communities apart. It seems archaic and so out of place in this time and age. After the tour ended, both Bob and I felt that all we wanted to to was to go back to our accommodation and shut ourselves away.

Tuesday, 16th July
Bit of a rest day, but we do venture into Lisburn, and discover an absolutely lovely business centre. But first, we go through the Irish linen and museum. This is something that is very interesting, and we get to see the ladies do some weaving, and get the history, of how things were done, and conditions that these people worked in. The ladies were using weaving looms that were 190 years old. And that, to become a weaver, one had a 5 year apprentiship and then another 2 years on top of that. It is amazing to see what the flax is, and how the linen is achieved. I have learnt much.
Then after this, we go on to explore the business centre. It is a bright and cheery place, which is busy. We also discover a coffee shop called Bob & Berts upon which we have to get the mandatory photo.

Wednesday, 17th July
We leave Lisburn today and make our way to Newtownstewart. On the way, we go past Portrush, where the British open  is being played. We continue onwards, and come across police that have closed the road. We figure, due to the large number of traffic because of the golf tournament, they are only allowing those who have permits to go through as we found out. The officer who come to our car asks if we have a permit, and reply that we are going to the Giants Causeway,  and we are turning where the traffic is being stopped. The Giants Causeway, is an amazing place, but it was very windy, and proved to be a drizabone visit. This is the  second time I have had to use it. To take pics, one had to hold on very tightly to the phone, as it was very blustery. We then continue, and drive to where The Dark Hedges are. This is a road, that was planted with 150 beech trees in 1775 of which there are still 90 of them left. This was also a scene set in the Game Of Thrones,
We arrive at our next place and settle in. We take a walk about the street, and find a shop that seems to sell almost everything. It is a clothing store, come everything else, a bit like Ace Dealers of Roma, but not to that large scale. As we enter the shop, I notice in the window upstairs that there is rolls of yarn, so while Bob and the store owner are chatting, I go upstairs to investigate, and to my delight, I find some needlework I can do. A cross stitch, which I will attempt, and also a cross stitch cushion cover. I have been looking for something like this to do since being in France, and looked in London. Whole chatting to this man, the question is asked where to get something to eat, and we are told just up the street. Well, later on, we decide to check out the recommendations we have been told about, and it is more than just up the street. 20mins later, we find the place that was suggested. But it was good, and the service was great also. Driving back, it still gets to me at how light it is, even at 8.45pm, I had to put my sunnies on. Crazy.

Thursday, 18th July
We are venturing into Londonderry to see the Walled city. This is a city inside a city. It is the old part of Londonderry and the Walls were built in 1613 to 1619 as a defence against the Scottish and the English. These walls are the only ones still in tact in Ireland. And inside these walls there is a lively little business area filled with lots of tourists and eaterys. On our way to Londonderry I read about the Sion Mills, which is on our way back, so we stop to explore this. In 1835, there was a flax linen mill, and a grand Manson and stables. The stables now are a museum, and there is still the workers building. The water power from the river, was 1000 horsepower, and as we discovered, it is no longer operational, and is in a bad state of disrepair. Talking to the local, he told us that a woman, who had won money bought the "old mill",  which is a 3 storey building, but didn't get the turbines.
We drive on to Omagh, and look about. We find another Bob & Berts cafe, and have a late lunch early dinner. The cafe, has a large menu selection, and is very comfortable. We notice there are a lot of flags flying, a real passion for their northern Ireland and the UK. It is almost a bit off putting, as flags, are on the sides of roads, in house yards, and on frames built across main roads.

Friday, 19th July
We leave our pub room today, and have been looked after very well by the staff member there, Helen. This lady couldn't do enough for us. And she did a great breakfast aswell. We are leaving Northern Ireland and heading to The Big Apple, Ballyforan, Ireland. I do the driving today, as Bob has been doing most of it, and we get to our place of rest relatively early. This is a great place, the place is attached to the pub, and when we get inside, there is a nice welcome message, and a note with chocolates upstairs welcoming us. A bit later we go down to the pub and have a beer, then go for a drive to the next little village to see what is there, and stop at the general store there, grab some things for tea, then go to the general store back at Ballyforan.

Saturday, 20th July
Rest day today. The weather is cloudy, with occasional showers. There is no washing machine in the accommodation, and no laundromat in the town, so plans are made for us to go somewhere tomorrow to do the washing. We go down to the pub, and have a drink, and walked in, and the pub is deathly quiet. Everyone is absorbed in the football game on the tv. It is a game of Gaelic football, in which the local team is playing Dublin. It is very different to the football game I am familiar with. There is no eatery place here, and the pub, doesn't do meals, but there is a food vendor that operates every afternoon from 5 to 12pm. We are told he does great food, so that is our selection for this evening.

Sunday, 21st July
Today is washing day. To achieve this we have to travel 20mins away to Roscommon. Roscommon appears to be like so many other places, a busy, vibrant town. We find the laundromat, which is nothing like the ones back home. These ones are set up outside, with a bit of a shelter over the washing machines and dryers. We set our washing going, and go for a drive to check out the town. We come back to the washing, and put it in the dryer, and have a coffee while waiting. I have scone with my coffee, and it is almost the size of 2 scones back home. After the washing is done, we go on to explore Athlone which is 30 minscaway. This town has a couple of notable things. It has a castle in the town centre, and it is the place of the oldest pub in Ireland. Bob chats to a guy with a dog who is fetching a stick from the water. Much like our Jack does, and his dog is black and white like Jack, but is much quieter in the water. After we leave Athlone, we go to Ballinasloe to get some groceries for the next couple of days. The weather is still cloudy, with showers. We do like the houses around here, seems most of them are detached once on the outskirts of towns.