What, no leprechauns to give us gold?

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You must be tired of hearing how beautiful Ireland and the UK was. Fortune favoured us with 2 days of rain out of 2 weeks, from the Emerald Isle we saw it at its best, everyone commented on how unusual it was. When the sun shines in spring and early summer, the countryside with all its rolling green hills, shrubs and flowers in full bloom, glistening lakes, it is truly spectacular. Our theory was that of course we unpacked the African sun !



Ireland is fairly small, compared to other countries but it can take time to get around, with its narrow winding roads. This was Karen and Clive's idea, so we could see more of Ireland and makes it far more interesting than sticking to highways and byways and one can appreciate the landscape that much more.



Just about every town starts with Bally, and we wondered what that meant, well hello! Maybe it was the beautiful scenery that affected our brain cells! This little word has many meanings though, so maybe we can be forgiven.

It seems like every town or city has a river for obvious reasons of easy transportations. What amazes me is the way the bridges and walls were built so long ago over or next to these rivers. Granted some of it has been redone over the years, but many structures have withstood the test of time. In this modern era, with all our technology, we tend to build structures that don't last as long and often don't look as good....but that is another debate!



We were told that Irish know how to celebrate. Their wedding celebrations usually runs over a few days: a pre wedding party to get into the mood for the wedding, the actual wedding which is a lavish affair, then a recovery or weaning off party where the food, drink and dancing is toned down just a tad. We had first hand experience of that with much celebration, plenty of laughter, good hospitality, plenty of food and drink, Irish dancing and a sprinkling of karaoke. The Irish sense of humour was evident at all times and they definitely know how to have fun. No wonder they adapt in all parts of the world with an Irish pub in just about every city in the world.







Driving from town to town, it seemed like we were in pursuit of the best cherry scones. We lived off cherry scones for lunch with the odd variation of apple pie, lemon meringue or pancakes. As we could have a full breakfast every morning, we didn't need much of a lunch, but anyone with a sweet tooth cannot resist all those tempting treats and healthy eating is for the times when you are at home, right? So many great places to fill that gap and expand the waistline.



Currency: that is another story altogether! When you are converting on average from 16 Rand to the Pound, this can leave a huge gaping hole in your wallet (especially if someones pin is blocked- we won't mention names, but it wasn't mine)! It certainly doesn't help if your money weakens by about R2 to the Pound in the last month. Then it can be even more confusing when you cross county borders and you suddenly have to pay in Euros, miles change to kilometres or vice versa and no sooner are you used to that when you have to convert back to pounds etcetera. Confusing to say the least!



Internet was far more freely available than I anticipated. However the strength varied from place to place and hotel to hotel, even room to room! Sometimes it took ages to download images and who wants to spend so much time on the Internet when you can explore an area? It was very useful at times, though, especially to quickly find out information about the area that you want to explore.



The B&B's and hotels we stayed in were lovely. Not one of them stood out that was unpleasant or not up to standard but of course the highlight was Ardeevin.





The Lake districts is a real gem. The scenery is just out of this world and it is a great place to unwind, with more than enough going on to stop you from getting bored. I love being able to walk around everywhere, whether it is a short walk or more energetic longer walk. The steam fair at Chipping with the old world engines was something totally different as well, even for someone like me who isn’t usually interested in engines. The English countryside is as beautiful as the Irish countryside and I am fascinated by the dry stone walling that is visible everywhere, going across, up and over the hills.





We had such a lovely trip and the wedding was truly spectacular in a wonderful setting, well organised. To all of those involved with putting in all the effort for us to have such a good time and feel so welcome, a big THANK YOU! We did our bit by supplying the good weather.

Yet another wonderful trip that will be firmly etched in our minds.

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Comments

[Home and Away]

Wow...what a trip!
Thanks for the recap. Your pictures are great...perhaps the wonderful weather helped!

[roamingfox]

Glorious weather!
The weather definitely helped, but it was great to spend time with family and see a different part of the world at the same time.