Wednesday June 14th to Friday 16th June 2017

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Poor wifi at Carmac Valley Camping Park near Dublin has stopped me keeping up to date with my blog but trying to catch up now. I may not be able to get photos downloaded though but here goes.

On Wednesday we went to the Irish National Stud at Tully, near Kildare. We had a guided tour of the stud. We saw old famous horses who were now retired and will be kept here for the rest of their lives.We saw the nursery paddocks with several young horses and their mothers. Then we saw the stallions. One of them cost 120,000 euros stud fee. all the horses were out in the paddocks and all kept beautifully. We also visited the stables and saw the building where the stallions go to perform!

Then we visited the museum complete with skeleton of Arkle. In one of the yards we watched a film showing the birth of a young foal.

Later we walked round the Japanese gardens which had been started by the original stud owner. He had been quite an eccentric and chose his horses by their star signs. his methods although unorthodox worked. The garden had been planted by a Japanese man. It was beautiful but we also had a school group going round at the same time who managed to shatter the peace.

In the evening we all went to the Taylor's Three Rocks. It is a nightclub with a beautiful thatched roof, apparently the largest thatched roof in Ireland! We had athree course meal followed by an Irish evening of dancing, singing, music and comedy. It was brilliant and one of the best nights we've had in a long time.

Yesterday was our free day so we took the Big Red Bus into Dublin. We started doing a tour and got off at the Guiness Storerooms. We later found out we had been there on the same day as one of James' friends. We heard the story of guiness, saw how to make a wooden cask, heard how the Guiness is made, We then went to the tasting room and shown how to taste Guiness! Then we had a sample. then we went to a bar where we were taught how to pull our own perfect pint of Guiness. We then took our drink up to the top floor to drink it and look down all round over Dublin. For me that was the best part, seven floors up, there was a good view. I would rather have been in the Wexford mountains and was able to see them in the background.

We then walked back to Temple Bar and had a wander round and found the Ha'penny Bridge over the Liffey. we then caught another tour bus and finished off the tour. By this time it was getting quite blowy so we made our way back for the bus back. The only seats left were on top not under cover and the rain inevitably started before we made it back. It was then quite cold so we were glad to get back to the van. Hearing of reports of heatwaves back home did nothing to make us feel better!

Today again started dull and windy. we packed up ready for the next move. It was an easy drive East to West over to Galway. There were a few showers on the way. We are now in Salthill, just outside Galway, right on the coast. When we arrived it was quite misty but has gradually cleared. We have been to the nearest supermarket which is very nice, a bit like Waitrose but with a wonderful delicatessen and lots of separate stalls selling fantastic food to eat at home. It was hard to choose but I think we will return.

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