Blogs from County Down, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 2

Geo: 54.3288, -5.71668On Monday I set my sails and sat nav for Downpatrick in Northern Ireland. The route took me back through Pettigo, so I waved at McGrath Castle as I drove on by and went back into the UK. It feels very odd to drive accross the border with no checkpoint, passport check, nothing. Just a sign on the side of the road saying Welcome to Northern Ireland. Another weird feeling is when your car is in kilometres, your brain is in kilometres but the speed limits are in miles. They look so slow! The sat nav finally earned its value for me by translating the mph limit to kph. Hopefully no nasty tickets will be coming for me. I arrived in Downpatrick in time for lunch. I'm staying at a pub which happens to ... read more

Beannachtaí (greetings) from Northern Ireland! I’ll begin this blog by commenting on the weather (surprised?). Northern Ireland is famous for its weather, especially bad weather. Well folks, we have been bathed in sunshine since we arrived. The great weather has followed us from Wales. We’re very happy to be back in Hillsborough with David and Barbara and family. David and Barbara live on a beautiful property near the Hillsborough village. Their main crops are flowers and eucalyptus which they sell locally. Barbara also grows tomatoes WITH flavour! Their secret ingredient is alpaca poo. The Erwins have two alpacas whose main role is lawn mowing but they also provide great fertiliser. Rest assured that the poo is mixed into the soil and not spread on the tomatoes! She also make the BEST jam you’ve ever tasted. She ... read more

Beflfast, Giants Causeway, Bushmills at 26/02/2013... read more

Sitting watching Coronation Street, listening to the rain bashing off the window-thank god we're off in under two weeks! After about three years of planning and saving, ten injections each and four weeks trying to pick the right shoes (and re-picking after Phil threw them all out when moving out of our house... he says it was an accident!), and trying to get our heads around the complicated forms and visa applications - its 13 days till we leave!! We've moved out of our house, handed in our notices (with big smiles on our faces) and in a week or so and set sail for Liverpool, Europe and beyond... Apart from a few package holidays this will be the first real travel experience for both of us so we're leaving rainy Bangor NI not quiet knowing ... read more

(Note: There are more photos on pages 2 & 3 of most of the blog entries!) Friday 15th Car from Biarritz to Bordeaux; Plane from Bordeaux to Dublin; Bus from Dublin to Belfast = 11 hours. Flight delayed 30 mins, and then a screw-up with the Irish bus company, who hadn't enough places on the Express bus for all the punters coming home from various European football matches. So I ended up on whatever the opposite of Express is, and got into Belfast at 9:30 pm, instead of the predicted 6:00 pm! >:/ Met at the bus station by the fabulous Ian and Janet Corry, and whisked off for Billecart champagne, a great Spanish red, and an excellent dinner in a restaurant called Cayenne. Home by midnight to sample some of their poteen, sloe gin, and ... read more