Slight Detour: Ireland Odyssey II: Into Norhern Ireland

Well, we're getting the hang of putting out the rubbish and asking for the toilet and announcing "take away" instead of "to go." The sound of a coffee or tea cup clanging its saucer and the "plink, plink" of the dainty tea spoon while stirring agrees with us all.

We've probably eaten a whole lot more potatoes than we ever do in our spud state, and some of us are ensuring a future for the fishing industry with the amount of seafood consumed.

Hard to believe we've been at this for more than a week and sad to think that Willie and Debbie will not be with us for the rest of the trip. Just heard from Debbie and they made it to the gate for their first leg of the trip home. By the time I finish this posting, they'll be in Paris and hoping their luggage travels with them on the long, long flight to Spokane via Salt Lake.

Today we move on to Northern Ireland. We'll stay in Derry tonight, and, if all goes well this afternoon, a piece of Mother will stay in Buncrana for a long, long time. We'll visit Scoil Mhierre this afternoon.

They're expecting us, but with our uncertainty on trip traveling time, they know we'll just show up when we find the school. Should be a poignant experience, to say the least. Mother are you watching?

And, if all to go well we'll finish the experience in Buncrana with an amazing grace memory. Stay tuned.

Yesterday's trip took us to Connemara, where the beautiful Kylemore Abbey provided a peaceful walk through and a whole lot of marveling at the abbey, the Gothic Cathedral built by a grieving widower in honor of his wife and the gorgeous grounds, flourishing with springtime color.

We bought souvenirs, and Parise, you can tell the Monsignor I was thinking of him in the gift store. Some of us lit candles in the Gothic Cathedral in honor of loved ones. Oh, Bill bought fishing flies in the gift store. He bought fishing flies later at Tuck's Angling Supply Store in a little village near Galway AND two other places SO FAR.

Lots of Irish flies headed to the States.

Oh yes, we stopped in the middle of the countryside and parked the car for picture taking. I walked down a country road and found a cemetery overlooking the ocean. It's hard not to feel deep emotions while walking through areas like this where next door cows graze and ocean breezes blow as the inscriptions on graves reflect deep reverence for family members lost.

While we walked the streets of Clifton where I found a lovely horse jumping facility and Bill pointed out an equestrian supply store, Annie bought me a horse shoe once used by a Connemara pony. And, I must say the family butcher Des Moran was very gracious when I barged in and asked if I could take his picture.

Des has ten cows of Angus and Charolais cross breeding. He raises the beef which he sells in his butcher shop. His assistant Thomas is learning the trade. Thomas seems to have mastered the knack for sqeeezing off a heap of bangers.

They were both very friendly, and Des was impressed when I told him of once bathing ten Herefords to take to our county fair. Des loves Herefords but prefers his chosen breeds as meat animals.

As we drove on, Annie, who had looked at some real estate listings, suggested that the next time we come to Ireland we must take more time in the villages and countryside. We all agreed that this trip is the first pass through the buffet. From now on, we'll know more precisely what we wish to select from the travel menu.

Last night we ate what we wanted where we individually wanted to go. Bill and I dined at the 800-year-old building---once the residence of the mayor of Galway---now the King's Head Restaurant, honoring Charles II who was beheaded.

Again, a great meal. I enjoyed a hamburger of Irish beef and a delicious bowl of veggie pureed soup, while Bill had his standard fish and chips. We felt a good dousing of rain as we walked back to the hotel and we enjoyed a much better night's sleep than the night before when 700 reveling college students at their annual dinner dance drunk kept many of us awake until well into the early morning.

In return for the sleepless night, the hotel management gave out tickets to the spa, which Margaret happily enjoyed.

So, today onward we go to a land where our Euros will be replaced by pounds, kilometers by miles and where this day on the road leading to Buncrana, land of our family ancestors, could be one more never to be forgotten.

Can you tell we all LOVE Ireland?

Happy Friday.

Kylemore Abbey in Connemara. This place has served as home to a wealthy family and later to the Benedictine Nuns. The grounds are beautiful and its history powerful and emotional.

A Gothic Cathedral on the grounds of Kylemore Abbey, built for the wife of a former owner after she died in Egypt. She loved Kylemore so he built this church in her honor. Both the husband and wife were entombed in a mausoleum on the grounds.