Destinations

Ireland 2018

Our favorite Castle!
We stayed in the room on the second floor facing the parking lot. Most reviewers say to get a room with a view of the river in the back of the castle.  We loved our view out the front of the flowers and the Helicopter landings.
The river view is lovely and this is the view from your breakfast and dinners.
Wonderful hiking and biking on the property. This is the rear view of the castle.
I loved this little room. This is Ireland and it does rain a lot but this castle is prepared. If you arrive by helicopter they will meet you at your plane with boots and rain jackets and umbrellas. This river is known for fly fishing and the castle always has a few fisherman wandering around. They also use this rain gear.
The son of the man that built this castle petitioned hard with the parliament for it to be illegal to hurt animals . At the time they were putting cows in a ring and sending in 6 aggressive hungry dogs to tear it up. He is the first known person in Europe to actively pursue passing laws for the prevention of cruelty against animals.
This is down the road at the Ashford Castle.
This is the Leslie Castle where Paul McCartney had a wedding reception.
I say that the Irish fairy’s live in the bottom of the trees. You can almost see them here!
Dublin – a good place for comfort food and Irish Music and Dance. Simple but worth a visit.
This is a snug at the end of the bar in the old Palace Bar in Dublin.. Years ago a lady could not sit at the bar and have a drink. They also could not order a pint only a half of a pint in the ladies area. So story goes that if a man wanted to drink with his wife he would reserve the snug. Another story is that if a priest enjoyed drinking he would reserve the snug so no one would see how much he was drinking.
Mark and our friend John in the snug in the bar in Ireland.
These are the marvelous hydrangeas I looked out at from my room in Ballynahinch Castle.
Lots of fly fishing on this river. Fisherman all over the castle.
Near Ashford Castle. Do you see the burnt carving in the wood of the eagle?
The greenhouse at Ballynahinch castle.
The walled garden at the castle is such a delight to walk around or just sit.
Cute little greenhouse!
Wonderful vegetable and flower gardens.
Fresh vegetables from the garden.
Belfast- the Titanic museum
Belfast- the young militants are taught to handle guns from 14-17 years old. They are told not to let your grandfathers die in vain. Of course this war has been going on for over 300 years. How about we let this war go?
Black Taxi Tours will help you understand Ireland’s history.

 

Here is my cheat sheet for currency since we had both the Euro and the pound in northern Ireland.

Two things we loved about Ireland are that you can drink the tap water in most places and they speak English.

Two things we did not like about Ireland is the confusing Pound vs Euro in northern Ireland.
They drive on the left and the roads are so narrow with thick rock walls on both sides. Most all the rental cars are stick shift. We ended up paying 500 Euros more for an automatic rental car. It was worth it for the week of travel.

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