Ireland/England 2023

 There are many and they go backwards!! One must really turn you head around when driving, being driven or walking. The opposite is so ingrained in us that it’s tough to change, but could be a matter of life and death as these drivers are just as speedy as we are. Our tour today took us along the Irish Sea through the beautiful and green Antrim Hills.  It’s impossible to describe the beauty and peacefulness of this place. There are cows, sheep and goats grazing on the luscious grass. Little sweet villages with tiny cottages and huge estates with modest but still palatial homes.  The peacefulness was shattered however upon our arrival at the “must see” but busy attraction of the Giants’ Causeway. Here we were able to view a geological phenomenon which has been explained both scientifically and folkloric-ally. The formations, formed of basalt, are supposedly the stepping stones of giants.  Here are the hoards of visitors.         My Wonderful Family...

 Yep that’s pretty much what we did today ….. We left our hotel in Dublin this morning and headed back to the airport to meet up with the rest of the tour group. Turns out that there are 15 of us which is really a manageable size. It would seem that 12 of us are retirement age and the others are my daughter, her husband and my 10 year old Grandson  Who apparently is having a great time being the “only child” on this trip. So we drove through the beautiful, green countryside for 2 hours, stopping along the way at the Man O’ War Pub for a special lunch of sandwiches, soup and a pint.  We arrived at our “hotel” which is really just an English Manor  in a swanky spot of Belfast. Here we are now using British Sterling for the next few days instead of Euro. The kids and I hoofed it down to the local liquor store and got a bit of exercise and a little libation😉 Dinner (supper) was as shown above, and let me say, it was notable.  Tomorrow it is breakfast at 7:30 (noooo...

 AA forgot our TSA numbers. We had the wrong birthdates on our tickets. Already missing our puppy Ceilidh😢. This is the first time in forever that I have ever checked a suitcase😬see how that works. Left Reno at 11:38am (1 hour late) and arrived Dublin, Ireland at 9:40 am (1 hour early, go figure ….). I guess it was good! With no rest, we dropped our bags at the hotel and proceeded to find the closest drinking establishment.  From there we visited the Guinness Brewery where we learned about one of the most fabulous and famous breweries in the world. Of course we had to sample their signature Stout. It was everything I remembered from my youth and more! Too much fun for one day and no sleep and lots of alcohol. Nitey nite 😌.