OK, we drove from Derry to Westport, via some less than memorable towns/villages. That said, it was a beautiful day for a drive and we were more than happy to leave Northern Ireland behind. The south just seems happier, more laid back. But the roads! OMG! Narrow little country lanes have an 80kmh speed limit. There is barely enough room for two cars to pass, no breakdown lane or area to pull over. 60 isn't a safe speed limit.
And then they have slightly wider roads where the speed limit is 100kmh. Yeah right. Around every bend is a tractor doing about 30 kmh, or a group of cyclists (and that is OK). But there is no break down lane, so there is nowhere to go. It's crazy, you couldn't possibly drive at the speed limit.
Yeats
Apparently he was a poet or something, yawn, we found his burial site. in a way, this was comforting after the torture of studying his poems at uni.
The Atlantic Ocean
We've done the Pacific and the Indian and now we have crossed the Atlantic off our list too. Wasn't as cold as I thought, but it cam with its own warnings.
Westport
We love it. Relaxed atmosphere. Friendly people. The place we are staying is close to both Westport and the dock area, known as the Quay. After we dropped our bags we wandered down to Westport House, the first stately manor we have visited on this trip. It could have been out of Pride & Prejudice or Upstairs Downstairs. Marble stair cases, chandeliers, 4 poster beds, and a dungeon. A dungeon, how cool. Our favourite room however was the library, replete with floor to ceiling bookcases and a secret passageway behind a moveable bookcase (had to ask which panel it was though).
To make ends meet they have incorporated a theme park into the estate - a pirate theme with swan paddle boats but all this was, unfortunately, not enough to keep the marauding children away while we toured the house. We managed to avoid them mostly, but I was sorely tempted to lock several of them in the dungeon - not that their parents would have noticed them missing any time soon ... so, maybe we should have locked the parents in the dungeon and sold the whingeing children into slavery.
Tonight wandered back to the Quay for the best meal we have had in Ireland so far - seafood and a delightful Italian white wine, on the waterfront in front of an open fire.
And then they have slightly wider roads where the speed limit is 100kmh. Yeah right. Around every bend is a tractor doing about 30 kmh, or a group of cyclists (and that is OK). But there is no break down lane, so there is nowhere to go. It's crazy, you couldn't possibly drive at the speed limit.
Yeats
Apparently he was a poet or something, yawn, we found his burial site. in a way, this was comforting after the torture of studying his poems at uni.
The Atlantic Ocean
We've done the Pacific and the Indian and now we have crossed the Atlantic off our list too. Wasn't as cold as I thought, but it cam with its own warnings.
Westport
We love it. Relaxed atmosphere. Friendly people. The place we are staying is close to both Westport and the dock area, known as the Quay. After we dropped our bags we wandered down to Westport House, the first stately manor we have visited on this trip. It could have been out of Pride & Prejudice or Upstairs Downstairs. Marble stair cases, chandeliers, 4 poster beds, and a dungeon. A dungeon, how cool. Our favourite room however was the library, replete with floor to ceiling bookcases and a secret passageway behind a moveable bookcase (had to ask which panel it was though).
To make ends meet they have incorporated a theme park into the estate - a pirate theme with swan paddle boats but all this was, unfortunately, not enough to keep the marauding children away while we toured the house. We managed to avoid them mostly, but I was sorely tempted to lock several of them in the dungeon - not that their parents would have noticed them missing any time soon ... so, maybe we should have locked the parents in the dungeon and sold the whingeing children into slavery.
Tonight wandered back to the Quay for the best meal we have had in Ireland so far - seafood and a delightful Italian white wine, on the waterfront in front of an open fire.
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