Trek to Northern Ireland

Today started off with a good morning to the cows and the horse that stayed in the field we over looked at the lodge. Rolling over when the alarm went off and yet again feeling like we wanted more sleeping but decided that the complimentary breakfast we had waiting for us was enough of a reason to get our butts out. Luke had a traditional Irish breakfast as did I but what they call it the vegetarian Irish breakfast. They were very knowing of what gluten free and coeliac(celiac) actually is. IT'S AWESOME!!! I am eating three meals a day (which I don't even do at home) and so far everywhere has been more then accommodating. Hopefully that keeps up!  

 

Driving today was much less stressful for the most part. Above is a picture of what I look like driving the scary roads, (and they are scary). In total the last few days there has probably been 5 straight hours of this, I must say I have quite a tough grip. The first part of our journey from Doolin to Galway was much the same as the previous day but was only a 2 hour drive. Some of which was through the pride lands... Or at least that what I called them. Rock fields on either sides. Literally fields, if you have ever been to Hawaii and seen the lava fields it is very similar, but of coarse rocks. 

 

Galway was our first get out and leg stretch stop. A nifty little town, that was quite dead until about 1 o'clock then everyone was everywhere. We walked around in search of the Spanish Arch. Built in 1584 we expected signs and crowds of people and an impressive grand arch. Well it was quite literally the opposite. One man playing music and a little sign actually on the arch saying 1584, it was very anti climatic. But cool to see anyways. We had a delicious lunch in Galway at a little place we stumbled upon on circles of walking.

Moving on from Galway we drove in the direction of Northern Ireland. Along the way we realized that sheep here are as common as cows back home. With the occasional fields of cows and horses, sheep are the main animal you see on the sides of the country roads. Luke is determined that I drive through every city centre of all the small towns we go through along the way. Some busier then others. He is doing a great job navigating, I have said it before but I would be severely car sick and we would be incredibly lost if I was the one in charge of directions. All in all the whole driving situation is becoming easier and easier. Even parking and backing up is A OK. Another fun fact about driving here. Guys you may already know this but I hadn't a clue. You always pass on the drivers side. So on a double lane highway slower traffic a stays in the far left lane here. Which is also weird but out of all the driving things the easiest one to adjust to.

        

We finally decided that we needed to stop after a few hours of driving and figured Donegal would be a great place. Such a quaint little town!! Love Donegal. Real sweet looking castle and of coarse a beautiful church. We stretched our legs and walked around then headed back to the car for our final stretch of driving.

Next stop, LondonBERRY! Or normally known as Derry, or Londonderry. I have my own vocabulary that Luke has both learned and adopted over the years. From made up words, to words I have mispronounced and pretended I meant to say it that way, down to straight saying it the way I wish to say  them. This particular one was misread when choosing where to go but has been adopted as the new name we know it by. 

Oddly enough when going into Northern Ireland, which is technically a part of the U.K., you don't go through a border crossing of any kind. There is hardly even a sign saying you entered. Well there were the words WELCOME TO NORTHERN IRELAND typed above a do not pass sign, very welcoming. Here in Londonberry there is a jazz festival happening absolutely everywhere. The accents are slightly different then the rest of Ireland also, but they do use the British pound. Londonberry is known as the walled city because back in the day, and I mean way, way back to 562 AD or somewhere around there is when the whole city wall built to protect themselves. There are still cannons that they used which is neat. They also have a pretty neat peace bridge that was built in 2011, which has a wood bench on it, I must say it is a way better peace bridge then the one in cow town. 

      

We also found a barber shop called SWEENEY TODD. Ummmmmmm I would not recommend this ever!! Hahaha but it is pretty hilarious! If you don't know who Sweeney Todd is then you really need to google or watch the movie in order to understand.

 

 New words added to vocabulary...and many more to come I am sure!

Washroom: simply put is toilets

Parkade: Car park

Elevator: Lift

QUOTE OF THE DAY: The food sounds good and the music tastes great! - As seen on a pub