Northern Ireland

Portaferry

We arrived in Ireland safely.  It was a bit of a comical evening looking back on it.  Not so much while we were experiencing it.  When we got off the plane, it took us a bit to discover from which company we rented a car.  We saw lots of companies, but none with the name we had rented the car.  Finally we broke down and asked.  We were pointed in the right direction.  When we finally got to the pick up line for the car, it decided to start raining.  We were transported to the rental office only to discover the quote we were given did not include the proper amount of insurance required in Ireland.  Evidently several countries require extensive insurance.  After biting the expensive bullet, we finally got the car.  Of course, we went to the wrong side of the car, being American and all!  Also, we could not figure out the trunk (it was so dark and raining).  We decided to throw everything in the back seat and figure it out later.  Then we plug in the old TomTom we were given by the rental company to find the hotel we had booked for the evening.  The hotel we booked was chosen for its close location to the airport and ease of getting to it.  We plugged the road into the old trusty TomTom and away we went, and went, and went.  After about 30-45 minutes of driving on the left side of the road from the wrong side of the car in the night while it was pouring rain, we decided we were officially lost.  We pulled into a grocery store and asked for directions.  The lovely gentleman I asked got the rest of the customers involved in helping me to get to the hotel.  Finally one of the customers said, "Listen, follow me and I will take you there.  I do not think you can get there with directions."  So, after purchasing his groceries (including ice) that he was picking up for a party (because it was Friday), we followed him to our hotel.  He was right, we would not have been able to get there without an escort.  He then got out of his car (in the rain) and reminded us to be sure to look right before we pull out of any location.  He was reminding us that as Americans, it is our habit to look left first.  This was such a kind soul to take us to our place and be sure we were okay before taking his groceries for the party he was hosting.  This is the kind of person one finds in Ireland.  Just wonderful people.  It turns out that the hotel was only 5 minutes from the airport.  Oh well!

The cottage we stayed in Portaferry, North Ireland

Our cousin, Jim, generously allowed us to stay in his "shed" as he calls it while we were in Portaferry.  I think we had the best views from our place.  It was wonderful.  Jim also conveniently held an open house the day after we arrived, so we were able to meet many people from the area.  It was a great party!

The pristine yard we got to see every morning!

We took a walk down the road, and this is one of the scenes we were blessed to see.

This is the friendliest goat, ever.  What a cutie!

He gave me kisses!  I decided to call him, Clarence!

More views on our walk around our place

Just outside of the town of Portaferry, there is the remains of a windmill.  The windmill was built by the Savage family in 1771.  This windmill had two sets of millstones but was completely destroyed by a fire on Christmas Day in 1878.  There is little trace of the kiln house or grain store.  Only the mill stump remains.

View from the Windmill Hill

Inside the windmill

Looking out the windmill

We took another stroll at sunset.  Took some more pics!

We decided we wanted to venture out a bit, and tried to find a trail to hike on Mourne Mountains.

It was extremely windy, hard to stand still.

In a twon on our way back, we discovered this WW2 mine.  They were placed in the water to prevent U-boats from getting close to shore.

We took a ferry ride from Strangford back to Portaferry.  Excellent view of the village.

We were unable to stay in Portaferry past 10/10 because Roger is allergic to something in the air there.  There was a great bit of plowing and fertilizing going on while we were there.  Roger got quite sick and we stayed in for a couple of days.  This gave us the opportunity to perfect our skills at a new game we learned, Hand Knee, and Foot.  Look out Shahid and Cathy, we have a game for you!!

On to visit my friends Alice and Mary in Sligo County!!!