Wednesday in two Irelands
I started off in Eire, of course, and nipped down to the sea to see the Burren Coast, which was gloriously a bit odd, with random round boulders just sitting in spots, apparently balanced perfectly. My photos don't do it nearly justice, cos I was trying to avoid a coachload full of tourists who appeared just as I stopped!
Hoping to get closer to the strange landscape, I turned left and came across an unexpected wee castle!
I do like stairs... *g*
It was also home to the Burren Art School, which had a free exhibition, although it turned out to be the remains of one that was just over.
Interesting, but I didn't quite get this one!
An Irish traffic jam - peat tractor!
For some reason it made me think of my story Never the Words They Say (well I know it has peat in it, but not on a tractor - or at least perhaps that's how thingie got it to the cottage in the first place. *g*)
And then something odd happened. I'd been wondering about the border, knowing it was open (cos EU - at least for now *headdesk*) and aware that I was very close, but then suddenly it was as if I felt a jolt, and everything was suddenly right, and very familiar. It took me a moment, but I realised it was because the road had just suddenly changed to having UK road markings, not Irish ones! But I really did feel a massive sense of home, and a kind of security and comfort - very odd! I suppose it was that everything really was familiar and known, and I didn't have to spend a bit of my brain on working it out and making sure I'd got it right... and yet the place itself was otherwise exactly the same place in non-legal ways. Place really is in your head, isn't it! *g*
Just to prove it all, my first stop was an NT property, purely because I was going past, had driven for long enough, and could see that it had tearooms and a toilet!
You walked through woods to get there though, surrounded by birds singing, and I must admit that added to my newly-recovered feeling of comfort and peace!
And then, because as you probably know I also love them - caves! I spotted them on the map, but didn't think I'd end up near them, and was quite disappointed cos I'd reluctantly decided that I didn't have time to visit Doolin Caves before leaving that morning. But the satnav took me close enough that... yeay, caves! *g*
And we went in a boat! One ambition achieved - to float on an underground river! *g*
These are reflections in a pool - gorgeous...
And then I drove like anything for the north coast, and here I am, about to set off to the Giant's Causeway. Wish me luck, and a lack of tourists! *g*
Hoping to get closer to the strange landscape, I turned left and came across an unexpected wee castle!
I do like stairs... *g*
It was also home to the Burren Art School, which had a free exhibition, although it turned out to be the remains of one that was just over.
Interesting, but I didn't quite get this one!
An Irish traffic jam - peat tractor!
For some reason it made me think of my story Never the Words They Say (well I know it has peat in it, but not on a tractor - or at least perhaps that's how thingie got it to the cottage in the first place. *g*)
And then something odd happened. I'd been wondering about the border, knowing it was open (cos EU - at least for now *headdesk*) and aware that I was very close, but then suddenly it was as if I felt a jolt, and everything was suddenly right, and very familiar. It took me a moment, but I realised it was because the road had just suddenly changed to having UK road markings, not Irish ones! But I really did feel a massive sense of home, and a kind of security and comfort - very odd! I suppose it was that everything really was familiar and known, and I didn't have to spend a bit of my brain on working it out and making sure I'd got it right... and yet the place itself was otherwise exactly the same place in non-legal ways. Place really is in your head, isn't it! *g*
Just to prove it all, my first stop was an NT property, purely because I was going past, had driven for long enough, and could see that it had tearooms and a toilet!
You walked through woods to get there though, surrounded by birds singing, and I must admit that added to my newly-recovered feeling of comfort and peace!
And then, because as you probably know I also love them - caves! I spotted them on the map, but didn't think I'd end up near them, and was quite disappointed cos I'd reluctantly decided that I didn't have time to visit Doolin Caves before leaving that morning. But the satnav took me close enough that... yeay, caves! *g*
And we went in a boat! One ambition achieved - to float on an underground river! *g*
These are reflections in a pool - gorgeous...
And then I drove like anything for the north coast, and here I am, about to set off to the Giant's Causeway. Wish me luck, and a lack of tourists! *g*