July 2

Monastiere Boice

Need I say where!

Thursday, July 2

When I woke up once during the night I realized that it was pouring down rain. Eugene had said the night before it looked like a good storm was heading toward us. And he obviously knew his Ireland. We took a little time getting ready and had finally finished breakfast and were on the road by 9am.

I want to go a little off topic here for just a sec. Okay I have clogged my arteries with both the Irish full breakfast and the Ulster fry. I do have to say, the Ulster fry is closer to a “heart attack on a plate” than the Irish breakfast, but they are not far apart. Tomorrow I'm actually looking forward to the possibility of a tea and muffin at the airport.

Back to the subject at hand. Today we were moving from County Tyrone to Drogheda, just 30 minutes north of the Dublin Airport. We fly out tomorrow for Scotland and I have great hopes of uploading a few blogs and pictures. On the way we spent a portion of our day driving around and through the beautifull Mountains of Mourne. To the many people who have said that Nortthern Ireland doesn't have that much to offer in the way of sightseeing except for the Giant's Causeway, they are very wrong. Most of the landscape reminds me of driving through the farmlands of Ohio with the rolling hillsides dotted with cows and sheep. But when the divine decides to impress us with beautyin landscape, it's not difficult to find it. Between the ancient ruins and natural sites, I was so very glad I spent time in Northern Ireland and hope to go back again for a longer time.

After the Mountains of Mourne we headed for a ride along the coast seeing some of the coastal villages and inlets from the sea. Heading south on the main motorway we exited one stop short of our stop for the night and visited Monastiere Boice and it's magnificent high crosses and round tower. I've been here before, but again, this is a place that “speaks” to me with it's ancient ruins and meticulous artwork that have lasted so many years telling the story of the bible on the high crosses.

I had wished there was time to visit New Grange or Knowth, but we wanted to get checked into our B&B for the night and didn't have directions, so getting there was a bit of a trick. We made it safe and sound and will be up early tomorrow to head for the airport to Scotland.

Just a little note here. As I've written I realized that I was totally remiss in getting a picture of Eugene. Now that would have been one to discuss! LOL

Looking forward to new adventures.