Greetings from the town of Enniskillen in County Fermanagh in
Northern Ireland,
We left the hotel in Scotland this morning and drove down the
Western coast. We stopped at Culzean Castle located on a cliff on
the Firth of Clyde. BTW, a firth is the bay located at the mouth
of a river much like the Chesapeake Bay. The castle property is
being developed into a resort. The buildings are in good repair.
I have included pictures of the castle proper and of the stables/workshops.
The gardens were also in good repair and there were deer in the
Deer Park. It is obvious that the reason for developing it is that
no one could afford to maintain it.
We then drove south stopping to look at a large stone island and
at several rather pretty spots along the way. Then on to Stranraer
on Loch Ryan where the ferry to Northern Ireland docks. We drove
up just as the fast catamaran was pulling away from the dock. After
waiting for 2 hours for the slower, regular ferry we took a 2-hour
ride across the North Channel. This is not a slow ferry, it moves
along at about 40 knots. This ferry has 3 restaurants, a Ben and
Jerry’s, several bars, a game room, a small casino, gift shops,
and a children’s play area.
We docked at Belfast and then drove south and west. In one town
we saw about 10-12 soldiers, with full weapons, patrolling the main
street. We didn’t see any signs of trouble except for one building
in Belfast that appeared to have been bombed.
We found a nice hotel shortly after dark. It has a great restaurant
attached to it. The menu was a Valentine’s menu and the restaurant
was decorated with red and clear balloons. Dennis and I were the
only non-couple in the restaurant and you should have seen the stares
we got when we walked out.
The scenery is rolling GREEN hills. It is beautiful. The people
are really nice and the Irish brogue is much more pleasant to the
ear than the Scottish burr.
Tomorrow we are going to sight see here and then go south into
the Republic of Ireland.
Marty
|
