August 14th. Scenic Route to Belfast

Dan brought us fresh morning pastries and coffee and we got on our way. The first stop was Trim castle. We thought it opened at 9:30 and so to pass the time followed the signs to Kileen castle. Irish signs for places of interest differ from those in the UK. Great Britain probably has so many sites that it starts warning you about a mile from the actual site. Kileen castle signs went up about 15km before the sit and then stopped suddenly. We drove on for 10km, passed the gates for Dunsany castle, and started to look for a suitable driveway to make the u-turn before turning into Kileen castle driveway by accident.

The castle looked locked up and picture perfect. It is not defensive but rather appears like a very large castle-like house. It is located on the golf course and other than some expensive looking cars driving through to the club house there were no signs of life. After walking around and glancing inside walled  garden also in pristine condition we got back on the road and went into the service driveway of Dunsany castle on account of the main gate being accidentally closed. They probably did not know we were coming.

We passed some old stone service buildings that looked like they were still in use and parked by the similar lookjing castle that was equally "indefensible" but much larger. There was a Ford SUV parked next to the castle and another one driving around a herd of sheep on the nearby field. We walked around taking pictures as well and before leaving stopped by at the ruined church in the overgrown meadow next door. There we wandered around the cemetery trying to spot the oldest grave. Then we spotted the newest, with a simple cross and still without a gravestone. It said "Edward C. Plunkett 20th Lord Dunsany 1939-2011. Check out the link above and also Wikipedia. It is pretty amazing to accidentally run into an ancient dynasty. As we were pulling out of the driveway someone else had come in. We are glad we did not have to explain ourselves to the descendants, 21st must be the Lord now.

Trim castle looked more like ruins than what the guide would have us believe. They must have rebuilt it quite a bit for Braveheart. We walked around taking pictures again and as we sighted several people walking up the castle roadway we had joined them as well. However it was the castle staff. And a very mean staff member Brenda had shut the gates in our face stating that the castle does not open until 10am. I've tried to tell her that it was not very nice to do but she said that shut gates means the site is closed and we should have known.

We had another 15 minutes and we walked around town before turning back in. As we were deciding whether to get the tour to get to tower, Brenda appeared again. Dan had tried to explain to her that she was unprofessional but she was interrupting and continuing to be rude. Another woman Susan has joined her and together they refused to give us the book of complaints. We got their names and the name of organization and overall this power trip probably did not end to their satisfaction but we lost interest in staying there longer and got on our way. In their defense I can say that spending their life in a dimly lit cell and communicating with the world namely the tourists through a tiny barred window can bring one down sometimes.

Next we went to the hill of Tara. A place of some Neolithic burials, pagan king crownings, and an entry point to the world of fairies. It looked like a large field filled with mounds, stone protrusion for the crownings, and some crosses for the even measure. We liked it. It was peaceful. Georgia ran around barefoot.
The highlight of today's trip Bru Na Boinne was next. It is a huge Megalithic complex 500 years older than the Stonehedge and 1000 years older than pyramids. They do an amazing job preserving and presenting the place. This alone is worth the trip to Ireland.

There is excellent visitor center that presents very good overview of the place and even recreates one of the passage tombs in its entirety. There are separate bus trips and guided tours to and within Knowth and Newgrange sites. Those places are awe inspiring. For the planning purposes, to explore these sites, given the limited number of busses it would make sense to arrange the trip in advance or get here the first thing in the morning and book suitable tours and then explore the surrounding areas.

Artist drawing beautiful Celtic
 designs @ Bru Na Boinne

After that site we could just barely cover Monasterboice, a site of an old Cisterian monastery but currently a cemetery featuring the most striking examples of Celtic crosses, and the round tower, but also, disturbingly, a large number of child and infant graves some of them fairly recent. Perhaps burying children in such a place gives more comfort to their parents?

The last stop before Belfast was a pleasant town Carlingford. It features several attractive ruins, including one of an old mint. We walked down the boardwalk to John's castle and walked through the pretty and tiny historical center before getting in the car one last time. Oh, and we also checked the pricing and availability of a local hotel - they had triple available for 100€. Made us feel better about the rest of our journey after tonight since we do not have any hotels reserved moving forward.

We noticed that we are in Northern Ireland now only by the change in speed limit units back to miles like in the UK.

Our B&B, Botanic Rest, seems to be close to the university area in Belfast. When we arrived the staff seemed to be in emergency operations mode. It looks like Booking.com did not provide updates to them about bookings and they had double booked the hotel to local inquiries. And there is rock concert in town tonight. Despite the panic mode, they offered kids apple juice, freed up a great spot next to the hotel, and kept making sure that the stack of hotel business cards on the counter is absolutely perfect, a little bit of company-related OCD I found enjoyable. They ultimately gave us a room the second floor. It does not have a bathroom or shower - those are in the hallway downstairs. But the room is very clean, all furniture is new and Internet is working. What else can you ask for for $200 per night. The kids were asleep in 5 minutes after talking to their cousin Sasha on Skype.

Tomorrow we will explore Belfast and then will head out to the Northeast. Isabella said a few funny things:
M - Isabella there is a bathroom here, lets all go
I - I don't want to go
M - We don't know when we will find another one
I - If I have to, I am going first!!

And another one:

M - I found 7 cents, I gave them to Georgia but if I find another 7 I will give them to you
I - That's not enough for me. I want 5.