5/7/11. You could be here

OK...no Internet. There was supposed to be but it isn't working. Blog anyway and post when able, OK.
Touring is hard on the bottom even with stops. (See the route in pink in the above picture) We made it from Dublin to Sligo today and between those cities we stopped at The National Stud (learned more about horses than I thought possible and all of it very interesting); Strokestown and finally found out what caused the potato famine-a fungus; a thirteenth century Abby at Boyle-having work done on it to prevent more disintegration; an overlook at Lough Arrow with a sculpture of a Celtic Chieftain. Whew! A busy day it was.
Driving through the cities (towns?) was an education as well. Houses attached in rows are "terraced," those where two are connected are "attached," the ones standing alone are "detached," and cottages are small single story detached homes. Many homes have stone, concrete, or hedge fences around them. Out tour guide, Hillary, (don't even go there) said that the Irish like to "identify" their property. Frequently the houses as well as the shoppes are separated from the narrow road by a rather narrow sidewalk giving the appearance and feeling of coming right down to the road.
As we moved more to the west the roads became narrower and they had a rather close feeling as well with hedges and sometimes walls coming right against the road. Riding in a rather large bus on rather small roads presents some interesting feelings when getting into a roundabout, turning into a small street or meeting a car coming in the opposite direction - terror basically. So far no fatalities but I am moving to the back of the bus.
So far, given our first trip in 2004 and this one, we both find ourselves drawn more to the West of Ireland. Our experience is that there is a different feeling between the two and identifiable differences. The West has smaller roads; more fences-especially stone ones; more sheep, cattle, and horses; more rain; rougher terrain and beehives (on Dingle-our first trip).

Shaun and Joan McMahon

Location:Sligo