Week 19-2009
We caught the ferry back from France, had another night near Faversham and then caught the train back to London. We met Catherine at work, met the people she worked with, had lunch with Catherine and Anthony and then went back to the flat. We had a couple of days recuperating and doing the washing at Catherine’s. We did a couple of short visits including a tour of Lord’s Cricket ground, and a visit to Eltham House. This was a former palace of Henry VIII which was purchased by the Courtland family and renovated in Art Noueau/Modernist style. The Hall had been renovated on Tudor style. It was lovely! But the best thing is just to spend time with Catherine.
Wonderful Traditional Music in a Traditional Pub
On the Saturday, after a very early start, the four of us flew to Belfast. We drove across through the green,green countryside to the West Coast of Ireland, where we stayed in a thatched cottage (my Milly-Molly-Mandy experience) at Tully Cross, a tiny village about an hour from Galway in the Connemara region. It was great, and suited Catherine and Arnie perfectly because there was a pub across the road! It is a wild area of Ireland, with the cutest sheep that you have ever seen! Black faces, black legs, long wool which blew in the wind and the most beautiful little lambs. Hills/mountains were very much like Scotland, very bare, covered with heathlad with peat bogs in the valleys . The cottage was warm and comfortable with all modern facilities plus a peat fire. The weather was a bit chilly and wet at times, but we had a great time. There was even a resident cat, Seamus! We had some delicious local mussels. We drove to Galway one day and the remainder of the time spent exploring the Connemara area.
Coonamara Mountain Sheep - how cute are they!!!
The following Saturday, we flew back to Stanstead, and then got ready to fly out the next day for St Petersburg. We had to even out the weight in the suitcases!!!!!. Early the next morning we were on our way back to Heathrow. We said goodbye to Catherine, which is never easy, and seems to get harder every time we do it.
Tags: Connemarra, thatched cottage, Tully Cross