Back on the Road - England & Ireland by Patricia
On one of our outings we piled into Audrey’s little car (jammed might be more like it) and headed off to a village called Burford where I am to have, as Audrey put it, a “proper English tea”. Oh my god…My arteries were humming and I stave off the guilt as I stuff 2 giant scones loaded with sumptuous clotted cream and taste bud tingling raspberry jam down my gullet. Mmmmmm. Then we waddled down the main drag to do some shopping.
Fast Forward…
As we rolled and swayed our way across the Irish Sea to Rosslier Ireland we were slightly mystified because the sea was relatively calm. It turned out that the boat we were on had one engine down which was not only bad because it was swaying around so much but bad because it was taking longer than usual. Denis had his seasick bracelets on and he and I were sipping fizzy drinks plus fixating our eyes on the horizon. (I never was a good sailor) At times we were distracted by the poor man next to us who was rushing back and forth with seasick bags for his family. His wife was down for the count and 2 of his kids were upchucking extremely loudly the whole way over. Very pleasant. Meanwhile waiters were deftly zipping back and forth with large trays of food for the hardier travelers. At one point I dared to stagger my way below to the duty free shop but that turned out to be a mistake and I spent the rest of the voyage glued to my seat.
When we got off the ferry we began our sojourn to Kenmare and our splendid B&B. We instantly fell in love with Ireland as we drove along the oh so green landscape on the oh so teeny weenie little roads. Try driving a big SUV there! Not being a group to do thorough research we thought it would take about an hour and our vision was to drive through the mist for a bit and then we would be sitting by our fireplace wrapped in cozy, handmade throws, sipping tea while our Irish stew simmered tantalizingly from the kitchen. The reality was - the sun was blazing down the whole way on the 5-½ hour drive through the prettiest landscape ever. After deciphering the “war and Peace" sized directions we finally made it the local butcher shop to get our key. Now we are totally immersed in all things Irish and having a great time. Yesterday while we were hiking I thought I spotted a leprechaun but it only turned out to be Barb wearing a green shirt coming out of nature’s loo in the forest. Darn! I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a fairy now.
Cheers