From Derry to Mullingar

Across the border one more time, here I am in Republic of Ireland

Enough time spent driving for today, time to go hiking upon the Slieve League cliffs. This is what it was supposed to look like:

But here we are standing on the top of cliffs which are facing the ocean and which are several hundreds meters high, and here is the real result:

As soon as you come back to the sea level, the sun is shining again. A bit frustrating, but it was still a nice walk, and the opportunity to meet the friendly Irish sheep.

Are you confident in the road signs and and direction indications? Come and spend a few days in Ireland, and you will never see things the same way again.
Isn't it useful, to have this kind of information when you want to park your car?

 I wish I had a camera in order to make pictures of the road signs while driving. Some of them are absolutely amazing. They look like they were scattered randomly on the side of the road, without any obvious logic. Here is a number of interesting examples I faced:
- speed limit 100 km/h about one meter before a roundabout entrance. Didn't try to check if it was feasible
- speed limit 80 km/h at the exit of a village (indicating therefore that you can increase your speed from 50 to 80), followed 5 meters away by a permanent sign "SLOW". Then why didn't you keep the limit to 50, seriously?
- at a crossroad, 2 possible directions in from of me: either "Other routes" or... no direction indicated for the second road. So what does the "other" stand for?

One night spent in Sligo, where you don't need a passport to cross the Polish border, you just need to enter the shop, in order to have Polish products (and nothing else), and a Polish staff (who seems not to speak a word of English). Surprising indeed...

More stops on the road: first the megalithic cemetery in Carrowmore, where some of the tombs were built more than 6000 years ago

Than in Boyle (the town where Maureen O' Sullivan was born) a Cistercian abbey built in the 12th century

Lunch in a pub in Carrick-on-Shannon

And a very surprising visit in Strokestown, with its gardens, its Irish National Famine National Museum which explains what happened during the 1840s, during which more than 1,5 million Irish fled the country or died (out of a total population of about 8 millions). You learn there that 64% of the population were labourers (against 5% in the UK), and that more half of the population fed only on potatoes and milk.

You can also visit a Georgian mansion, which still contains its original furnishings, and weird objects, I let you guess what they are (answers below)

 

Here are the answers of the daily contest:
- old skis and golf clubs,
- the "smoking robe" that the master of the house used to wear upon his suit in avoid to avoid the persistent smell of the cigar,
- a giant basket (2m of diameter) where the hunting dgos were sleeping
- the ancestor of the Monopoly, where you bought colonies instead of streets
- a baby feeding bottle
- a modist catalog
- a chamber pot with the user guide (in case you don't know how to use it)
- a kid tea set with wine glasses
- a wine cooler
- a convertible bench

 An interesting adventure in the following evening, when I ring at the door of the B&B where I am supposed to sleep: the owners are on holidays, and noone is expecting me, in spite of the reservation done a couple of months ago.
Fortunately, their daughter is there, baby sitting the dog, so I won't have to sleep in the car tonight. Because her husband and her had plans for tonight, I am on my own in the house, and am in charge of the little friendly monster.