under another sun

Last morning in Doolin, and up and excellently breakfasted and hurriedly packed. Took a call from a man at The Royal Free about an appointment for Mum, I set it all up, and when I spoke to her later, she said it wasn't needed. Off to Clare's pretty county town of Ennis, where Lorraine and Sue went shopping for wedding headgear -- scoring a white fancy hat for Sue and a tiara for Lorraine.  John meanwhile took me to  glór , a lovely arts centre with a library, theatre and gallery. We had a hot drink in the lobby were traditional musicians had gathered to join in music making, along with an audience of adults with learning disabilities. The traditional music was wonderful, and everyone enjoying it. There is something about music in Ireland that is so democratic, the audience and the musicians all together, and the apparently unspoken agreement musicians have to turn up and play and in what order.  Then John and Sue dropped us off at Shannon airport. They'd been incredibly k...

A night's sleep, L and I up at seven. Over breakfast we learned about train problems at Gatwick. Final packing. Mum bright and breezy when I called her before we left.   Gatwick by car, arriving in plenty of time. Ryanair to Shannon. A man talking, luckily not to us, non stop in the waiting room, Zero frills, and minimal twitching from me, despite Lorraine and I being on either side of an aisle  and being able to maintain hyper vigilance through a window. Ears hurt on landing. Shannon airport pleasant and no nonsense. We were collected by Sue and John! Great to see them, and to sit next to John driving through the gorgeous west of Ireland. John pointing out tampering with place names on road signs, as there are disputes about how certain place names should be spelled. Finally the Aran islands appeared -- a bit moment as the last time we stayed they were hidden for days, and I said that I did not believe they existed. A lovely sight of three islands layered behind one another i...

Up and nipping around the corner to buy breakfast to get the day started. Then a packing frenzy before Lorraine and I drove off to Gatwick. Nice to be back there, though on the Ryanair plane it was not cattle class, more factory farm class. I felt claustrophobic, far from a window, and only the migraine inducing yellow and blue colour scheme to look at. My ears are rubbish, lurching when the plane turns. Poor Lorraine crammed into a middle seat, while I go through the full Woody Allen on the isle seat.  However the price is attractive, and we made it to Dublin safely and in good time. Met by Sue, now sporting a blond cut, and still slim, and were taken outside to climb into a car with John. Then a long drive through Dublin then across the middle of Ireland to the west coast, chatting as we went. John a mine of information about Ireland's history, and also was taught the way to read Irish car number plates, which include the area they came from. Then we arrived at Doolin, having...

Ninja daisy Breakfast with Ash and Phil, and later Aimee. Having cleverly avoided drinking myself into oblivion the night before, I actually felt fairly fresh this morning as we ate breakfast overlooking the mountain to the south of Westport that kept losing its head in clouds. I want to go back there one day. Wanted to pop out for a breath of air. Aimee in lively capering fashion decided to turn into a bit of a scramble around the perimeter of the grounds. She did this clutching a flower, which she called the Ninja daisy, which she used to compel me to follow her. After this adventure, off to pack and meet up with everyone before we went off to the beach under the cloud shrouded mountain. Was stunningly beautiful, with the sun spotlighting bits every now and then. The sky changes so rapidly everything looks different all the time. Makes me think of W.B. Yeats. The west of Ireland is a magical place. Then the long trip home. A drive through the countryside to Knock airport, where we at...