This has been an exciting start to the week in the House of Brigid! This past weekend we’ve had a grand total of 11.5 people staying in 206 Cluain Dara! Part of Emily’s family is visiting from Connecticut including Mommy and Daddy Puscas, Brother Blair (whose name is a combination of Blaze and Bear), and Julia Gulia! And I also have some visitors including my big bro Adam, his lovely wife Kara, my godson and nephew Gabriel, and my future nephew or niece that is baking in Kara’s baby oven.
As we’ve experienced with the folk choir tour in May and the ND football fans coming over in October…big groups of Americans tend to bring beautiful weather to Ireland! And this weekend has been no exception! The sun is out, the sky is blue, it’s beautiful, and so are you! (name that lyric and win $100)
This Monday was a bank holiday, which means that we get an extra day off for the week! We have been planning a trip up the North to walk in the Mourne Mountains with Sr. Mary for awhile and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect! Monday morning we had Mass at the parish with Fr. James and then after a delicious Irish breakfast at Fr. James’ house, we started our journey up North. Monday afternoon we made it up to the Mournes and did our first hike. Fr. James, Molly, and Sr. Mary led the pack as I stayed back with Gabriel, Adam, and Kara about a mile behind the others due to walking at Gabriel speed. The walk was along the Silent Valley Reservoir and I will let the photo speak for itself.
That night we had some pub grub in a town called Carlingford and sat next to some French bikers. Harley Davidson bikers, just to clarify. Gabriel makes friends wherever he goes, as you would expect from a 16-month old adorable baby, but the bikers were especially friendly with him. We’ve decided that what sounds like gibberish babytalk to us, is probably just Gabriel speaking perfect French!
That night stayed in a lovely B&B in the mountains and I had some fun watching British reality tv. It was pretty much the same as American reality tv, just with British accents.
The next morning we went to the Cooley Mountains, just south of the Carlingford Loch that divides Northern Ireland from the Republic. We had another beautiful walk and here is some photographic proof.
This trip was such a wonderful opportunity for us to see a really beautiful part of Ireland with wonderfully patient and knowledgable guides.
Ireland has so many attractions with beautiful scenery and interesting and incredibly old historical sites, but this was one of my favorite places that I’ve been.
(maybe having the sunshine and my family helped tip the scales…but oh well!)
