Trip to Ireland was delayed for a day as there was Volcanic Ash around and Dublin was closed. Met a lovely lady in the queue to get rebooked on another flight and she invited us to her homenear Sampford..We visited Saffron Walton an she was very generous in showing us around the area, which was just near Cambridge - also went to Thaxton , delightful medieval villages in Essex.

Next day, off to Dublin.

Impressions so far: Lovely friendly people, very talkative and open, with lots of jokes and laughing.

New houses everywhere, all part of the Boom which has now bust, as values are about half what they were before financial crisis.

The roads are good unless you are off in the backwoods where they areoften steep and winding.

Manyhouses in the villages are painted wonderfully brightl colours- Purple with blue trim, orange with yellow trim pinks, blues, red, all gorgeous and bright.

Gaelic signs together with English signs just to confuse us all.

Went to the Connamara area north west of Galway. Lots of Peat bog and rugged mountains and lakes.

Not the green Jack was expecting.

The Burren area of limestone hills and mountains was stunning in a very dramatic and rugged way .

Heading down to the Cliffs of Moher, they are spectacular. Rocky, barren ruggedHad a great night at the Pub there with lots of Irish Music and a happy warm atmosphere and some Guinness.

Cliffs of Moherare nature's spectacle, many fellow tourists there enjoying the dramatic cliffs, Lovelyfine day , windy and cold but clear and sunny .

Further south towards Dingle is the lush emerald green farm country with stone fences. Many new houses everywhere we traveled. Came over a very high mountain pass to Dingle, and had a superb seafood meal in the fishing villiage.