Days 687-694, 20-27 Apr '16, Tintern Abbey & The Colcloughs - We are in countryside heaven at the moment. We find that no matter where we go, everywhere has something special - be it the height of luxury (having a spa bath), a comfy king size bed, a fabulous TV with loads to watch via Netflix, a nice car or even a holiday home. And that's not counting when we have lovely animals to keep us company. It has occurred to us this past week that the fact that we have all of that right here probably accounts for it being our third visit. And the weather has been superb! We've spent the past week pottering about - down to the holiday home with the dogs and long, long walks on the firmly packed beach. We enjoyed watching storms rolling in over the ocean one day and reached the front door just as the first hailstones hit. We've cruised about the multitudes of op shops in Enniscorthy (6!) to supplement our summer wardrobes. We've even revisited our favourite Chinese takeaway for a post-beach-day treat. We've been giving eggs away as fast as the chickens can lay them - even managed to become egg-free for a solid ten minutes at one point. Just waiting for the Census man to turn up and we can offload some to him. About 10 months ago (our last visit), we invested in OPW cards as many of the heritage properties and gardens in Ireland are managed by the Office of Public Works. The cards paid for themselves within 3 or 4 visits last year - so now it's just fun, free visits for us. We had itchy feet on Saturday so packed the thermos, chocolate digestives and tomato sauce and ventured out to Tintern Abbey. Founded something like 900 years ago by a man who made a deal with God. (Basically he was at serious risk of being shipwrecked and he promised... If I live, I'll build an Abbey. And he did.) Anyway - most abbeys of this era in Ireland have been torn apart through the centuries and used as urban quarries. This one survived as it was gifted to an Englishman in the 1500s and converted into a family home... and stayed that way until 1959 when the very last member of the family handed it over to the state. The Colcloughs (pronounced Coke-Lees apparently), spent 450 tumultuous years in the ancient structure. It's amazing it's standing at all. Very good for a look around and then it was a short walk to the walled garden that was established on the land about 200 years ago. It was completely overgrown when the state took over, but they've cleared the brush away and replanted according to the original plans and the household records... for example they know peaches were grown there because there were receipts for peach trees. A lovely spot for a quiet wander about. Were it not for our OPW cards we probably wouldn't visit spots like this - today alone they saved us €14. Which was more than enough to justify a drive to New Ross and fish & chips on the banks of the river. Plans for the next couple of weeks? More beach days and a visit to Cahir Castle, then packing (we know, we know... again) and before we know it, off to Dubai, Langkawi and Summer. Time flies...