Ireland

 

We pick up the story just in Liège after the short train ride from Maastricht.  After a day travelling by train we decided to hole up in a hotel by the station.  The station itself is a bit seedy but this is all set to change as a new TGV station is being built and no doubt this will lead to an overall improvement.  It was a fine Late Summer and there was a lovely atmosphere in the city partly due to the Indian Summer but a new confidence and prosperity in the city that was never there before. 

 

 

Leige (Luik) Guillemins station with busy bus interchange.  The TGV station is being built on the left.

 

 

Our inter-regional train takes us South of Brussels and terminates at Lille (Rijsel) Flandres (Vlaanderen) where you can change for London Waterloo but not without walking through a huge and tempting shopping centre.  Whatever you say about the French the do know a thing or two about seduction.

 

 

A bus shelter at Charleroi advertising the Belgian National Lottery.  As we are on Home Yahoo we cannot convert the prize money to local currency.

 

 

The fountain that marks the entrance to the station.

 

Time is pushing on so we manage to find a taxi to take us across town as we don’t want to risk cycling.  A regular bus service is available however.

 

 

A warm welcome is assured at Shannon but note the change in weather.

 

 

We are reminded of the driving rules.  New signs are in kilometers, currency is The Euro but will they ever complete the European project – they did in Ghana among other places.  Pragmatism will prevail no doubt preferring to with the right to host the European Championships building on their success with the Rugby Union World Cup. Eurovision.

 

 

First day and time to pop into Limerick to get some information.  Not to be confused with a Dutch retail outlet carrying the same name.

 

 

Limerick station.  Be warned there are far less services than the Randstad with many stations only having one train per day.

 

 

I'm not sure what this is.  It may well be a church but who knows.

 

 

The Shannon – Ireland’s longest river.

 

 

Looking downstream to the town bridge.

 

 

 

A small chapel.

 

 

 

A day off to recover from the rigours of traveling and we find ourselves at Bunratty castle enjoying the late Summer sun with tourists from all round the World.

 

The UK highway code says that rectangular signs carry information.  An interesting variation on symbology not seen on the mainland.  However a picture speaks a thousand words.

 

 

A pint of Dublin-brewed stout.  Personally I prefer Murphy's from Cork (now owned by Heineken.)

 

 

Bunratty Castle.

 

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On the road and a rather confusing sign as some of the distances are in miles and some in kilometers.  Is this the same in shops in the UK now I haven't been back for a bit ?

 

 

We make it to Killaloe after a disasterous wrong turning that forced us to hole up at Six Mile Bridge.  It’s lunchtime and the town is packed with daytrippers.  

 

 

We took a few shots from the bridge and we cannot for the life of us determine what the object or being is in Lough Derg. 

 

 

Looking downstream towards Limerick and absolutely nothing in the water.

 

 

Looking across the Shannon to County Tipperary.  I enhanced this one by the way in case you were wondering.

 

 

Animals have priority here as we see by the sign.

 

 

The view back down the Lough from the campsite at Mountshannon. 

 

 

A piece I’m calling Half Time.

 

 

Another moody shot of a horse in a field.  They seem to pick up the public mood.  I'm just a townie but they are incredibly intelligent.  It may be a better way of predicting stockmarket movements that the currently fashionable chartists methods.  Stick to least squares and linear algebra and always play in the linear part of the graph.

 

 

A postcard-type shot of the road down to the Lough.  The "gh" is pronounced like a Dutch “"g"” but softer such as they way locals say Gouda.

 

 

Hurling is very popular in the area – avery dangerous form of hockey.  The County Clare team was in a national final which we missed but we did get to see Cork beat Tipperary in the All Ireland Ladies Final.  Definitely not for the faint hearted.

 

 

Our version of the “Houses in Ireland” postcards you get.

 

 

Thankfully no stupid English pubs but yes a palm tree though because of the climate they don't grow as high as the one in Torquay.