Wednesday 21 October 2015

The Lure of Travel

I wonder why we all like to travel so much?  For us here in Ireland I expect it is the prospect of a week or two of sunshine, our summers being somewhat unpredictable.  The whole procedure of getting our bodies  from home to Sunny Destination X has become so routine that many of us don't give it a second thought.  The journey to the airport, checking in, finding the departure gate, doing a bit of shopping at the duty free, we do it all as a matter of course.
I must admit I am a fidgety traveller, always afraid something will go wrong and I'll miss my flight.  I can only relax once I have sunk down on one of those hard plastic seats at the departure gate with my boarding pass clutched in my sweaty palm.
Which is why my recent coach trip to Northern Ireland was a welcome change. We toured Belfast, including the Titanic Interpretation Centre and drove all along the coast to visit The Giant's Causeway (breathtaking), the Glens of Antrim (equally gob-smacking), Doagh famine village, Malin Head (the most northerly point in Ireland), the city of Derry and the Cathedral in Armagh.  An unforgettable trip. I went with a ladies' club of which I am a member and everything was organised.  What bliss.  I didn't have to rummage in my bag for a single thing nor study a map nor negotiate narrow roads!  And we had glorious weather so that half the time we were wandering about in warm sunshine!   We stayed at a different hotel every night, our coach awaited us straight after breakfast and off we went to see the sights.  Northern Ireland is a beautiful part of the world.   Barbara Ferguson our guide and proprietor of  Guided Tours Ireland 
 did a truly wonderful job in helping us understand and enjoy the places we visited. I won't go into detail of the trip because guide books and tour guides like Barbara do a much better job to make it all come alive.
Here are a few photos though - my camera is a very simple one so no majestic panoramas.
This is a view from Malin Head. We had glorious weather for the entire trip.

This is the view from Doagh Island famine village.  We didn't have time to explore that long golden strand.  The visit to the famine village centre was one of the highlights of the trip. 

I think we all fell in love with the city of Derry - here is a view of the Peace Bridge.
 
All in all a wonderful experience.