Northern Wales to Dublin

After another lovely breakfast,  we hit the road out of England. Everywhere the hills are shades of green with fells separated by pretty dry stone walls dotted with sheep. Farmers mark there sheep with paint: blue dots and swabs or red crosses, for example. There are lots of babies around too. White sheep with white or black faces or black sheep. Everywhere you look. It's just so charming and postcardesque.

Betws -y- Coed, Snowdonia National Park and Caernarvon were more of the same: beautiful green mountains with stone wall patterns and sheep or cows everywhere. Oh I can't forget to mention the beautiful sparkling lakes and rivers running through it all. Sparkling even in the rain if you can believe that.

One difference was the shale quarry we rode by. There were rock climbers in colorful jackets and climbing clips hanging off their necks. They all looked young and strong. These hills are made for strong legs. Walkers and climbers come here from all over the world just to experience the area's unique challenges.

I just can't seem to get enough of ancient churches. I love their architecture, baptismal fonts, ceiling trusses and adjascent cemetaries. Today I found one that housed a knight: St. Michael's Old Church. That was pretty unique.

We were introduced to Welch cakes. They look like little perfectly shaped pancakes served warm off the griddle. Traditional flavor is just a little sweet and cherry almond have a delicate flavor. The woman who made them was very friendly.

After multiple photo ops, we drove into the Irish ferry terminal in Holyhead to board our 9-deck luxurious ferry to Dublin. It was a 3-1/2 ride and was very easy.

While Larry charged our camera and phones, I slept through half of the new Godzilla movie I paid 6.35 pounds to see with my new friend Julie from Kentucky. It was awful. The cinematography was so dark I couldn't tell what was going on.

We arrived in Dublin and were whisked off to The Gibson Hotel on the north, very industrial side of the River Liffey. So far it's not a very pretty city.

We saw an Irish Cabaret dinner show at a thatched-roof building built in 1600. I had a delicious lamb stew. Larry liked his roast beef. The show was very entertaining with traditional instruments, songs and River- type dancing. The MC was a clown who 'd been doing it for 50 years. We laughed hard. It was a good time

Now we're resting in our very contemporary room and my legs and ankles are very swollen. I don't know why. It's late and as usual I am not very tired. Maybe I'll take some Melatonin before bed. Night all.