Ireland-2-Turkey 2024

Emer kindly offered to take me to Enniskillen and to show me more of the west coast along the way.

The photo doesn’t do it justice but there was a beautiful rainbow not long after we were on the road.

Unfortunately the pot of gold would at the bottom of the Atlantic.

Along the way Emer pointed out a castle type building on the horizon. It was the home of Lord Mountbatten

Mountbatten was killed by the IRA when they detonated a 50 pound bomb hidden on his fishing boat in 1979.

The entrance to the estate which is still in use by decedents.

Then a little detour into Mullaghmore.

It is on the Atlantic and has a stone wall in the harbour to protect the fishing boats. Apparently, this is where the IRA attached the bomb to Lord Mountbatten’s fishing boats.

There is a beach too

It was hailing when l took the photo and there were three people waist deep in the ocean!

Then onto Ballyshannon. There is a hydro electricity plant on the river near Ballyshannon.

We arrived in Enniskillen and went out to see Castle Coole. It’s more of a manor estate than a castle.

A photo of the stable complex from outside.

Then a photo from inside the complex.

One of a few signs around the stable complex.

Then into the cafe for a quick snack.

I enjoyed my coffee with a scone and cream.

Then we made our way to the “castle”. A quick selfie.

A photo as we approached the castle.

Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take photo inside the castle! The tour was facilitating! The castle was cold and those who held the estate generally went away during the winter to escape to cost of heating

Some information in the castle.

Then after the tour we headed back into Enniskillen to drop me off at the bus depot. The ticketing section was not manned.

I jumped on a bus l thought was going to Belfast

I was happy to be on the bus that was leaving ahead of schedule.

However, it wasn’t until we were on the road l had a sudden realisation l might be on the wrong bus. I checked with the bus driver and yep! I’m on my way to Dublin instead of Belfast.

I could get angry at myself about getting on the wrong bus. But, hey, worse things could happen and it all adds to the adventure of the whole overall trip!

I guess the good thing is with Ireland being so small it’s only a few hour by bus to anywhere!

Finally arrived at Dublin airport. it’s fricken cold by the way!

Now I’m making doubly sure l’m getting on the right bus this time!

Now I’m settled in for my trip to Belfast!

I finally made it to Belfast arriving around 8:40pm. It’s pretty cold here! I agree it certainly feels like -0.7 degrees.

I found my way to a taxi rank and used the phone to book a cab. They said 10-15 minutes. I reckon l waited possibly 10 minutes in the cold. Then l hoped into another cab, not with the company l booked through, travel to my accommodation.

A photo of my bedroom for the next two nights.

The bathroom is clean but the shower takes a little while to drain away the water in the basement.

The kitchen …

And the living area

I notice over here that you book accommodation and gaining access by PIN code seems to be the preferred method.

I had a PIN code to gain access via the front entrance then down a passageway on the ground floor to my entrance. Yes, a different PIN code to access the key box.

Then the key is on a wire cord and once you open the door the key goes back in the locked box for next time.

Yes, it’s been a long day and that’s about it for me!