Next day Jim drove us up to the Giant's Causeway on the north coast. There are columns of 6 sided blocks caused when the volcanic rocks cooled and the rock cracked into it's crystalline shapes. Some are in tall columns, about 30 feet high and others have broken into slabs about 6" thick. These slabs are in steps leading down to the sea. It was a very interesting area. We then drove along the coast stopping at different viewing points. We could see Scotland in the distance including the Mull of Kintyre. We returned to Belfast via the Antrim coast where there are lots of beautiful inlets with mountains behind. The next day we drove south around a hugh sea inlet before crossing on a ferry to Newcastle. Returning to Belfast we joined Sharon and went to visit her mother, Phyllis for tea. Diane came too and we were looking at lots of old photos. Friday morning we walked around the city centre, visiting a display about the Irish revolution in the city hall before catching the plane home. I am only just recovering from the jet lag to update the blog.

We went to see the Liam O'Connor show in the evening. He was the accordionist for Riverdance and now has his own show, with very fast and vigorous music. There were dancers too, even faster than the ones in Dublin. He also included his children in the show. Next morning we drove to Blarney Castle to kiss the stone. It was quite a climb up to the top. The castle is only a ruin now, but is surrounded by beautiful gardens, unfortunately it was still raining so we were limited in what we could do. We drove on to Waterford and toured the House of Waterford which is a show place for Waterford crystal. We saw how it is made and carved, and also some of their special pieces for sale. Next day we left early to catch the ferry to south Wales. Then we drove on to Cardiff where we went for a tour of the castle. It was built in the 1500's but was largely refurbished in the 1800's. It was beautifully decorated then with unlimited money being spent. Later we had a Welsh dinner with entertainment, they had beautiful voices and were accompanied by a harp. Next day we drove on to Bath where we toured the Roman baths. That is a very large complex with lots of samples of recovered artefacts. Later we drove on to Stonehenge, which had lots of interpretive information on an audio recorder. The area around is more involved than I knew and very interesting. Then we returned to London. Next day Barb and I flew to Belfast which took most of the day, we then contacted Sharon, Eric's cousin. Sharon and her husband, Jim, came into the hotel and we went for a walk around the city centre visiting several unique bars. Today Jim drove us to see where Eric and his family lived, and where his mother grew up. We then went to the Titanic museum which was very interesting, we could have spent quite a lot more time there. After lunch, Jim took us for a drive up the coast to Carrickfergus and further to the Antrim coast. We haven't had much spare time these last few days, and when we did the internet didn't work - my apologies.

We went to the National Stud farm of Ireland yesterday morning - yes Government owned. Even the horses are 38% Government owned, can you imagine many Governments have money in a horse farm? It is quite extensive housing 20 mares with foals and has accommodation for 10 stallions. There are also some which are retired, like Vintage Crop, a Melbourne Cup winner from 1990's. The area is very nicely set up with board fences and mowed lawn all around. The horses spend the nights inside and are brought out during the day. They pranced and galloped around when brought out, greeting each new arrival with enthusiasm before running off again. There is a garden area dedicated to St Fiachra, the patron saint of gardeners. The monks following him lived in bee hive buildings made of stone. They looked like igloos and were small and dark inside. There is also a Japanese garden established by the original owner of the farm, a William Hall-Walker from the Johnny Walker  clan. This garden has lots of areas which symbolise the paths of life from birth to death. it was all quite beautiful. We then drove across the south of Ireland to Cashel for lunch, before continuing on to Killarney. We went to an Irish caberet in the evening, with dancing, singing and a comedian. It was a good evening. Today we went for a drive around the Ring of Kerry, a scenic route around one of the peninsulas on the south west corner. There are mountains and sea creating beautiful landscapes unfortunately it was raining and foggy so we didn't see it at it's best and some parts you couldn't see at all.

We went to Grasmere where William Wordsworth lived with his sister Dorothy and later with his wife Mary. We went to the cemetery where they are buried and where he planted 7 or 8 yew trees. They are big now. There is a daffodil garden alongside the cemetery which is a mass of yellow in spring. We looked around the town, another pretty town before returning to Windemere. We caught a ferry to the southern end of the lake before hopping on a steam train for a short trip. The train enthusiasts were in their element. We then drove on down to Chester, a medieval town with a sign for 'carriages and post horses for hire'! The hotel was old with a 4 sided spiral staircase and severalieces of unusual antique furniture. Next day we drove around to see the cathedral, with a square tower, and the ruins of the Roman walls. There is parts of an ancient Roman amphitheatre and a garden with many artefacts from the Roman times. We then drove across northern Wales to catch the ferry to Dublin. We, of course, visited LlanfairPG on the way (Llanfairwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch). Today we had a tour of Dublin before visiting Trinity College to see the old books, including the Book of Kells. A copy of the first 4 books of the new testament, written and illustrated in 800 AD. There were other books of about the same age too. The illustrations are incredibly detailed, and the text in the Book of Kells is still clear, not smudged or faded at all. We had a tour of the Guinness factory and then went shopping. Tonight we are going to an Irish cabaret and dinner.

On Wednesday we drove up to Durham where there is a castle and cathedral on the top of the hill. We then went on to Hadrian's wall or a small part of it. The wall was only 75 miles long - from Newcastle-on-Tyne to the west coast. It was 9' high and 9' wide at the base. There were ditches on each side as well, forts and lookouts all along it, and 10,000 soldiers to serve on it. Much more extensive than I knew. We then went on to Edinburgh. Next day we drove around Edinburgh to see the old town and the new town, which was designed by James Craig in 1747. The view from Arthur's seat is all around the city. Arthur's seat is an extinct volcano - 300 million years old. We finished up at the castle. There are army barracks there, as well as the crown jewels of Scotland - the oldest in Britain. The jewels were smuggled out by 2 women and hidden from Cromwell. The oldest building in Edinburgh is there too, It is a very small chapel to St Margaret built about 1100 AD. We went shopping in town then - looking at all the tartans and clan information. In the evening we went to The Military Tattoo. It was great fun withh all the bands and dancing. The Australian Defence Force had a band playing, and there was a dance troup from Australia. One of the acts was a drumming troup from Switzerland, they were incredible with all the drum sticks playing in unison, and very fast too. It finished with a fireworks display. The BBC was there recording the show and it will be shown (here) on August 27th. Yesterday we drove north, having lunch at a small place call Pitlochry. It was a pretty little town. It was raining earlier but stopped while we were there. We then went to Blair Castle which is a Georgian castle built in sections from about the 1200's. The entrance hall has guns and swords arranged around the walls, covering the entire walls. There are 32 rooms all with the original furnishings, some quite amazing. It was a beautiful place and there are extensive gardens too. We then drove further north to a small country hotel in the highlands at a place called Laggan. It's situated in the area where 'Monarch of the Glen' was situated. Today we drove past the home used as Glenbogle House from that show and stopped to take a photo. We also went through an area called Glencoe before arriving at Loch Lomond where we cruised down the loch for an hour. After visiting Gretna Green where a couple was getting married, we drove down to the lake district along the scenic route. It was a beautiful drive past lots of dry stone walls, the lakes and lots of hills. There is a special type of sheep here - the lambs are born black, but lose most of their colour as they grow. The wool is not much good, too course so they are grown for meat. Tomorrow we have a cruise on Lake Windemere before driving on to Chester.

After a quick look in a pottery shop, we went looking for a laundry to do the washing. We then returned the car and went back to London. We went to see 'Singin' in the Rain' last night. It was a great show with lots of singing and dancing, but meant a late evening before an early start this morning as we had to meet up for our tour at 6.45 am. Today we travelled to Stratford-on- Avon to visit Shakespeare's birth place. He was 1 of 8 children, only 4 of whom reached adulthood. He went to London leaving Anne Hathaway in Stratford with their 3 children, but returned later in his life. He is credited with writing 38 plays. Stratford- on- Avon is a very present town on the river. We then drove on to Peterborough where we caught a train to York. We taken on a walk around the town, then I went into York Minster for a look around. There are a lot of stained glass windows, 1 as large as a tennis court ( or that's what our tour director said). There is a rose window to commemorate the victory of Henry Tudor from Lancaster over the forces from York in the war of the roses. 1 year later he married Margaret of York to link the two areas. I then walked down the streets, including the narrow Shambles. Tomorrow we are off to Edinburgh.

We spent Wednesday visiting the Tower of London (second time for me), and also Buckingham Palace. I was the tour guide! On Thursday we had tickets to the athletics at Olympic Stadium. We enjoyed our time although I thought there were more events scheduled than we saw, and we only had 1 event with the Aussies to cheer on. (The 4 x 400 metres for the men). We were sitting alongside a cousin of 1 of the runners. After we returned to the city we went up in the Eye for another look. On Friday we went shopping at Harrods, then made our way to Greenwich to have a look around there before the basketball semifinal. Unfortunately the Observatory was closed because they had set up the equestrian centre around it, very annoying as it was somewhere I particularly wanted to go. We saw the semifinal of the basketball between Russia and Spain. On Saturday we picked up a car and drove to Hever Castle, the former home of Anne Boleyn. It has been restored and done up in typical 1500 style. In the afternoon there was a display of jousting and other sword play and games, some on horseback others on foot. Henry VIII was the MC. We then drove down to Canterbury where we are staying. Today we went to Dover to see the White Cliffs. After a bit of driving around to find our way we went for a walk along the cliff top to a good vantage point. When we returned to Canterbury we walked around town to see some of the old buildings. There is 1, a hospital from Thomas Beckett's time, 1118. There is also a Roman museum with pottery, glass and jewellery from Roman times, 54AD - 450AD. People were discovering pieces from those times for several centuries but after some areas of the city were bombed during the 2nd world war several Roman buildings were discovered underneath the modern streets. Part of one of these buildings is shown in the museum, with the underfloor heating and a mosaic floor in a corridor. We also walked around the cathedral, but didn't go in - maybe in the morning before we return to London.