A Challenging Trip to Enniskillen

This is the castle at Enniskillen. It was a battle getting there. Quite a battle.

Churches are beautiful in Ireland.

We took what was to have been a two-hour trip up to Enniskillen today and it turned into an 11-hour challenge that had me looking for the Valium and halfway wondering what bourbon tasted like in the old days.

Sonya is working on a book that begins in 1840 or so in a Northern Ireland village called Enniskillen, which is still there, but has grown to a good sized city. She wanted to get a feel for the terrain and the people.

What we both got was an ulcer (not an Ulster) getting there and--especially--getting home, in the dark.

As mentioned earlier, I don't have insurance for this trip, so I can't drive. Sonya had to do it all and my sympathies are with her. This is left side of the street, right side of the vehicle, left-handed gear shifting driving for a woman who has not driven a straight shift for years. There were, as Paul Simon would say, "incidents and accidents" and a heck of a lot of raw nerves. We shared them like an old married couple, I'm afraid and the tension of banging the curb, dodging trucks on tiny streets and remembering where we were supposed to be took a toll.

Senn Fein hates fracking. Me, too.

In addition, I discovered when I bought my daughter-in-law a small gift that my new Charles Schwab Visa card was missing. That meant--likely--that I'd left it on the Hertz counter at the Dublin airport Monday Not a good thing.

Driving home in the dark was ... well, a nightmare. It took about 3.5 hours to do the 2-hour drive.

In the middle of all this, we saw a lovely town, experienced more of Irish hospitality that I am becoming very fond of and I found myself telling a charming man in a restaurant, "I have never considered living in another country. I would consider Ireland. Seriously." He blushed. He should not have. The beauty and the warmth of this little island are legendary for good reason and we keep experiencing it.

Tomorrow, the adventure continues. Not as intensely as today's ... I hope to god.

Sonya prepared: Chilly, windy and sunny in Enniskillen.

Sonya charmed this young butcher, Aiden.

Looking downtown from a cemetery.

Ornate wrought iron is all over the city.