Waterday

Lots of water today. Mercifully not falling from the sky. We drove to Hillsborough, near Belfast, where there is a castle. The Good Friday agreement was signed there. It's also where the UK royal family stay when they visit NI. I decided not to visit it, but go for a walk around a lake instead. A woman had told me about the lake while I was drying my hair this morning after an early dip in the pool.

The lake is situated behind St Malachy's church and Hillsborough fort, and is adjacent to Hillsborough Forest. I walked all around the lake, a distance of 2.2 miles, and admired some of the sculptures in the woodland trail. Particularly noteworthy was a giant hare made of fiberglass,designed so that children could play in it, and to be partly camouflaged. I'll put a picture in Extras. I walked across a rope bridge to get to it.
I still had time to explore the small town, have a coffee and visit one of the galleries. Then it was off again across country and very good farm land to Downpatrick. We saw a Norman motte and bailey. I hadn't realised that Normans got here but apparently they just 'walked on to the pitch'.
At Downpatrick we admired the beautiful cathedral (very simple, I think it's Church of Ireland) associated with St Patrick, built on the site of a former monastic settlement. There was a boulder in the cemetery that possibly signified the burial place of St Patrick. Apparently there are about eleven such sites in Ireland. Camilla, our guide, said, 'poor man, he had no time to die, they were so busy trying to bury him'. Patrick died in 481 AD I was tempted to buy a booklet about Patrick, Brigid (Brede) and Columcille (Columba) but I knew I'd probably never have time to read it.
From Downpatrick we carried on along
along rural roads to the seaside town of Newcastle, under the peak of Slieve Donard in the Mourne mountains. We found a pub, because I definitely wanted chips! After lunch we toured the shops, charity shops, nearly-new shops, and walked along the promenade. Saw one person swimming. I found an ice cream variety called  inferno. It was very good, but not remotely hot. Portion size excellent.
We carried on around  the Mourne mountains on the coast road. The scenery felt like the west Highlands of Scotland, as viewed from the lower reaches of the West highland line. I felt at home. When we reached Warrenpoint and it's massive harbour , nobody mentioned the Warrenpoint ambush, when eighteen British paratrooper were blown up there by the IRA I. 1979. Probably just as well not to dwell on every atrocity. 

We got back late and had to pack as it was our last night, but Kitty and I did manage a walk up the farm track behind out hotel to a ruined farmstead. The fields are still framed, but the house and outbuildings lie derelict.
Dublin is next on our itinerary.