UK and Ireland

Early May we packed the cars and head for the ferry to the UK! We went for shopping for Land Rover parts in England and while we are on the road this would be the test for the big trip. At Paddock we bought all we could think of. We left the shop with two cars fully packed and many euros lighter... 5 Brand new tires in the back of a 110 occupies quite a lot of space!

The area around Paddock and the Lake District is just magnificent. By choosing the shortest roads (instead of the fastest, since the cars just don't go fast) on our navigation we drove along beautiful small roads through small villages. This is an area where one could easily spend a week or so, but... in our already-too-short holiday we made plans to visit old friends all the way up in Northern Ireland!

We took the second ferry from Holyhead to Dublin and drove to Belfast. Many beers consumed in the shed later, we could crash in a real bed and enjoy a clean warm shower after camping in freezing cold weather. Thanks Steven and Maria for the hospitality and very tasty Irish coffee!

The next day we headed north along the coast to the Giant's Causeway: Amazing phenomena of natures handicraft. The coastal route passed by some of Irelands most beautiful places. From the coast we drove to Donegal, a lovely Irish town with an old castle and great pub music to go with your pint of Guinness! (the latter was in the news that it might in fact actually be good for you, so they might re-introduce the slogan ‘Guinness is good for you’)