Haste Ye Back!

I’m sitting on the ferry now, tea in hand, heading to Larne!

We woke up at 6am to catch the 730 ferry… but we were pretty tired and decided to sleep in and catch the 1030 one. The ferry is kind of expensive, but since it hauls our car over I suppose it’s fair—and most of the traffic consists of large trucks and commercial vehicles, so they could clearly make more money

by filling the ship with those rather than poor civilians. We drove through, bought our ticket, and pulled up to two police, or security, officers. The nice old man asked me to “hold the car and lift yer bonnet”. …What? I looked blankly at him for about 15 seconds before I realized-- “pop the hood??” Yes. That was it. So I found the thing that pops the hood and then I had to get out and open it because they aren’t permitted to. Now, I can’t even open the hood on my car in Canada, so this was a challenge. I kind of stared blankly at it and the nice make helped me open it, with the provision that if he broke something it was still my fault. They were checking for a bomb, or explosive device. Then a woman came and asked if she could pat me down. Sure, go to town…not as if I don’t enjoy it. But, here’s what I don’t get—if I had a bomb, wouldn’t I put it in the “boot” (truck) or on the other passenger (Kathleen)? It just didn’t seem like a very logical

security check. Terrorists don’t even have to be smart to survive that, just a bit lucky. This is a big beef I have with security in general—I understand that you have to do it, but if you’re going to irritate people with searches, at least make them necessary. I wouldn’t mind had they searched the car for stuff—I mean, we are headed to Northern Ireland… it seems smart to check. But, DO A GOOD JOB. That is all.

It’s a cool, damp day, so the views aren’t tremendous yet, but I love being on a boat so I don’t really mind. I don’t know what to expect in Ireland—other than pure awesome. We don’t have a lot of plans, other than Guinness and Jamieson tours (I’m hoping to get certified as a Whiskey taster) and a tattoo appointment for KDu, so we will probably just sightsee and meet people. I have a friend I haven’t seen since high school living in Dublin, so we will meet her and do dinner with some real Irish!

I have found some of the street signs here, particularly in Scotland, a bit strange. I took photos of some of my favourites, including “Elderly people”, where the elderly are hunchbacks and the woman is leaning on the hobbled man, and “Haste ye back!” which appears a lot in Scotland and I can only assume means come back soon. But, I don’t really know. The third is what we have affectionately named “peenie hydrants”….as they look like fire hydrants, with…peens. After seeing a lot of these with the “peen” on different sides, we realized it is a hidden

driveway sign.

We are having a stellar time! A few days in Eire, then back through to Wales and Oxford before hitting Heathrow to fly home. I’m considering hiding out as an illegal alien, but I suppose I have to come back and make some monies for the next excursion!

xoxo

C.