After waking up to such glorious weather yesterday I soon remembered this lands ability to turn 4 seasons into one day. At one stage I did think snow was possible the chill factor was certainly there & for one that resides in the sub tropics that's a tad tough going. But Inspite of the weather we were out & about on the backs roads of this truly picturesque country. Our day started off with a drive to the Hill of Tara which was once a seat of ancient ruling kings, more than 140 ruled in prehistoric pagan times. St Patrick was said to have come to Tara to challenge pagan's & bring Christianity to Ireland. Today it offers one a deep spiritual connection if you allow yourself to be open to it. Sitting on the hill is an ancient church with views down over the valleys & beyond towards the many tower ruins which were once ruling kings battle lookouts. Tara has a small village at the foot of the hill which is home to a delightful coffee shop, an antique store, a mystic barn & Michael Slavern's bookshop. We have frequented Michael's bookshop on my occasions in the past & on each occasion we have never left empty handed, yesterday was no exception! My last trip over here some 18 months ago Chris travelled with me, my son, a real historian, became a Slavern fan. So yesterday I remembered my last visit with my son & I think we broke Chris' record for time spent browsing! Michael has the most amazing selection of old books, I doubt there is many places anywhere that can out do this bloke....seriously. One of our purchases yesterday was printed in 1700! So Chris we added to your growing collection son there is a box heading home to you with a 'few' prized pieces. All of these books are leather bound in almost perfect condition...one of these books was dated 1780 & is based on Greek mythology written in both Greek & English... truly amazing. After several hours & sinking a few hundred Euro into Michael's retirement fund we headed down to the coffee shop where they serve some of the best coffee outside of Italy! We sat with our coffes in the bay window admiring the view when a couple of locals heard our accents & came over to join us, seems they too are heading over to Galway for a few days so we agreed to catch up for a few pints over in the west....totally random but hey that's us, too bloody boring otherwise. I guess it's worth mentioning here that my dearest found the ice cream & stated this coffee shop produced 'the' best ice cream ever....if I had a dollar for every time I heard that I could have bought Tara's coffee shop! We decided we'd head off towards Kells in search of Pat Brogan & his Irish brew to which Steve became quite partial to thanks to Sherm a few years years back on our Panama Canal cruise :0) Anyway we get's in the car, I drag out the iPad & pulled up maps....this iPad is so bloody brilliant to travel with! We were about to head off when I said Oui wait up....I noticed the old thatched roof & stone barn with a woman coming out through the door....Moth has learnt not to challenge my randomness as I have learnt the same with his....makes for great adventures! Well what a treasure trove we stumbled into....this barn is home to Sandra Phillips' Soul Affinity gallery of art works & wisdom. I connected with Sandra on so many levels as will Janis....absolutely meant to be...no explanation needed....yet! We spent ages talking & discovering.....We commenced a path towards a long friendship....we'll be seeing a lot of each other in Bali....3 may become 4 in June! Now you are all thinking I've been eating too much moon dust....you'll get over it! So off we headed towards Kells....found Pat's off-licence boozer AKA Mace but Pat was off chasing Leprechauns so we missed seeing him, wasn't meant to be this time but of course what was meant to be was some pub grub & a couple of pints.... I was starving....well it was well after 2...a local said the Round Tower had the best grub so dats where we headed......GOOD call! I had a great bowl of soup & a pint of Smithwick's whilst 'iself had a plate of carbs....hmmmm Time we headed back to Mary's in Navan as we had my wee cousins coming for their first visit of this trip & seemingly young Ingrid was beside herself with excitement....these kids, Ingrid 10 & Francis 7 are adorable! Typical red haired brown eyed well behaved Irish kiddos that I am very proud of! My niece at home, Rhiannon is 2 days older than Ingrid & she was very keen to hear what Rhiannon & her sisters were up to & thanks to technology we were able to show share photos....of course now Ingrid wants desperately to meet her....we had a wonderful evening together...by the way Mitzi the Uggs fitted perfectly, glad I went up a size! The evening ended with a few nice French reds shared over much catching up with Ruth & the children. So today has now dawned with more sunshine....I won't hold my breath on that hanging around but we'll certainly be off on another adventure today with little Leprechauns in tow! Me tinks I've rambled enough for now....Moth throwing daggers at me has nothing to do with my decision to call it quits for now....OK maybe just a tad....