Day 4 - It rained even harder all day. We walked around Reykjavik in the morning, then caught an afternoon flight to London where we stayed in a country hotel in Charlwood... which was unfortunately DIRECTLY under a major flight path.
Day 5 - We headed into the big city and attended the Great British Beer Festival (including ciders and perries!)
  
Day 6 - We did a big tour of the city... Big Ben, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and St Paul's Church... but all only from the outside since the lines were horrendous and the prices even worse! We also rode on a double-decker bus, walked along the Thames, and had a (half) pint in the Hung, Drawn & Quartered pub.
  
  
Day 7 - We toured the Tower of London (in spite of the price) and saw the Crown Jewels, the armory, the old prison towers, the king's chambers, and walked the castle walls. We had some lunch in Trafalgar Square then headed to Horley, a town near Gatwick Airport.
  
  
Day 8 - We flew to Dublin, took a bus into the countryside, and were picked up by Valerie (our workaway host) and brought to our new home for the next 4 weeks... the TullyNally castle! We have our own appartment above the old coachhouse in the outer courtyard. We spent the evening wandering around the absolutely gorgeous, enormous gardens... complete with swans!
  
Day 9 - The morning was spent working in the castle gardens, creating new labels for trees in the arboretum in preparation for a big tour this Saturday. In our free time, we walked around more of the extensive castle grounds.
Day 10 - After some more arboretum work, we visited the ruins of Trim Castle. This is where much of the movie "Braveheart" was filmed. This is also home of the 'oldest unaltered bridge in Ireland' (built in 1393).
Day 11 - The day consisted of some weeding in the flower garden, delicious desserts in the tea room, and a lovely evening stroll. Dinner included fresh vegetables from the garden.
Day 12 - TIn the morning, we transplanted seedlings in the greenhouse. We then borrowed the car and drove to the nearby town of Fore with its priory and church ruins
 
Day 13 - They expected 50 people to show up for the tree and garden tour at the castle... but 150 arrived instead. We directed parking, sold tickets, and in general helped herd the masses. Afterwards, we enjoyed some pastries and live music in the courtyard. We walked to the nearby town of Castlepollard and had a real pub experience with games of pool and lots of VERY drunk Irishmen!
 
Day 14 - The morning was mostly spent recovering from a hang over! Being the only foreigners, everyone at the pub had insisted in buying us a beer! Fortunately it was an easy afternoon of checking tickets in the garden. Then there was more live music in the courtyard all afternoon.
Day 15 - We worked on expanded on the tree labels in the arboretum; had lunch with the owners of the castle; borrowed the car to visit the Loughcrew cairns (megalithic passage tombs older than the pyramids) and the town of Oldcastle; an had a wonderful home-cooked meal with our Italian neighbor.
Day 16 - My morning job was to walk around the estate helping plan future signs while Regan got stuck planting several large trees! The sun came out in the afternoon and so did the butterflies in the garden.
Day 17 - We had the day off so borrowed the car and drove up to Kells. We saw the giant crosses and a copy of the old Book of Kells. In the afternoon, Regan's sister picked him up and they left to Northern Ireland for a while.
 
Day 18 - I worked in the kitchen today with Maureen, the head housekeeper. I peeled a crate of apples, cut tomatoes, peeled mushrooms (didn't even know that was possible), cut green beans, and a wide range of other tasks. I toured the old kitchen, which Maureen actually worked in 50 years ago. I then got to have lunch with the castle owners.
 
Day 19 - I made bilberry jam... rather unscuccesfully! Fortunately it was able to be saved!
Day 20 - The days are getting cooler and shorter; some of the trees are starting to change. There is always a nice variety of things for me to do... water the plants in the courtyard, transplant seedlings in the greenhouse, and chat with a wide range of people with lovely accents. Valerie went to Mullingar for errands, so I tagged along and visited the church.
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