Exploring the Northern Ireland Countryside

As today was a Sunday, Rebecca and Richard noted that many of the shops and tours in downtown Belfast would be closed or have limited hours.  They suggested that we explore some of the countryside instead, and, eager to see more of Northern Ireland, we happily agreed.

After Richard cooked us some Northern Ireland scrambled eggs, we headed south to Mount Stewart.   Mount Stewart is a mansion now run as a "living" museum by the UK's National Trust, an organization that protects historical properties in the United Kingdom.  The beautiful home at Mount Stewart was once occupied by one of the five wealthiest families in the world, Lord and Lady Londonderry (or so our tour guide advised us).  The home was built in the 1700's and it was clear that much of the home had not changed since that time - still, the grounds and the home itself were quite striking and well-maintained.

Mount Stewart was filled with old paintings, ornate wall and door trimmings, and lit by beautiful crystal chandeliers.  While the house was the main attraction, we quickly found our tour guide to be nearly as entertaining (or more-so in some cases) than the actual home we were viewing.  The tour guide began by suggesting that the "Americans" in the group (that would be us, as we were the only Americans) would be disappointed that the crystal in the home was not all Irish crystal, and the guide's humor, such as it was, devolved from that point.  As the tour went on, we started to wonder if our guide was making things up as he went because he seemed to exaggerate some well-known facts quite a bit.  Nonetheless, we had a good time exploring the grounds, and had a good laugh afterward.

The home of Lord and Lady Londonderry at Mount Stewart

There were amazing views from the front and the back of the house.  This is the Irish Sea, which can be seen from the front of the home.

Mount Stewart is also home to some amazing gardens.  This was the Londonderry's summer "cabin," as it was close to the Irish Sea and it had a Lake on the premises.  We wandered for quite some time exploring the beautiful surroundings.  During our tour, we learned that when the Londonderry's lived there, in addition to a small army of house servants, there were 26 full-time gardeners maintaining the grounds!  Today, there are only 8 full-time gardeners who, along with some local volunteers, keep the extensive gardens in check.  Another surprise was the vast amount of plants that were clearly tropical - which would seem a bit difficult to maintain in a climate far north of the Mediterranean.  However, the plants and gardens were beautiful, so somehow the climate and all of the gardeners "make it work."  (Erin misses American TV a bit, if you understood that reference at all).

The lake at Mount Stewart

This is a picture of some of the gardens - you can see there was quite a variety of trees.

This was actually the family's burial area at Mount Stewart.

After we finished our Mount Stewart tour, we wandered into the quaint town of Grey Abbey and stopped in a few antique shops on our way to the Grey Abbey gardens.  We opted against packing in any antiques, but it was fun to look at some of the older books and items they had in the shops.  Our plan had been to visit the National Trust's garden operation, but we were turned away by a makeshift card-table admission operation where some volunteers were collecting "donations" for entry into the gardens.  We felt we had contributed our share to the National Trust that day, and instead decided to head out for some food.

We drove along the coast, looking for a pub-like atmosphere with reasonable prices.  This expectation eventually morphed into "somewhere to eat" (much as our expectations in Dublin had changed), and we stopped at a Bistro for dinner.  Our group started a lively discussion about the cultural differences in education, salaries, and quality of living between the US and the UK, especially the Northern Ireland part.  Erin had several questions for Rebecca and Richard about the National Health System (NHS) and how they view it.  They were both quite enthusiastic about the services they have received through the NHS, and Rebecca even mentioned that she was afraid to return to the United States to live again because she would have to deal with insurance companies again.

Our return back to the home was uneventful, as the sky turned gray with a touch of Ireland's daily rain.  We used the rest of the evening to write postcards, to finish journaling, and to do some much-needed laundry.  Erin also finalized the logistics of our trip across the Irish Sea from Belfast to to Stranraer Harbour; we'll travel from ship to train to rental car on our way to Erin's relatives in Glasgow.