July 9, 2010

Glasgow to Larne, Northern Ireland, UK

I slept very well last night, but could use a couple more hours of sleep . I ended up going to bed about 12:30 a.m. still trying to download pictures and blogs. I got a lot done, but still have to do Portree and Glasgow tonight along with Londonderry. After an excellent breakfast (good scrambled eggs!) we left the hotel about 7:45a.m. An hour later we passed through the village of Maybole, Scotland and its ruins of Castle Maybole, Karrick Castle, and then the monastery ruins. The weather didn’t hold, so we are back to rain clouds and dreariness and 62º F. We went by the Turnburry golf course and then drove along the Irish Sea until our 15 minute rest stop in Garvin, Scotland at 9 a.m.. The public restrooms had an automated soap, water, dry feature that looked like a hooded drinking fountain. You got soap dripped onto your hands first, then the water falls first warm and then cool, and then the air blower comes on. This would be great to use in the school’s restrooms. No more paper trash or water splashed everywhere. The soap dispensers wouldn’t get broken either since there is nothing to push. As we were leaving the town and heading along the shoreline again, a rainbow appeared over a small island out in the Irish Sea. It was very cool looking. We arrived in Cairnryan’s P & O Irish Sea ferry crossing. We had a security personnel check every seat on the bus and restroom and inside our luggage storage. Our tour guide stressed very strongly that we are not to take any pictures during the search. The bus then drove onto the ferry for the 2 hour crossing.