Belleek Pottery and a visit to the doctor
We've had an interesting and educational day today. I have developed a little sinus infection and finally got sick enough to agree to go to the ER to get some antibiotics. We asked Sharon (pronounced Shah-Ron) our landlady, for guidance. She sent us to a very modern, almost new medical facility where we were told to go to Off Hours GP. I had visions of the ER, sitting in a crowded waiting room with people sicker than I already was, babies crying, stale magazines on the table that' you're afraid to touch. On top of it all, I also realized that we were probably looking at at least a few hundred dollars. What we got was the complete opposite. I filled out one sheet with basic information. We sat there in a quiet, tidy waiting room for between 5 and 10 minutes until this 40ish doctor called us back to his office. He did a quick exam, he asked me my symptoms, I told him I thought it was a sinus infection. He concurred and wrote me a prescription for antibiotics that he said should take care of it. But then we got the biggest surprise. We stopped at the reception desk to pay the bill and I hauled out my credit card. But the woman behind the desk just laughed. Oh, we've done away with that, she said. At the chemist, the pharmacist had my prescription ready in less than 10 minutes. No charge again. The whole thing was so painless and quick and efficient. I wonder if we're missing something?
After that, we headed for Belleek, home of Belleek Pottery, a manufacturer celebrating their 160th year of business this year. I don't know exactly what I expected, perhaps an assembly line with pots, cups, plates and bowls rolling off at lightning speed. But what we saw was real old world craftsmanship. Every piece of their pottery is made by hand, so every single piece is unique. The artist who does the original molding puts their mark on the bottom. Then the artisan who paints each piece, or who makes the incredibly ornate flowers, or weaves the intricate basket pots, each signs the bottom as well. What comes out is a completely unique piece of pottery. So of course, we again did our best to increase the US balance of payments deficit. It's a lot of fun being a contrarian in the world of international commerce!
Belleek sits at the northwest end of Louch Erne, the 30 mile long lake that Enniskillen sits at the southeast end of. So we followed the lake up and back. The scenery is so picturesque that any given second, you can look in all directions and see a picture postcard. We were intrigued to explore a little coming back and took a number of increasingly smaller lanes until we got to a parking lot for Castle Caldwell. A very nice boat dock sat at the bottom of a set of concrete stairs so those who came by boat would have a place to tie up to walk to the castle. We followed a meandering path through the forest until we came to a sign that said, Castle Caldwell. We walked a little way past the sign before we realized that the entire castle was encased in vegetation, as Madlynn said, just like Sleeping Beauty's castle. I guess that's not too shocking considering the place was built nearly 400 years ago in 1620. A little wear and tear has to be expected. The path through the woods was so quiet and peaceful. The only thing disturbing the silence was the sound of birds singing in the trees.
Today's been the best weather day we've had in several days with lots of sunshine, light breezes but cooler temperatures. And those cooperative Irish clouds showed up again today to enhance our scenic photography efforts. I was coming into a traffic circle this afternoon, concentrating on which exit to take, and managed to cut off a taxi driver who was already in the circle and obviously had the right of way. Completely my fault. Result? No honking, finger gestures, yelling. Just a tip of the finger wave to acknowledge we were free to proceed. A good day to you, sir. Did I mention what a civilized country this is?
Tomorrow we're off to Belfast for the last couple days of our journey. Looking forward to visiting Titanic Belfast, now listed as the number one attraction in all of Europe. (We bought our tickets on line last week.). What other surprises we have coming, we don't know, but we'll be sure to make a note of whatever happens next.
Slainte tha!
After that, we headed for Belleek, home of Belleek Pottery, a manufacturer celebrating their 160th year of business this year. I don't know exactly what I expected, perhaps an assembly line with pots, cups, plates and bowls rolling off at lightning speed. But what we saw was real old world craftsmanship. Every piece of their pottery is made by hand, so every single piece is unique. The artist who does the original molding puts their mark on the bottom. Then the artisan who paints each piece, or who makes the incredibly ornate flowers, or weaves the intricate basket pots, each signs the bottom as well. What comes out is a completely unique piece of pottery. So of course, we again did our best to increase the US balance of payments deficit. It's a lot of fun being a contrarian in the world of international commerce!
Belleek sits at the northwest end of Louch Erne, the 30 mile long lake that Enniskillen sits at the southeast end of. So we followed the lake up and back. The scenery is so picturesque that any given second, you can look in all directions and see a picture postcard. We were intrigued to explore a little coming back and took a number of increasingly smaller lanes until we got to a parking lot for Castle Caldwell. A very nice boat dock sat at the bottom of a set of concrete stairs so those who came by boat would have a place to tie up to walk to the castle. We followed a meandering path through the forest until we came to a sign that said, Castle Caldwell. We walked a little way past the sign before we realized that the entire castle was encased in vegetation, as Madlynn said, just like Sleeping Beauty's castle. I guess that's not too shocking considering the place was built nearly 400 years ago in 1620. A little wear and tear has to be expected. The path through the woods was so quiet and peaceful. The only thing disturbing the silence was the sound of birds singing in the trees.
Today's been the best weather day we've had in several days with lots of sunshine, light breezes but cooler temperatures. And those cooperative Irish clouds showed up again today to enhance our scenic photography efforts. I was coming into a traffic circle this afternoon, concentrating on which exit to take, and managed to cut off a taxi driver who was already in the circle and obviously had the right of way. Completely my fault. Result? No honking, finger gestures, yelling. Just a tip of the finger wave to acknowledge we were free to proceed. A good day to you, sir. Did I mention what a civilized country this is?
Tomorrow we're off to Belfast for the last couple days of our journey. Looking forward to visiting Titanic Belfast, now listed as the number one attraction in all of Europe. (We bought our tickets on line last week.). What other surprises we have coming, we don't know, but we'll be sure to make a note of whatever happens next.
Slainte tha!