Day 5 - Picking up the Car from Dublin Airport, the Navan Centre and Castle Leslie

Thursday, 19 September 2019
To say we are shattered after two really long, busy days, that followed two sleep deprived days in Dublin would be understating it. We are hours later than planned leaving Premier Inn to collect our Budget Rental Car at Dublin Airport.  We've been quite impressed with Premier Inn, they've given good service, good food and a comfortable bed. All we needed or could expect and it's for a reasonable price. We take the free shuttle across to the airport then Hubby estimates the walk from the drop off point to the car hire counters inside Terminal 1 as about 400 metres or more. Once you have booked in for your car and signed your contract they give you a slip of paper and then you walk back out to another shuttle bus that takes you to the area where they have the cars and you front up to another counter to get your key. Key in hand, off we go looking for a black Mercedes - they've given us as a free upgrade. We were told it's in D199. It's actually in E190. Eventually we find it by unlocking and locking using the remote. They appear to have adopted a system where their own staff don't really bother to check or record the damage on a vehicle. Ours we were told had no marks on it. Whereas in reality it had a huge scrape on the bumper that also impacted the nearby panel and several door edges had significant chips. Any way, we're eventually on our way. A little irritated but mobile. Collecting the car has taken us over an hour and a half! I think that's a record for us.
Now, there's only one thing we MUST do today and that's get ourselves to Castle Leslie in time for afternoon tea which is booked for 4 pm. We had booked a tour of the Tayto factory, but they cancelled tours that day due to staff training they had to do. We retrace some steps heading to the north along the motorway, back across the Mary Macaleese Boyne Valley Bridge, which is a cable-stayed bridge fairly similar to the Anzac Bridge in Sydney, and naturally, makes quite a statement and landmark for getting your bearings, sitting as it does in the rolling countryside.

Maru Macaleese Boyne Valley Bridge
named in the honour of the President of Ireland for her contribution to the peace process

Our next sight seeing priority is the Navan Centre. If we don't have enough time today we can do it tomorrow, but we go in to at least sus it out. Now, I'm going to cut to the chase here and explain that due to fairly catastrophic issues with photograph downloads - the stupid card reader we bought from Bermingham's camera store in Dublin chewed up the memory card from our little Lumix and we lost all the photos we took in the best bit of the Navan Centre along with those from Kilmainham Gaol and EPIC. So in the end, we visited the Navan Centre twice on successive days and as such I will consolidate my report here to cover both visits.
So, on arrival at the Navan Centre on our first visit, we arrived just before 13:30. We're impressed from the word go. The parking area is grass blocks that sit in concrete surrounds to strengthen the support for the vehicles without compacting the earth between.  Of course this is also not such a hot surface and it's subtle looking green overall. Love it!

The path down to the centre is beautifully shady and pretty, so I don't feel like hurrying through. The doors open to welcome us and we're soon being taken in hand by Rosaleen. I was wondering if we should just skip it today and come back tomorrow as time is limited now, but Rosaleen explained that the next tour of the dwelling is at 14:30. However if we like we could walk up to the fort unguided, then take the guided tour of the dwelling and be off in time for getting to afternoon tea. It's a deal. We transact in the gift shop, the ladies offer to mind our purchases there while we walk (don't need to offer us that twice!)  and then we set off for the mound. Short of time we resort to holding hunger at bay with a bag of delicious Prawn Cocktail Tayto crisps from the cafeteria on site, though I can't say they reminded me much of a prawn cocktail.

Bug Hotels are all the rage here

I'm almost tempted not to bother when we walk out onto the trail and find interesting bug hotels here and there and then a little overlook on a wetland where the air is alive with various flying insects. I'm transfixed by a dragonfly who lands on the railing and appears to be doing some yoga. Dragonfly Downward Facing Dog is my new avatar for TripAdvisor, though I also have the option of changing to the Speckled Wood butterfly that was sitting on a leaf among the reeds. There's birds singing in the trees around me. I could happily stay right here for the next hour but I tear myself away conscious that our time is limited.

Most likely a Common Darter I think

Speckled Wood butterfly

Navan Fort is similar in it's basics to Tara. We read the signs and climb to the top of the hill and yep, more great views all around. Time is moving pretty quickly and we need to be back so we don't hang about more than a few minutes, loitering is not necessary in any case because there are circular paths around the site that lead us out.  

Climbing Navan Fort

You don't really need to do more than one of these ancient mounds but that's not the best thing about the Navan Centre. 

We are challenged on our arrival. Who are we? Are we friend or foe?

Time is come for our visit to the iron age dwelling. We assemble with a trio of elderly folk, a man and a couple of ladies, one with the aid of what our Iron age hosts describe as a chariot. Rosaleen leads us out stopping to explain the willow sculptures by the entrance which are of various forms of the goddess Macha. I kick myself when Rosaleen tells us about the statue of Cuchulainn in the Dublin GPO which has the figure of a raven / crow on his shoulder representing Macha. Aaagh! If only I had gone over and gone inside! I would have liked to have seen that. Oh well, a note to self if we're back in Dublin some day...
We are met at outside the dwelling and invited inside where we sit on benches arrayed around the exterior walls. There's animal skins on the floor all shaggy in whites and browns. The woven ceiling swirls up to a point in beautiful woven hazel whips.

As we sit, our hosts engage with us, in an exchange of information as we are asked questions about ourselves and ask questions in exchange. What you discuss is influenced by what you ask and the conversation as it naturally occurs so it's important not to just sit passively, you need to actively engage in the process. For this reason, when we visited again the next day, we learned different things as a result of the fact that we are with different people, this time a middle aged lady and her unmarried adult daughter and this sparks another direction of enquiry and discussion including quite a lot on the issue of the young woman not yet being married. On different days you also have different characters present in the dwelling, some of whom specialise in different aspects of iron age life and Celtic spirituality. On our visits we have a young man who is a baker by trade so he explains the grinding of grain and baking of bread and how this specialisation helps him to acquire all he needs in life. 

At work grinding grain in a very upmarket
piece of technology only wealthy folk would have had

After a period inside, we are taken for a tour of the gardens to learn about what is growing and how it is used, some technology used for cooking at home and when travelling. Questions during this process will also influence the information provided so again, it's really important to be an active participant in the information exchange. Finally, we pose for some photographs with a spear and shield and we're bid farewell. The whole thing is brilliant. 

Baking oven

Following our second visit we also took a look at the exhibition, which is fairly small but informative. Some material is similar to that we were given at Tara so we don't need too long in here and we're on our way. 

It's a quick drive across to Castle Leslie, which is entered from the pretty little village of Glaslough. On our first approach we were a little puzzled because the satnav took us direcdtly to the equestrian centre, but eventually Dr Google helps us out and we find the right entrance.  Oohing and Aahing at the beautiful scenes we pass on our way to the carpark. Having sought directions from the staff at reception, we have no time to check in.  I change my shoes and we dash up the stunningly pretty drive to the Castle itself for afternoon tea.
At the Castle itself, a young woman is carrying a white dress sheathed in clear plastic into the building, it's pretty obvious preparation for a wedding tomorrow is underway. We are greeted in the entrance, with its beautiful mosaic flooring and shown through a large room into a smaller room with views across the lake. We are shown to a small table at the window and are immediately asked if we'd like the shutters open or closed. We opt for open but soon find that the heat radiating from the glass is a bit too much so we half close the shutters to get the best of both worlds. Our waitress sounds like she is either French or Belgian and of course we start with ordering drinks. This all goes according to the usual except I strike out and be bold which an order of hot chocolate. In due course our little stand of afternoon tea items arrives at the table: On the top we have four types of sweet morsel, the middle tier is savoury items and the lowest shelf has a couple of small scones with tiny little jars of butter, lemon curd and preserves.  Hubby heads straight for the top tier, I start with the savoury items as we can't help but overhear the conversation of the large group seated near us which is a mix of local people and an Australian couple who seems like their from Tasmania. The conversation is polite, like the people don't really know each other, so I'm thinking this may be the parents of the groom, come over for the wedding and getting to know the bride's family. After a while, they finish up and head outside to explore the gardens and we finish our  afternoon tea in quiet solitude, now able to look more overtly around the room taking in the wall paper which appears to be hand painted as none of the pattern repeats anywhere in the room. It's birds on boughs that drape around the fireplace and other obstacles on the walls. Ready to go, we take our time, photographing the nearby conservatory with it's little ornately railed landing and large spreading passion flower vine. Then we head back to check into the lodge and settle down for a rest before dinner.

The reception staff are all very friendly and competent, Castle Leslie Lodge is lovely, with a classy but informal ambience in the public areas. We are shown to our room which is in a new wing of the lodge, through the fire doors, there's the boot room should we need it,. Through another fire door and arrayed around a sitting area and gallery walls with art works for sale are the new guest rooms. All the rooms are named after horses and ours is called Dillon. It is very beautifully and thoughtfully designed to look very simple and traditional with opulent blood red fabrics, but with every imaginable modern convenience hidden among the joinery. Full length and make up mirrors concealed in an angled cupboard, Large flat screen TV hidden behind sliding bookshelves, USB and powerpoints beside the bed on both sides, there's utterly nothing further we could need. The bed is beautifully comfortable, the most important item in any room, well, perhaps a very close second to sources of power to make sure we can recharge and use appliances as we need to do.

After an hour or two, which I would like to say was relaxing but was in fact stressful and distressing as I continue to struggle with the downloading of photographs from the Lumix. That stinking card reader they sold us in Dublin is corrupting every card I put in it. Or maybe it's the SD cards. Most of them are getting pretty old now. Maybe we should just buy a new one and see if that's the problem. Meanwhile I do a bit of journaling with the photos we do have and bit of googling to see where IT or Camera stores might be found to get this problem fixed once and for all. Seems bizarre a card reader would actually damage the cards it's designed to be used with.
Eventually, we head out to have some dinner in Conor's Bar. It's pretty busy and the only table available is a high table with bar stools. Luckily though, before our meals can arrive a nearby table for two in a cosy corner is vacated and we decamp over there. Ah, much more comfortable.
I have been looking forward to their  local sausages with champ, Hubby opts for a serve of chowder followed by the chicken breast.

Seafood Chowder is a safe menu option in most places, star of the show is the delicious home made wheaten bread that compliments the flavour of the chowder so beautifully

Tone down the pepper a bit and the sausages would have been more to my taste. 

The chicken breast was a little overcooked and the potato item a little disappointing, like a floury potato has been mashed and reformed into a little cake and pan fried, only without any change to the texture of the potato. Overall our main dishes were a little disappointing. 

Given our late afternoon tea, we skip dessert and head back to our room for an early night, pleased that tomorrow has been scheduled as a rest day. I was wondering if I'd put the rest day too early in the trip, but as so much has gone wrong with both photographs and sleep, it's just as well we have some time up our sleeves.