Blackrock North and Newgrange, County Louth, Ireland - 16th February 2023

We're off to Ireland for a few days, with an initial stop over at Jamie and Harryana's in Blackrock North in County Louth. Whilst there, we visit the Newgrange passage tomb in the Boyne Valley, a few miles west of Drogheda. It dates from around 3200 BCE, which makes it slightly older the Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids, although the buses which haul us to and from the visitors' centre aren't that far off either. After that, we head down the M1 to stay at Da Gorls' house in Monkstown, with a night out for dinner at Sushida restaurant in Dun Laoghaire, which was formerly Mao's, one of Evelyn and Louise's previous favourite spots. After the boys are taken home, Nosher and Isobel score an hour or so in McKenna's bar, which includes a visit from Jen Mac.

next album: The Dead Zoo, Dublin, Ireland - 17th February 2023
previous album: Another Walk to The Swan, Hoxne, Suffolk - 5th February 2023

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We're back in the Blue long-stay car park

We're back in the Blue long-stay car park

Ryanair has a lot of planes stacked at Stansted

The ramp up from the station and car parks

Harry eats sushi in the Stansted waiting pens

Funky lights at Itsu on the way to the gates

Fred surveys a WHSmith near our gate

Our flying bus awaits

Ryanair's new loading scheme involves more queueing

The queue for the plane

There are queues everywhere

Ryanair's new 'queue on the tarmac' system in action

An Emirates 777 heavy comes in to land

Harry's set up for a tablet session

The fire-training aircraft mockup

Harrods' private plane hire hangars

A new housing estate gets slapped up somewhere

Harry's got a good look of ennui going on

The M1 motorway outside Dublin airport

Fred walks down the rear aircraft ramp

Isobel and Harry on the apron at Dublin airport

Gate 108R at Dublin

Fred voluntarily hauls both the cases off

The somewhat-brutalist concrete of Terminal 1

Harry and Fred do a bit of play fighting

We wait in the Hertz/Dollar car-hire office

Isobel's in SuperValu at Dundalk

Jamie takes a photo at dinner

We have lasagna and pizza for dinner

There's a cool music shop behind Rocksalt café

Harry and Fred in Rocksalt, Blackrock

Fred shows off something on his phone

Harry tries the dum stool in the music shop

Haryanna and Isobel chat on the beach

Fred stumps around on the beach

Fred on the mudflats of Blackrock north

On the seafront at Blackrock

Sun on wet sand ripples

Fred roams around

Annalua and Harry on the beach

We head into Newgrange visitors' centre

Isobel queues up for the tickets

A distant view of Newgrange tumulus

Harry in the visitor centre

Heading down to the gift shop

The River Boyne

The bus drivers stop for a quick chat

Isobel and Harry wait for the tour guide

Our bus awaits

The entrance to the Newgrange passage tomb

The reconstructed front face

Another curious building

Isobel surveys some neolithic art

Harry gets in touch with the ancestors

Fred, Isobel and Harry on a hill

Fred and Harry make their own circles

Newgrange passage tomb - older than Stonehenge

Our bus is nearly as old as the tomb

Fred and Harry play Pooh Sticks on the Boyne

Harry tests a hat out in the gift shop

Fred has a go with a hat

Oliver Plunkett Avenue in Monkstown

We wait at the bus stop on Monkstown Farm

A selfie from the reflection in the bus window

Harry gurns in Sushida restaurant

Sushida in Dun Laoghaire

Isobel pours a bit of sake

We stop for a beer at McKenna's on Wellington Street

It's time for a Jameson and Red lemonade

A cool mural on Wellington Street

Isobel roams around on George's Street