Our Stena ferry from Belfast to Cairnryan was efficient and on on time. Food was mostly hideous and outrageously expensive (£2.50 for a cup of tea you make yourself in a takeaway cup with yucky UHT milk). I made a complaint because more than half of the toilet cubicles were closed for "cleaning", when there was no cleaner in sight. Just before disembarking lots of people sensibly visit the loo - end result was a dozen or more women queued out into the corridor. The first part of our drive towards Glasgow was very picturesque. We decided to stop to get fuel before driving into the city proper. It took three goes to work out which roundabout led to Sainsburys. Instead of a small roadside cafe, we ended up in an enormous supermarket with a cafe.

We are travelling from Glasgow to Oban (via Kilmartin for the scenery). Lunch stop was Inveraray - Cornish pastie and cheese and onion pastry. It is a l ovely day with periods of sunshine but the wind has come up.

Two photos taken from our room at the Premier Inn at Glasgow. I didn't expect waterfront views at £31.50 for the night (no breakfast) plus £4 parking. The third pic is artwork in our room.

Belfast is much changed since I was here in 1981 when the centre of the city was caged behind tall wire fences topped with razor wire. There are still leftover scars from the Troubles on the cityscape, but much of the city has been transformed. Former Troubles hotspots are now on the tourist routes, with many murals. We went to the Ulster Museum to see the history display for that period when 3500 people were killed and many thousands more seriously injured.  We decided to see the key sites from the top of a double decker bus. Our tour guide supplemented his commentary with some Belfast songs accompanied by his guitar. The Titanic Museum was opened in 2012 but we didn't need to visit, especially as we will be on a ferry tomorrow! The old court building is opposite the gaol which is now another tourist attraction. It has recently been sold to developers who will turn it into the most impressive hotel in Belfast. Presumably the tunnel under the road linking the court and the gaol

As we approached Belfast city yesterday we saw a large plume of smoke. It was from a burning Primark department store in the centre of the city. This store was in historic sandstone Bank Buildings, and it is likely the facade will have to be demolished. Nobody was killed or injured, but it seems to have been due to good luck rather than a well managed exit plan. Cages of clothing apparently blocked several exits, and in one area staff were directing people upstairs instead of down away from the fire. Current speculation is the fire was caused by builders who were working on the building.

We saw stunning scenery virtually every kilometre of driving. It was cloudy but not raining. There were plenty of parking areas to pull off the road to enjoy the views and read about the history. There wasn't too much traffic or any crowds except at the Giant's Causeway. We used the park and ride service available from Bushmills because signs indicated parking at the Causeway was full. This is a UNESCO World Heritage site. There are 40,000 basalt columns formed by volcanic eruptions more than 60 million years ago.

We left Derry fairly early to drive the Causeway Coastal Route following the north coast of Northern Ireland. These pictures are from our first stop at Downhill Demesne where there are ruins of an 18th century mansion built by Earl Bishop, and the Mussenden Temple built on the edge of the cliff. The view is from the Temple looking down onto Downhill Beach.

We drove quiet country roads from Enniskillen to Letterkenney. After a short walk up the main street we met up with my cousin Les and his wife Jean. We had a coffee catch up then went to visit "Big Les", my 91 year old paternal uncle in the nursing home. He wasn't prepared to wake up for our visit, so Jean and Les will have to let him know he had visitors from downunder. Les and Jean generously took us to a lovely Sunday lunch at the Hotel Clanree where I started to put together in my head an outline of the family tree. Their son is also called Les - his wife Sharon is expecting their first child. If it's a boy I wonder if he will be Baby Les? I have about 20 first cousins and heaps of second and third cousins living in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

The Derry Guild Hall has been rebuilt or partially rebuilt several times. In the early 1900s it was all but destroyed by fire. In 1972 two IRA bombs were detonated, fortunately after appropriate warnings so no-one was killed. All of the stained glass, the organ, and the roof had to be replaced. A tall marble statue of Queen Victoria was blown off its plinth and she lost an arm. That staue is on display still minus one arm.

The Peace Bridge is for pedestrians and cyclists. On the far side of the Foyle River workers were setting up infrastructure for an upcoming marathon. The two storey bridge is the Craigavon. It needs some attention which hopefully it will get this as it has been declared to be an icon by the Environment Minister.

We decided to walk the route around Derry's two bridges. First stop was the Bogside murals. The poster complains Tony Taylor has been interred for 900 days. His parole was revoked because he poses an unspecified risk to the public. He was sentenced to 18 years in 1994 as a Provisional IRA inmate after he was injured in a premature explosion in Derry. He was released as part of the Good Friday Agreement, but returned to gaol in 2011 after a drone filmed him in possession of a rifle. He was on parole until his licence was revoked in March 2016.

We walked around the 17th century walls that surround part of Derry. This is regarded as one of the finest examples of a walled city in Europe and the last such city in Ireland. The history of "Troubles" dates back to the mid 1600s when the Protestant Scots and English decided they would migrate to Ireland uninvited. Unfortunately the Troubles continue with riots over several days in July 2018, with 74 petrol bombs and 2 IEDs being thrown at police. We saw recently installed and upgraded security measures near the wall. All seems peaceful now but this city was the site of many tragedies in the 20th century, including the Bloody Sunday massacre and the Battle of the Bogside.

It is Saturday night so we went in search of live traditional Irish music. We had dinner and listened to an accordian player and singing guitarist at Granny Annies. There are 3 of these pubs in different towns. They are based on a real granny named Annie born in 1916 and have a wonderful collection of ecclectic decorations. The pub has an old horse drawn carriage hanging from the ceiling, stuffed animal heads and half an old staircase on the wall, ornaments, photos etc. It all created a cosy interesting atmosphere.