Until the last 40 km or so, we were on major motorways, as they call them. But then we had to finish by going through small roads and villages. Villages with random castles.
This was the first time Dane was driving in the dark here. It was really hard to see the narrow, twisty roads. But the full moon was pretty cool.
Happily, we made it safely (though much later than we'd told our hotel we'd arrive, and I think they were a little annoyed with that). We had breakfast with a lovely view of the ocean.
And then had a couple hours to kill before getting ready for the wedding. Newcastle is apparently a very leisure-oriented town. We saw several casinos, arcades, and indoor playgrounds. The fog going up over the hills was crazy to watch; it was moving so fast.
There was a pond outside the library with giant swan boats that were a little creepy.
I am wearing a sweater and a jacket and am just comfortably warm here. It is windy down by the water. I'm hoping that the wedding site is far enough inland that it dies down.
But just in case, I picked up some insurance.
Playing with the reflective globe.
We thought about trying to walk up to the wedding site to find out where it was and get some exercise after spending most of yesterday in the car. We decided it was too far, though, so we settled on walking through this little park instead.
Dane found a fish and it made him so happy.
I walked up to the top of this hill to read that sign. It turned out to be totally blank. This hill has no significance. Just a hill.
We have a bit more time before the wedding, so we came back to relax and get ready. Here's my view from our hotel window. I'm pretty happy with it.
To try to minimize the distraction, we only used the phone to take pictures at the wedding, and my phone is refusing to email the pictures. I do have some, and I will share them when I get back. Sorry to have gotten your hopes up about wedding pics.
The wedding was in Tollymore Forest Park, and there are not clear cut directions on a map to get there. You just follow the signs from town until you reach the entrance. We have found that several places on this island are like that, so we left early just in case we got lost.
After missing only one turn, we found the park and followed the (slightly waterlogged) pinwheels to the wedding site. When we arrived, we saw a tent, a trailer with restrooms, and not very many people, but we were quite early. The original plan had been for the ceremony to be outside and the reception in the tent. Due to the rain, which had started a few hours earlier, they decided to have the ceremony inside. They moved the benches from the tables onto the dance floor for seating. It was a small wedding, with perhaps 60 guests? We learned that at Irish weddings, the guests stand for the actual wedding ceremony when the bride and groom are exchanging vows and rings. Unfortunately, I was standing behind the tallest man at the wedding, so I didn't see a bit of this. I could hear well, enough, though. There were small children everywhere, many of whom were approaching meltdown o'clock near the end of the ceremony, as we waited for dinner.
The wedding was at 3, and it is common for wedding celebrations to last well into the wee hours of the morning, but this one would have to wrap up around 12 due to noise restrictions in the park. I'd say that we did an excellent job of celebrating our hearts out before then. Dane and I sat across from the people who had introduced Katie and Johnny to each other.
Even though it hadn't gone quite as planned, it was a beautiful wedding. Katie was stunning, and you could tell that her new Irish family is so blessed to welcome her in. We were so happy to be here for this special day with them, and we count ourselves lucky that we get to celebrate with them again soon!
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