Day 9: Ireland/London

Today we woke up around 7:20 AM, showered, and had breakfast again at the Brigown B&B. This time, I had pancakes, and Stacey had toast with cheese. We packed our bags after breakfast, and went to the post office and shops in Ballina. I looked for smoked River Moy salmon to take back with us, but was worried about customs issues and freshness. After leaving Ballina, we drove to the Rogan family cottage on Killala Road, just outside of town. I was glad to be able to see it, even though it is in serious need of repairs. It is actually for sale for about 50K Euros, so maybe I will buy it! After leaving the cottage, we went to Belleek Castle, where we parked the car and walked through woods along the river bank across from the B&B. Upon returning to the car, we drove to the airport, where we returned the rental car (no damage charges!), checked in for our flight back to London, and shopped at the airport store for souvenirs. We flew back to Stansted and then caught the train back to Central London. The 45 minute journey ended up taking over an hour, due to major delays at the Liverpool Street station. As a result, we took another route back to hotel once we arrived. We checked in at the Marriott, retrieved our left luggage (which felt more like lost luggage), and went to dinner at Garfunkel’s. We then shopped for last-minute souvenirs on Oxford Street before returning to Garfunkel’s for dessert. We then went back to the hotel to pack (for the last time)!